OUTDOORSMAN: A `RECORD' HUNT IN AFRICA

When Buck McNeely bagged a kudu in Namibia recently, he didn't understand all the fuss being made about his prey.

"This was my first kudu," say McNeely, a Cape Girardeau outdoorsman who produces a national television program by the same name. "This was my first safari into the backbrush country of Africa."

When all the excitement settled down, McNeely found that his kill was one of the biggest kudus taken in Namibia in the past three years.

"I was told that it was a record-book kill," said McNeely recently. "The weight was close to 600 pounds, and the horns measured 57 5/8 inches across."

"That latter fact is what made it a big kill," said McNeely, who visited the Southeast Missourian recently, following his safari into Africa. "The horn measurement will score high in the Safari Club International Rowland Ward Record Book, the big-game book based in London.

When McNeely completed his three week expedition, his party had bagged nine animals, including:

A wart hog, with tusks measuring 10 to 11 inches.

A blue wildebeast, a record kill.

A Blesbok, another kill with record honors.

A mountain zebra.

A plains zebra.

An Oryx, jackal and baboon.

"I've never been one to pay much attention to record books," said McNeely, an adventurer. "But on this safari, everybody was conscious of records."

McNeely, an avid outdoorsman, and his Timberwolf Productions film crew explore throughout the world to film their adventures for his `Outdoorsman' program which has national sponsors and national television exposure on more than 90 stations.

His hunting/fishing expeditions have taken him to duck and waterfowl hunts in Russia; wing shooting in Mexico; caribou hunting in Newfoundland; dove and pigeon hunting in Argentina; and waterfowl hunting in the "Goose Hunting Capital of the World," in Southern Illinois.

McNeely and his fishing buddies have tackled tarpon and marlin off the coast of Costa Rica and the Virgin Island and bass fishing close to home in Kentucky Lake.

One of his sponsors is Nikon Sport Optics, a manufacturer of rifle scopes. McNeely is national spokesman for Nikon, which features him in national outdoors magazine advertising.

McNeely's latest adventure was that in Namibia, Africa.

"We had a good outfitter for the African safari," he said. "Voker Grellman, president of ANVO Safaris, headquartered in the Namibia capital city of Windhoek, accompanied us on the safari."

McNeely said Grellman "was a very experienced hunter. He's a great guy to have in the bush."

Also in the group was Peter Hathaway Capstick, who has written 13 books on Africa, including "Death in the Long Grass," and "Maneaters."

"Capstick is a great African author," said McNeely. "He is an America, but lives in South Africa, and recently completed a book on Namibia."

Also included in the safari was Stan Warren, an outdoors writer from Tennessee.

While in Africa, McNeely's party took nine animals and shot seven episodes of "The Outdoorsman."

"This was my first African safari," he said. "So we went on what was called a `beginning safari.' I want to go back to Africa, and get involved in a more involved safari."