KY Bowhunters Association

Welcome To The Home Of The KY Bowhunters Association

Kentucky Bow Hunters Association,

Organized in 1955, by Marvin Almon of Louisville, KY. KBA is one of the oldest bowhunting organizations in the United States and the oldest in the entire South. Many of the bowhunting opportunities you enjoy today were encouraged or requested by the Kentucky Bowhunters Association. These involve the season length for deer hunting, bowhunting opportunities for fish, turkey, and varmints and the declaration by former Governor Martha Layne Collins to designate October as "Bowhunting Month" in Kentucky.

The annual KBA banquet, held every March since 1958, is an opportunity for all members to get together to nominate officers, meet old friends and receive the big and small game awards they have earned the previous year. The winners of the three KBA-sponsored contests for Big Buck, Longest Roughfish & Big Groundhog are announced at this time and awards given. It is a time to talk to the entire membership at once and plot our course for the years ahead.

The first full weekend in May is where you will meet up with many KBA members at the Annual KBA Carp-O-Ree. This annual event, begun in the 1960's, is usually held at Land Between the Lakes in Western Kentucky. If you have never had the opportunity to bowfish, this is a great place to come enjoy a fun weekend and learn about the sport of bowfishing. The campers start arriving Thursday and Friday and the shooting gets underway Saturday morning at daylight. A pot-luck dinner is hosted Saturday evening and a great time, with some memorable moments, can be had by anyone!

Most of the summer is spent getting ready for the fall archery deer season and bowfishing. KBA members and clubs will be out shooting 3-D targets, tuning their bows and hunting varmints and small game to keep their skills sharp. Bowhunting can be a year-round fun if you want it to be!

To really start the fall archery season off right you must attend the annual KBA fall Rendezvous! This event is held the first full weekend in October at a public hunting area somewhere in the state. It is moved to various locations throughout the state on a regular basis. One year it may be at Land Between the Lakes, one year it could be at West KY W.M.A. near Paducah, KY. Another year you may find us at Higginson-Henry W.M.A. near Morganfield, KY. This is a great way to really get into the fall archery season and also find what the W.M.A's in Kentucky have to offer. A Saturday afternoon meeting is held to choose the site for the next year's rendezvous location. Saturday evening brings the pot-luck dinner and some around the campfire pickin' and a grinnin'. This is the time to make those contacts for hunts with new friends later on in the year. This is a most enjoyable part of the KBA - making new friends, gaining new hunting partners, hunting different areas of the state and maybe, just maybe, getting invited to that out-of-state hunt you have wanted to try for so long but didn't know where to start. We also have the annual rendezvous "Big Deer Award" that is given away Sunday at noon at the conclusion of the rendezvous, to the person harvesting the heaviest deer.

Just how do you keep up with all of these happenings? Why, the KBA Newsletter. The "Tracker" is published 3-4 times a year and mailed to you as part of your membership benefits. Big and small game award certificates are given yearly to all successful hunters that turn in their information at season's end and keep their dues current. County Representatives and District Representatives are in many counties to address your question and help you communicate with State Executive Officers.

So who are we? – We are Bowhunters 

What do we do? – We Bowhunt 

C'mon! join the fun!

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