I will be making my third safari with Game 4 Africa next June and I am considering bringing along a crossbow. Are crossbows legal in South Africa? I am shooting a Ravin R20, Ravin .001 bolts and 100 grain broad heads...430 FPS. Whitetail are easily taken at 60-80 yards with it, but how would it stack up against a 600 lb. Kudu or even larger Wildebeest?
Here is the latest hunting proclamation in the eastern cape https://www.sahunters.co.za/images/attach/hunting/proclamations/Eastern Cape Provincial Hunting Proclamation 2019.pdf More here https://www.sahunters.co.za/index.php/hunting-licences-and-proclamations In terms of Section 29 (i) [by means of a bow -and -arrow], subject to the provisions of this ordinance I prohibit any natural person hunting with a bow and arrow under the following proviso that anyone intending to hunt with a bow and arrow must be in possession of a bow hunting certificate of competency obtained from a recognized institution and must apply to DEDEAT for a provincial permit. Any other hunter, who is escorted by a professional hunter, may hunt without proof of a bow hunting certificate of competency. PROHIBITED WAYS OF HUNTING 9. No person shall, unless he is the holder of a permit authorizing him or her to do so, hunt any wild animal (i) by means of a bow- and -arrow, We had a person from Provincial visiting us about 3 years back. They havent had the faintest idea of what bow hunting was about and what was legal or not. We discussed a lot of issues and the person was trying to get the proclamation sorted out. Six months later he was transferred to another department and that was the last time we had contact with any one from provincial. As far as I understand (not saying this is the law) you must have a bow hunting certificate of competency and can hunt on an enclosed farm. For open farms you need a bow hunting permit. For cross bows you also need a permit, depending who you ask because the one person in Provincial say it is just another bow and the other one person says it is another type of weapon you need a permit. if you get anything in writing please give us feedback here.
