Executive Board
Joel Smith - Chair
Joel grew up fishing with his family on the Texas coast and has always had a love for the outdoors. Encouraged by the locavore movement, Joel’s passion for procuring his own food led him to learn to hunt, process his own meat, garden, and cook all sorts of wild game.
As an adult onset hunter, Joel is passionate about removing the barriers to entry to the hunting world that some people find so hard to overcome. He prides himself on being available to anyone looking for help. As a board member, his goals are to help with adult hunter recruitment programs, support hunter retention, help broadcast the public lands conservation message to more Texans, and to be a voice for the conservation ethos espoused by Backcountry Hunters & Anglers.
Chris Smith - Vice Chair
Chris grew up in Southwest Oklahoma and developed a love for the outdoors early in life. His father and grandfather taught him how to hunt turkey, quail and deer, as well as fish the local waters during his childhood. At a very young age he was given his first bow and began his lifelong pursuit of bowhunting big game.
He moved to Houston with his family in 2003 after completing an M.B.A. from Oklahoma State University, and fell in love with saltwater kayak fishing while exploring the coastal bayous of the area. Later in life, Chris began to travel West to hunt and fish in Alaska, Montana, Wyoming and Arizona. He is passionate about being an advocate for public lands, water and conservation, and is honored to serve on the board of the Texas chapter.
Judson Brown - Public Outreach Chair
Judson is a native Texan and grew up camping, fishing, and enjoying many other outdoor activities across the state. As a student at Texas A&M, he began waterfowl hunting on nearby public land and served on the board of the Texas A&M Ducks Unlimited chapter, where he became a conservationist.
As an adult, he continues to hunt and fish, bringing his friends and family with him to share his experiences firsthand. More recently, he was inspired to seek new adventures and grow as an outdoorsman. He joined BHA to give back to the resources he enjoys and help ensure these opportunities remain available to everyone.
Matt Lewis (Treasurer)
Matt grew up fishing the public waters in California, as well as hiking and camping across the state. This love of the outdoors led him to fishing trips to places like Alaska, Montana, New York, and other wild places across our nation. After getting to North Texas as fast as he could, he began teaching himself to hunt our public lands and is loving the process of becoming a better hunter and preparing wild game at home.
Matt is honored to join the Texas BHA board to promote BHA's mission, expand learning opportunities for new hunters (like himself), and support the expansion, conservation, and maintenance of our public lands.
John Sertel - R3 Chair
John grew up in Georgia and moved to Texas in 1998. He fished and explored the North Georgia mountains with his Granddaddy and went on the occasional dove hunt as a child. John’s passion grew stronger when he found waterfowl hunting. He started chasing whitetails about 10 years ago in Texas and picked up a bow a few years later. John now lives in central Texas with his wife and two daughters.
John is passionate about the BHA mission. As a certified “Huntmaster,” he has enjoyed organizing and leading hunts for the BHA/TWA Adult Mentored Hunting Program. As R3 Chair, John will focus on providing more hunting and education opportunities to novice hunters interested in keeping the Texas hunting heritage alive.
Kyle Mobley - Communications Chair
Kyle is a 5th generation Texan who grew up in the ranching community of Archer City, Texas, hunting white-tailed deer and fishing for catfish with some rabbit and duck hunting thrown in the mix. Currently, Kyle lives in West Columbia, Texas, with his wife, Kristna.
He has a B.S. in Environmental Conservation and History and is pursuing a Master’s Degree in History. Kyle has done research on topics such as invasive species management, fair chase, and hunting ethics, American bison ecology, and the 19th-century American fur trade. He believes in conservation through hunting and has a passion for educating everyone about the importance of the conservation of our wildlife and our public lands.
Kyle enjoys cooking wild-game for friends and family, especially those who have never had wild game. Some of his favorite meals to cook are Squirrel and Dumplings and Venison Barbacoa.
