Rocker Nugent won’t hunt bears in Central Florida
Central Florida bears won’t have to dodge the Motor City Madman’s arrows after all.
Detroit rocker/hunter Ted Nugent, among the first to snap up a Florida bear-hunting license, said he now plans to stalk bruins on privately owned land in Collier County when the state’s first bear hunt in two decades kicks off Saturday.
He will be in the company of a guide and rely on his archery skills.
In an email to the Orlando Sentinel, Nugent, best known for the 1970s rock anthem “Cat Scratch Fever” and his pro-gun politics, said he hasn’t paid much attention to the groups protesting the hunt of the once-threatened species. He said their views provide “bonus comedy to the hunt.”
“They represent a sad, soulless segment of modern man ... They are bad, dishonest, scamming punks.”
Nugent, host of “The Spirit of the Wild” TV show on the Outdoor Channel, has occasionally run afoul of game officials, notably in California and in Alaska, where he was fined $10,000 for illegally killing a bear.
If he bags a Florida black bear, what will he do with it?
“I will do what all hunters do with these precious wildlife resources: cherish and consume the delicious meat; make a gorgeous rug with the beautiful, natural hide; bleach the stunning skull as the mythical spirit art it is; render the bear fat for cooking and waterproofing sporting gear; and have my daughter make very special jewelry with the claws,” he said. “Who doesn’t know this?” The Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission has issued bear permits to more than 3,000 people.