History-

Fellow bowhunters, Utah has a proud historical bow hunting heritage. The first "official" bow hunt in Utah was held in 1941. According to the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, 61 archers participated in that first-ever hunt.

During the 70s and 80s, the two-buck season brought numerous people to the bowhunt. Later, the 'choose your weapon' season decreased the amount of participants in the bowhunt. Now, there are 16,000 general archery season deer hunters, 15

8 limited entry archery season deer hunters, 9,000 general archery season elk hunters, 386 limited entry archery season elk hunters and 95 limited entry archery season antelope hunters.

These gains sound very impressive; however, the limited entry archery permits (639 total permits) total less than 17% of the total limited entry and once-in-a-lifetime permits (3791 total permits).

Montana, Idaho, and Colorado each formed a state organization where bowhunting preservation and advancement as a conservation tool was their number one priority. We feel that bowhunting in this great state is good for wildlife.

Several years ago, archers lost the AR301 because in some sportsmen's minds, it was "not fair" for bowhunters to be able to get premium limited entry tags without having a waiting period. During this same time, as the Regional Advisory Councils for the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources took away the AR301 (that any sporstman using archer

y tackle could attempt to draw), t

hey continued to increase both conservation and added convention tag numbers. These tags allow hunters to bypass the draw and hunt every year without a waiting period.

The time has come for bowhunters to promote bowhunting in Utah!

Bowhunters of Utah (BOU) is dedicated to promoting bowhunting opportunities throughout this great state. Furthermore, Bowhunters of Utah believes that bowhunters are underutilized as a tool in sound biological management.

Bowhunting can and should play a more important role in the overall big game and once in-a-lifetime hunt management. Through education, service projects, and involvement in our Regional Advisory Councils, Bowhunters of Utah will work to help educate decision makers to this end.

Chad Doyle

Riverton

My name is Chad W Doyle of Herriman, Utah. I was born in Portsmouth, Virginia; but soon moved to Utah and have resided here most of my life since. I am married to a beautiful wife and have 3 young children ages 8,6,and 4. My wife is a bowhunter as well and recently killed her first Mule deer buck.

I began bowhunting as soon as I could pick up my miniature recurve and have never looked back. I began hunting rabbits and squirrels and have graduated to mule deer, antelope, and the majestic elk. I have often said that I would give up the pursuit of other species to hunt elk if I had to. I am fairly new to "organized" lobbying. I have attended a few RAC meetings and even sat in on the Elk Committee once or twice. I am a new Bowhunter Education instructor. I have Bowhunted in Utah, Idaho and New Mexico.

I have a very deep passion for bowhunting and can think of NO other place I would rather be than in the Mountains with my family chasing the elusive elk!

Michael “Finnegan” Anderson

Sandy

I started hunting with a recurve bow in 1972, back when archery tags were either sex and an additional bonus to the regular season rifle hunt.  That was back when the rifle hunt lasted for 3 weekends.  That was back when almost nobody hunted elk in Utah with a bow.

Times have changed, and so have I.  My current equipment wouldn’t even be recognized as archery by my father or my grandfather.  But then, they would have quit hunting rather than participate in the draw and they would have loudly protested a system that denies fellow hunters the ability to get a permit.  So maybe I “cheat” by using a compound bow – I’ve got my reasons for that.  But like those who went before me, I see no reason for any hunter to have to stay home if he or she wants to hunt.  So I see bowhunting as the single best answer to the fact that there are more willing hunters than there are animals.  By promoting bowhunting, I can face my forbearers when the day comes and say that I did what I could for an honorable, ethical and common sense attempt to preserve the lifestyle that they knew, with the welfare of the animals that we hunt as first priority.

Damon Stone

Syracuse

I was born and raised in a hunting family; hunting was an integral part of my childhood. However I wasn’t introduced to bow hunting until I was seventeen. My mother’s boyfriend talked me into buying a license, handed me a Fred Bear Super Kodiak then let me loose in the woods without a clue of what to do. That’s all it took, I’ve been hunting with a bow for 21 years now and I’ve never looked back.

