James’ love of the outdoors began as a boy chasing his dad, but instead of going through the woods, it was on the golf course. Playing late into the evening, he paid attention to the way the air cooled and the sounds changed as the sun dipped behind the Ozark hills where he grew up. Today James is a husband and father to three sons. They hunt, fish, hike, camp, and explore public lands and waters as a family. It was James’ boys who exposed him to deer hunting and eventually ignited a passion for the pursuit of wild game for food and for the thrill of the hunt. They learned how to hunt and fish together, with the lessons often flowing in both directions.

A question about what “public lands” were on a Colorado vacation eventually led James to volunteer in 2018 to help BHA in Arkansas. From there he worked with other board members to establish the Arkansas Chapter in 2020 and proudly led the chapter until 2024. James is a generalist hunter and angler, as happy throwing poppers to bream in an Ozark stream as he is pursuing black bears in the Ozark National Forest or ducks on unnamed public areas within a reasonable drive of his home in Bentonville, Arkansas. In his spare time, he runs the US operation for an India-based textile company and serves on other conservation-oriented boards and advisory committees in Arkansas.