History Of The New Zealand Bowhunters Society
The New Zealand Bowhunters Society became an incorporated society on June 24th 1955, however organised bow hunting in this country goes
back a further 10 years to 1945 when a 'Field Section' was formed within the Auckland Archery Club.
Initially there was no local game award system, instead members competed for the Art Young awards of the National Field Archery Association of
America and in 1949 the NZFAA invited New Zealand hunters to draw up a points list for our game animals.
In August 1951 the first national body, the New Zealand Bowhunters Club (NZBC), was formed. The game system adopted at that time was
basically the same as we use today including 5 big game and 5 small game awards although with different point values for individual
game animals. In 1955 a special meeting of the NZBC was called to adopt a new constitution and the New Zealand Bowhunters Society (NZBS) was formed.
The annual NZBS Tournament is held every year over Queen's Birthday weekend and combines a 3-day field shoot with the presentation of
game and tournament trophies as well as the AGM and a social. The first Tournament was held at New Plymouth in 1958. The NZBS game award system culminates
in the Master Bowhunter award.
This award was presented for the first time in 1967 and to date there are over 40 Master Bowhunters who have completed both big and small game award systems.
