Celebrity archer headlines Washington Sportsmen’s Show

Hunters and fisherman throughout the South Sound will flock to the Washington State Fair and Events Center this week for the 2017 Washington Sportsmen’s Show, considered the premier event for outdoor enthusiasts.

The show, which opens Wednesday (Jan. 25) and runs through Sunday (Jan. 29), offers a variety of educational seminars on fishing, hunting and outdoor adventuring.

Jim Burnworth, a Northwest native hailing from Spokane, will be a first-time speaker, sharing with spectators stories of his big game hunts around the world and also the technical aspects of archery and bow hunting.

As host of the Outdoor Channel’s “Western Extreme” program for the past 14 seasons, Burnworth has built a reputation as the “Extreme Archer,” bringing viewers around the world on his wildest hunts in locales like Mexico, Canada, Africa, Australia, New Zealand and North America.

Burnworth, who grew up in Tillamook, Oregon, said “Western Extreme” has always been in the Top 10. The show has been renewed for another three seasons.

Burnworth shot his first arrow at age 12. And ever since then he’s been hooked.

“The mystical flight of the arrow is contagious,” he said.

Burnworth said he likes to educate television viewers on the science behind the arrow. For the past 14 years he’s been the poster-child for BowTech, the world’s leading manufacturer of compound bows and archery equipment.

“The technology now is so efficient,” Burnworth said. “It’s crazy what we’re capable of designing.”

Burnworth is known for his passion to bring more people into the sport of hunting, and also for his unflinching advocacy of wildlife conservation.

To attract more people to the sport of archery, Burnworth recently began building and designing what he said is the largest archery curriculum ever assembled. The curriculum is available on MO (My Outdoor) TV, a webcast owned by the Outdoor Channel, and reaches upward of 800,000 people interested in learning archery.

“It’s really going to get strong in the next year,” Burnworth said.

The Washington Sportsmen’s Show will be open from noon to 8 p.m. Wednesday through Friday; 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday; and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday. Show parking is free every day in the fairgrounds lots. Information on ticket pricing and special discounts is available at thesportshows.com.

This story was originally published January 24, 2017 at 9:53 AM with the headline "Celebrity archer headlines Washington Sportsmen’s Show."