Airbows Not Legal In Georgia Archery-Only Counties

Heads up if you’ve purchased a new airbow—they aren’t legal in archery-only counties.

Guns and bows that use compressed air to fire bullets and arrows is a newer technology for hunting that’s growing in popularity. Georgia legislators passed a new law last spring making these weapons legal for hunting in Georgia. However, the Georgia law classifies airbows as a primitive-weapon. That means airbows are not legal during archery season, and they’re never legal in Georgia’s archery-only urban and suburban counties.

So in Georgia, at least for this 2019-2020 deer season, airbows are legal when and where muzzleloaders are legal.

Airbows function like a crossbow, but they can be reloaded more quickly for subsequent shots. According to one of the manufacturers of a popular model, at 50 yards it can shoot accurate 2-inch groups.

“This high level of accuracy is due to a unique method of propelling the arrow. Rather than pushing the arrow forward from the rear as with traditional archery, (the airbow) pulls the arrow from the front, enabling remarkably tighter shot groupings,” the airbow’s marketing says.