Ken Tucker and the Sportsman’s Showcase
Posted by lowcountryhunting on January 21, 2008
I must have over 50 hunting VHS tapes, however we have not watched any of them in a long, long time. For one, until my mom gave us a new dual format player this Christmas, we only had a DVD player. And two, we have tons of big buck DVDs (of course I could only watch them when my wife was not home – for fear that if she heard one more word about hunting, she would go crazy and kill me.)
However, our two boys love to watch big bucks and gobblers so much that lately she has let them back in the house. Therefore when Bo requested monster bucks yesterday, I immediately started looking for a good one. And since we have watched all of the DVDs many times over, I thought it might be nice to break out some of the VHS oldies but goodies. After a few minutes of perusing the collection, I decided on Ken Tucker.
Ken was an old Alabamian that loved to hunt and produced his own cable show for many years called the Sportsman’s Showcase. He then took the best of these shows and put them on tape, calling them The Best of the Sportsman’s Showcase. We started watching them around 1997 when my wife picked up one of his tapes on the dollar table at Winn Dixie. And since we did not view any regular TV, it was a special treat to have something to watch that night on the VCR.
After that, we regularly picked them up whenever and wherever we could find a new one. And for an hour and a half, Ken would help us step away from the crummy little apartment we lived in at the time and our busy working lives to share with us his hunting trips all over the country, and sometimes the world. He certainly covered big bucks in some of the usual locations, but he also regularly featured great Southern spots such as the lowcountry of South Carolina, Mississippi, and his home state of Alabama. He also pursued rabbits with beagles, squirrels with feists and coons with hounds. Occasionally he would also venture south of the border on cool trips like shotgunning for doves in Argentina and bow hunting river buffalo in Belize. And of course, all of this footage was accompanied by Ken’s commentary on the hunt and delivered through his heavy southern drawl.
Sure, we moved on to Realtree’s Monster Buck series as well as others made by Mossy Oak and Knight and Hale, but we never forgot about our time with Ken. So after watching his video last night, my wife and I debated what had happened to him. That lead to a quick google search which turned up an article on his death in 2003. And even though that was four years ago, I still felt an incredible sense of loss for our outdoor community. Ken was a true sportsman and the inspiration to many, myself included.
I just wonder how many of you guys have ever seen the Sportsman’s Showcase or know who Ken is. I would love to know who else he touched… Or maybe you have your own outdoor personality that you grew up watching that inspired you to spend more time in the outdoors or helped you become a better hunter.
All comments would be appreciated!
Jeff
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I’m not familiar with Sportsmen’s Showcase, but I have the same problem as you recently did, with a lot of my hunting shows being on VHS tape but me having nothing to watch them on.
I’ve had two of those dual player contraptions and neithe of them lasted more than about a year-and-a-half. I hope yours lasts longer!
January 21st, 2008 at 6:40 pm
Jeff, I have honestly never saw this particular gentleman, but to answer your question I do have a certain tv personality that I grew up with. His name was Fred Trost.
Fred was a local (PBS Channel) personality that had a show called Michigan Outdoors. It was on tv for quite some time and I can remember my brother and dad around a tv every Thursday night to check out the show. We didn’t have any other channels at the time that had outdoor related programming so we looked forward to this show every week.
Fred was a controversial individual and ended up getting sued by a big scent making company, but I truly believe his heart was always in the right place. Unfortunately he passed away last year, but I will always remember the show; controversy or not.
January 21st, 2008 at 9:50 pm
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January 23rd, 2008 at 12:53 pm
Man. I too was wondering what happened to Ken Tucker and googled him. I grew up in Tuscaloosa watching him from my home as a teen. He was a great hunter and sportsman. I will never forget his southern accent. I can still here him say “Today we are hunting in South Alabama” in his distinct voice. He will be missed. I never had any of his vhs videos but I sure wished I did. Ken u are gone but not forgotten.
Daniel
November 16th, 2009 at 11:15 pm
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November 5th, 2010 at 2:36 pm
I loved Ken’s show! I loved it because it was genuine, like he was. I loved the variety of game he hunted, and his gentlemanly manner. I especially loved it when he missed a turkey, because he would say, “Dawg gawnit!” I despise most hunting shows today, because the market is inundated with them, I hate all the incessant whispering and gratuitous gloating over a kill. Ken was perfectly content to say, “‘At’s a nice dayer!” and let it go at that.
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