Meet the Owner

Pat Norris, the owner, has a wonderful reputation in the archery industry. He has been President of the California Bowmen Hunter and State Target Association as well as National Field Archery Association Director from California. Pat was inducted into the California Archery Hall of Fame in January 2002.

Pat is a life member of Briones Archers, California Bowmen Hunters, National Field Archery Association. He is a current active member of Nevada County Sportsmen Club.

He has personally promoted numerous Professional Archery Tournaments that paid out more money than advertised. His first major tournament was the Hawaiian Open in 1972 with a purse of over $10,000. (in 2024 dollars  that is about $74,000) The next year the Hawaiian open was $12,000. 

The Bear Valley California tournaments where PAA sanctioned promotions before compound bows were outlawed by the PAA. The Fresno Safari money shoot started as a $175.00 money pot and was promoted by Pat Norris and John Williamson for many years. The Safari at that time was the largest attended tournament of the time in California . Over 1000 competing archers, it’s highest payout years was over $20,000 for the weekend.. Professional archers from all over the USA attended Fresno. Gene Lueck, Dean Pridgen, John Williamson, Jim Brown, Terry Ragsdale, Pete Shepley, Mike Leiter, Stan and Liz Columbo and many other great archers considered this the premier west coast tournament to attend.

After a few years layoff, Ben Rogers and Pat Norris got together and promoted the World Bowhunter Team Championships at the Fresno Field Archers Dunlap Range. The first year was a $2,500 hundred tournament, then $5,000 and eventually grew to $22,000.00. This was the first two-man team event scoring the higher score on each target from the two man teams. Some of the National Champions that shot this tournament every year where, Jim Brown, Ben Rogers, Johnny Pourciau, Charlie Langston, Bob Gentry and many many other great friends and bowhunter style archers.

Pat opened and operated Archery Trails, a forty-acre 3-D archery facility in Cull Canyon, Castro Valley, CA. Located just 20 miles from downtown San Francisco. Terry Rosfeld, Linda and Scott Norris helped with the set up and running of the week end range. There were never less than 30 McKenzie 3-D targets on the range and the set up and distances where changed every week, sometimes twice a week.

Over the years Pat Norris shot archery, promoted the sport of archery and became good friends with such archery greats as Fred Bear, Roy Hoff, John Williamson, Tom Jennings, Gail and Eva Martin, Frank Scott, Earl Hoyt, Ann Weber Hoyt, Lowell Roper, Babe and Henry Bitzenburger, Terry and Dan Martin, Jim Easton, Joe Johnston, Roger and Kevin Erlandson, Chuck and Tom Saunders and many others.

Most of the top professional archers shooting a bow during the last 50 years and today consider him a good friend and avid promoter of the sport we all love.

One thing many of today’s professional archers do not know. The PAA, NAA, NFAA and AMO outlawed compound bows when Allen and Jennings where the only two companies making compounds. Pat Norris was PAA tournament director at the time and resigned his duties and dropped out of the PAA. In 1970 Pat wrote the first draft of the current NFAA Pro Division. He became the NFAA director from California and was instrumental in having the NFAA Approve and accept Professional Archery. His good friend John Williamson became the NFAA Pro-division Councilman. From that point on the NFAA Pro-divisions has continued to grow.  Today many top professional archers are living Pat's dream "making a living from shooting".

Tournaments where not all of Pat’s promotions, he took 30 to 50 hunters to Catalina and Santa Cruz Islands for Goat, Merino Sheep and Island Hog hunts 4 to 7 times each year for more than 20 years. He got lucky on occasion and placed many animals in the California Big Game record books. 

During Pat's years of bowhunting , Deer, Bear, Elk, Wild Hogs, Bobcat, Javalina where among the species he harvested with great respect and a healthy appetite.

One of the most important aspects of Pat’s career. As a major west coast distributor, he helped over two hundred archery pro shops open correctly during the 1980’s. Many of those archery shops are still in business and their owners are in touch with him from time to time and still say thank you.

Pat has been an Archery Pro Shop owner for over 58 years, having started in Oakland, CA later moving to Alameda, CA and then San Leandro, CA and Hayward CA, as Bonnie Bowman Archery.  Pat is now located in the beautiful California Foothills in Grass Valley, CA under his current name Pat Norris Archery on 5 acres with a 100 yard outdoor sight in target and small pro shop.  His shop is located approximately 6 miles from the Nevada County Sportsmen's 42 target field range.