In the rolling hills and farmland of southeastern Minnesota, just minutes off of Interstate 90, lies the singular crowning testimony to North America’s rich bowhunting heritage—a place to learn about bowhunting’s history, a place to appreciate bowhunting’s “re-discovery,” a place to understand bowhunting’s place in wildlife conservation and in our culture.
If your summer vacations, or fall hunting trips, lead you through the Midwest, plan a little extra time and pilgrimage to the mecca of bowhunting history-the Pope and Young Club / St. Charles Museum of Bowhunting in Chatfield, Minnesota.
“Learn about your roots as a bowhunter all the way from when Ishi stepped out of the stone age up to the present time,” says Glenn Hisey, Museum Director. “From history and archery collections to big game animal displays we have something to appeal to all ages.”
A maze of exhibits lead visitors through the chronological story of bowhunting’s evolution in North America over the last 150 years. Select artifacts behind glass, descriptive storyboards and dramatic dioramas chart the events that shaped bowhunting’s evolution. The dioramas feature Ishi (the last truly primitive Indian in North America), Dr. Saxton Pope, Arthur Young, Fred Bear and Glenn St. Charles.
Among the highlights of the collection of artifacts are items made and used by Dr. Saxton Pope and Arthur Young including handcrafted bows, arrows, points, books, trophies & personal items. Howard Hill bows, arrows and broadheads. Fred Bear’s borsallino hat, handcrafted bows and personal items of the Club’s founder, Glenn St. Charles. The most complete collection of wooden bows (over 200 longbows and recurves made between 1835 and 1950). One of the largest and most complete collections of broadheads ever amassed for public display (numbering over 1000) and a comprehensive collection of archery and bowhunting books and magazines.
Museum Hours – Monday through Friday 8:00am to 4:30pm, Saturday 10:00am to 5:00pm. Admission is Free (donations are welcome). Groups welcome! Located at 273 Mill Creek Road, Chatfield, MN 55923
Established in 1961, the Pope & Young Club is a non-profit North American conservation and bowhunting organization dedicated to the promotion and protection of our bowhunting heritage, hunting ethics and wildlife conservation. The Club also maintains the universally recognized repository for the records and statistics on North American big game animals harvested with a bow and arrow.
For information on the Pope & Young Club, please contact: www.pope-young.org
