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Keeping The Spirit Wild

By: Ted Nugent A simple life, I will not have. It doesn’t satisfy me. I don’t believe in the status quo, it kinda leaves me weak. A mountain high is what I climb, I swim the river deep, and if you want the time of your live, try to keep up with me! I’m gonna live, I’m gonna fly, gonna soar till the day I die. On the wings of a bird of prey, hey, hey hey, you’re absolutely what I CRAVE! Well look at me that’s a smile on my face. You know it don’t come cheap. Sure I live the American Dream, go ahead and crucify me! Those are the lovely, autobiographically defiant lyrics to my title lovesong CRAVE from an album a few years back. Like most of my songs, writings and public and private declarations, it sums up my unambiguous daily declaration of independence as a free American, and I simply will not have it any other way, thank you. As we continue to be consumed and ravaged by these unprecedented pandemic conditions, I, like what I believe to be the majority of hunting families across America, carry on with a well prepared, capable and wonderfully self-sufficient lifestyle in spite of the otherwise shackling restraints government, fakenews media and society are attempting to force upon us.

Dear Gentry

By: Ted Nugent We call it The Spirit of the Wild, for more than obvious reasons, but the depth of spirit in the hunting community of America is more powerful than most people can imagine. For more than 40 years, I have been contacted by the families of terminally ill sons and daughters to honor their last request in life to share a hunting or fishing campfire with their old Uncle Ted. I will not even try to explain how on God’s good green earth I could possibly qualify for such an honor, but nonetheless, we have never turned down such an amazing invite and consider every such campfire as the ultimate gift in life. Recently, Shemane and I heard of a young seven year old neighbor, Gentry Doxter who had tragically died of cancer. A fellow Texas hunter named Jimmy Bennett had taken Gentry on hunting and fishing trips during his last year of life through his amazing JMB Fishing Foundation charity, bringing forth the uniquely powerful healing powers of nature and God’s miraculous out of doors spirit. Gentry’s last request was to have a funeral procession of hunting trucks, fishing boats, motorcycles, law enforcement and military.

Quarantine Sporting Focus

By: Ted Nugent Well my SpiritWild BloodBrothers across the American hinterland, how goes these very special 2020 pandemic hunkerdown times for you all? We certainly hope everyone is doing OK, healthy, happy, safe, secure, cocky, defiant and hopeful. Allgood here at NugeRanch as we throttle on with daily proceedings basically unchanged.

God Made a Hunter

By Ted Nugent & Keith Mark In the beginning, God gave the world everything it needed to survive and be happy, including the birds in air and the animals on the earth.  But in order to show all of mankind how to utilize and protect those creatures, God made a Hunter.   To keep His people fed and clothed, God made a Hunter. When certain skills were needed to protect us from enemies and wild beasts, God made a Hunter. When the earliest Pilgrims first came to this continent and needed protection and food to survive, God made a Hunter. When the time came for America to gain its independence, God made a Hunter.  It was the woodsmanship and the marksmanship of the American Hunter that allowed “We the People” to defeat the world’s most powerful army, and become a free nation.

The 2020 Test Of Mankind

By: Ted Nugent As I settle in to slam out my weekly NugeBlog this fascinating second week of April in the year of our Lord 2020, it is the first time in my extensive writing/creative life that the words didn’t just come flowing forth with an unstoppable life of their own. Well, they are now, but not without serious pre-thought and consideration that my words should address the current outrage of the global pandemic and resultant quarantine more than the traditional celebration of the overwhelmingly positive outdoor conservation recreational lifestyle. As I have emphasized in recent writings and numerous media interviews of late, the soul cleansing outdoor lifestyle may be even more important now than in the otherwise easy going non-pandemic years.

Nature Heals-Pandemic 2020

By: Ted Nugent Global Chinese Virus Pandemic self-quarantine day 20, and all is well. Well, maybe not all is actually all that well, but for those of us smart enough to have learned inescapable lessons from the past, as well as can be expected. We certainly understand the suffering of our fellow man, especially those hard-hit families with loved ones in the throes of the virus. Our daily prayer regimen has upkicked exponentially and we certainly feel their pain.

PANDEMIC! Welcome to the Party!

By: Ted Nugent The natural, annual, instinctive spring celebrations throttle on here at CampNuge! We are gathering mushrooms, leeks, wild scallions, hunting for shed antlers, killing hogs and varmints, planting trees and foodplots, prepping ground for spring planting, honing archery and marksmanship skills daily, training dogs, rockin’ out like a madman on killer guitar licks, hammering media daily with my never ending tsunami of truth, logic and commonsense, dreaming of my 60th summer tour, looking forward to the greatest hunting season of my life come fall and dusting off my turkey gear for another grand ThunderChicken huntfest. I know, I know, I am well aware of the horrific global pandemic and all its scary ramifications, but alas, TribeNuge hasn’t really altered our daily life much at all.

