Ted Nugent Caught Poaching on the Outdoor Channel

by Annie Hartnett · 2010-08-23 17:00:00 UTC
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Ted Nugent, musician and hunting fanatic, was brought up on 11 charges of poaching, including baiting and killing a deer too young to be legally hunted. Ted Nugent pleaded no contest to the poaching charges and was fined $1,750 by the state of California.

Poaching is a serious crime against animals. Poachers shoot animals out of season or beyond legal limits. Poachers often use illegal methods of killing, and kill protected species.

Ironically, Ted Nugent was caught poaching because of his hunting television show, Spirit of the Wild on the Outdoor Channel. Apparently, game wardens saw Nugent kill an immature buck on a February episode of the show.  An investigation was launched and California officials found that the immature deer had been eating bait called C’mere Deer. Baiting wildlife is illegal in California.

Nugent is a longserving board member of the National Rifle Association, referred to as "Uncle Ted" on the NRA website. The NRA says it "strongly supports every law-abiding American's privledge to hunt." The website also states that hunters are an important part of wildlife conservation and wildlife management.

As the President of the Humane Society of the United States pointed out, if the NRA is serious about abiding by a hunter's code of ethics, they should oust Nugent from their board for breaking the law.

Ted Nugent said earlier this year: “My name is Ted Nugent and because of Pam Anderson ... and because of Paul McCartney, all the members of PETA, whenever I hear the word animal or rights in the same paragraph, I’m killing an extra hundred of something this year. I have unlimited deer tags in Michigan and Texas, and I don’t even need to kill them really, but I’m going to. "

He continued on this tirade, using much more colorful language.

Ted Nugent has proven himself to be an enemy of wildlife. But Nugent wasn't alone when he baited and shot that young deer. He was followed by a television crew from the Outdoor Channel.

Outdoor Channel claims that they have "always understood the delicate balance between man, wildlife and the environment" and that the core values of the channel are "conservation, outreach, responsibility and education." Yet they have a show about a Nugent who says he aims "not just killing" but "slaughtering ... and "gut them and skin them, quarter them and butcher them." Oh dear.

Tell the Outdoor Channel that poaching is not entertainment.

Photo Credit: Chascar

Annie Hartnett is a writer and animal advocate who has worked for several wildlife rehabilitation centers and environmental programs.

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