For Ted Nugent, Nature Rocks: Outdoor Show Guest Swaps Guitar for Bow

By Darrin Youker, Reading Eagle, Pa.

Jan. 19–Rock star Ted Nugent has a straightforward view of life. Here it is in a nutshell: Life is like the book “Old Yeller” — a touching tale of a boy and his dog. Reward the dog for the good things it does, like chasing off bears and snakes. But when things go wrong — such as when the dog gets rabies — do what has to be done. “It’s going to break our heart, but the right thing to do is shoot him dead,” Nugent said of the dog. “The left wouldn’t shoot him … they’d find someone to blame. That is the difference between hippies and Ted Nugent.” Well, all right, then … Most people know Nugent for his rock ‘n’ roll bravado and 1977 guitar anthem, “Cat Scratch Fever.” Known as the “Motor City Madman,” Nugent also is a staunch supporter of the right to hunt and the Second Amendment — the right to bear arms. Nugent is bringing his homespun philosophy to the Greater Reading Sport Travel & Outdoor Show today and Saturday at the Greater Reading Expo Center in Muhlenberg Township. So far, he’s the biggest star to agree to come through the doors of the center, which opened in July. Nugent will be on hand both days to sign autographs, give hunting demonstrations and recruit soldiers for the culture war. Culture war? Yes. Nugent believes there is a movement afoot to prevent anyone from hunting or owning a gun. Loosely defined by Nugent, the forces on that side of the culture war are Sen. Ted Kennedy, filmmaker Michael Moore, hippies, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals and other people he says are hell-bent on passing more gun laws. “I’m in hand-to-hand combat with these people,” Nugent said in a phone interview Thursday from Texas, where he had just completed a hunting trip. “Part of our ideology is the right to have, or not have, guns. The tofu guys don’t want just to have the right to eat tofu. They want to keep me from eating meat.” The 58-year-old Nugent, who lived in Michigan most of his life before moving to Crawford, Texas, in 2003, went on early hunting expeditions with his father, Warren, a World War II veteran. The two also hunted on a relative’s farm in western Pennsylvania. “He knew, as all outdoorsman do, that when that sun comes up and you are in the forest … there is no war, there is no pain, there is no suffering,” Nugent said of his dad. When he’s not on tour, Nugent is either attending outdoor shows or hunting. He also has a reality television show on the Versus cable network called “Wanted Ted or Alive” and hosts bow-hunting schools for children. In short, Nugent breathes music and eats deer meat. Right now is a good time to be an outdoorsman, despite the crossfire in the culture war, he said. When he was growing up, Nugent said, there were no outdoorgoods mega-stores where hunters could get all sorts of equipment. And these days, he claimed, more and more people are coming to appreciate hunting. “People are waking up to realize that a real quality life begins with a relationship with nature,” Nugent said. “This is a great time to be a hunter, and a great time to celebrate being a hunter.”

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Copyright (c) 2007, Reading Eagle, Pa.

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