The Nuge Speaks ..... again.

[noharleyyet]

This is why I'm a big supporter of Texas seceding from the Union.

Would I need to show my passport while being NR tag-raped?

 

[Lone Star Outdoors Show]

With all due respect, that might be the attitude in Texas or the east, but it's a sure fire way to lose public hunting on public lands. Folks would rather fight over the scraps than fight to protect what matters: the land abd the common man's ability to utilzie the wildlife resource.

It's also endemic of a society that thinks their pleasure comes before all else. So I'd rather hunt fairchase, and won't participate in the privatization of wildlife because at least I'd get to hunt. I can be out in wild country 365 scouting, etc. If it's really not about the kill, then it shouldn't matter at all if you have a rifle, right? It's a value judgement to be sure, and you can do what you want to do, but I'll still fight to make sure that everyone gets a fair shot at real fair chase hunts. This is why I'm a big supporter of Texas seceding from the Union.

Texas is the future of hunting unless people stand up and fight for their rights. The Nuge certainly has embraced the private wildlife model along with Foxworthy and most other hunting "celebrities." That hurts the guys who hunt public land. Randy, Rinella and a very few others put the focus back where it needs to be: on the resource.

The other guys seem to think that the resource exists solely for them. It's narcissistic.

Funny how those boys all flock to SFW as well.

H.D. Thoreau said that most men fish their entire lives without realizing that it's not the fish they're after. Seems appropo to this discussion.

With all due respect you have no idea what you are talking about when it comes to hunting Texas. But I will go there momentarily.

First of all, Randy and Rinella do it the right way- no doubt about it. That is why I was honored to have them both as guests on my outdoors show. They produce the best hunting shows out there - BAR NONE.

But just because you see Foxworthy or Ted shooting monstrous whitetails behind a high fence doesn't mean that's the way all Texans do it. Most of us don't have 10K to drop on a buck and you might be surprised to know that most Texans would rather save their hard earned cash to get on a lease. The average Texas hunter is not on a high fence lease- we can't afford it LOL. Most folks are lucky to have access to a couple hundred acres of low fence to hunt. We are not like the Western states and there is virtually NO public land in Texas. You can duck hunt on public lakes but forget about public land for whitetail and mule deer. Our state is 95% privately owned. So if you don't own land then you better have a lease or have friend that has land.

I have hunted Texas and though I love my state I still love the Sangre de Cristos just as much. I have backpacked, hunted and fished the wide open spaces of New Mexico every fall over a decade now. And I will be grouse hunting and then mule deer hunting there again this October. Its Gods Country for sure. But to rag on all Texans for making the most of what we have to work with is nothing short of asinine. There are more hunters in Texas than any other state and MAYBE 1% of them hunt the way that Ted and Foxworthy do on TV- and for the record, if you want to know about Jeff's most memorable deer hunt then it would be a low fence 140 inch whitetail he shot on low fence farm in Georgia- not some 200 in freak he killed on the King Ranch.

Is doing the OYO way the ideal way? Hell yes. But that isn't a reality for alot of Texans. So why bash the way folks hunt here? Not the high fence trophy hunter...I am talking about your average Texas whitetail hunter like me. What good does it do to drive a wedge between people who love the same things as you do? I guess that is what I don't understand. I love it all and while I can't afford to hunt high fence ranches I have been lucky enough to be a guest and spend a few days at one with my brothers making memories that I will never forget.

High Fence w/ my brothers- 600 acres one of the most frustrating hunts I have been on as the animals were almost completely nocturnal.

Low fence fair chase - South Texas 4000 acres

Sangre De Cristos- New Mexico

We can't all live out West. But we do cherish our time spent in your neck of the woods as much as anyone else, and I would fight to the death to try and protect those vast tracts of public land that Teddy Roosevelt saw ultimate value in. If you are an ethical hunter and respect the resources God has given us then it makes no difference to me how you choose to do so.

 

[Ben Lamb]

But just because you see Foxworthy or Ted shooting monstrous whitetails behind a high fence doesn't mean that's the way all Texans do it. Most of us don't have 10K to drop on a buck and you might be surprised to know that most Texans would rather save their hard earned cash to get on a lease. The average Texas hunter is not on a high fence lease- we can't afford it LOL. Most folks are lucky to have access to a couple hundred acres of low fence to hunt. We are not like the Western states and there is virtually NO public land in Texas. You can duck hunt on public lakes but forget about public land for whitetail and mule deer. Our state is 95% privately owned. So if you don't own land then you better have a lease or have friend that has land.

First, I lived in Texas for 6 years, so I do know what I'm talking about.

