Ben Garrett has been hunting since age seven, when he tagged along with his father, chasing bushytails along the ridgetops of the Cumberland Plateau. At age 10, he took up deer hunting, and at age 16, turkey hunting.

Today, Ben continues to hunt deer and turkey, as well as wild boar and small game. He's also an avid angler, preferring panfishing on farm ponds and small lakes, largemouth bass fishing, channel cat fishing on small rivers, and blue cat fishing on Fort Loudoun, Watts Bar and other lakes along the Tennessee River system.

Ben broke into the media industry in 2002, working for the Livingston Enterprise in Overton County. Today, he is an award-winning editor and web designer. He lives in Oneida, with his wife Melanie, where he is editor of the hometown newspaper and she is a fourth grade schoolteacher. The couple have two children, twins Toby and Rachel.

E-mail David Edgar at ben@tnhunting.com.