taking my bow to france

[ImAllAQuiver]

i am going on holiday to france and i want to take my bow, i will be using it on private land, as a minor are there any laws i should be aware of?

[Max]

There are one or two members who are resident in France (Cecile for example) who might be able to shed light on local issues - check out the members directory - an email or PM might get you the information required.

I would double check 2 things - firstly your insurance status. I assume you are are insured as a member of GNAS, NFAS or another such body, but I am not at all sure if you are covered for shooting on private land abroad (i.e. not participating in official club activities or competitions). Any litigation in respect of an accident might be VERY expensive.

Secondly, how you are getting to France. There are quite a few members here on the board (and possibly one or two past threads) that might give useful advice on taking your bow on an aircraft, or ferry (for example).

Good luck!

[clickerati]

Welcome aboard, IAAQ!

We have discussed taking your bow aboard in this thread and one about insurance here (the highlighted words are clickable links, btw).

It's always a good idea to use the Search function (up in the menu bar) because we've discussed a fair few topics here. You can usually find what you're looking for. Have a good root around the Links Directory, which is a growning database of websites!

Good luck, have fun and let us know what we can do to help!

[clickerati]

Moved this to a more appropriate forum.

[wingate_52]

If you get caught, they will chop off 2 or 3 fingers of your drawing hand. Old 14th century law, not yet repealed for longbows.

[David Needham]

Hi ImAllAQuiver

I don't know if you are one of the archers that are coming to me over the Easter hols, as your profile doesn't tell me much

The French are much more relaxed about archery, shooting, hunting etc (which may go some way to explain why there are 60,000 members of the French Archery assoc vs the 20,000 members of the GNAS)

Firstly make sure it is private land and you do have permission from the land owner. You may want to be shooting as a target so as not to be mistaken for a bow hunter (nothing wrong with that, in season)

If you are a member of a UK archery society you will have some insurance cover, but if you are a member of the GNAS you will be subject to their stupid self-imposed clauses that alienated so many members a number of years back.

I have a commercial all-risks insurance package for our facilities that (amongst other things) gives 6,100,000 euros of liability cover for any one incident.

Hope that helps.

[cecile]

As Clicky pointed out, most the answers were already made.

I suggest you shoot in a French club. All clubs are insured for occasional archers if they are affiliated to FFTA or FFTL. You may check for a club in the region you will go at : www.ffta.fr.
If your French is poor, you may tell me where you are going and I will make the research for you.
Most French clubs will be happy to share their targets with you. It migth be possible that some will ask for a little money, depending on how much you intend to shoot on their butts.

If you shoot outside a club, be very carefull not to cause any accident !! You might be in trouble, unless your membership to an organization provide you with special insurance abroad.

[Alex Greig]

David is there an archery shop near you that I may visit whilst I am with you over Easter?

[David Needham]

Hi Alex

The nearest archery shop is about 1 1/4 hours away - not too far, not too near!

[Alex Greig]

That is 45 minutes closer than my nearest in the UK