Joella Bates can do it all: hunt, fish, shoot any type of weapon with considerable skill. Joella shoots compound bows, crossbows, recurve bows, longbows and selfbows.
In 1989, Joella took up archery for bowhunting, since then she has taken 80 different species of animals with her bows including becoming the first woman bow hunter to harvest a Cape buffalo in 2001; a Wild Turkey Grand Slam in 2004; the African Big 5 (lioness, elephant, Cape buffalo, leopard and green hunted a white rhinoceros) in 2009; first bow hunter male or female to take the Big 5 of Africa in a single safari in < 30 days.
As a competitor, Joella has claimed 11 3-D Archery World Championship Titles – one as an amateur and four as a Woman Pro shooting a compound bow and has earned over $100,000 in tournaments along with many national, regional, state and local titles. Just this year, she added one with a longbow and another as the ASA Female Traditional World Champion to go along with the 4 that she won in barebow in 2016. Joella placed on the podium at all 15 National events she competed in against women during 2018.
Joella is a wildlife professional and dedicated outdoors participant and promoter. She has worked as a naturalist, TWRA wildlife officer, fisheries manager, environmental scientist, professional archer, outdoors promoter, freelance writer, speaker, archery coach/trainer, sales associate with TKL Outdoors and Representative/Trainer with Global Archery.
Joella owns JOCAMPS and Operation Outdoor Outreach in which she does outreach programs, Archery Boot Camps and retreats that connect youth, women and families with the outdoor world through archery and other outdoor programs. Joella is a certified BAI and BAIT for NASP and Centershot; a basic and advanced instructor for S3DA; a USA Archery NAA Level 1 and 2 Instructor, Level 2 Instructor Trainer and Level 3 NTS Coach with Mental Management 101 Certification. Additionally, she is a Hunter/Bowhunter Education and Handgun Instructor. Joella teaches private and group archery lessons and conducts Archery Shoot Camps with Elem., Middle and High Schools as well as College Archery Clinics.
Joella conducts motivational programs: “Be A Winner,” “Putting Life on Target,” “DREAMS” and “No Excuses – No Limits.” She uses archery as a demonstration tool and follows the program with an opportunity to shoot bows and arrows with her.
After attending the University of Tennessee at Martin on a rifle scholarship and earning a B.S. in Natural Resources Management, she added a M.S. in Biology with emphasis in Fisheries Management from Tennessee Tech University in Cookeville, TN. In 1996, Joella became an inductee into the UTM Athletic Hall of Fame for the sport of rifle.