Slovenia

Summary

Slovenia names the bow in its hunting act. The Game and Hunting Act forbids using a bow for hunting, both in the wild and in hunting enclosures. The rule has been in the act since it was adopted in 2004 and has not changed. Breaking it is a minor offence punished by a fine.

The legal mechanism

• Game and Hunting Act, art. 44 (1), point 13: it is forbidden to use a bow or a “lokostrel” for hunting, in the wild or in hunting enclosures. The wording is the same as promulgated in 2004.
• The hunting weapon: the act requires game to be hunted with a hunting weapon and projectile suited to the species (art. 43 (1)), and the hunting weapons regulation defines hunting weapons as long- and short-barrelled firearms of the listed categories (art. 2 (1)).
• Penalties: hunting with a weapon that may not be used for hunting, including a breach of point 13, is a minor offence; an individual is fined 400 to 2,100 euros, a legal person or sole trader 6,300 to 125,000 euros (art. 77 (1), point 13, and (3), in the wording of the amendment of 2025).
• The exception: the minister, with the agreement of the minister responsible for nature protection, may lift individual prohibitions of art. 44 (1) for a given place and time, where research or another especially justified case requires it (art. 44 (3)). We have not found a decision of this kind for the bow.
• Recent amendments: the amendment of 2025 changed points 1 and 2 of art. 44 and rewrote the fines; the amendment of 2026 concerns hunting concessions. Neither touched point 13.

Open questions

• Point 13 names the bow together with the “lokostrel”, which the act does not define. No text we read says whether the word covers the crossbow.
• Whether the minister has ever lifted the ban on the bow under art. 44 (3).

Before you go

This page describes the Slovenian texts as they stood on the date below. If you hear that bowhunting has been allowed in Slovenia, ask for the amendment of art. 44 of the Game and Hunting Act and its number in the Uradni list, or for the minister’s decision under art. 44 (3) and the place and time it covers. Until then, hunting with a bow in Slovenia is an offence. The final check is yours.