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An interview with the Buckmaster, Jackie Bushman

I was walking through the airport in Columbia, South Carolina, when I noticed a camouflaged clad man with a black cowboy hat, laughing with his companions.  I approached the legend and said, “Are you really the world-famous Buckmaster”?  Jackie Bushman laughed and was kind enough to answer a few questions for me before his flight left.

Brad:  How did it all start?  With all the hunting shows on TV today, what has made yours stay on top year after year?

JB:  I was working as a tennis professional from 1973-1978, playing in the top 125 in the world, and teaching tennis in Montgomery till 1985-86.  My dad’s best friend, Perry Mendel, owned KinderCare and asked me what I wanted to do besides hit tennis balls?  I told him I wanted to do for hunting what Ray Scott did for bass fishing.  (Ray Scott founded Bass Anglers Sportsman Society)  Perry funded me and I did a video tape, “How to hunt White Tail Deer”.  The video was a great success and Perry told me to keep the money we made.  I had the idea for a Buckmaster Classic, a hunting show with celebs and sponsors from all over.  I started selling ads for that and sold sponsors for a celebrity hunt.  I was still teaching tennis lessons in the meantime, and writing an article for Deer and Deer Hunting magazine.  I sold memberships to the Buckmaster classic expo in Deer and Deer Hunting, and they cut me off, I sold too many memberships.  In July of 1987 the first issue of Buckmaster magazine hit the shelves and the Buckmaster expo was born.  I called ESPN and TNN to inquire about a TV show, both of the stations said no way.  I called TNN back and pitched the idea of a celebrity outdoors show, skeet shooting, archery, pro’s from all aspects of the sport, and they said I would get a pilot but no hunting could be shown.  The pilot show ran in October of 1988, a Sunday night at 10, the TNN execs flew in the following Monday, our show was the highest rated show on TNN ever.  The Buckmasters show started and this year marks our 18th year on TV.  The Buckmasters show has been rated the highest show on both networks for 10 years, and we were voted fan favorite this year. We listen to our audience, and have the Jackie Bushman show where we have combined the Letterman style, practical jokes, bloopers, hunting, and a game show theme into our program.

Brad:  What advice would you give hunters who want to be more successful with their own hunting?

JB:  I don’t care what sport it is, you have to get your fundamentals down.  Any pro athlete will tell you to learn your game.  I thought since I was a tennis pro, I could just be successful and didn’t study the wind, I didn’t walk quietly, and I spooked a lot of deer and learned the hard way.  Once I dropped my ego, I listened to the veterans in camp, learned from them to hunt the wind, walk silently, hunt smart, pattern bucks, etc, my success skyrocketed.  Deer hunting isn’t rocket science, but you have to control the variables you can control, hunt the wind, pattern deer, and scout for when you can hunt.

Brad: How many whitetails have you taken in all?

JB:  Oh golly, I couldn’t tell you!  I’d be afraid to tell you, 18 years of TV, 8-10 deer on average a year, plus in Alabama, you can shoot a deer a day.  With the sponsors I have, I have to hunt about a 1/3 bow hunts, 1/3 rifle hunts and 1/3 shotgun/muzzleloader.  I would prefer to only bow hunt if I could. To bow hunt and be successful, you have to be a good student, you have to scout, play the wind, and bring that deer into a 30 yard window to make a good shot.

Brad:  If you could only go on one hunt a year, what would you hunt, where and with what?

JB:  Good question, I get asked that all the time.  I would have two options; I would bow hunt in Montana for whitetail deer.  I love to go out there and the way you hunt, you pattern the bucks, watch them from up high, and I take two weeks so I make sure I can wait the right buck out.  Second, I would have to hunt at home, in Alabama, its special to hunt where you live.  I say that a mature Alabama buck is just as hard to shoot as anywhere else, from Alberta, Canada to Montana.  There is something special about hunting at home.

Brad:  What is your most memorable moment in hunting?

JB:  Someone asked that the other day, I have been blessed to take many good deer over 19 years.  My first deer was a 6” spike I shot with a 12 gauge with 00 buck, and I still remember it and that’s what hooked me on hunting deer.  I will never forget the first buck.  We all need to get hunting back into perspective forget the record books, the thrill is in the hunt, don’t take the fun out of the hunt, peer pressure to shoot a monster buck will not bother me.  I find now the most fun thing to do is take a child or someone who has never hunted deer, and let them shoot their first deer, we manage bucks when we hunt, but if a youngster or first-timer wants to shoot a small buck or doe, encourage it and let them get that thrill.

That was all we had time for questions, but throughout our 15 minutes of conversation and swapping stories, Jackie emphasized two things; study your prey, learn its behavior, patterns, movements, reflexes, everything you can about your prey, study, listen when more experienced hunters talk, focus on your task; and that you have to hunt with the wind.  Jackie emphasized wind more than anything else the entire conversation.  I was lucky enough to spend some time with a legend of hunting, and hopefully I was able to pass something useful along to you as well.