By: Ted Nugent
I’ve written and waxed poetic and passionate about the seriousness of celebrating Thanksgiving in America for many, many years. We have so much to be thankful for in this the greatest country on earth that it is critically important to shout it out loud and proud from every mountaintop we can ascend.
I am convinced that the appreciation for all that is possible in this sacred experiment in self-government, though alive and well overall, is in fact diminishing by some Americans due to the human failure to become spoiled and petty after we have it so good for so long.
As hunters we are afforded more opportunities for deep introspective thought as we spend countless hours on stand, quiet, peaceful, undisturbed and thoughtful in the wild. Our hunting time is truly the ultimate environment that encourages and accommodates, shall we say, a journey to the center of the mind.
Now is as good a time as ever to review, from this lifelong deerhunter, many but not all the reasons I have to be thankful.
I thank God I was born in America. There is no question that our Founding Fathers were inspired by God to establish this independent, sovereign nation to pursue individual life, liberty and happiness.
I am so thankful to have been born in Detroit, Michigan in 1948 to loving parents that took their parenting responsibilities seriously, disciplining me to be the best that I could be and walk the straight and narrow.
Following our victory in WWll, the American Dream was aglow with unlimited possibilities, and I could not have been more fortunate in the state of Michigan to be inspired by the great Fred Bear and get my mystical flight of the arrow flames fanned by the father of modern bowhunting.
I am extremely thankful that our little Detroit neighborhood was at the edge of a wildlife paradise along the winding, enchanted Rouge River where the Spirit of the Wild immediately grabbed me hard.
I must also be incredibly thankful that it was in my youth when Les Paul, Chuck Berry and Bo Diddly created the ultimate soundtrack for the best music lovers the world had ever known, and I was hooked right off the bat.
I thank God every day that my dad took me bowhunting from the very beginning, introducing me to Fred Bear and steering me on the True North compass setting that would define my life.
I give thanks to a loving family that fortified me to make good choices in life, remaining clean and sober while all those around me in the world of music were destroying their weak lives with substance abuse and suicidal choices.
I thank God for all the warm, spiritual campfires with warm, spiritual friends and hunting buddies.
I give thanks every day for His miraculous natural world creation, where critters turned me on from birth right up to this very Thanksgiving Day 2018.
I am eternally thankful that God created so many beautiful, delicious animals of miraculous evasiveness that just happen to be the perfect size, shape and density to take a good arrow into the pumpstation for backstrap delight.
I give thanks for my health.
I give thanks for my family and friends, my band, crew, management, booking agency and greatest rock-n-roll music lovers on earth that have made my music career the dream it is.
I am indescribably thankful for the super human warriors of the US Military and Law Enforcement that put their lives on the line for our freedom and safety.
I thank God for dogs.
I am so very thankful for the geniuses that have created the amazing firearms, ammunition, bows, arrows and phenomenal sporting goods that bring us such joyous quality of life.
I am eternally thankful that God sent Donald J. Trump to be president of the United States at this time to bring truth, logic and commonsense back to the forefront of a nation in serious jeopardy from the cultural suicide of political correctness and fakenews gone mad.
Happy Thanksgiving America! Don’t just celebrate on the official Thanksgiving Day, but celebrate it like you mean it every gifted day of our lives.