Profile of Tink Nathan,
Professional Hunter
Lifelong
Bowhunter, Professional Hunter and Hunting Outfitter, Outdoor Writer and Editor on
Hunting, Renown public Speaker Lecturer on
Bowhunting and White-tailed Deer, Retired Manufacturer of hunting equipment and products,
former President and founder of Tink's Safariland Hunting Corporation in the U.S.A {1954
to 1991). Staff Consultant to Wellington Outdoors 1991-present. Original inventor &
Developer of Tink's # 69 Doe-in-Rut Buck Lure, and
125 other outdoor hunting products. Tink’s
# 69 Doe-In-Rut Buck lure has been on the market for 25 years and is the Worlds Best
Selling Deer Lure. Hold United States Trade
Mark for the name Tink’s. Producer of hunting documentaries and
wildlife films, produced over 25 full length, broadcast quality, true life adventure
outdoor documentaries and videos; graduate of The Sony Institute of Applied Science &
Technology, Hollywood, California at the American Film Institute.
Professional Hunting Outfitter/ Game Ranch Manager/Professional Bowhunting Guide - 1984 to
1988 Tink's Hunting Lodge in West Virginia, U.S.A, Contributing Editor & Columnist, "Ask
Tink, in " Bowhunter Magazine
from 2nd issue for 12 & half years from 1971 to 1984.
Life Member of Professional Hunters Association of South Africa since
1985. Life Member and Full Professional Member International Professional Hunters
Association (IPHA) since 1982 Co-Founder, Charter Member and first Field Director of Fred
Bear Sports Club. Life Member of Texas Trophy Hunters Association. Honorary Life Member of
Alabama Bowhunters Association. Charter Member of Natal Bowhunters Association. Co-Founder
and Member of South African Bowhunters and Conservation Association. Life Member of Lone
Star Bowhunters Association. Life Member of National Rifle Association. Long time member
of Safari Club International, and member of the SCI African Chapter, North American
Muzzle-loading Chapter, Dallas-Fort Worth Chapter and Honorary member of the National
Capital Chapter. In April 1999 was inducted into the Outdoorsman Hall of Fame in Atlanta,
Georgia.
Made a Life
member of the Rufus Miller Farms Bowhunting & Archery Team, April, 1999.Serves on the
Board of the Archery Institute, Atlanta, GA since Oct l996.
Founder, First President and Executive Director of the International Hunting Video
Producers Association; Chapter Director, Member and Official Master Measurer of Safari
Club International; Founder and Legislative Director of Maryland Bowhunters Society;
Official Measurer for Rowland-Ward; Former Official Measurer for Pope & Young Club;
Former Associate Member of Pope & Young 1971 to1991; Member of GAME-COIN; Full
Professional Member of Outdoor Writers Association of America 1971-1991; Co-Founder and
First Credentials Chairman of World Bowhunters Association; Member of National Field
Archery Association since 1954; NFAA Master Bowhunter since Nov. 1971; SATOUR Registered
Guide. Inducted into the International Bowhunters Hall of Fame, Lansing, MI, 1985; Former
Member of Archery Manufactures Organization; U.S.A Bowhunting Chairman of America Archery
Council from 1971 to 1976; Secretary - Archery and Bowhunting Committee - National Rifle
Association, Headquarters, Washington, DC from 1974 to 1976 full time staff employee;
Member Alaska Bowhunters Association, member #99; Former Member Australian Bowhunters
Association, member #131. Drafted a new detailed Code of Ethics and Code of Conduct for
Professional Hunters, submitted to the Professional Hunters Association of South Africa
( PHASA) in
l997.
Believed to be holder of the very first bowhunting permit issued by Transvaal Provincial.
Administration in South Africa. In 1977; Co- Founded Africa’s first Bowhunting Only
Lodge, Kliphoek, in Milk River, Waterberg, Tvl, RSA, 1976; Winner of SCI Bowhunters
Chapter Major Bronze Awards 1988 and 1989, presented by Bill Negly; Contemporary and House
Guest of Fred Bear, Howard Hill, Doug Easton, Ben Rogers Lee, Bob Swinehart and other
noted American Bowhunting Pioneers; Active Bowhunter since 1949; 49 years of practical
Bowhunting experience, and African Bowhunting experience since 1966.
One of the original five founding members of the NFAA Bowhunting Committee (1971-1980)
that started the National Bowhunter Education Program (NBEP) that later became the NBEF.
NFAA/Bowhunting Committee members were Bill Wadsworth, Dr. Wayne Trimm, Tink Nathan, Ted
Fenner, and Dick Boyle; Co-Founder and Incorporator of the National Bowhunters Education
Foundation, Washington, DC, served on Board of Directors for 2 terms, from 1980 to 1984;
First "Qualified Bowhunter," certified by Bill Wadsworth; First” Certified
Bowhunting Instructor “certified by NFAA & NBEF; Taught first certified
Bowhunters Instructor workshop at IFAA Championships, July, 1975, Jay, Vermont. Regarded
as one of the Founding Fathers of Bowhunting Education, Wrote much of syllabus, text and
program development of the original National Bowhunter Education Program for NFAA &
NBEF. Obtained NRA recognition and support of the NBEP in 1975; NBEF-MBT Awards and was
presented with Master Bowhunter Trainer Cap, Plaque and Buckle by Bill Wadsworth at NBEF
Board of Directors meeting, 1984.
