When traveling by air with a three piece longbow, do you have to check it as baggage or can you take in on board, or has anyone UPS'ed it ahead.

You must put it in your checked luggage.  No way will they let you carry it on.  You do not need to declare it like a firearm though.

Like said above check baggage. So far no problems I put the bow in its case down in my bag along with a tube of arrows with sharp written in big letters on the outside. I UPS my stuff once ahead of time and they lost the package for 3 days.....stabow

i MANAGE AN AIRPORT AND CAN ASK THE HEAD OF dhs IN dc FOR THE OFFICIAL RULING.  wE ONLY RUN SMALL PLANES HERE SO IT IS NOT A PROBLEM-BOWS, ARROWS, GUNS OR KNIVES-IT'S YOUR PLANE CARRY WHAT YOU WANT....

I'm also interested in this, I'm flying to British Columbia in Sep. I normally check a bow case but I'm trying to cut down on # of bags. Can I just put my bow in my checked bag and let it go or do I need to tell them it's in there?

I've UPSed stuff in the past with no problems.

I use a superb longbow hard case by Viking Voyageur when flying to bowhunt.. I've flown alot using these with never any issues..

Kustom King, The Nocking Point both sell these cases.


John III

Archery equipment doesn't need to be declared like firearms do. I would suggest checking with your airline to be sure of what they require.

I've been around the airlines for over 20 years, and can tell you that a lot of times the agents that are checking you in don't even know how to handle it.

Best if you have official word from their 1-800 #, so you show on travel day well informed.

I use a custom made ICC aluminum case that holds two Black Widow 60" PAX's, two dozen arrows and some small equipment. It uses the locking rod and a case hardened master lock that can't be cut by anything in an airport terminal so I have to make a point to arrange to be there when they inspect it, which is a good thing. I open it, they look, and I close and lock it for them. I have some buddies that I travel with that use cases for takedowns and they have been opened and the bow parts pulled out of the cut outs and just tossed back in case getting scratched up in the process. Nothing has ever come up missing but it is obvious that TSA employees have little regard for your property.

Wickles,

I would tell them it is there. They will either pass you thru at customs or they will want to see it. I've had it happen both ways depending on the agent you get.

Last year when I was leaving Calgary the lady agent I had asked me what was my pupose for visiting Canada had been and I told her I was hunting. She said then where is your gun. I said I didn't have one I had a bow. She said then where is your bow. I said it is disassembled in my bag. She said get it out she wanted to see it. I had to completely empty my bag in order to comply. She then said she used to shoot archery when she was younger and just wanted to see what kind of bow I had that could fit in my duffle bag.

Inconvenience at not extra charge..... just another service they offer. What will they think of next?

I bet you were steamed Jack!

No, not really.  I didn't get steamed until a few minutes later when I got to the boarding gate and found out my flight was delayed. Because of that I missed my connection in Chicago and had to spend the night there and didn't get home until the afternoon the next day.

Could of fried an egg my forehead.

i would never chance taking a bow into the cabin - cargo only.  

if i needed to hunt with a 1pc bow, i'd definitely wanna ship ahead.  td bows fly with me.  

i fly with a 2pc longbow (sometimes two of 'em), in a td sock, inside a heavy wall cardboard tube with plastic end caps (arrows in their own tube), tubes wrapped in hunting clothes inside a high denier nylon duffle.  no worries - unless yer bag gets lost.

For a 1 pc you may as well ship it because the airlines are going to charge you 25.00 for an extra bag any how....stabow

I flew to New Brunswick with a 1 piece longbow and 2 fly rods in a piece of 4" pvc with no problems, even with the ends in duct tape. Didnt charge any extra either, it counted as my second piece of luggage. Got some strange looks with it!!! It came flying out the door in Toronto. This was just last month.

Thanks for the info

When you think about it, it is rediculous though if you had a takedown bow with no string and no arrows with it. I suppose one could use the riser as a billy club so we are once again forced to jump through the hoops.

Will, I got my latest shipment of Wickles. By the way, if you folks haven't tried Wickles Pickles, they are the BEST pickles you can ever imagine. I'm addicted to them!

OK Gene I am a pickle addict also, so bad I will drink the juice. Where do I get Wickles Pickles?
Jack

This is getting WAY off topic, but save me a taste of those pickles Uncle Gene...please!

To get back on topic, you can carry your eqpt many ways in the belly of the plane;  ONLY in the belly of the plane in your checked luggage.  I usually have my broadheads mounted on the arrows in a seperate case.

I have used in the past a soft case in a duffle (scares me to death) or a hard sided golf club travel case (this works great with rifles too), but the following system utilizing a drop bottom rolling duffle has about 400,000 air miles on it and hasn't let me down yet.