How It All Started

T.J. Conrads had been thinking of a hall of fame for traditional bowhunters for many, many years. As the Editor/Founder of Traditional Bowhunter® Magazine, he has met hundreds bowhunters who have dedicated their lives to the pastime that has become our lives. Those men and women have served on numerous boards and spent countless hours mentoring others in the love and heritage of traditional bowhunting. But it didn’t come to fruition until he and his long-time friend Jim Akenson spent an evening at Jim’s cabin during a spring turkey hunt in May 2024. After much thought that evening, T.J. mentioned the idea of such an organization to honor these men and women to Jim as they sat around the wood stove late into the night.

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To say Jim took the idea and ran with it would be an understatement. Not sleeping the first night after they talked about this idea, Jim had several pages of ideas to discuss with T.J. the following morning over coffee. Both men agreed that there were several other men who could help make this idea a reality. The two men ideated how a Board composed of well-established traditional bowhunters from across the entire United States could be put together. The wheels were rolling….

The first two gentlemen to be contacted that morning were Kevin Bahr of Illinois and Russell Lantier of Louisiana, both of whom have spent much of their lives involved with traditional bowhunting at the local, state, and national levels. They both jumped at the opportunity to see TBHOF take flight. These four Founding Members then looked to assemble a Board that represented all corners of the country, as well as a deep depth of bowhunting leadership and experience. After much discussion, they contacted Jim Eeckhout of Michigan, Matt Schuster of Georgia, and Tom Weaver of New York, all of whom jumped at the idea and agreed it was well past time for such an organization. Robin Conrads was asked to help with some of the administrative work. By the end of that day, the first Board of the Traditional Bowhunters Hall of Fame, Inc. had been assembled.

This volunteer board worked for months to develop bylaws to govern the organization now and into the future. The business was organized as a non-profit corporation, then applied and received tax-exempt 501(c)3 status so that donations would be tax-deductible. Many hours of work went into developing the criteria for induction that would recognize those who have excelled in promoting traditional bowhunting. 

TBHOF partnered with Traditional Bowhunter® Magazine (TBM), the Professional Bowhunters Society (PBS) and Compton Traditional Bowhunters (CTB) to promote, support, and host annual Induction Ceremonies at CTB’s Big Game Classics and the PBS Gatherings, respectively, beginning March, 2025 at the Compton Big Game Classic in Golden, Colorado. 

Once all these details were in place, TBHOF was announced to the public in October 2024. 

This is just the beginning of great things for the Traditional Bowhunters Hall of Fame. Watch for upcoming announcements for the future of the organization.