Rod & Gun Guide Services, Nashville

Professional sportsman Chris Nischan chaperones the curious through the majesty of local nature as a wilderness, hunting, and fishing guide. A previous winner and many-time selected competitor of the Field & Stream Total Outdoorsman Challenge, he has mastered knowledge of diverse ecosystems from North Carolina to Belize. After earning a degree in wildlife management years ago, Chris moved on to a stint in the retail sporting goods industry before becoming a full-time guide and teacher. His guiding resumé now stretches 30-plus years and includes escorting big game hunters and Ernest Hemingway impersonators through the woodlands of Montana for 11 years. Upon touching wading boots down in Tennessee, he promptly decoded the way of the state's trophy bass, trout, and other warm- and cold-water species and now puts that knowledge to use for his clients. All these years as an outdoorsman have given Chris many soul-sustaining encounters with Mother Nature, including a life-changing encounter with Leisha, his wife of 14 years, whom he met on a guide outing.