I have a beautiful wife and two incredible (future bow hunting) sons, a nine-year old and a newly adopted 11 month old. My passion for hunting has directed my career as well. I am a wildlife artist and I also have a production company, Moment of Truth Productions, which I run with my partner. We focus our attention on filming the everyday hunter and produce DVD’s of these hunts. We make this our focus because we know that the everyday
hunter is what the majority of hunters are, not guys who can pay thousands of dollars for hunts. That is one reason that I have decided to get involved with BOU.

My commitment to Bow Hunters of Utah comes from my love of the sport and my desire to increase opportunities for bow hunters in this beautiful state. I believe through BOU all bowhunters will have the chance to get involved with decisions that affect our hunting opportunities. My love and passion for bow hunting grows more with every passing year and hopefully, with BOU, so will bow hunting.

Gordy Bell

Salt Lake City

I am Gordy Bell. I have been married for 14 years to one heck of a woman ( she puts up with me ). I have three awesome children Kaila 17, Sean 12 and Carlee 10.

As a family we try to enjoy all that life in Utah has to offer, from Jazz games to whitewater raft trips in Moab.
I have hunted since I was four years old, my dad helped me hold a .22 rifle that was about a foot bigger than I was at the time so I could shoot my first jackrabbit. I am in the process right now of learning from my 12-year-old son and English Setter pup the kind of patience my father had when he was teaching me about all things outdoors.

I have in the past served as a committee member for two national conservation organizations as well as serving for a short time as the Vice Chairman for the International Bowhunter Education Program / National Bowhunter Education
Foundation program in Utah.

I really believe that in Utah we as bowhunters have some awesome opportunities and with a large amount of work
and dedication we can help educate those people that are fellow hunters and those people that choose not to hunt
about the benefits of bowhunting as not only a great sport, but also as the valuable management tool it is.

Travis Sparks

Paradise

• Bowhunted 26 years
• Married, 3 children, grandfather
• NBEF Certified Bowhunter Instructor for 20 years
• Hoyt USA 3-D Team Member (former)
• Staff Shooter Bountiful Archery PSE (former)
• BOC Committee Member
• RMEF Committee Member
• Back Country Horseman of Utah President Elect

I believe that bowhunting is the future for allowing maximum opportunity in game management. The sport allows a controlled harvest with maximum participation. In Utah, the bowhunters and bowhunting opportunity have long been misunderstood. I believe that Utah has a significant number of bowhunters who deserve to have a loud and united voice.

As an initiator of the first efforts which resulted in the AR-301 hunt, I hope to help support and educate BOU to the methods and means necessary to increase opportunity; to create a working relationship with the DWR; to help coordinate efforts and provide the documentation necessary to present proposals at public meetings including the
RAC and Wildlfie Board; to get a significant number of Utah bowhunters organized and representing bowhuntings merits.

Guy Perkins

Smithfield

While both my parents hunted, neither were bowhunters. I was fortunate enough to be mentored as a young man by the local bowhunting icon in  SE Idaho where I was raised.

A few years later while eating lunch, high on a ridge above the timbered elk, he charged me to teach others what he had taught me. That charge and my bumping into the National Bowhunter Education program (NBEF) during my first year in college, set me in motion. My attempts to bring bowhunter education into the hunting main stream in Utah has been met with mixed results over the past 20 years. Often, I've felt that I failed the bowhunters of Utah. I am saddened to consider that others may not ever get to experience what the program had contributed to my bowhunting success. Try as I might, I just couldn't get the value of this program understood by the DWR. Nor could I find a permanent support home in our own state archery organization. Many other sincere people have also tried to
map the core values of this programs initial message in this state.

The principles of this program will help you better enjoy bowhunting. It will help you speak intelligently about the conservation tool bowhunting can be as it pertains to our moral obligation as humans to the resource. Because of their involvement with the bowhunter education program; some in this new group have risen to become our bowhunting leadership.

