About TBW

Traditional Bowhunters of Washington is a non-profit organization established in 1990. It’s purposes are to promote the use of traditional equipment for bowhunting and archery, encourage and provide instruction for the making of traditional equipment for and by the individual archer, and make our views known on the advancement of modern archery equipment and the image of bowhunting as a close range, primitive weapon sport.

WHO ARE TBW MEMBERS?

We are husbands, wives, friends, neighbors and kids that have a common passion. We believe in the romance of bowhunting with traditional archery equipment, and adhere to and believe in the rules of fair chase as set down by the Pope & Young Club. We appreciate the beauty of handcrafted bows, arrows and archery tackle. Members of the TBW community enjoy the thrill of crafting self-made archery equipment and are excited by experiencing traditional archery with bare longbows or recurves.

WHAT ACTIVITIES DO WE HAVE?

Annual TBW rendezvous: This is a fun shoot. TBW members gather together solely for the purpose of fellowship, shooting and making traditional equipment.
Annual Washington State Jamboree (WAJAM) – This events is geared towards teaching TBW kids up to 16 years old the art of bow building and flint knapping.
Partner in the Western States Rendezvous: This event is held each Memorial Day weekend. This shoot bring together many archery communities from several states. Hosting of the event rotates throughout clubs in the Northwestern states.
There are a number of 3D shoots each year and we try to have at least 1 kid’s event at every shoot. These events welcome you to shoot until your arm falls off and just have fun.
We proudly sponsor, help organize, and volunteer to teach archery to campers at the Northwest Burn Foundation’s Annual Summer Camp for Kids (Camp Ebaysut )
TBW maintains a presence at the information booth for outdoors sports shows.
We have an annual membership meeting at the annual rendezvous.
There are typically 4 board member meetings through the year, but all members are welcome to attend TB Board meetings or to contact board members at any time.
We have an annual TBW Banquet & Auction to support the club.
We publish the Toxophilite newsletter. This is a newsletter which is sent to all members with club news and various archery related information.
We keep a record of game taken by TBW members with the use of traditional bowhunting equipment. See the photo galleries to see some great pictures

Membership fees support the financial needs of our organization:

Washington Jamboree (WAJAM) – This event is geared towards teaching TBW members (kids up to 16 years old) the art of bow building and flint knapping
Burn Camp – Camp Eyabsut is a weeklong summer camp for young burn survivors, ages 5-17 years old. Every year Camp Eyabsut offers kids a chance to escape the everyday challenges that living with their scars brings to them.
Contributions to other community outreach programs like Mission Outdoors
Club overhead of our newsletter (Toxophilite) printing, website and insurance
Equipment used at our annual Rendezvous and Sun Basin Rock Shoot events

It is our collective concern that with the proliferation of modern archery equipment, traditional equipment; craftsmanship and skills may be forgotten. Therefore, in the tradition of Howard Hill, Saxton Pope, Art Young, Will Thompson, Kore Duryee, Glenn St. Charles, and all others who have left us with a rich tradition of archery; we unite to form a traditional bowhunting organization for Washington State. The organizations mission is to preserve traditional bowhunting history, craftsmanship and technique for generations to come.

The articles set forth in these by-laws create the guiding principles for which the organization shall function as to not lose site of the organizational mission.

The organization shall be known as Traditional Bowhunters of Washington (TBW).

Article I. Purpose and Activities

Section 1.01 Purpose

To align with the archery organizations of Washington State and the Pacific Northwest as a supporting club and to participate in related activities that do not conflict with the mission of TBW.
To promote, provide and instruct in the use of traditional archery equipment.
To advocate for the preservation of traditional archery equipment and the effects modern archery equipment has on the traditionally close range, primitive bowhunting technique.
To protect and promote the bowhunting season for the traditional bowhunting technique from modern archery advancements.

Section 1.02 Activities

A membership meeting will be held at least annually.
A minimum of two TBW sponsored events will be held per year.

Article II. Membership and Dues

Section 2.01 Membership

1) Membership shall be limited to persons believing in the preservation of traditional bowhunting history, craftsmanship and techniques.

2) Members shall use traditional equipment only. Traditional equipment includes longbows, recurves, self-bows, solid wood or laminated, or handheld and hand released.

Section 2.02 Dues

1) Dues shall be decided by the board and will be per individual or per family.

2) Membership can be purchased by means of an annual membership or lifetime membership.

i) Annual membership dues are to be paid in July of each year.
ii) Lifetime membership fee is to be paid upon registration.

Article III. Governance

Section 3.01 Bylaws

1) These by-laws and subsequent policies are the guiding principles in which TBW is to function.

i. Proposed changes to these by-laws shall be presented to the membership in writing and allow for at least 30 days to respond.

ii. A minimum of vote consisting of three-quarters of the responding membership is required to ratify changes to these by-laws.

Section 3.02 Board of Directors

The Board of Directors shall consist of elected officers and charged with upholding the by-laws and policies of TBW.

The Board of Directors and subsequent responsibilities are as follows:

1) President:

Elected by the Board of Directors by majority vote.
Serves as the official spokesperson and representative for TBW.

Charges with presiding over meetings.

This is a non-voting position except in the case of a tie vote.

2) Vice-President:

i. Elected by the Board of Directors by majority vote.

ii. Oversees membership and recruitment activities.

iii. Fulfills President responsibilities in their absence.

iv. This is a voting position unless fulfilling President duties.

3) Secretary/Treasurer:

Elected by membership vote.
Responsible for recording and maintaining meeting minutes, financial and membership records.

Responsible for all financial duties related to TBW activities.

This is a voting position.

4) Directors:

Elected by membership vote.
Responsible for attending and participating in quarterly Board meetings.

This is a voting position.

Section 3.03 Terms of Office

1) The term of office shall be one year. There is no maximum number of terms.

2) All positions are volunteer and can be filled by vote of the Board of Directors in the instance of a mid-year vacancy until time of annual membership election.

3) Four Board meetings will be held annually for the purpose of attending to official TBW business. All Board meetings are open to membership.

4) Vote is based on simple majority of attending Board members. Any tie vote shall be broken at the discretion of the President.

5) All Board members must be active and registered members.

Article IV. Dissolution Clause

In the event of dissolution of the organization all active TBW members are to be provided the opportunity to acquire physical property with remaining physical and monetary property to be disbursed to active traditional archery organization within the state of Washington. If there are no active traditional archery organization within the state of Washington, disbursement may extend to traditional archery organizations within the Pacific Northwest.