The Burnie Bowmen club was founded in 1958 by three railway workmates who had developed an interest in archery. A public meeting was called to gauge interest and look for volunteers willing to help develop the sport of archery in Burnie. Things were up and running fairly quickly and the first target championship was held in 1959. This club has influenced the development of archery along the northwest coast of Tasmania.

The first club to be established in Tasmania was Hobart followed by Burnie, Launceston, Beaconsfield and Devonport. The clubs in Devonport and Beaconsfield are no longer in existence. In 1972 Burnie Bowmen archery club was given the honour of holding the first national championship to be held outside of a capital city. In 1972 archery was brought back into the Olympic Games and a team was picked to represent Australia.

The founding member of the club along with the help from an electrician, developed a strategy to help control the shooting by the use of two signal lights, much like the lights used on a pedestrian crossing. To the best of the clubs knowledge this way of controlling the shooting is still used today world wide.

Despite the club being named Burnie Bowmen participation is open to all sexes and all ages.