Outdoor Influence

Couple Grows From College Kids Posting Outdoor Adventures to Buckmasters Stars

Shortly after meeting through mutual friends, Cody and Alyssa Hall began sharing their outdoor adventures on Instagram and TikTok, never dreaming they would 1 day become social media influencers for Buckmasters, an outdoors media company.

Their journey took them from college kids posting weekend outings of hunting and noodling for catfish to becoming part of the team now planning Buckmasters’ 40th anniversary celebration in 2026.

“We’re blessed to live what we call a ‘360 lifestyle’ where work, passion, and purpose align,” Alyssa says. “Our careers at Buckmasters aren’t just jobs, but are a natural extension of who we are, enabling us to live an outdoor lifestyle we love, while creating meaningful, authentic content that inspires others to do the same.”

Alyssa joined Buckmasters as a contract employee in April 2022. Then, in May 2023, Buckmasters founder and CEO Jackie Bushman hired Cody full-time as the company’s digital marketing manager to help shape the brand’s digital presence.

Based on Alyssa’s impact and reach, Buckmasters hired her full-time in September 2024 as director of content and influencer marketing.

“Jackie recognized the need to expand the brand’s content to better connect with the next generation of outdoorsmen and women through social media,” Alyssa says.

Bushman was so impressed with the couple’s commitment to conservation and hunting that he nominated them in the sports and outdoor category for the 2024 Soul of the South awards, presented by the Alabama digital publication SoulGrown.

“Jackie’s mentorship and leadership have taught us that success comes not just from working hard, but from finding joy and purpose in the journey,” Cody says.

From Noodling to Influencing

They had mutual friends, but Cody and Alyssa’s journey started with an Instagram post while they were students at Troy University.

“I wished her a happy birthday, then we got together with friends,” Cody says.

He invited Alyssa to go turkey hunting, wanting to share a love of the outdoors he first gained as a 5-year-old sitting beside his father in a deer stand.

“She grew up at the end of a cul-de-sac and had never hunted,” Cody says. “I’ll always remember her first turkey hunt, seeing her expression of awe watching the sun come up. She never did get a turkey, but realized it’s as much about the hunt as the harvest.”

Next, Alyssa wanted to try noodling — bare-handed fishing — and in 2017 began sharing her outdoor adventures on TikTok as Aly from Alabama. Together, Cody and Alyssa began posting their outings on Instagram as Southern Outdoor Adventures.

“At first, my noodling posts had a few hits, then suddenly went viral,” Alyssa says. “It was exciting to build a community of followers, particularly among women looking to step into the outdoor world.”

Her TikTok channel, @alyfromalabama, has 13,600,000 likes and 1,000,000 followers.

“The lifestyle that Cody introduced me to at age 20 completely transformed my life,” she says. “If you’d told 19-year-old me that I’d become an avid hunter, catch catfish with my bare hands, and work for Buckmasters, I would’ve laughed you out of the room.”

While they were at Troy University, they never intended to be influencers, Cody says.

“We were broke college kids sharing online what we loved — hunting, noodling, fishing, and just being outdoors,” he says.

In 2018, Cody graduated with a general business degree, while Alyssa earned a marketing degree in 2019. Cody was hired at Rex Lumber as the environment, health, and safety manager. Alyssa handled social media for Hoist, an energy drink company based in Cincinnati.

Living a Dream

After they married in October 2019 and made their home near Goshen, they decided their priorities would be faith, family, and the outdoors. Their lives would be guided by a favorite quote: “Faith is the bridge between where I am and the place God is taking me.”

The Halls kept posting online, unaware they had caught Bushman’s attention.

“We visited with him at the Buckmasters Expos, but we never dreamed we’d work for him,” Cody says.

“We used the company’s products and always tagged them on our sites. His passion and persistence inspired us.”

They knew about Bushman’s legendary accomplishments as the popular host of “Buckmasters,” the longest-running hunting show on television. An avid whitetail deer hunter and entrepreneur, Bushman launched Buckmasters to do for whitetail deer hunting what Bassmaster did for bass fishing. Bushman started with a newsletter that evolved into a magazine. 2 years later, he persuaded The Nashville Network to run the first whitetail hunting show on cable TV. Today, the show airs on the Outdoor Channel.

Buckmasters transitioned to a multimedia company. Last year, Bushman moved the headquarters closer to downtown Montgomery, where the company has a cutting-edge podcast studio and editing room for the first time.

“For us, being part of the Buckmasters internal team is a dream come true,” Alyssa says.

Looking ahead, the Halls envision “expanding community outreach and educational initiatives that bring families together to get more people outdoors,” Alyssa says.

As they raise their children, the Halls say they will pass on their values that come with outdoor living — patience, respect for nature, and conservation.

“We’re blessed to wake up every day and make a living doing what we love,” Cody says.