Times have changed – and are changing. Bowhunting and its initial intentions need to be looked after 24/7. I am honored to be asked to act at an advisory level for Bowhunters of Utah. Many of us are sportsman who also participate in other outdoor activities and various hunting adventures. Time and time again, only a few ever
stand up for bowhunting because bowhunters are an overall minority.

Pride or some fictitious, perceived threat often keeps non-bowhunting hunters and game agencys from looking at the value of bowhunting. For those of you who have made out the ticks on the nose of a feeding deer, or know the "glunks" of a rutting bull elk, you understand some of the personal values of the sport.

I often query in thought why the non-hunters often seem to know bowhunting better than our hunting brethren? It may be that bowhunting is the tool of tolerance for them if hunting has any distaste at all. Many times in my travels
when a non-hunter discovers I bowhunt, they say, "Bowhunting, now that is real hunting." It is time to teach the truth about bowhunting!

Taylor West

Salt Lake City

I have been hunting in Utah since I was 14 years old and bowhunting since I was 16. Nobody in my family bow hunted
when I started, so I was self taught with the help of the writings of Chuck Adams, Dwight Schuh, Dave Holt and all the bowhunting magazines I could get my hands on. I grew up chasing muleys in Southeastern Utah and they became my passion…..that is until I discovered archery elk hunting.

I immediately became addicted to bugling bulls and have dedicated my free time to finding bugling bulls ever since.
I have a beautiful wife and together we have seven kids (that’s right SEVEN) between us. Kind of a Brady Bunch situation. My wife is new to hunting but has recently started shooting a bow and has caught the elk hunting bug as well. We love to camp and fish and spend most of our free time in the out of doors. My concerns with hunting in Utah
and Utah hunters are many. I believe we have the potential to be on the forefront of hunting quality and opportunity for bowhunters, but that we need to make some changes to get there.

With the estimated number of bowhunters over 16,000, I am concerned that there has not been a unified group that represents the values of bowhunting to the common hunter.

My passion is bowhunting and I intend to campaign passionately when it comes to insuring its future. I am looking forward to doing what I can to help make sure my kids can join me in the quakies, bow in hand, calling in big bulls.

Shaun Graves

Ogden

My name is Shaun Graves. I have an awesome wife and four children (three boys and one daughter). We camp, hunt, fish, play little-league, do  church, music lessons, gymnastics and try to enjoy one another’s interests. You can say we are your average juggling family. I have taught school for going on 14 years, teaching mostly Spanish and a few math classes as well at both the Jr. High and High School levels. I have also coached high school basketball for 10 years. I am currently employed at Fremont High School in Plain City, Utah.

I have one enormous passion – and I have had it since I was about 10 years old: I love to hunt. I got into bowhunting in the early 90’s after my LDS mission and haven’t picked up a rifle since. I started teaching Bowhunter Educatio in 2000 and have had a wonderful experience sharing with other bowhunters over the years. I served as the National Bowhunters Education Program Vice chair for a year and a half and have recently been involved in bringing a bowhunting voice to the RAC meetings.

My passion for bowhunting has led me to get involved and work towards creating a strong voice for sportsmen who choose the traditional values instilled in hunting with a bow and arrow. I really have enjoyed my association with my fellow bowhunters. I firmly believe that by working together we can achieve more for both wildlife and the wonderful sport of bowhunting.

Tim Roberts

Ogden

I've been flippin arrows for more than fourteen years. I was one of the lucky bowhunters who had success early. I've often wondered why? When I took the NBEF course a few years later things began to really fall in place. I was able to clearly see how "lucky" I was being able to take animals with such limited knowledge. Some of those hunting experiences didn't come without heart ache.

I vowed to help others bi- pass the bad and be able to enjoy more of the good that comes with bowhunting. That is why for the past several years I have been working to help the DWR install a bowhunter education program that can bennifit wildlife, bowhunter and the non-hunting public of the state.