Leases, high fence, etc, it's all the same: it's the European model of wildlife management. That was my point. The public has been left out of the management of wildlife, and it's left up to those who can afford it. Otherwise, you get the scraps of a state wildlife management area, etc.

BTW - exotics are a pox on wildlife management in the U.S.

I have hunted Texas and though I love my state I still love the Sangre de Cristos just as much. I have backpacked, hunted and fished the wide open spaces of New Mexico every fall over a decade now. And I will be grouse hunting and then mule deer hunting there again this October. Its Gods Country for sure. But to rag on all Texans for making the most of what we have to work with is nothing short of asinine. There are more hunters in Texas than any other state and MAYBE 1% of them hunt the way that Ted and Foxworthy do on TV- and for the record, if you want to know about Jeff's most memorable deer hunt then it would be a low fence 140 inch whitetail he shot on low fence farm in Georgia- not some 200 in freak he killed on the King Ranch.

Is doing the OYO way the ideal way? Hell yes. But that isn't a reality for alot of Texans. So why bash the way folks hunt here? Not the high fence trophy hunter...I am talking about your average Texas whitetail hunter like me. What good does it do to drive a wedge between people who love the same things as you do? I guess that is what I don't understand. I love it all and while I can't afford to hunt high fence ranches I have been lucky enough to be a guest and spend a few days at one with my brothers making memories that I will never forget.

High Fence w/ my brothers- 600 acres one of the most frustrating hunts I have been on as the animals were almost completely nocturnal.

Texas provides the best example of what not to do when it comes to wildlife and the democratic allocation thereof. It's priced the average guy out of the game. Montana's the opposite. Residents jut about steal tags and we've kicked the privatizers in the teeth.

But I'm not talking about just "hunting," which seems to be the common fixation with most hunters. If you only consider the selfish side of wildlife conservation then sure, I suppose it doesn't matter if I shoot a blesbok in Orlando versus in Africa.

I could shoot an elk behind a fence in Idaho and not give a shit about the wild places that elk need to truly thrive. Hell, it's a lot more convenient to claim that "others do it this way, so why shouldn't I?" That way I don't have to think about the 60% of the Wyoming Range Mule Deer herd that was slaughtered so that people in Texas, or where ever, can have cheap gas. I can bitch about wolves and bears rather than look at the huge tracts of winter range that have been chewed up by subdivisions.

Yes, Texas is different because of land ownership patterns. It's the best example out there of why the private wildlife model is the worst model in the U.S. You said it yourself, there's no place to hunt unless you pay for it through leases, etc.

But again, it's not the kill that matters, it's all the associated parts necessary to get us to 11 weeks of elk hunting on a general license.

The argument that hunters shouldn't talk bad about other methods of hunting is bullshit. This is America, and I get to complain about whatever I want, and I get to work to enact laws that maintain high hunter opportunity for those of us who can't afford a lease, high fence hunt or whatever. Just because Texans abbrogated that right 170 years ago doesn't mean the rest of the nation should.

600 acres:I take dumps bigger than that.

No offense meant, just feeling surly. I'm sure that we'd get along great in camp. Just chaps my ass when people forget that it's not the killing of the critter that matters, it's the fact that everyone, no matter what their station, should be able to get out and hunt and fish. We're losing that in this country.

 

[Lone Star Outdoors Show]

First, I lived in Texas for 6 years, so I do know what I'm talking about.

Glad you at least got to live in paradise for 6 years

BTW - exotics are a pox on wildlife management in the U.S.

There is no doubt. But it's big business and if someone offers me a free exotic hunt I am damn sure gonna take them up on it. Like I said- it's delicious. And BTW- ask Steven Rinella about exotic hunting. He sure seemed to enjoy his OYO Texas aoudad hunt.

I suppose it doesn't matter if I shoot a blesbok in Orlando versus in Africa.

Like you so eloquently put it "This is America" so shoot one if you want to. If you can't afford a safari. Then shoot one in Orlando.

That way I don't have to think about the 60% of the Wyoming Range Mule Deer herd that was slaughtered so that people in Texas, or where ever, can have cheap gas. I can bitch about wolves and bears rather than look at the huge tracts of winter range that have been chewed up by subdivisions.

We don't need your gas. Point the finger elsewhere- hell maybe at yourselves. Texas produces more crude oil than any other state.

The argument that hunters shouldn't talk bad about other methods of hunting is bullshit. This is America, and I get to complain about whatever I want, and I get to work to enact laws that maintain high hunter opportunity for those of us who can't afford a lease, high fence hunt or whatever. Just because Texans abbrogated that right 170 years ago doesn't mean the rest of the nation should.

