Buck McNeely, producer of 'The Outdoorsman', dies at 63

Buck McNeely, a local man who produced a popular outdoors television show, died Sunday, Jan. 7, according to a Facebook post authored by his son, Max McNeely.

He was 63 years old.

Buck McNeely's show appeared on more than 500 television stations in the United States. McNeely in 2014 told the Southeast Missourian "The Outdoorsman" was the largest syndicated outdoor-adventure series in the world.

The show was produced at his home and office in rural Cape Girardeau County, but he traveled the world on hunting and fishing adventures. The show included a blend of travel and tourism as well.

McNeely told the Southeast Missourian in 2014 that the show tries to "tell a story with every episode. Something with a good, positive message that promotes the outdoor industry and entertains the folks and leaves them feeling amused at the end of the program."

In his post on The Outdoorsman with Buck McNeely Facebook page Monday, Jan. 8, Max McNeely shared that his father died in his sleep Sunday. Max McNeely compared his father to "Superman", adding that he was a role model. Max McNeely said the show will continue on, and that he has "trained me in the family business by working and traveling the world with him for the past 13 years."

Buck McNeely began the show as a college project at Southeast Missouri State University. McNeely was born in Cape Girardeau, but lived in many cities across the country with his military family.

"His motto was always 'Live Large', and he truly lived larger than anybody I know, and I will continue that legacy in his honor like he always wanted," Max McNeely wrote in the Facebook post.

Buck McNeely developed a love for hunting after receiving a BB gun on his 10th birthday.

"I started off hunting birds in the backyard," he said in 2014. "Then I started getting into rabbit hunting and what have you. I also fished the rivers in the San Bernardino Mountains. When we moved to Modesto (California), there were lots of pheasants, ducks and geese. An important part of our growing-up process was learning how to hunt and fish, shoot and enjoy the outdoors."

Buck McNeely worked in the film industry for two years before finishing up his remaining two years of college at SEMO. While on campus, he produced a TV show called "Dream Date" on the local cable-access channel. McNeely produced "The Outdoorsman" in 1985, which aired on KBSI-Fox 23 in the Cape Girardeau region. In 1991, McNeely bagged one of the biggest kudus ever taken in Namibia, Africa, as well as a record blue wildebeest. By 1997, the program had reached 1 million homes in the United States. At that time, Outdoorsman International also published a magazine.

The show connected Buck McNeely to several celebrities, who jointed him in exotic locations. They include former St. Louis Rams quarterback Kurt Warner, singer Barbara Mandrell, former wrestler Jesse Ventura and actors such as Robert Conrad, Dan Haggerty and Charles Napier.