The Last Boyscout

By: Ted Nugent Ah, spring has sprung and I was all set here to share the life renewal celebration of this wonderful time of year by focusing on shed hunting, mushroom hunting, fishing fun, double gobble turkey excitement, the thrills of bear hunting and the spiritual and olfactory joys of breaking ground for another life giving planting season. So let us start with a Happy Happy Springtime America! But alas! Just since my NUGEBLOG#347 just one scant week ago, the world has taken an ugly, disruptive and dangerous turn as we face the global pandemic of covid19, and for all practical considerations, we are in a brave, new, unprecedented and uncharted world.

The Last Backstrapper

By: Ted Nugent Well, the sun isn’t exactly setting on my hunting season overall, but when so much focus and celebration circles around the mighty whitetail deer of North America, for all practical purposes, my 2019/2020 deerseason is finally over, and it ended with a lovely, audible, POW-THUMP! With the absolute best deerhunting regulations on planet earth, (not perfect, but the best there is) our Texas deerseason erupts the closest Saturday to October 1st and doesn’t end till sunset on the last day of February. And with the amazing Managed Land Deer Permit program, we landowners now determine our own bag limit based on that beautiful sound science reality to keep our herds and habit thriving and healthy. Altogether now-Glory Glory HALLELUJAH! Well it was on that glorious last day of February 2020 that the old gimpy guitarplayer strode afield with a burning desire in my heart to fill the last doe tag on my sacred Texas home hunting grounds.

FRED BEAR DAY IN GRAYLING MICHIGAN

By: Ted Nugent As I submit this here deeranddeerhunting.com NugeBlog#346 on this, the 5th of March, 2020, grand celebration, and substantial emotion is erupting in Grayling Michigan, and I bet here, there and everywhere across the fruited plains, as we celebrate the birthday of our friend, hero, master bowhunter, legendary conservationist and Spirit BloodBrother, Mr. Fred Bear. Fred was born on March 5th, way back in 1902, which is 118 years ago. We lost the great man on April 27, 1988, and the Annual Fred Bear Day in Grayling Michigan, original home of his Bear Archery World Headquarters and Museum, will once again be the scene where they send off a 21 arrow salute to the father of modern day bowhunting. I was lucky beyond belief to be born in Michigan in 1948 when Fred’s whirlwind promotion/celebration of the mystical flight of the arrow and bowhunting in general was off and running at fullspeed.

Late Season Deerhunting At Its Best

By: Ted Nugent Well, its just Texas and Arkansas now, where die hard deerhunters continue our passion for the hunt well into the winter months. Both Texas and Arkansas have deer seasons that go all the way to the end of February, and as a proud Texan, I for one couldn’t be happier. I don’t deerhunt in Arkansas these days, but my homeground SpiritWild Ranch deer paradise in Texas sure keeps me busy every day in February. Since I kickoff my annual deerhunt on our old sacred family Michigan deergrounds each October 1st, I don’t get home to Texas till just around Thanksgiving, and therefore don’t accomplish my necessary doe harvest requirements in the early season as is the best time to do so. With the amazing Managed Land Deer Permit (MLDP) program in Texas where landowners determine our own baglimits based on actual boots on the ground, hands-on, owner/steward experience and knowledge, there is no question whatsoever that Texas has the best deerhunting on planet earth, bar none, case closed!

Hey Hunting Industry, Turn On The Life Support Already

By: Ted Nugent                                                                                                                                     Hunter participation plummeting! Hunter numbers down! Conservation Revenues at alltime lows! Hunting license sales at alltime lows! Sharpshooters hired to reduce deer numbers! Record number of nuisance bear complaints! The doom and gloom, end of times headlines for hunting in America are everywhere! And all for absolutely ridiculous, nonsensical reasons as far as I’m concerned. For starters, we are being regulated to death with rules and laws that not only have absolutely nothing to do with wildlife science, but are to my way of thinking in this politically correct and corrupt culture war world, intentionally created by soulless, ignorant, criminal bureaucrats intentionally doing all they can to destroy the American family hunting heritage and way of life.

Emotional Accuracy

By: Ted Nugent Mind over matter is a beautiful thing, when we can find it. Emotional and spiritual management is a daunting task that never comes easily. I think we can all agree that the more time we spend in the soul cleansing Great Outdoors benefiting from the healing powers of nature the better equipped we are to maintain sanity, overall quality of life control and meaningful emotional management. Upon the death of my beloved younger brother John recently, I found myself desperately floundering about, and pretty much an emotional wreck. Losing a loved one will always be one of life’s worst hurts and most confusing, challenging times. Such deep, dark heartbreak literally poisons the system. My hunting season from September 1st of 2019 had been going simply splendidly, and I was celebrating some of the best arrows and most exciting hunts and kills of my life.

