The Colorado chapter of Backcountry Hunters & Anglers (BHA) recently appointed Chris Slaughter to serve as an Assistant Regional Director for the Central Rockies region.

Chris was born in Columbus, Georgia, but raised outside of Dothan, Alabama. “I grew up on a family peanut farm,” he explained. “I spent a large part of my time as a child fishing for catfish and hunting squirrels. I’ve been hunting and angling much of my life.”

“My first hunting memories were as a young boy harvesting squirrels with my father,” he added. “As I got older my father sat with me in tree stands looking for whitetail deer. He was my earliest hunting mentor. My first memories fishing was with my Great Grandfather. We would cane pole for catfish and host fish fries for our family.” Today, Chris has several hunting and angling peers that encourage and educate him on something new each year.

Chris says fishing has been a mainstay during his adult life. “I love to travel to fish. I’ve fished most of the western states for trout and I’ve spent three months in Alaska fishing trout and salmon. I also enjoy offshore fishing and flats fishing in the panhandle.” Although Chris hunts with a rifle, shotgun and bow, his current hunting passion is bow elk hunting. “I spend 15+ days each September in the elk woods. Mainly, I hunt Colorado in Summit, Grand and Clear Creek Counties.”

A graduate of Auburn University in Alabama, Chris has a bachelor’s degree in Business. “I have over 15 years of experience working in the technology/software industry,” he explained. “I’ve spent time in consulting, management and now sales. My most memorable experiences have been creating and interacting with high performing teams.”

Chris joined Backcountry Hunters & Anglers during 2018. “BHA looked to be an active organization with motivated members,” he said. “I am extremely excited to work with BHA members and local, regional and statewide resources to ensure hunting, angling and conservation is well represented in the Central Mountains region of Colorado.”

“We are lucky to have a hunter-angler-conservationist like Chris join the Colorado BHA Chapter Leadership Team,” chapter co-chair David Lien said. “His passion for boots on the ground conservation work and activism will greatly enhance our efforts and effectiveness in the Central Rockies region.”

Additional BHA/Colorado BHA Information:

• Colorado BHA Corporate Partners; Hunting For Sustainability (H4S); BHA’s Public Waters Access campaign; BHA’s Collegiate Program.
• Colorado BHA Habitat Watch Volunteer (HWV) program information.
• Check out BHA’s North American Action Map, tracking/highlighting examples of our accomplishments as an organization across the continent.
• Check out our Take Action Center to stay engaged on legislation in your area.
• David “Elkheart” Petersen (founder of the first BHA state chapter, here in Colorado, and a former U.S. Marine Corps helicopter pilot) books.

Founded by Mike Beagle, a former U.S. Army field artillery officer, and formed around an Oregon campfire, in 2004, Backcountry Hunters & Anglers is the voice for our nation’s wild public lands, waters and wildlife. With over 40,000 members spread out across all 50 states and 13 Canadian provinces and territories—including chapters in 48 states, two Canadian provinces and one territory, and Washington, D.C.—BHA brings an authentic, informed, boots-on-the-ground voice to the conservation of public lands. Since the Colorado BHA chapter was founded by David Petersen (a former U.S. Marine Corps helicopter pilot) in 2005 (the first official BHA chapter), they’ve grown their boots-on-the-ground presence to over 2,000 dedicated hunters and anglers.