Man has hunted with a bow and arrow for thousands of years. Approximately 20,000 hunters in Washington use a bow and arrow to hunt bear, deer, elk, and other game.

Historically, only the three types of bows below have been legal for bowhunting in our state: the long bow, the recurve bow, and the compound bow.

Stringing a Bow

All bows require a bowstring. Compound bows always have the bowstring attached to the bow. Long bows and recurve bows are strung when they are used and unstrung when they are stored. The correct and safest way to string a long or recurve bow is by using a bowstringer.