Rock star Nugent fined for baiting deer on TV show

Ted is one of my hero's, but WOW!! I cant believe that he didnt know the laws here. I always check when I hunt out of state.

I guarantee he didnt do it deliberatly, otherewise he would not have put it on his show.

So the Nuge responded to the charges that he pleaded No Contest to...

http://www.wvmetronews.com/outdoors.cfm?func=displayfullstory&storyid=40707

Nugent Responds to California Game Violation
by Chris Lawrence
Charleston, WV

"I Ted Nugent do NOT break game laws," said the legendary rocker on a recent edition of West Virginia Outdoors. "I am Mother Teresa with a bow and arrow."

Nugent used his appearance on the radio show to address his recent plea of no contest to a misdemeanor charge of hunting over bait in the state of California.  He was charged after the hunt aired as a segment on his Spirit of the Wild television show aired on the Outdoor Channel.

"They did a witch-hunt and a during a Gestapo, jack-booted thug raid based on the allegation that my forked horn buck was a spike as spurred on by phone calls from the 'Ted Haters." Nugent explained.

According to Nugent he was hunting on land owned by a close friend in California. The four-point buck he killed in the hunt was featured on Spirit of the Wild prompting the investigation which he said was led by animal rights groups that have "infested" California Fish and Game.

Nugent said the proof of his innocence was in the video of the show which prompted the investigation.

"My forked horn buck was a forked horn buck. It's on television, the video is there," he said. "I pleaded no-contest that there might have been feed within 400-yards of my tree stand, which I couldn't possibly have known because I would have had to knock on six neighbors’' doors to find out if they were feeding their goats or alpacas."

Nugent says he never puts out feed or bait and that was the case on the California hunt. 

"I was hunting near a natural apple orchard over a white oak tree full of acorns, next to a pond of water," he said. "I killed bucks legally with all the licenses. I went to great lengths to make sure I was 100-percent legal like I do everywhere I hunt. And I put it on TV. Does that sound like something someone would do if they're trying to hide a violation?"

The decision to plead no-contest to the misdemeanor charge came after consideration of what it would take to fight the case.  According to Nugent battling the charge would have cost nearly a half-Million dollars and relocating to California for an extended period of time, but it's a case his attorneys say he would have won.  The decision to enter the plea was also in deference to his friend, the landowner, who was caught in the middle of the matter.

"The chief law enforcement officer of California Fish and Game told my friend and his wife, 'These brass knuckles, which are a felony in California, will go away if you help us get Nugent,'" he said. "My buddy is a lifetime gun collector. Do you know what a felony conviction does to that?  It means he's done with guns in his life."

Nugent says he's not done with the California Fish and Game Department. He hints he's quietly pushing a probe into what prompted the charges and plans to expose what he claims is a rampant abuse of power in the state's wildlife and fisheries agency.

"The corruption has entered into game departments. The bureaucrats and power abuse is absolutely out of control across this country," Nugent railed. "There's nothing worse than a person with power and authority who abuses it. There was a witch-hunt for Ted Nugent, but they're going to lose. I'm going to get them."

I have always liked Ted Nugent, but this is the part of the article that makes me cringe...

'Nugent says he never puts out feed or bait and that was the case on the California hunt.'

If anyone has every watched The Spirit of the Wild then they know he advocates putting out C'Mere Deer Attractant for deer. Come on, Ted. It's one thing to make a mistake, but to lie about it just makes me lose respect for the guy. Unless the reporter was mistaken in what Ted said, this is bad for the Nuge. I wish he hadn't said that. Anyone hear any other comments Ted made regarding this?

Nuge is the KING of "bait". It really looks bad on him, but I still love him.(in a non-gay, non-stalker way)