Founded formal Bowhunter education in South Africa.
Taught first NBEP/IBEP Courses in
South Africa, Steenbokpan Tvl in June, 1977 & April 1992; Taught Professional Hunting
& Bowhunting at a Professional Hunters Training Academy from 1991 to 1992; Taught and
introduced bowhunting to l3 Nature Conservation Officers in 1992 who attended an audit of
Professional Hunters School, representing Transvaal, Cape Province, Orange Free State and
Natal. Licensed by Transvaal Nature Conservation in South Africa on August 28, 1991 as a
Professional Hunter and was licensed as a Hunting Outfitter on March 17, 1993. First
American granted professional hunters Licence in the history of South Africa. First person
Registered and Licenced by the South African Government as a Dangerous Game Bowhunter
Instructor in l993. First and only person so appointed without having to stand for
testing, as there was no one qualified to test Tink’s skills or experience. In May,
1999 was asked to conduct a special Bowhunting Education & Training Course at
Suikerbosrand Nature Reserve for the staff of a South African Government owned Nature
Reserve.
Guides local and overseas clients and hunters for trophy African
game across Africa. Teaches Bowhunter Education, Training and Archery through the Tink
Nathan Bowhunting Institute; having trained & certified over 350 South Africans in
Bowhunting, and has taught over 1300 South Africans to shoot archery. Performs game ranch
consulting and design, conducts research on archery equipment and supports and promotes
bowhunting around the world.
Remains an
Active outdoor writer.
Tink was the subject of the color cover and lead feature article of FIRE!
Magazine, published in Brussels in 1992. Written in French, the six-page
article gave Tink and his Bowhunting Course the highest accolades possible. He was the
subject of feature article in December 1987 Archery World / Bowhunting World
Magazine on Tink's Hunting Lodge. Tink was also the subject of Bowhunting
Elephant article by the South African Magazine HUIS that called "Tink - the Modern Bushman" and
"Swish - the elephant is dead." [Translated from Afrikaans]. In 1994
Tink was appointed African Editor of FIRE! Magazine published in Belgium.Tink is the author/editor of African
Bowhunting Drumbeat, of Bowhunting e Magazine
on the Internet@ bowhunting.net. (see.www.bowhunting.net) Named as One of Top 50
People in the Archery & Bowhunting Industry by Archery World /Bowhunting World
magazine.1987.
Was named European
Editor of Bowhunting Magazine in l958 at age 16, which later became Bowhunting
World Magazine. Won 2nd place in Archery magazine Prize Story Contest in
l971, and published his first bowhunting story in Archery Magazine in l956 at the
age of 15.
Tink's
hunting accomplishments equal his volunteer service and dedication to archery and
bowhunting. He completed 14 African Bowhunts before settling in South Africa in April
1991. Nathan held #1 World Records in SCI and Rowland-Ward record books for bow kills too
numerous to mention. Currently holds four Number One Bow Kills in Roland-Ward Record Book
for African game, more than anyone else. He is widely regarded as the World's Most Experienced Living Bowhunter.
He is the first Bowhunter to take all 15 species of the South Pacific in 1986, The
First South Pacific 15 Bowhunting Grand Slam. Tink has taken 3 Elephants and 17 Buffalo
with Bow & Arrow only. Has taken three
Cape Buffalo in Africa each with a single arrow, on video. First Bowhunter to ever bag the
Banteng with bow and arrow. First bowhunter to take a Sambar Deer with bow. First and only
bowhunter to take the Buffalo Grand Slam with Bow
(taking American Bison, Asian Water Buffalo, African Water Buffalo and three Cape Buffalo
and the rare Banteng). Tink has taken more
species of deer with the bow and arrow than anyone, living or dead. Tink has taken
more Buffalo with a bow than anyone in the world, 18 total.
Now Tink has
devoted himself to professional hunting, (guiding of hunters) writing, teaching bowhunting
and helping others hunt. He has spent several years living in the remote wilderness region
of the Soutpansberg Mountain Range in the former Northern Transvaal, experiencing the
African Bushvelt as few American hunters have done in recent times. Tink lived for two years along the Limpopo River
on the Zimbabwe border, and is now based in Wonderboom South, a suburb of Pretoria, the
Capital of South Africa. Tink was born in San Antonio, Texas at an early age and started
hunting with his Daisy Red Ryder air rifle in l947 in Germany. Tink started his archery
career in the same year when he shot a Piper Cub in the wing as it was flying over his
home in Germany with his 31# York Hickory longbow.
Tink is a 5th
generation Texan of German descent. Tink is a
US Citizen and also permanent resident of South Africa. He has two adult children, Jeffrey
Wayne Nathan of Laurel, Maryland, USA and Miss Jacqui Diane Nathan, of McLean, Virginia,
USA, both highly successful and active bowhunters. Tink is married to Donna Rae Nathan, a
noted outdoorswoman, bowhunter and the First
Woman Certified Bowhunter Instructor in South Africa.