So hold everyone in Texas responsible for the way things went down in 1860? That doesn't make a lick of sense. This is how it is now. Your solution is for Texans to just quit hunting? Not gonna happen. You shouldn't want it to happen.

No offense meant, just feeling surly. I'm sure that we'd get along great in camp. Just chaps my ass when people forget that it's not the killing of the critter that matters, it's the fact that everyone, no matter what their station, should be able to get out and hunt and fish. We're losing that in this country.

Finally something I can agree with

 

[The Hedgehog]

Ben Lamb is one of my heros, for sure and that's no joke.

I was humming wang dang sweet poontang and scared off a huge black bear last night while hunting with a friend. Saw piles of elk, deer, 3 bears, and heard a pack of wolves howling on the walk out in the dark. Great to live in MT.

My sister really likes the fishing in Texas.

 

[Tom]

I like Texas and I like Ted Nugent telling it the way it is. I can do 3-4 hunts in Texas for the price of most western hunt tags, then double or triple that, when you put in the gas. All the travel time, forget it, I could be hunting and fishing in Texas instead. I enjoy the public western hunting, but its not all its made up to be, by me.

 

[tjones]

Texas is da bomb. Where else can ya get one of these. (Sorry NHY)

Ya all knew it was coming, just a matter of who and when.

 

[The Hedgehog]

You forgot to use the one with my magic.

 

[Devil Diver Down]

So hold everyone in Texas responsible for the way things went down in 1860? That doesn't make a lick of sense. This is how it is now. Your solution is for Texans to just quit hunting? Not gonna happen. You shouldn't want it to happen.

I'm not going to speak for Ben--hell, he takes dumps bigger than 600 acres --but the point I think you're missing is this: When anyone pays (or even hunts for free) in a high fence area in Texas, CO, Montana or Timbuktu it feeds the machine that keeps high fences up. If not one single person supported those setups, they wouldn't exist pure and simple--there wouldn't be a market for them. But since we make decisions as individuals and not as a group, we have to let our individual code guide us--not 'group think'. Saying you're going to hunt those areas because 'everyone else does' doesn't make you any less of the problem. It just keeps feeding the problem.

I don't think anyone is telling you not to hunt. Just that when you do hunt high fences, you're furthering the problem.

P.s: who would pass up the chance at a full curl steer?

 

[Ben Lamb]

I have a high fiber diet.

What I meant, and I apologize for not being clearer, is that Texas made a decision a long time ago that public land and public wildlife were not going to be the central driving force of their wildlife program for big game. Waterfowl is different, and while I don't know what Texas' stream access laws are like, it's still going to be damned dfficult for anyone in Texas to find the time and the place to hunt. So maybe I am blaming the Texans of today for not following the successes of their Northern friends and add to the public trust like MT has. Or to ensure that Game Farms never got a start, like WY did, or to provide ample opportunity for the masses like CO has.

Instead, it seems to me that Texans have been satisfied with the scraps in their own state, while trying to tell everyone how great it is when they're up in our states hunting our game.

Hunt high fences or leases if that's what you got, sure. But take it a step farther and look to what you can do to change whatever is isolating people from hunting and change that as well. As we've seen over and over, it's access to land that eliminates people from hunting, especially in heavily developed states like Texas, and back east.

 

[Dinkshooter]

I'm disappointed it took 15 minutes for that picture to come up.

I wish Tom would just make that picture his avatar.

 

[Lone Star Outdoors Show]

I understand yall's point. But myself nor any other Texan is going to quit hunting just to try to shock the system into change. Land is the one thing they aren't making more of and unless you own it your stuck in a catch 22. So even if we tried to somehow change things...it would never happen because the state can't afford to buy private land. We are screwed. But it isn't the fault of today's Texas hunter.

Damnit

 

[spook12]

Ben you are correct with that last statement, but none of us have clean hands in this thing. Just look around the country Utah selling animals to the highest bidder. Tags being taken out of NR draws and given to landowners to sale in Colorado. Wyoming decided i was good enough to trek all over the globe for 14 years protecting their rights ,but i'm unworthy of hunting wilderness there.I have seen a couple threads here about how Montana cant or wont pay for it's wildlife management, so how many NR guys have been priced out of hunting our land because residents choose not to pay more. For the record i have never been behind a high fence. I have however hunted private prop owned by family members , just like the Royals of Europe.To tell you the truth i hate it for the average guy in Texas. Whats some guy living in Houston, Dallas supposed to do? If he owns no land where can he take his kids on weekends ?

 

[OriginalOscar]

I understand yall's point. But myself nor any other Texan is going to quit hunting just to try to shock the system into change. Land is the one thing they aren't making more of and unless you own it your stuck in a catch 22. So even if we tried to somehow change things...it would never happen because the state can't afford to buy private land. We are screwed. But it isn't the fault of today's Texas hunter.

