By: Ted Nugent
I think we can all agree that the early bowhunting season isn’t exactly the ultimate time of year weather-wise to get all fired-up to get out into the deerwoods. Pretty much everywhere across the hinterland the temperatures and conditions have remained steadily more summer-like than fall-like.
All together now…. Ugh!
But hark my fellow Natty Bumpo backstrappers, no hot, muggy, mosquito-buzzing sunny days will keep us out of our favorite deer-haunts, now will it!
In fact some damn good bucks have been taken already this year by a bunch of our BloodBrothers, here, there and everywhere, and witnessing such kills on our social media feeds goes a long way in keeping us motivated, that’s for sure.
The Nugent family lives for and on the sacred ultra-nutritious protein of whitetail deer meat, and have done so almost exclusively for more than 50 years. This is one of many reasons I hunt every day throughout the long season. With a basket-full of doe tags we can honestly say we celebrate backstrap fever on a daily basis, day in, day out, all year every year.
All together now…. Hallelujah!
So naturally when I swap Mathews bow for Gibson guitar, that fiery flow of uninhibited predator stream of consciousness doeth throttle forth, manifesting in songs of the wild, with clarity and aplomb from a lifetime of boots on the ground, hands-on, bloody knife participatory graphic honesty.
With the release of my latest record (CD) The Music Made Me Do It next month, it was inevitable that my hunting life would once again show up in song, spirit and passion.
Going all the way back to my Amboy Dukes recordings in the 1960s, I celebrated my love of predatorship and allthings Great Outdoors in such killer songs as Migration, Loaded For Bear, Living In The Woods, Flight of the Byrd, Dr. Slingshot, Good Natured Emma, Call Of The Wild, Free Flight, Tooth Fang and Claw, Survival Of The Fittest, Rattle My Snake, Great White Buffalo, Workin Hard Playin Hard, I Am A Predator, Queen of the Forest, Hibernation, Primitive Man, Spirit of the Wild, Geronimo and Me, I Just Wanna Go Hunting, Spirit of the Buffalo, EarthTones, My Bow and Arrow, Sunrize, Fred Bear and a bunch of others.
On The Music Made Me Do It is a killer acoustic studio version of Fred Bear, along with a new, updated high energy studio jam of I Just Wanna Go Huntin and EarthTones.
But the most fun song may very well be the remake of my classic Cat Scratch Fever with brand new lyrics for the switcharoo of Backstrap Fever.
I don’t know where they come from but they sure do come, I hope they come from the swamp
I’d like a buck but a doe would do, I’m mostly here for the romp
They give me backstrap fever, backstrap fever
I got my bow and arrow and a 30-06, I’m sneaking hard through the woods
I’m sure having fun and I’m getting my kicks, I hope I leave with the goods
I got me backstrap fever, backstrap fever
It’s sometimes dangerous but I feel no pain, I gotta try try try
I put the arrow in the pumpstation, the beast is gonna die, die, wonchya back my strap!
It’s always fun in the spirit of the wild, I cannot wait for the rut
I take careful aim for the heart and the lungs, but sometimes hit em in the butt
I love my backstrap fever, backstrap fever…
So there you have it my fellow sacred flesh celebrants. We do have a soundtrack for our beloved hunting lifestyle, and I am here to tell you, it is a damn fine on at that. Play it loud and proud often and watch the fun factor accelerate exponentially each and every hunt.
So sing it like you mean it and dance the Spirit of the Wild dance like you mean it. Join those of us who jam to Fred Bear before every hunt and now sing Backstrap Fever with much gusto to maximize the audio powers of this timeless special season.
We’ve always had backstrap fever, now we have the themesong to go with it.
Goodluck, aim small miss small and celebrate everyday afield like it is the most important hunting season of our lives, because it is!