Ryan Buege - Policy Chair
Ryan grew up in the outdoors of Wisconsin, camping, hiking, hunting, and fishing. He joined the Army shortly after high school, bringing him to Texas. While stationed in central Texas, he fell in love with the state and what it offers for outdoor opportunities.
Ryan enjoys hunting ducks and turkeys around Central Texas. He is passionate about protecting the public lands and waters we have to save them for future generations. He wants to further spread the public land and conservation messages to people through education and conservation. He is honored to be a part of the Texas BHA Board.
Colin Nelson - Corporate Partnership Chair
Colin is a fifth-generation Texan who grew up fishing both fresh and saltwater in Bay City, Texas. His late father taught him to dove hunt at nine years old, and since then Colin has broadened his hunting horizons – from hog hunting in central Texas to pheasant hunting in South Dakota. He looks forward to following in his father’s footsteps by adding big game to his list.
Colin enjoys any outdoor adventure with his wife, Brittany, newborn son, Knox, and Chesapeake Bay Retriever, Dixie. As a passionate defender of public lands and waters, an active member of several conservation organizations, and certified “Huntmaster,” Colin looks forward to working with his fellow board members to further establish Texas as a leading chapter within BHA.
Shane Bonnot - Board Member at Large
As a sixth-generation Texan, Shane grew up hunting and fishing near the coast. He graduated from Texas A&M University with an Animal Science degree and later received a Master of Science degree from Texas A&M University - Corpus Christi. After college, he worked for the Virginia Institute of Marine Science as the oyster hatchery manager. In 2006, he moved back to Texas to work for Texas Parks and Wildlife, spending five years as hatchery biologist and another five years as hatchery manager. He currently works as the Advocacy Director for Coastal Conservation Association - Texas.
Shane enjoys hunting public lands and is fortunate to have family property in Jackson County, where he pursues whitetail and wild pigs. He lives with his wife and three children in Lake Jackson.
Dell Bennett - Texas Armed Forces Initiative Liaison
Dell grew up in a military family, and has been active duty Coast Guard for over 14 years. Dell has used his military travels to his advantage throughout his career like fishing for native Bonneville Cutthroats while TDY in Utah.
Dell originally joined BHA to be a part of the Armed Forces Initiative. Moving constantly in the military makes it tough to keep momentum hunting and fishing and AFI helped keep the momentum for Dell. This is an important and current issue for service members and Dell aims to ease the accessibility to the outdoors for all service members.
Dell is currently stationed outside of Houston where he enjoys dove and waterfowl hunting, as well as fishing and crabbing in Texas’s coastal wetlands.
Regional Coordinators
Reagan Evans - Region 2 Coordinator
Reagan grew up camping, fishing, and hiking in Texas as well as the East and West coasts. He then arrived at the hunting table after being introduced as a young adult. His interest grew as he and his son began hunting together which lead to Reagan volunteering to guide youth hunts helping introduce other kids to the sport.
As Reagan learned firsthand about the challenges facing new hunters in Texas he sought out ways to help advocate for hunters and anglers. He believes the next generation of hunters and anglers will need an understanding of how to support conservation efforts in Texas, as well as access to public lands and waters.
Reagan currently resides in the Texas hill country, where he enjoys all manner of outdoor pursuits with his wife, children, and their dogs.
Logan Hope - Region 3 Coordinator
Born and raised in the piney woods just outside of Nacogdoches, Texas, Logan is a lifelong outdoorsman who believes being outside is necessary. Growing up, he was an avid hunter and fisherman, fishing for catfish and bluegill on local ponds and chasing white-tailed deer and ducks.
Logan grew up with little access to public land and learned to obtain hunting and fishing permission from various landowners to pursue his hunting interests. He also lived in Washington State, where he developed an understanding of the balance that private and public lands play in the betterment of the ecosystem as a whole. He learned the importance of different land uses and how they interact with each other to enhance public access and wildlife habitat.
Logan served on the Washington BHA board as a Conservation and Policy Leader for two years before returning home to Texas. He holds a degree in Timber Management from Stephen F. Austin University and currently resides in Beaumont, Texas, working as a forester.
