The Norwegian Archery Association was founded in 1988 and is an interest organization for Norwegian hunters who want to hunt with a bow and arrow in Norway. The association’s overall goal is therefore to contribute to such hunting being allowed. Learn more about Norwegian bow hunters.
Building up first-hand experiences with bow-hunting and acquiring all relevant knowledge in connection with such hunting is therefore important. Whether it concerns technical, scientific, societal, moral or ethical matters.
As part of the training of Norwegian bowhunters, the association organizes, among other things, competitions with lifelike 3-dimensional animal figures made of plastic foam. The shooting mode is called 3D shooting because of the “flashes”. The competitions are very similar to the so-called hunting trails in which hunters with gunpowder weapons take part.
Unfortunately for Norwegian bow hunters, bowhunting is not legal in Norway due to a law which states that the flying projectile must be powered by gunpowder. The European Bowhunting Federation has, however, tried to change this law for many years. Some politicians have a positive attitude towards bowhunting, but animal rights activists, like the Norwegian “PETA” (People for Ethical Treatment of Animals) continues to spread inaccurate information about the effectiveness and accuracy of a compound bow. The result of this is that most people in Norway think that the animal will suffer for a long time, and eventually die from pain.
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Bow hunting is both efficient and humane
The Finnish veterinarian Mikaela Sauvala carried out a study in 2019 that compared real hunting situations for free-ranging white-tailed deer.
The conclusion of the Finnish doctoral thesis was that bow hunting is both efficient and humane. During the research, 100 deer were shot with a rifle, while 130 game were shot with a bow. Video recordings, blood samples from wild game and collected data on the hunting situation and equipment were used to find out whether hunting with a bow can be as humane as big game hunting with a rifle.
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Where is bow hunting allowed?
Nations including Denmark, France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Hungary, Finland and Bulgaria use bow and arrow hunting as a hunting tool in modern game management. Some European countries, including the United Kingdom, prohibit bowhunting. Bowhunting, like target archery, was revived in the UK during the Victorian era, but has been banned since 1965. Recently a law was passed in Estonia that would allow bowhunting of small game.
The History of Modern Bowhunting
Bowhunting dates back to the Stone Age and can be traced throughout history in many regions around the world, including Asia, Europe, and North America. Native Americans were skilled bowhunters. Although their bows and arrows were often crude, they overcame the limitations of their equipment with their exceptional ability to stalk within close range of wary prey. The ability to get close to game remains the essence of all bowhunting today.
As immigrants moved into North America, they gradually combined European and Native American archery techniques and technology. The first archery club in America, known as the United Bowmen of Philadelphia, was formed in 1828.
The writings of bowhunters Will and Maurice Thompson helped popularize bowhunting in the 1860s and 1870s. In 1878, Maurice Thompson published the book The Witchery of Archery, which inspired many more individuals to pick up a bow and arrow. In 1879, the newly founded National Archery Association (NAA) held the first U.S.–sponsored tournament.
From the 1920s, professional engineers took an interest in archery, previously the exclusive field of traditional craft experts. They led the commercial development of new forms of bow including the modern recurve and compound bow. These modern forms are now dominant in modern Western archery; traditional bows are in a minority. In the 1980s, the skills of traditional archery were revived by American enthusiasts and combined with the new scientific understanding. Much of this expertise is available in the Traditional Bowyer’s Bibles Modern game archery owes much of its success to Fred Bear, an American bow hunter and bow manufacturer.
Norwegian Bow Hunters – Conclusion
According to a Norwegian bowhunter, hunting with a bow is not about filling the freezer with food. It’s about the experience, about sharpening your senses and experiencing close contact with the animals.
Norwegian Bow Hunters, compiled by Tor Kjolberg
Feature image (on top) Bow hunting Rangefinder