SHOW ME CENTER WILL PLAY HOST TO OUTDOORSMAN SHOW IN LATE AUGUST

Dave Butz, a former National Football League star with the Washington Redskins, will be a guest at the Buck McNeely Outdoorsman Expo and Sporting Clays Tournament to be held in this area Aug. 28-29.

"The Expo portion of the two-day event will be held at the Show Me Center on Southeast Missouri State University campus," said McNeely, "the clay tournament will be conducted about 20 miles away, at the trails of Tears Sportsmen's Club in Southern Illinois."

Special events include archery contests, petting zoo, a shooting gallery, and a special hunting presentation by McNeely, who is featured on "The Outdoorsman," a national television show.

Exhibits will be presented by outdoor retailers, national manufacturers, sportsmen's clubs and others.

"This will be a family-orientated event," said McNeely. "I want to make this a national event, which will draw sportsmen from all over the country. We're expecting as many as 100 shooters for the clay tournament."

A segment of the weekend's event will be filmed for a special episode of The Outdoorsman.

"This event will be promoted nationwide," added McNeely.

Entry forms for the clay tournament, to be held Aug. 29, will be available at various sporting goods stores, and the Show Me Center.

McNeely recently returned from a bear hunt in Siberia, where he bagged an eight-foot, 500-pound Russian brown bear.

"We flew from Anchorage to Magadan, the capital of the Siberia area, and went by chopper deep into the bush," said McNeely. "We hunted in the wilderness, making our way through two feet of snow and ice."

McNeely said he hunted five days before seeing any sign of a bear.

"It was a fascinating hunting experience," he said.

The Siberian hunt is the topic of "The Outdoorsman" episode to be aired on KFVS-TV July 17.