Bows, bass, Bone Collectors and retrieving dogs are in the spotlight as the new Cleveland Outdoor Adventure Show makes its debut Thursday through Sunday at the I-X Center in Cleveland.

The Bone Collectors are Travis “T-Bone” Turner and Nick Mundt, co-hosts of Michael Waddell’s Bone Collector television series on the Outdoor Channel, one of the most popular hunting TV shows around. Both are outdoor characters, long-time hunters and veterans of filming outdoor adventures.

“It sounds like the perfect lifestyle, getting to hunt as much as we do, but it’s also a lot of work,” said Mundt, 37. “We’ve been home for just eight days since Dec. 27. We appear at a lot of shows in the winter, hunt plenty of turkeys in the spring, and are busiest in fall and early winter when we’re hunting and filming big game animals.”

The men are talented hunters, bagging lots of deer and other game over the years with bow, rifle, shotgun and video camera. Travis “T-Bone” Turner was born in Dayton, Ohio, and his family moved to Georgia when he was a youngster. He has outstanding bowhunting credentials, winning the 1991 ASA 3-D Archery World Championship and is a four-time Georgia State Champion.

The TV hunting stars have become heroes to a lot of young hunters. Turner and Mundt have been one of the most popular additions to the Erie, Pa. and Buffalo outdoors shows produced by Erie Promotions & Expos, which is making its debut as producer of the Cleveland outdoor show at the I-X Center.

Turner’s face is familiar to bowhunters, especially now that’s featured in tree stands and ground blinds around the country on the Bone Collector series. He began his outdoor career as a videographer. His first major effort on the other side of the camera was a decade ago in the Incomplete Deer Hunter, a trio of films featuring comedian Jeff Foxworthy.

Mundt and Turner have traveled the world to both film and appear in hunting adventures. They still enjoy appearing at outdoor shows around the country.

“We like meeting hunters, and enjoy sharing our experiences,” said Mundt. “We’re good, old country boys at heart. We’re the meat and potatoes guys whose favorite place is still a hunt camp. We’re the guys who are up for most any kind of adventure. That’s the message we want to share in our seminars, “Calling The Brotherhood.”

Both have a list of heroes that includes famed hunter Randy Ulmer and Waddell, the star of the Bone Collectors, and some old-timers such as the late Fred Bear and Chuck Adams.

They’ll be on stage all four days of the show, and appear at their exhibit.

The family entertainment at the show ranges from Tad Bowen and his Frisbee dogs, Bawana Jim’s Wildlife Show and the kid’s fishing pond. The trout pond is a free angling experience this year the first time a youngster from 3 to 10 years of age tries to hook a trout.

Cleveland Browns offensive lineman Joe Thomas, an avid angler and hunter, is appearing Sunday at the kids’ trout pond from noon-2:30 p.m.

The bow folks at the show include noted exhibition archer Randy Oitker, who can shoot four arrows at the same time and drill candy Life Savers that are 16 inches apart. The Bowtech Interactive Archery Trailer is on hand. Top area target archers are competing in an IBO Shoot hosted by the Parma Archery Club on Thursday through Saturday.

Well-known retriever trainer Jim Beverly of Oakfield, N.Y. will have a lifetime of dog training advice to share. He’ll also wear a judge’s hat for the unique Companion Retriever Hunting Challenge, an amateurs-only test he developed that is held at noon on March 21 for local sportsmen and their dogs. The competition has two levels, and only six dogs will be entered in each class. There is a $20 fee. For information and entry forms visit retrievertrainer.com.

Celebrating the culture of hunting is always fun and inspirational for me and this past weekend we did just that in Raleigh, NC, at the Dixie Deer Classic which is one show that knows how to entertain fellow Bone Collectors like us.

While there, our whole crew was blown away at the hospitality and attitude of all the people that came to the show. We met so many great people and it was a pleasure to look across the building and see Lee and Tiffany Lakosky enjoying the same treatment.

While at the show I met, Joey Davenport, a 17-year-old young man, that is battling cancer with a very grim outlook of winning the war with it. Despite having a weak immune system and being very weak from his chemo treatments, he and his dad came to the show to meet us and the Crush crew and partake in the annual festivities that the Classic provides.

His attendance touched me and our whole crew very deeply. I just wanted to let everyone out there to make sure to keep young Joey in your prayers and thoughts, and remind everyone to never take for granted what tomorrow brings.

Every new dawn is a blessing, and as we draw near to turkey season and hard gobblin’ toms across this nation, please remember to share the experience with someone you love.

This is the biggest buck I have ever seen period! This monster was killed by Brian Stephens in Ohio, using at T/C muzzleloader. His beams are the longest and second longest ever on record and if you net his 4x4 frame it would score 211! just 2 3/8" under the World Record Typical Milo Hanson buck that is a 6x6 at 213 5/8. T-Bone, Kenneth and I had the pleasure of checking out the buck after hunting in Ohio this fall. The field photos don't do him justice, so take a look at the photos from our visit and you will see just how big he really is. Thanks to Mr. Stephens for allowing us to film his Super Giant and to Mr. Busse for the tour of his Studio! We were all in awe of the sheer size of this once in a lifetime buck.  I will say, although I'm jealous as heck, I am glad a nice guy like Mr. Stephens got to put his tag on this deer! Congrats to Brian for the biggest thing I have ever seen!!!! For the complete story, check out www.stephensbuck.com.   Unbelievable!!!

