Clint,
These things happen all the time. I have a few articles on my computer that fell victim to bad timing on my part. Either TBM had too many similar ones in the pipeline, or after I completed it I saw a similar piece elsewhere and decided to shelf mine for a while.
As far as suggestions on where to submit your piece that TBM wasn't able to use, I'd suggest Bowhunter Magazine first. They pay well, and only buy one-time rights, which means you are free to use it later if you wish. And most importantly, as with TBM, I've never had to worry about opening their magazine and seeing something with my name on it that looked nothing like what I sent them.