France
FFCA has an extensive program to initiate new bow hunters wanting to legally obtain their French Bow-hunting license. In France you need a normal hunting license to hunt with fire arms as well as a bow hunting certification of capacity to hunt hunt with a bow. The Bowhunting certificate is administered by the local hunting federation during a full day of certification called JFO.
Besides the JFO, FFCA administers 3 levels of training for its certified instructors who belong to individual associations:
Level 1 training for instructors (this is a general instructor training), is managed by expert instructors / selected FFCA Administrators
Level 2 training for instructors (this is a training with main focus on hands-on tuning of various kinds of bows & arrows), is managed by expert instructors
Level 3 training for instructors (this is a training focused on shooting in actual bowhunting circumstances), is managed by expert instructors and enabled by a special shooting range
Annual Calendar for JFOs and Instructor training is maintained on FFCA website
The certification of JFO and a valid hunting license is mandatory for Bowhunting.
The validity of the hunting license is renewed each year via payment of the hunting license fees either at local regional or national level.
There is no specific hunting period attributed for bow hunting, you can bow hunt during the same hunting season as regular fire arms.
Each Arrow has to be clearly marked with the license number of the hunter to be easily identifed in case of control by hunting authorities.
For big game hunting you need to also have the hunting Tag for the game you hunt, the hunting Tag is evidence that you have landowner authorization to hunt where you are hunting.
Use of infrared night visioning cameras is regulated - only allowed in the eastern border region of france.
Use of camera mounted on bows is prohibited.
Use of digital range finding sites mounted on bows (like Garmin) is prohibited.
You can use a range finder but not the version mounted on a bow.
Use of cross-bows is prohibited (not considered as legal weapon for hunting).
Normal hunting hours are from Sun-up to 30 minutes after sun-down. Only exception is Eastern France.
All mode of hunting is allowed: Stand hunting, Stalking, and organized drives.
Mixed Bowhunting with Firearms is practiced especially for organized drives.
For organized drives it is mandatory for bowhunters to wear orange colored clothing.
Non resident bowhunters are exempt from JFO certification as long as they can show they have a valid bowhunting license from their country.
Non resident bowhunters need to have a non resident hunting license that covers their duration of hunting in france (3, 5, 9 days).
Non resident bowhunters need to apply local French regulations as indicated above... only exception is the JFO certificate.
We advise non resident bowhunters to ask for guidance on any local regulations (example Eastern France has some special regulations).
Wildlife Hunting Regulations All big game and small game is authorized for bowhunting (same as for fire arms).
Based on annual wildlife management counts and local animal density some regions can temporarily prohibit shooting some species.
To be noted, some big game tags are by sex and age class (examples: Red Deer, Chamois, Mouflon).
Some regions prohibit hunting on certain days during the week.
Hunting Area Restrictions If any, they would be applicable to both bowhunting and firearms.
Hunting Equipment Regulations Each Arrow has to be clearly marked with the license number of the hunter to be easily identifed in case of control by hunting authorities.
Each hunter must carry a valid hunting license at all times when hunting.
Use of infrared night visioning cameras is regulated - only allowed in the eastern border region of france.
Use of any camera mounted on bows is prohibited.
Use of digital range finding sites mounted on bows (like Garmin) is prohibited.
Use of cross-bows is prohibited (not considered as legal weapon for hunting).