2024 Bowhunter of the Year
Joe Bradley
Introducing Joe Bradley
Colorado Bowhunter of the Year
A traditional bowhunter by heart… a custom woodworker by trade; Joe handmakes his own bows and arrows that he takes afield. As a small boy on the banks of the Mississippi river in Eastern Iowa, “Joey” chased rabbits and squirrels with a slingshot in his backyard before he eventually graduated to a youth bow. Always a ‘tag along’ to his dad at archery shoots, he eventually learned the beauty of an arching arrow hitting its mark.
As an adolescent living in the front range of Colorado, it didn’t take long for those rabbits and squirrels to be replaced with antelope and deer. Always a ‘tag along’ on his dad’s big game hunts, he learned quickly the respect required and the honor given to the quarry he pursues.
Now as a grown man with his own lessons learned along the way, Joe mentors his own sons in their own big game pursuits, passing on a legacy he feeds year after year.
CBA Leadership Positions
- CBA Big Game Records Chairman: 2020 to present
- CBA Banquet Committee: 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024
- CBA Banquet Trophy/ Display Chair: 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024
- Featured Columnist for The Colorado Bowhunter Magazine: 2022- present
- Co-Editor to the Colorado Bowhunter Magazine- 2023- present
Programs & events Joe has volunteered (Jamborees, Banquets, Shoots, etc.)
- CBA Jamboree:
- Has helped set up multiple 3D shoots for both the CBA Jamboree and the Big Thompson Bowhunters
- Denver ISE Show
- 3-time volunteer at the CBA booth
- Educational:
- 2-time Mule Deer Hunting Seminar at the CBA Banquet
- CBA Awards:
- Completed Big 8 #94 in 2012
- Completed Big 9 #31 in 2014 (youngest to ever accomplish at the time)
- 1st Place Sheep 2006
- 1st place Antelope 2020
- 1st Place Antelope 2021
- 3rd Place Antelope 2022
- 1st Place Mule deer 2015
- 1st Place Mule deer 2018
- 2nd Place Mule deer 2020
- 3rd Place Mule deer 2024
- CBA Service Award 2023
Other organizations Joe has been involved in:
- Pope & Young Club:
- Longtime active member
- Official P&Y measurer since 2014
- Boone & Crockett Club Member:
- Longtime active member
- HOWL for Wildlife:
- Active member
- Colorado Traditional Archers Society:
- Active member
- Grand Slam Club Ovis:
- Active member
- Big Thompson Bowhunters:
- Long time member
- Helped conduct Bowhunter Education at the Dennis Hansen Range for the Boy Scouts of America
- Mule Deer Foundation:
- Long time member
- Taught Mule Deer Hunting Seminar at the Mule Deer Foundation Banquets
- Booth Setup for Wooden Arrow Making, Taxidermy Bases & Plaques
- Rocky Mountain Sheep Society:
- Long time member
- B.A.S.S. Anglers Association:
- Longtime member
- Centennial Bass Club / Colorado Youth Outdoors:
- Centennial Bass Club 1999 Rookie of the year
- “Take a kid fishing” day at Louis Swift Ponds for Colorado Youth Outdoors
- “Take a kid fishing” day at Horsetooth Reservoir for Colorado Youth Outdoors
Joe’s literary contributions:
The Colorado Bowhunter magazine:
- Volume 24 Issue 5 “For Love of the Game”
- Volume 24 Issue 6 “Problem Bears”
- Volume 25 Issue 1 “Stubborn Choices”
- Volume 25 Issue 2 “Interview: 7 members of the Big 8 Club”
- Volume 25 Issue 4 “A Deeper Look into P & Y Measuring”
- Volume 25 Issue 5 “Keep it Simple”
- Volume 25 Issue 6 “Expectation versus Adaptation”
- Volume 26 Issue 1 “People think we are Crazy”
- Volume 26 Issue 2 “Old Timers”
- Volume 26 Issue 3 “Goats Hunting Goats”
- Volume 26 Issue 4 “Bowhunters: Gluttons for Punishment”
- Volume 26 Issue 5 “Slow Motion Chaos: A mountain lion story”
- Volume 26 Issue 6 “Brotherhood”
- Volume 27 Issue 1 “Eat What You Kill
- Volume 27 Issue 2 “Why? The CBA Big Game awards”
- Volume 27 Issue 3 “Enjoy the Journey”
- Volume 28 Issue 4 “Why are Coues Deer so Difficult?”
