CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. (KLFY) -- Buck McNeely, host of the popular "The Outdoorsman with Buck McNeely" that airs on Saturday nights on KLFY, has died.

According to a Facebook post by his son Max, McNeely died in his sleep on Sunday.

"Words cannot even begin to describe the pain and loss our family is feeling at this time and it will never be the same," Max McNeely wrote. "Seeing your dad die is like watching Superman die because that’s what he was to me. A true superhero and I couldn’t have asked for a better role model than him."

Buck attended Southeast Missouri State University in Cape Girardeau, Missouri majoring in mass communications. He produced/hosted 18 episodes of a college dating game called “Dream Date.”  During the last semester of his senior year he started producing “The Outdoorsman” TV show and ran it on the local cable access channel as a class project. Based on the shows popularity he launched the series commercially in the summer of 1985 on the local FOX Affiliate.

Today the series is the nations largest syndicated outdoor adventure series. It currently airs on over 370 TV stations, including KLFY, four networks, eight satellite feeds, three international networks, the American Forces Network, Far East TV Network and Middle East TV Network.

"Even though Buck is gone the show will go on as I have been preparing for this my whole life," Max said. "Just as he has trained me in life he has also trained me in the family business by working and traveling the world with him for the past 13 years."

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