Bowes was born and raised in
Cairns, Queensland and attended
St Augustine's College. His parents, originally from
Victoria decided to move there shortly before he was born. His great uncle,
Bill Bowes, was an international English cricketer who famously bowled
Don Bradman on the first ball in the
1932–33 Ashes series. Jack began playing junior football with the Manunda Hawks Australian Football club before moving to the
Cairns Saints Football Club in the
AFL Cairns competition. As a junior, he was a standout and was placed in the
Gold Coast Suns Academy at the age of thirteen. In 2014, he made his senior debut for Cairns Saints as a sixteen year old and went on to play in a losing AFL Cairns seniors grand final that year where he managed a goal in a sixteen-point loss to Port Douglas. He grew up supporting
St Kilda. He made the decision to relocate to the
Gold Coast at the beginning of 2015 to increase his chances of being drafted. There he continued playing football for the
Surfers Paradise Demons in the
Queensland Australian Football League (QAFL) as well as Gold Coast's reserves team in the
North East Australian Football League (NEAFL). His 2015 NEAFL debut for the Gold Coast reserves included twenty-two disposals and one goal. He was selected to represent the under 17 AFL academy team in the
2015 AFL Grand Final curtain raiser and shone in a sixteen possession performance. He also completed his schooling in 2015 at
All Saints Anglican School. Bowes entered the final year of his junior football in 2016 and was predicted by many analysts to be selected with the first pick in the
2016 AFL draft. Bowes was named captain of the Queensland team that would compete in the 2016 division two
AFL Under 18 Championships and led the team to several victories, the best being against Northern Territory. His performances in the championships saw him rewarded with the Hunter Harrison Medal as the best division two player. Bowes was then selected to captain the Allies in the division one championships and was named in the 2016 under 18 All-Australian team as a result of his performances for the Allies. He was also chosen to represent team
Judd in the 2016 all stars under-18 clash at
Punt Road Oval, where he amassed twenty-three disposals. ==AFL career==