03.10.11
Fat guy with tremor ponders Ted Nugent and baiting
This is so pathetic and lame it’s virtually beyond comment. From an outdoors columnist at the Mitchell, South Dakota, newspaper:
Ted Nugent, the rock star professional hunter, put me on today’s topic. On his television program a few years ago, Nugent had placed his blind over a spot in a corn field where the combine or truck had accidently dropped a few bushels of corn. While baiting was illegal where Nugent hunted, he whole-heartedly endorsed finding such places and using them to one’s advantage. At the time I thought that Uncle Ted was pushing his luck a wee bit.
While watching his television program last week, Nugent emphatically stated that baiting was by far his favorite form of hunting. He then went on to say that the states that permit baiting have had no problems whatsoever, and that if our home state didn’t allow baiting, we should let our representatives know about this bit of bureaucratic mismanagement. Ted was fired up! In discussing the issue with Betsy, my wife, she said and I quote, “Real hunters don’t need to bait.’ ???
As previously mentioned, I don’t have a problem with South Dakota’s baiting restriction, and I am not going to endorse Ted Nugent’s view, although I admire his enthusiasm and political activism.
This isn’t the lousy part, just the backgrounder. Baiting, of course, is what got Nugent in trouble this past summer. Typically for the US press when dealing with Nugent, the public embarrassment and failure always gets left out.
“Political activism,” however, as a description of what Nugent does only continues to illustrate how a radical and nasty extremism has come to be redefined as mainstream.
Anyway, continuing:
Have I ever been involved in baiting? The African kudu, an elk-sized animal with splendid spiral horns, is nicknamed “The Gray Ghost.??? He has a habit of appearing and disappearing before one can take a shot. On my first African hunt, I wanted a good kudu bull in the worst way, but because of my tremor, I couldn’t hold steady enough, and there wasn’t time to use the tripod. After two days of fruitless pursuit, Dirk, my professional hunter, suggested baiting, which is legal in Africa.
Dirk radioed for a load of oranges while he and BaBa built the blind. By mid-afternoon we were ready to go. During the late afternoon, cows and young bulls began to show up. Though we were 75 yards away, they were extremely cautious as they didn’t like the blind. At sunset, a big bull came in and I dropped him with a single shot. I’d guess most South Dakotans don’t care for baiting as I received some critical mail about my kudu.
The thought crosses the mind that if you have a handicap that makes you inferior to the animal you wish to bring down maybe you ought to let him pass rather than rig the game.
The entire thing is here.