By: Ted Nugent
My buddy, Master Bowhunter and fulltime mystical flight of the arrow maniac Tim Wells has a killer TV show titled Relentless Pursuit, and rightly so. To my way of thinking, the American Dream of life, liberty and pursuit of happiness should indeed be relentless if one is to be truly alive to the absolute fullest degree.
As a gungho lifetime guitar adventurer, my indefatigable pursuit of uncharted 6string musical outrage certainly qualifies as a fulltime relentless pursuit by any and all considerations.
Even though the size, shape and dimensions of my beautifully handcrafted Gibson Byrdland guitar necks and their 6strings have what appears to be rather limited geography and topography, I assure you, nonetheless, that there are many voices, tones, grooves, grinds, rhythms, noises, growls, screams, melodies, sonic bombasts, peaks, valleys, gorges, ravines, ridges, cliffs, emotions, dreams and unexplored terrain on that little slab of fretted wood than you can imagine that have yet to be discovered.
And discover them I shall! Relentlessly!
Just this morning, yet again, I mined a series of notes, semi-tones, lyrics, patterns and unknown animal screeches from my little hollow body dear that have never before occurred in the history of music or nature. It was wonderful. It was out of body. Fascinating. Intriguing. Physical, primal, sexual, spiritual. It was stream of subconsciousness. Samurai. It was not of this world, and I really, really loved every stimulating moment of it.
You will just have to take my word for it, for musical creativity, though the essence of universal communication, it also the essence of sheer individual subjectivity, and I departed my barn studio fulfilled, gratified and inspired.
Now, take that perfect individual subjectivity and apply it to our beloved conservation/hunting lifestyle, and everything musical and hunting runs in a parallel universe. Believe me.
As I explore my historical homeground Michigan forests, fields, pastures, marshes, swamps, rivers and glacier cut ridges in the year 2020, one could say that we have seen all this before. Afterall, with my bootprints covering every acre for more than 50 years, what else could there possibly be to see?
No matter where or when I stop to listen, look and feel, my predator radar picks up on new sights, sounds, sensations and perspectives that are indeed new and fresh.
I don’t really cover a lot of ground in my scouting and hunting maneuvers, but rather force myself to take it ever more slowly and attentively, to intently find that new vision, new angle, new sight, new zone.
I will stand motionless for a spell, then without taking a step, squat down and look from that lower perspective, and I always experience something new.
As a rather hyper, crazy high energy kind of guy, my ultimate accomplishment in life is my learned self-discipline to slow the heck down, increase my situational awareness and cherish the power of oneness with the world and the 24 inches I currently reside in.
The great Fred Bear taught us to hunt with our eyes and ears instead of our feet, and the more we effectively tune in to our surroundings, the better the chance at identifying game before they identify us.
As we unleash the beast of huntseason 2020, let us slow down, relentlessly pursue that higher level of reasoning predator awareness, and become one to the absolute best of our individual ability with God’s miraculous renewable creation in which we function and participate as nature intended.
Every day afield is a gift, a new day, a new experience awaiting us. I’m getting out there every day, relentlessly pursuing my backstrap dreams, celebrating the perfection of true “wise use” conservation, balancing the herds, enjoying the fun, sport and hopeful meat and trophy that is the essence of life.
As the beauty of fall unfolds around us, remember too that this unique God given freedom and right to hunt our game is a uniquely American tradition and birthright worth fighting for.
Be sure you are registered to vote for these traditional family values of God, family, country, freedom and our hunting lifestyle to halt the attacks raging upon us. Get everybody you know to be that voting force to reckon with at Huntthevote.org. Pledge to register and vote to keep America America!
Be relentless.