Bosnia and Herzegovina

Summary

Bosnia and Herzegovina has no hunting law at state level. Hunting is regulated by the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, by Republika Srpska and by Brčko District. Of the Federation’s ten cantons, only Canton 10 has a hunting act of its own; the other nine apply the Federation’s act.

The Federation and Republika Srpska both list the bow among the forbidden hunting means and, in the same article, make an exception for large game inside a fence. The same acts, in their article on weapons, list only firearms for shooting game, and no text we read says how the two provisions fit together. Brčko District does not name the bow; its act allows shooting game with rifles and shotguns.

The legal mechanism

• Federation Hunting Act, art. 57 (1): game may not be hunted with bow and arrow, except large game in enclosed hunting grounds of up to 1,000 ha. An enclosed ground is one fenced by natural or artificial barriers that stop or greatly reduce the game’s ability to leave it, and it is at least 400 ha (art. 34). The breach is a minor offence, fined 1,000 to 1,500 KM for an individual (art. 84 (1) 8).
• Federation Hunting Act, art. 54 (1): shooting game is allowed only with a rifled hunting rifle and a shotgun. The Federation weapons regulation defines the hunting weapon as a long firearm (art. 2).
• Canton 10 Hunting Act, art. 63 (1): the same ban and exception, for enclosed grounds smaller than 1,000 ha. Art. 65 allows shooting game exclusively with hunting weapons and lists rifles, shotguns, pistols and revolvers. We did not find which penalty applies to the bow.
• Republika Srpska Hunting Act, art. 17 (1) 7: game may not be hunted with bow and arrow, air weapons or any cold weapon. Art. 17 (7) 8: as an exception, large game may be hunted with bow and arrow in fenced game-rearing facilities. Such a facility is an investment and business unit for breeding game and hunting large game (art. 4 (15)), at least 20 ha for large game (art. 27 (4)). The breach is a minor offence, fined 1,000 to 3,000 KM for an individual (art. 85 (4)).
• Republika Srpska Hunting Act, art. 53 (1): shooting game is allowed with a rifled hunting rifle, a shotgun, a combination gun, and semi-automatic hunting rifles and carbines. The act of 2009, repealed in 2024, had no bow exception and allowed shooting game only with rifles and shotguns (art. 50).
• Brčko District Hunting Act, art. 48 (1): shooting game is allowed with a rifled hunting rifle and with a shotgun. The act does not mention the bow. Shooting game contrary to art. 48 is fined 100 to 1,000 KM (art. 68 (c)).

Large game

Republika Srpska’s act lists its large game: brown bear, red deer, fallow deer, chamois, roe deer, mouflon, wolf, wild boar and the male capercaillie (art. 4 (1)). The Federation’s act does not define “large game” in the words its bow exception uses; its seasons regulation has a table of big game with the same species. The species table on this page shows the hoofed game, with the seasons of the Federation seasons regulation and the Republika Srpska seasons order.

Foreign hunters

• Federation: a hunter needs to be over 18 with a passed hunter exam, but foreign and domestic hunting tourists may hunt without it when escorted by a professional (Federation Hunting Act, art. 55). They hunt on a hunting permit issued by the ground’s user (art. 56).
• Republika Srpska: anyone who hunts must have passed the hunter exam and hold a weapon possession and carrying permit (Republika Srpska Hunting Act, art. 50 (2)). Hunters on a commercial hunt must be escorted by a game warden or an escort appointed by the ground’s user (art. 50 (6)). We found no rule of its own for foreign hunters in the act.

The crossbow

The Republika Srpska Hunting Act and the Canton 10 Hunting Act list the “samostrijel” among forbidden means, next to traps, nets and other means of mass capture (art. 17 (1) 2 and art. 63 (1)). The Federation Hunting Act forbids bringing into a hunting ground weapons that are not hunting weapons, the “samostrijel” among them (art. 30). No text defines the word, so we do not know whether it covers the crossbow.

Open questions

• How the bow exception in the Federation (art. 57) and in Republika Srpska (art. 17) fits the articles that allow shooting game only with firearms (art. 54 and art. 53).
• Whether any enclosed ground in the Federation, or any game-rearing facility in Republika Srpska, offers hunting with the bow.
• Whether the Federation’s “large game” in art. 57 is the same as the “big game” of its seasons regulation, and whether the exception reaches brown bear, wolf and capercaillie, which both entities count among large or big game.
• Which penalty applies to the bow under Canton 10’s act.
• Whether a foreign hunter exam is accepted in Republika Srpska.
• Whether the Federation seasons regulation was amended after 2017. We read it as amended in 2017.

Before you go

This page describes the hunting laws of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, of Canton 10, of Republika Srpska and of Brčko District as they stood on the date below. The exception for the bow is written for large game inside a fence, and the same acts name only firearms for shooting game. Before you book, ask the ground’s user in writing which provision they rely on to offer the bow, and whether the ground is an enclosed hunting ground in the Federation or a game-rearing facility in Republika Srpska. Confirm with the entity’s ministry and with your host. The final check is yours.