Laser vision, eyes wide open and aware, and truly awake is the state of mind that Travis “T-bone” Turner operates in. Travis is soft-spoken, funny, warm, and truly one of the good guys in this world helping to make it a better place. Travis also has the ultimate personality, the type of guy that can talk a dog off the chuck wagon. However, make no mistake about it–his success comes from having taken calculated risks, being opportunistic, and highly visual.

Today T-bone puts the same precision into each hunt, each show, each relationship, and each life situation that he did while running his archery shop and becoming a world champion archer. He even gives back to the industry, the sport, and conservation as the spokesperson for Whitetails Unlimited. At a young age Travis visualized greatness for himself as long as he maintained his intense attention to detail, and stayed loyal to himself, his family, his partners, his fans, and those that he encountered.

“I love to make people feel good,” he told me. “To sit and hang out with a kid that loves Bone Collector or heck just hunting. To put a smile on that kid’s face by taking a picture with them or to talk about stories in the field and to hear their passion about the sport is something that never gets old, man. I love this sport, I love the people around it, and I value every fan I have and each I hope to make in the future.”

When asked about how he deals with the stardom and the accolades that come with it, T-bone responds in a serious but thoughtful manner.

“I have always believed in staying humble, never forgetting where I came from–starting out as a part of Realtree’s Pro Staff after working on several of their bows–or those who helped me get to where I am today,” he said. “While I like building my platform, it is really all about the team, the whole sum of Bone Collector as the three of us, heck, man, actually the whole brotherhood–all of our fans around the world, it’s about something bigger and more meaningful than just me. It’s true this has gotten huge, but we are still the same passionate bowhunting nuts we have always been.”

Some say that nothing in life happens by chance and that everything works out exactly as it should and the world is in perfect order. While I subscribe to this theory, I also believe that if you approach life with the type of commitment that this lovable hunter from rural Georgia has demonstrated throughout his life, the chance for greatness increases significantly. I am proud to call Travis “T-bone” Turner one of my brothers from the South, and I hope he considers me to be a part of the Yankee contingency of the brotherhood.