Bubba Waddell, great nephew of Edwin Waddell, along with our cousin Brantley Lavin were recently bow hunting on some nearby property. There was a mature cull buck that had been hunted by both Bubba and Brantley, but they never got within bow range on him. However, on the morning of Dec. 28th, Bubba choose to hunt with his Thompson Center rifle and he put the smack down on that mature buck. What a great way to end the year!

It’s never too late to kill a good buck. The deer have been rutting hard and are now looking for food; they are coming into the late planted and tender food plots to feed.

Shortly after Thanksgiving, Philip Culpepper, one of the cameramen for Realtree Roadtrips and I teamed up in Booger Bottom hoping for that big kill. We saw deer, but not the one we were hoping for.

Michael and I had put out our Bushnell trail cameras and had been getting a lot of pictures of deer, but this one big 8 pointer caught my eye. We kept the camera set up in the food plot and continued getting pictures of the deer. I was feeling confident that I knew his feeding pattern, so I decided not to hunt this particular area until Philip and I could team up again.

On Dec. 27th, I decided to hunt a location across our property, approximately 1 mile away, hoping to get a big doe. Around 5pm, a button buck and small doe were feeding in the food plot, so I eased around and got my Hoyt from my easy hanger. As both deer looked up, “BAM”, out stepped “Mack Daddy” (the same big 8 pointer that we had been seeing on the trail camera). Papa Waddell had to let that G5 Stryker fly. He ran about 70-80 yards, and believe it or not – I heard him crash! All three deer had been no more than 25 yards from my stand when I shot, but the wind was right and that Realtree camo had me covered, so I was able to lay that bad boy down.

It was my 3rd trip to Americas top Corn and Big Buck proucing state, Iowa. After 2 unsuccessful trips loaded with big buck encounters, my girlfriend and camera-girl Arika Sanders headed to Iowa to ransack Kisky farms and try to lay a meat missile into one of their giants grown with love! I had also been hunting a few farms that were for sale with Gabe Adair, from Whitetail Properties, and was skipping around on farms, depending on the prevailing winds. I had gotten some cool trail cam video on my Bushnell trail scout of a big one I was hunting on a piece of Gabe's and had a few encounters with him, but the wind never got right to hunt the farm again.

Our first evening back, November 24, was spent in a blind on a cut corn field at the Kisky's. There was little action and the sun went down with only a few young deer entering the field. The next morning we headed for a tree high on a heavily timbered ridge 500 yards above a corn filed. I hunted this stand in late October and had an exciting morning, rattling in 5 different bucks including a 6 year old brute with a broken front shoulder that had been broken since he was a 2 year old. I was going to shoot him but there were too many twigs in the way and he winded us at the last moment.

We made our way to the stands 45 minutes before shooting light and would be set up in two separate trees. I climbed up Arika's tree and got the camera equipment set, then climbed down, sent her up and got in my own perch. As the sun rose, the woods were quiet and no deer seemed to be moving. Much different than my first sit on the ridge. After an hour and a half I decided to try a doe bleat on my Flextone Buck Collector call. Within seconds I saw a deer fleeing the scene. I didn't realize but Arika was filming a mature 8pt behind her and I though she was just getting scenic’s and pan shots. As we talked over the situation I looked down the draw and saw a brute headed right to our stands! At first she couldn't see the buck but I told her to keep watching cause he was closing fast. Finally she spotted him and zoomed in. The buck was headed straight from the base of her stand and was about to go under it. I could see she was going to get bound up so I stopped the buck and sent a G5 Tekkan on a Beman Bone Collector arrow through his boiler room. The buck jumped and ran 20 yards and stopped, looking straight at the camera. Arika slowly pushed back to the buck as he began to sway, looking like he was about to fall. In the meantime, I grabbed another arrow and got hooked up. The buck was quartering severely left, I put my 20 yd pin in front of his hip and the Tekkan ripped completely through him and came out his right shoulder. He went 40 yards and tipped over!!! He is a 4 year old buck, one Don had trail cam photos of this year and encounters with the year before.

It was a real treat to spend time hunting at the Kisky's. Don has been someone I have envied as a deer hunter for 20 years! It was very special to share the recovery with He and Kandi and these are memories I won't ever forget. Thanks to Don and Kandi for letting me kill one of the many monsters that roam their farms and thanks to their son Kaleb for showing me up as the biggest moron in camp!!! Thanks Kaleb!!! Check this show out on Season 2 it will be action packed!!! Bone Killed one too, but he will have to tell you about it, cause my fingers are tired!!!!!!!!

Though the past few weeks have been more than crazy as far as travel goes, the final stop made me forget about the fact that I hadn’t slept in nearly two weeks. What a sweet feeling it was for the Bone Collector Crew to take home Best Big Game and Best New Series at the 2009 Golden Moose Awards.

From the entire Bone Collector family, I just want to say thanks for all your support in 2009. We can’t say how much it means to us for you to watch the show and believe in the hunting culture. We love what we do and look forward to rockin’ again in 2010!

T-Bone discusses the aerodynamics and effectiveness of six blade broadheads.