JUNIOR COUNCILMAN
CHAD SLAGE
My name is Chad Slagle. The PBS has been my second (and at times, favorite) family for the past 16 years. I live in a cabin in rural Colorado with some unruly hounds and just as unruly wife of 24 years. I took my first deer with a bow 37 years ago at the age of 13. My father was a coal miner and part time gunsmith who became an avid bowhunter in the 70’s. He opened an archery shop off the side of our house in 1979. We had a 12-target archery range in the small woodlot behind our house in West Virginia where I spent much of my time. He eventually grew the business, and we moved it into a building in our small town where I would fletch arrows and set-up bows after school.
I have been fortunate enough to hunt and take a variety of big game species in multiple states over the years, first with the compound, and then made the switch to traditional and primitive equipment in the late 90’s. I have built several longbows and selfbows that I have hunted with over the years. I have also tried my best to document and share stories from my adventures in magazines like Traditional Bowhunter, Primitive Archer, The Bowyer’s Journal, Field and Stream, and of course, our PBS Magazine.
I was recently thrown into the middle of the wolf debate/ballot box biology when the Colorado Division of Wildlife released their first pack of wolves on the property between my home and my neighbor’s ranch. My neighbor quickly lost 11 cows before the “Copper Creek Wolf Pack” was finally relocated to another area and millions of tax dollars were spent. But, through all this I have met the organizations that are fighting back against the groups who are continually introducing new legislation in order to interrupt, reduce, and eventually eradicate hunting all together if they can. We beat Proposition 127 this past year which attempted to make Mountain Lion and Bobcat hunting illegal, but there will be more battles to come, and my state of Colorado will be on the forefront of these attacks.
I hope to bring awareness of these ballot initiatives, as well as legislation that can affect our access to public lands, how those lands are cared for, acquisitions, and other matters that affect hunters. I used to think that land access was the main concern of our hunting future, but I now know that is only part of it. I hope to grow my knowledge and understanding of these threats and then share that with our PBS family in the years to come.
---Chad K. Slagle
I have been fortunate enough to hunt and take a variety of big game species in multiple states over the years, first with the compound, and then made the switch to traditional and primitive equipment in the late 90’s. I have built several longbows and selfbows that I have hunted with over the years. I have also tried my best to document and share stories from my adventures in magazines like Traditional Bowhunter, Primitive Archer, The Bowyer’s Journal, Field and Stream, and of course, our PBS Magazine.
I was recently thrown into the middle of the wolf debate/ballot box biology when the Colorado Division of Wildlife released their first pack of wolves on the property between my home and my neighbor’s ranch. My neighbor quickly lost 11 cows before the “Copper Creek Wolf Pack” was finally relocated to another area and millions of tax dollars were spent. But, through all this I have met the organizations that are fighting back against the groups who are continually introducing new legislation in order to interrupt, reduce, and eventually eradicate hunting all together if they can. We beat Proposition 127 this past year which attempted to make Mountain Lion and Bobcat hunting illegal, but there will be more battles to come, and my state of Colorado will be on the forefront of these attacks.
I hope to bring awareness of these ballot initiatives, as well as legislation that can affect our access to public lands, how those lands are cared for, acquisitions, and other matters that affect hunters. I used to think that land access was the main concern of our hunting future, but I now know that is only part of it. I hope to grow my knowledge and understanding of these threats and then share that with our PBS family in the years to come.
---Chad K. Slagle