- Volume 27 Issue 5 “Thoughts: from your BGC”
- Volume 28 Issue 1 “Goals”
Traditional Bowhunter magazine:
- “Stubborn Choices”- December Issue 2017
P&Y Ethics magazine
- “The Referee” - Winter 2016 (Volume 44 No.4)
The Bighorn magazine
- “On Top of the World”- Winter Convention Issue (Volume 37 issue 4)
The Angler magazine: (Joe was the hunting content writer for The Angler for two years)
- Volume 20 Issue 238 Nov ‘14 “Traditional Bowhunting for Colo Moose”
- Volume 20 Issue 239 Dec ‘14 “A Wolf in Goats Clothing”
- Volume 20 Issue 240 Jan ‘15 “Hunting with Hounds: A Mt. Lion story”
- Volume 20 Issue 241 Feb ‘15 “Hold your Horses”
- Volume 21 Issue 249 Oct ‘15 “The Deer Hat”
- Volume 21 Issue 250 Nov ‘15 “Boys, Bows and Bunnies”
- Volume 21 Issue 251 Dec ‘15 “Colorado’s Other Deer”
- Volume 21 Issue 252 Jan ’15 “Hunting Rocky Mountain Bighorn”
- Volume 21 Issue 253 Feb ‘15 “Colorado’s ‘Problem’ Bears”
Joe’s bowhunting career:
Joe Bradley has had a remarkable bowhunting career at the young age of 45. He has taken most of his animals with homemade bows and handmade arrows he has designed himself!
Joe has harvested 98 Big Game animals, resulting in 14 of the 28 species available in North America. They include: Whitetail Deer (25), Mule Deer (22), Pronghorn Antelope (16), Black bear (12), Elk (3), Mountain Lion (2), Coues Deer (2), Mountain Goat (1), Shiras Moose (1), Canadian Moose (1), Sitka Blacktail (1), Columbian Blacktail (1) and a Musk Ox (1) that currently is #10 of all time (P&Y).
Having hunted in every corner across North America, Joe has taken animals in 15 states (CO, IA, KS, WY, WI, OK, MO, TX, NE, AZ, SD, FL, NM, AK, CA) and 4 Canadian provinces (SAS, ALB, MAN, NUN).
Not to mention the multiple small game harvests that include Javelina (4), Wild hog (3), Coyote (1), Coatimundi (1), Alligator (2), and 3 different turkey species (2 each). A testament to Joe’s own words: “I would hunt butterflies if there was a season for them…”
Joe has taken 46 of his animals here in his home state of Colorado, where he also completed his Big 8 in 2012 and became the youngest bowhunter ever to take his big 9 in 2014. Also included in the harvests listed above, Joe Bradley currently has 23-Pope & Young Entries and 4-Boone & Crockett Entries, all documented in their respective Record Book Registries.
One thing that stands out most about Joe is his ethics. As a mentor to the younger generation, including his own sons, Joe preaches respect and honor to a fallen animal. In his own words:
“These are full time animals; we are part time hunters. They deserve respect, period. Antelope don’t get to go inside when there is a hailstorm. Mountain Lions don’t get to order a pizza when they are hungry. When we are having cocktails at an office Christmas party, elk and deer are pawing through the snow searching for food and playing the wind constantly. Our “hunting season” is periodical, but their “survival season” is constant.
It is important to remember we are taking a life. That animal fell to our arrows. They died for us. We have a responsibility, as the ONLY ONE INVITED to their funeral, to honor their memory. We only get to walk up to them, the first time, one time. Clean them off, run your hand over their hide… and give them thanks.
-Joe Bradley”
The CBA Bowhunter of the Year Award, is the most prestigious award presented by the Colorado Bowhunters Association, and may be the most misunderstood. Some of this could be due to the title as it could imply that the winner had a very successful hunting season. While bowhunting success is certainly a consideration; the award is really much, much more. The criteria to receive the award includes: Contributions to the CBA (serving as an officer, other CBA leadership roles, committees, seminars, and articles written for the Colorado Bowhunter); and, Involvement in bowhunting and archery outside the CBA; and, Demonstration of sportsmanship; and, Success in the field with emphasis on hunting in Colorado.