Good-bye My Dear Hunting Brother John

By: Ted Nugent I want you to know my younger brother John. He died this week at the age of 66, and the Nugent family is in a whirlwind of heartbreak. I’m not sure I can even get through this tribute to him. If ever there was a glowing, positive force of nature, it was Johnny. The guy could light up a room and magnify a joyful spirit like no one I have ever known. I don’t care what the mood may have been prior to John’s arrival, but immediately everybody had a smile on their face, laughter was in the air and everything turned positive. His work ethic alone was a constant reminder of just how efficient and productive a human being can be, and as a brother, husband, father, uncle and full-on great American, he was a shining light for 66 years. We are being flooded with support and good wishes from around the world from everyone who ever had even the slightest encounter with John. Everybody loved Johnny Nugent, and we struggle to make sense of his early departure and a day without him. The guy would get up every day of the year at 4am and make his way to his foreman duties at the Pepper Construction sites in downtown Chicago. He was notorious for not only getting the job done, but getting it done ahead of schedule and under budget.

I Love That Beautiful Vicious cycle

By: Ted Nugent What is it they say; “Wash, rinse, repeat.” “The circle shall not go unbroken.” “Same ol same ol.” “Stuck in a rut.” “Engineered redundancy.” “Like Déjà vu all over again.” “Repetition is the art of perfection.” (I think I just made that one up, but I do it all the time, repetitiously over and over and over again and again.

NugeYear Deerhunting Resolutions

By: Ted Nugent 2020! Are you kidding me! You expect me to believe we have now entered the year of our Lord 2020, 73 firebreathing, crazy years after my original eruption onto planet earth! Can this be, you ask? Well,...

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Older, Slower, Wiser, Happier Hunter

By: Ted Nugent You think slowing down and getting into the primal predator mode of the hunt is difficult for you, imagine the overwhelming challenge I face when attempting to go from Mr. Bouncing-off-the-walls MotorCity Madman back to the dangerous, stealthy, cunning, slow-motion bowhunter backstrapmando! I got your hyper dynamo juxtaposition right here, pilgrim! Chuck Berry and Little Richard on one side, Fred Bear and Ishi on the other! Whoa! But alas, I improvise, adapt and overcome and figured it out for the most part way back in my most manic high energy teenage youth, for the bow and arrow was as driving an inspirational a force to me as my firebreathing Gibson guitars and primalscream rock-n-roll. It was rather obvious in those early years of experimental bowhunting adventure that I was not naturally cutout for this slow and easy stealth and patience bowhunting stuff!

Happy Happy ThanXgiving Everyday America

By: Ted Nugent Where oh where does one begin to list the endless gifts that we are to be thankful for as Americans? ThanXgiving is indeed a very special occasion in America, and everybody I know makes a supreme effort to show sincere appreciation and gratitude for all the blessings we have in this Last Best Place on earth. I start out each day of my life looking to the heavens in absolute awe at this miracle of life and the God given individual rights and freedoms we have in this unique experiment in self-government we call the United States of America. I am extremely thankful that we designate a special day each November to celebrate all that is wondrous. I am most thankful that I am an American and we defied the abject status quo of the world and threw off the shackles of tyranny way back in our founding. I thank God each day for the wisdom and courage of our Founding Fathers who crafted the US Constitution and Bill of Rights to guide the opening volley for mankind for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Big Bang Opener!

By: Ted Nugent There is no doubt whatsoever that I am hopelessly addicted to the mystical flight of the arrow. And as addictions go, this one is a doozy and oh so good for you! Archery, almost like God, family, country, freedom and rock-n-roll plays a huge role in my American Dream of life, liberty and constant pursuit of happiness. That being said, right up there with the endless thrills of bowhunting the majestic deer of America comes my fascination and love of marksmanship and its ultimate aim small miss small application of firearms deerhunting. As I slam this little NugeBlog ditty on the 13th day of November 2019, I am just two days away from what many of us still believe is the defining magical moment in the deerhunting lifestyle-altogether now, say HALLELUJAH like ya mean it, for November 15 is Opening Day of the Michigan gun season, and I am as or more excited to Carpe that diem than I ever have been in 71 seasons!

DeerCamp

By: Ted Nugent Somewhere along the beautiful forested banks of the Tittibawasee River, somewhere in the big deerwoods of Northern Michigan, maybe it was near Grayling, maybe Gaylord, maybe Gladwin in classic Americana deer country, young 10 month old Theodore Anthony Nugent entered the glorious world of deercamp, and my American Dream deerhunting trajectory was written in stone. Lucky lucky me huh! Jettison forward at a breakneck pace lightyears into fall 2019, and here I am again, celebrating one of life’s most thrilling experiences, my 71st deercamp! Those earliest of years were in many ways totally different, but in the most important ways, exactly the same. Let me explain; before I really got the deerhunting bug, say around the age of 12 or 13, deercamp was an annual short window of opportunity getaway that we all eagerly looked forward to. Deercamp was a distant destination that entailed much planning and a serious family excursion from our Detroit home far, far away to the Great North. From the concrete jungle, fast paced Motorcity industrial revolution Arsenal of Democracy cityscape to the soul cleansing primal scream of big timber wilderness was not just a topographical journey, but surely a psychological adventure as well.