David Rainer: Buckmasters moves into new space, content creation

With the annual Buckmasters Expo in the rearview, Buckmasters founder and CEO Jackie Bushman is leading the organization into the modern era with numerous changes, including its address.

Buckmasters headquarters moved from the eastern edge of Montgomery to the Sterling Centre on Carmichael Road about six weeks ago, indicating a significant shift in the organization’s operations.

“We have condensed our staff,” said Bushman recently as the arena for the Bulls & Buckmasters event was being set up outside the Montgomery Convention Center. “We now have a very artistic, cutting-edge podcast and editing room, which we didn’t have before. We’re closer to town, and I’m excited about it. We have hired a lot of younger people since this whole advertising media is switching into the social media world. That has been the biggest adjustment for everybody in our business.

“If you had told me I was going to be on TikTok, YouTube, Instagram and Facebook, I would have told you you were crazy. What we’re basically morphing into is a multimedia platform for a 17- to 75-year-old. It’s been fun to watch.”

This transition reminds him of the early days of Buckmasters and Buckmasters TV when he met with cable channel executives in his tennis outfit.

“When we got into TV, nobody knew how to do outdoor TV,” Bushman said of the 1988 debut of the program. “We were one of the first ones to bring it to a major cable channel after Curt Gowdy had done the ‘American Sportsman’ for all those years.”

The Buckmasters TV pilot program aired on TNN (The Nashville Network) in October of 1988 at 10 p.m.

“We had the Top Bow Championship on the first one, and we put a show together on the Buckmasters Classic that ran in November,” Bushman said. “I was still teaching tennis at the Lagoon Park Tennis Center. Mr. (Perry) Mendel, one of the founders of KinderCare who started Buckmasters with me, called me and said ‘Hey, there’s a private plane that just flew in from The Nashville Network. They want to meet with you in the boardroom.’ I had just given a tennis lesson, and I was soaking wet. I walked into the boardroom, and they said, ‘Young man, you have brought the highest rated show on our whole network. We want to talk to you about doing the first hunting show on major cable.’ That’s how it started.”

That TV series provided a big boost in subscribers from 12,000 to 100,000, and Buckmaster then branched into the publishing business with magazines.

“But we basically started as an event company, and we are still an event company as we speak,” Bushman said. “The Buckmasters Classic was an event for 15 years that was set up like the ‘NBC Superstars’ event. That drew in national sponsors as we were growing our magazines. Then the Buckmaster Life Hunt spun off from the Buckmasters Classic. The Squirrel Masters Classic was built off the Classic, and it’s the largest small-game event with 4-H kids and celebrities. We took that back to the Southern Sportsman’s Lodge (Lowndes County), where we had the Classics. We also have archery tournaments for kids and college students.”

The Buckmasters Expo started as the Buckmasters Country Jam, which was held for two years in Atlanta. The event went to Greensboro, North Carolina for three years while the Montgomery Convention Center was being upgraded. It’s been in Montgomery ever since.

“Events are still a big part of Buckmasters,” Bushman said. “We started Bulls & Buckmasters at the Expo because that’s lifestyle that joins with the outdoors and hunters. We’re always trying to be creative and bring new features to the Expo that are exciting. This year, we added the Swifty Swines Racing Pigs to the Expo. I talked to my buddy Randy Stephenson at the Alabama State Fair and asked him what was the fair’s most popular event. He said, ‘That’s a no-brainer. It’s the racing pigs.’ The Swifty Swine is a real cool entertainment show for the whole family.

“We’ve been so blessed to have the support from the Governor’s Office (Kay Ivey), City of Montgomery and the Montgomery Chamber of Commerce. We have that support along with our local and national sponsors. With that type of support, we’ve been able to let everybody in the Expo basically free with the donation of a canned good.”

With the canned goods donations, Buckmasters distributes the food to the Friendship Mission and the Salvation Army.

“Through Buckmasters alone, they were able to feed more than 100,000 meals,” Bushman said. “That makes me feel good. The Expo has fed millions of meals over the years. That’s just been a Godsend for what we’re trying to accomplish. Everybody wins. The state wins. The city wins. Friendship Mission wins. The exhibitors win. The consumers win. It’s been a great concept.”

Bushman said the Buckmasters’ day-to-day operations will focus on building content in formats that people use to consume their media.

“They still like the print Buckmasters magazine,” he said. “We want to provide the content in any form they want. We’re going to be providing outdoor content with videos and tips. This time of year, it’s going to be heavily on deer hunting, but we’ll also have turkey hunting, fishing and cooking wild game. It’s outdoor content.

“We’ve hired a young staff and have assembled an influencer team across the country that are part of the Buckmasters’ social media team. They are delivering video content and photography content. I’m doing a podcast now. I’m able to take the old TV shows and regenerate some of that content and tell the stories behind the scenes. I’ve had fun doing that. A lot of stuff got cut out that didn’t make the show. Now we’ve been able to come in with ‘Buckmasters Uncut.’ I’m able to tell the stories about how I stuck an arrow in a tree and things like that.”

Bushman won’t say how much longer he plans to be the face of Buckmasters, but apparently, he has no plans to go anywhere soon.

“You never know,” he said. “If you watch Bassmasters, they’re still going. I just did a podcast with my buddy Bill Dance. He’s 83 and still going. As long as we have deer hunting, the brand is as strong as it’s ever been. But you’ve got to change with what the younger groups are wanting to do. One big difference is that used to, if we shot a deer in September, you wouldn’t see that deer hunt until the next July. Now, with YouTube, that deer hunt will be posted in a couple of weeks and still be on TV for the original series the next July.

“My goal is to be the first one to do 40 years of hunting TV. I’m at 38 right now. But I only want to do it if people want to watch. I still have the passion. I still have the desire to want to go hunting. As long as fans want to watch me screw up on TV, I’ll keep doing it. I get to watch the woods wake up and put it sleep every night. I know there’s a day when I won’t be able to do that on this Earth, and I want to enjoy it as long as I can. We’ve been able to make a living with our hobby. Only in America can you do that. Only in America.”