T-Bone Travis and Nick Mundt highlight new Outdoor Adventure Show at I-X Center
Posted in Nick's Blog on March 17th, 2010Bows, 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.
