Welcome to the Nevada Bow Hunters Association
The Nevada Bow Hunters Association is affiliated with the National Field Archery Association. Our purpose is to promote all aspects of archery and protect the hunting rights of archers in Nevada.
NBHA Accomplishments
Many non-members who are archery hunters in Nevada have benefited from what NBHA has accomplished. NBHA was the driving force in obtaining the archery only Elk and Antelope Seasons that you now enjoy. NBHA fought to protect Nevada bow hunters from a stratified hunt system preventing the loss of many resident archery deer tags. Our Association has members attend both county Wildlife Advisory Board meetings and State Commission meetings to protect our hunting rights as archers. Currently NBHA along with other sportsman’s groups, such as Desert Big Horn and Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, are joining to fight against a lawsuit filed by a group of hunting guides from New Mexico. Rather than allocating deer tags for residents and a smaller percentage to non-resident hunters, all applications for tags might be placed in the same draw system. What do you think your odds of drawing an archery deer tag would be if, say 5,000 extra applications, were added to the resident quota? You think getting drawn for your favorite area is difficult now? Organizations are joining together to support Senator Reid’s bill that would give states the right to determine how hunting tags are allocated. NBHA has spent approximately $650 in the last couple of months from the Bowhunter Defense Fund for printing and mailing letters to all hunters asking them to support Senator Reid’s bill. We can't afford to lose. Other alternatives to fight this lawsuit are also being considered. Despite what the Association is doing to protect our hunting rights, many archery hunters in Nevada do not join NBHA. Some people like getting something for nothing. However, when there are no people left doing something, everyone will get nothing.
In addition to protecting hunting rights, we are spear-heading archery education in schools and communities. We offer scholarships for young adult members wanting to attend college. Members contribute to making improvements to wildlife in Nevada. Some members instruct bow hunter safety courses. We also support U.S. Sportsman’s Alliance and similar organizations.
Activities
NBHA offers members an opportunity to compete in four tournaments: the State Indoor Mail-In Tournament, the NBHA Marked Yardage Tournament, the State Outdoor Tournament and the Bowhunter Jamboree (an unmarked yardage 3-D tournament). We’ve offered a variety of awards in recent years – plaques, trophies, pins, medals, patches, and even money. We are presenting an All-Around NBHA Champion award in each style, gender, and age (except cubs and peewees) to the archers who perform best overall at shoots. A Banquet and Awards Ceremony is held at the Bowhunter Jamboree. In addition to tournament awards, the Association gives a silver belt buckle for Adult Bowhunter of the Year and Youth Bowhunter of the Year. We recognize hunters that harvest big game animals in Nevada each year. We award the Doc & Holmes revolving trophy and plaque to the hunter entering the largest mule buck from Nevada taken with archery equipment. We award two George Craft revolving trophy and plaques to the hunter with the largest out-of-state mule buck. We raffle off several thousand dollars in prizes, including 3-4 bows. Beginning archers should not hesitate from joining because they cannot compete with experienced archers. We all started as beginners. Also, based on the flight system, it is possible for novice archers to win medals because they are grouped with members at their own skill level.
How Will Shooting Paper Targets Make Me a Better Hunter?
"Prior to joining Las Vegas Archers Club and later NBHA, I had a negative attitude about attending shoots and getting involved. My attitude was, “How will shooting at paper targets make me a better hunter?” After several years of being stubborn, I attended a class round shoot outdoors. I shot with experienced archers who kindly, and with great patience, showed me why I missed several trophy deer. I had the wrong equipment with incorrect draw length, under spined arrows, and I had horrible form. I lost several arrows that day, but I began a journey towards becoming a more accurate archery shooter and a better archery hunter. Now, every tournament or club shoot I attend, I learn new information about improvements in form and advancements in equipment. Randy Elmer (Arizona resident) shot the largest elk bull in Nevada in 2003. He has also won about every major national tournament in archery – indoor, outdoor, and 3-D unmarked. He is an example of how proficiency at target archery can improve hunting success with a bow. My advice to both beginning archers and archers who are struggling to shoot accurately is to get proper equipment from an archery store and learn to shoot with proper form from top shooters. Nevada has some top archers who win tournaments at the national level. These are people you can learn from by participating in local club and NBHA shoots. Also, you’ll meet some great people who enjoy archery. If you are an experienced hunter and still think paper shoots aren’t practice for hunting, I have one question. Do you use a range finder? If so, and most of us who shoot at game over 40 to 50 yards use a range finder, then you’ve made shooting at big game into a marked yardage shoot. Except for stalking skills, hunting, there is little difference between shooting a 4 point buck at 58 yards or hitting the 5 spot at 58 yards. You still have to have good form to make a good shot. The only difference is that 4 point buck doesn’t have a bull’s eye on his side," explains NBHA President Jim Algerio.
