Constitution and Bylaws

Article I

Section 1
The legal name of this corporation shall be the “Mississippi Bow Hunters Association, Inc.” hereto referred to as the “Association” within the bylaws. The corporation shall also be known as the “Mississippi Bowhunters Association” for promotional and related purposes.

Section 2
The transaction of Association business shall be located at such places as the members may from time to time determine.

Article II
The purpose of the “Mississippi Bow Hunters Association” is: (1) to foster, expand, and perpetuate the practice of hunting with bow and arrow in the state of Mississippi, 2) encourage the use of bow and arrow in hunting of all legal game and predators, and (3) to improve and increase the privileges of the bow and arrow hunter. For the purposes of Article II, a bow and arrow is defined as a compound, recurve, or longbow that is hand held and has no mechanical device to enable the hunter to lock the bow at full or partial draw. While the Association supports an individual’s choice of any legal weapon, the Association’s efforts as defined in sections (1), (2), and (3) shall be limited to the bow and arrow. The crossbow shall not be considered a bow and arrow.

Article III
Section 1
The Association, being a non-profit organization, shall not issue, and no member shall receive any distribution of dividends.

Section 2
If the Association should dissolve the Corporation; assets, cash on hand, and any other properties shall be donated to the Mississippi Wildlife Federation, Inc.  The action of dissolving the Corporation must be approved by no less than two thirds vote cast of the membership, after having been notified in writing, no less than ten (10) days prior to the effective date of said vote.

Article IV

Membership

There shall be four (4) classes of individual memberships:
Regular, Life, Honorary Life, and Associate: (a) Regular Membership will be available to anyone upon application and payment of dues. (b) Life Membership will be available to anyone upon application and payment of an amount determined by the Association’s Board of Directors. (c) Honorary Life Membership, with the exemption from regular dues, this membership may be granted for exceptional merit and service upon recommendation and approval of the Association’s Board of Directors at any quarterly meeting. (d) Associate Membership will be available to any family member residing in the same household of a regular of Life Member, and shall receive the same benefits as the regular or Life Member, with the exception of periodic mailings including newsletters. This membership shall be available upon application and payment of dues.

Article V

Board of Directors

Section 1

Section 2
The Board of Directors shall meet a minimum of once each quarter at a time, place, and method (teleconference is permitted) designated by the Board of Directors. At least one quarterly meeting per year shall be open to the general membership. The general membership meeting shall be posted a minimum of 30 days in advance via written notification or on the Association’s website and shall take place on the first quarterly meeting of the new fiscal year.

Section 3
New Area Directors shall be nominated by any current Area Director or Board member. The Board of Directors shall vote on the acceptance of each new Area Director. Area Directors are expected to attend the regular Board meetings, and will have voting privileges as determined by the Board of Directors. The number of Area Directors in a region may vary according to the number of members in that region, or as the Board deems necessary for growth of the Association.

Article VI

Activities

Section 1

Section 2

Matters that may come before the Association at any time may be submitted to the membership in a vote taken by mail. Determination of matters to be submitted to the membership shall be made by the Board of Directors. A question so submitted shall be decided by the majority of members voting and shall be binding upon the Association.

Section 3

The fiscal year of the Association shall begin August 15th.

Sections 4

The Association Officers shall be responsible for submitting a periodic newsletter to the general membership in a form and frequency consistent with the capabilities of the Association.

Section 5

The annual dues for all categories of membership shall be decided by the Board of Directors. The dollars dues and fees shall require a majority vote of the Board members present at any given meeting.

Section 6

All individual Regular/Associate memberships will be for one or two years. Renewals shall be due and payable on the first or second year anniversary of the current membership inception date; whichever is applicable.  All members will receive a grace period of 60 days from the expiration of the membership before they are dropped from the membership rolls.

Section 7 (Awards)

Awards:

There shall be five awards given periodically or yearly by the Association at the annual Banquet:

This award shall be given to the member of the Association harvesting the highest scoring buck using the Pope and Young scoring system during the regular hunting season of the fiscal year with a vertical bow and arrow. In the case of a tie, the earliest reporting date shall receive the award.

Regulations for the Big Buck Award: