Hunting tourism in Republika Srpska: who may organise hunts for guests

Hunts for guests, local or foreign, in a hunting ground in Republika Srpska are organised by the ground user (korisnik lovišta). A guesthouse, farm or travel agency can work with the user, but cannot issue hunting permits for the ground or take guests hunting on its own. The exception is a fenced game breeding ground (uzgajalište divljači), described below. The text describes the rules as of 7 October 2026, under the 2024 Law on Hunting and the rulebooks adopted under it.

In short

• The Zakon o lovstvu (Law on Hunting, Službeni glasnik RS no. 63/24) replaced the 2009 law. It was published on 16 July 2024 and has been in force since 24 July 2024.
• The ground user issues a hunting permit (dozvola za lov, for large game) or a hunting card (lovna karta, for small game) at its seat. A permit is valid for 48 hours at most, and so is a hunting card for a commercial hunt.
• A guest who is not a "matični lovac" (a member of the association who is a citizen of RS or BiH), including a foreign hunter, takes part in commercial hunting: they pay the full price list and may hunt only with a game warden or expert escort (Law, arts. 4, 50 and 52).
• The law and the permit rulebook provide no separate licence for foreign hunters. The conditions are the same for everyone: a passed hunting exam and a valid weapon licence.
• The user may not transfer or lease the right to use a hunting ground. The fine for this is 5,000 to 15,000 KM.

Who it applies to

Ground users, and anyone who sells hunting to guests as part of a package: guesthouses, rural households, restaurants and travel agencies.

A ground user can be:

• a hunting association (lovačko udruženje), in a sports-recreation ground, if it has at least 50 members with a passed hunting exam and RS or BiH citizenship. The ground is awarded for 10 years through a public call by the Ministry;
• JP Šume Republike Srpske or another legal entity registered for hunting, in a commercial ground. A concession on the planned cull can be granted to a domestic or foreign legal entity for up to 20 years;
• a user named by the Government, in a special ground.

Contracts for grounds concluded under the earlier law stay valid until the agreed term ends (art. 86). The new public call and the 10-year term apply only after that, so ask the Ministry about the contract of the current ground user.

A fenced game breeding ground is set up by a decision of the Minister, on own or leased land (at least 20 hectares for large game). Only a legal entity can apply, with a programme for the breeding ground and an opinion of the Lovački savez. A farm registered as a natural person therefore has to set up a company or other legal entity first. Only in such a breeding ground can the owner organise hunts itself, and the breeder then issues the permits. Setting one up without the decision is fined 3,000 to 9,000 KM for a legal entity and 1,000 to 3,000 KM for a natural person.

For this area, the Decision on establishing hunting grounds (Službeni glasnik RS no. 24/26), in force since 28 March 2026, lists the sports-recreation grounds Nevesinje, Gacko, Berkovići, Ljubinje, Viduša and Leotar, and the commercial ground Velež. The boundaries and area of each ground are in the study (elaborat) that the Ministry publishes on its website.

What to do

1. Find out which ground covers your property and who its user is. Ask your municipality or the Lovački savez Republike Srpske (Hunting Association of RS).
2. Agree the terms with the user in writing: who issues permits, who provides the warden or escort, and which prices apply. The user sets its own price for accommodation, transport and other services not covered by the organisation fee.
3. Before booking, the guest must show proof of a passed hunting exam and a weapon licence. The rulebook does not say how foreign documents are handled, so ask the user. Hunting firearms are checked at the border jointly by the Border Police of BiH (Granična policija BiH) and a customs officer of the Indirect Taxation Authority of BiH (Uprava za indirektno oporezivanje BiH, UIO). A foreign hunter carries the permit of the competent authority to carry the weapon and an invitation from a hunting association in BiH, or proof of membership of a hunting association in their own country. At the border they fill in a request form in three copies, which the UIO customs officer certifies (Rulebook, Službeni glasnik BiH no. 27/26, art. 9). Firearms may cross only at international border crossings, not at crossings for local border traffic.
4. For a commercial hunt, the user issues the permit at its seat, no later than the start of the hunt. The hunter returns it within 24 hours of the end of the hunt, with a short written report. Hunters wear a visible fluorescent marking.
5. A trophy leaves the ground only with a transport note (propratnica) and a trophy sheet (trofejni list). For commercial hunts the user scores the trophy within two days of the kill. A top trophy (one of the three best scored in the Republic for that species) may not leave Republika Srpska, except temporarily with Ministry approval. If a foreign hunter takes one, the Republic buys it. A trophy of a species on the CITES list needs an export permit from the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations of BiH (Ministarstvo vanjske trgovine i ekonomskih odnosa BiH), under the Decision on the conditions and manner of implementing the CITES Convention in BiH (Službeni glasnik BiH no. 31/18). The Convention is published in Službeni glasnik BiH - Međunarodni ugovori no. 11/08. UIO customs checks the permits at the border. Whether a trophy also needs veterinary documents, check in advance with the ground user and the competent veterinary inspection.

A farm or guesthouse can offer accommodation, food, transport and hosting on its own. Without the ground user it may not take guests through the ground with weapons or dogs, organise photo-hunting or game watching, or lead guests on a hunt.

Deadlines and amounts

Open seasons are set by the Order on hunting time for protected game (Službeni glasnik RS no. 105/24). Examples:

• roe buck 1 May to 30 September; roe doe and fawn 1 October to 31 January;
• red deer stag 1 September to 31 January;
• chamois buck 1 August to 31 January;
• wild boar (male) all year; sow and piglet 1 July to 15 January;
• hare 1 October to 5 December.

The user issues permits only for the species and numbers in its annual plan. Minimum prices, VAT included, are set by the Price List Decision (Službeni glasnik RS no. 62/25). The user may raise them. The daily organisation fee covers organising the hunt, the expert escort and hunting facilities other than lodging. Per hunter: roe deer 70 KM, chamois 100 KM, wild boar 60 KM, small game 20 KM. Shooting a roe doe costs from 100 KM, a sow 250 KM. Trophies are priced by CIC points.

Where to go

• the ground user for your area, for permits, escort and prices;
• Lovački savez Republike Srpske, which promotes hunting tourism and publishes the rules;
• the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management of RS (Ministarstvo poljoprivrede, šumarstva i vodoprivrede), for grounds, breeding grounds and contracts;
• the Republic Inspectorate (Republička uprava za inspekcijske poslove), for inspections.

Laws and sources

• Zakon o lovstvu (Službeni glasnik RS no. 63/24)
• Pravilnik o dozvoli za lov i lovnoj karti (Službeni glasnik RS no. 50/25)
• Rješenje o cjenovniku odstrela, korišćenja divljači i usluga u lovištu (Službeni glasnik RS no. 62/25)
• Naredba o vremenu lova lovostajem zaštićene divljači (Službeni glasnik RS no. 105/24)
• Odluka o ustanovljavanju lovišta u Republici Srpskoj (Službeni glasnik RS no. 24/26)
• Pravilnik o načinu obavljanja kontrole prijenosa oružja i municije preko državne granice (Službeni glasnik BiH no. 27/26)
• Odluka o uslovima i načinu provođenja Konvencije o međunarodnoj trgovini ugroženim vrstama divljih životinja i biljaka u BiH (CITES) (Službeni glasnik BiH no. 31/18), summary by the Indirect Taxation Authority of BiH