Damnit

With respect I call BS. Are you telling me there is no place in TX you can pay for access to chase wild deer, pigs, or exotics? If you want to shoot something in a fenced pasture and talk about how hard it is then you are creating hunting in your minds reality.

Scan back through these posts. They are laughable and shocking. Someone comments the animals were "nocturnal" and someone killed "Bessy the Milk Cow".

In 30+ years of chasing big game I have came home empty handed 90% of the time. Hunting is not a sure thing and somehow that reality, challenge, and unknown have been replaced with desire for a sure kill by people who profess to be sportsmen.

Somewhere Nugent slid into this reality and his lack of respect for hunting tradition lead him to make poor decisions.

Now what can we do about it? I do have empathy for people who are not blessed to live in areas with public land. If someone wants to join me this October I am glad to take 1 or 2 people elk hunting. I hunt the spike areas and Utah is issuing more cow elk tags this season. PM me if you are interested.

 

[Lone Star Outdoors Show]

With respect I call BS. Are you telling me there is no place in TX you can pay for access to chase wild deer, pigs, or exotics? If you want to shoot something in a fenced pasture and talk about how hard it is then you are creating hunting in your minds reality.

Scan back through these posts. They are laughable and shocking. Someone comments the animals were "nocturnal" and someone killed "Bessy the Milk Cow".

In 30+ years of chasing big game I have came home empty handed 90% of the time. Hunting is not a sure thing and somehow that reality, challenge, and unknown have been replaced with desire for a sure kill by people who profess to be sportsmen.

Somewhere Nugent slid into this reality and his lack of respect for hunting tradition lead him to make poor decisions.

Now what can we do about it? I do have empathy for people who are not blessed to live in areas with public land. If someone wants to join me this October I am glad to take 1 or 2 people elk hunting. I hunt the spike areas and Utah is issuing more cow elk tags this season. PM me if you are interested.

Kudos to you and your holier than thou mindset. As for hunting a high fence you have never done and obviously have no idea what my experience was like so shut the hell up. I don't own a high fence place- have only gone on one high fence exotic hunt in my life. The animals were nocturnal, the Texas Hill Country terrain is not forgiving and there was no pasture on the place. It took the better part of a week to even get within rifle range. Keep on living in your ignorance. Your attitude is the type that divides the hunting community.

I host an outdoors show for a living. Does that make me a great hunter? Far from it. I also come home empty handed 90% of the time and don't claim to be an expert. But it is my passion and what I live for each and every waking day. Most deer hunts I go on I am lucky to even see ONE deer- doe or buck. And yes there are draws in Texas but they are few and far between. On our draws you are assigned a 200 acre compartment in a state park or WMA. I actually go drawn last year and spent 5 days in the Hill Country and didn't see ONE freakin deer. It rained the entire time. But at the end of the day I saw a few sunsets, camped with a good friend and my spirit was rejuvenated from the time away. This the way most hunts seem to go. But the time spent with friends and the solace I find in the outdoors are the things that last a lifetime. Whether that's on a mountain top or on a 150 acre lease in East, Texas. We are not so different you and I. So why drive a wedge between us? You focus on the ONE high fence hunt that I went on and discount every other fair chase hunt I have done in a lifetime? And now I am not a sportsman? Spare me your judgments- WITH ALL DUE RESPECT.

 

[The Hedgehog]

I'd rather shoot zombies on a good video game than exotics and other livestock in somebody's psuedo-wilderness. Supergay - like paintball. -just my opinion.

 

[Lone Star Outdoors Show]

And I would rather go into the woods and chase exotics for a week than sit on my tail and play video games. Just my opinion. Video games are gay and lead to laziness.

Greenhorn- what is your solution? For all Texans simply to not hunt? I wish we had wide open spaces like you folks do. But we don't. I put in for our lame draws. You are confined to a smaller area there than on your own lease or high fence LOL. 200 acre compartments? It's absurd compared to Western public lands.

I would love have the wilderness that you have at my fingertips. Hell I cant get enough of it. That is why I am going grouse hunting and fly fishing the first week of Oct in NM and then back for mule deer last week of Oct. But what the hell are people supposed to do the other 50 weeks of the year? Not deer hunt? And like I said- most Texans don't have the money to deer hunt high fence places. They are stuck on leases just like I am. 200, 300, 500 maybe 1000 acres if they are super lucky. Where do you take your kids to teach them about the outdoors? I guess we should just let them shoot zombies all day with you?

Ya'll will never understand where we come from I guess but I don't get the blatant disrespect and condescending attitude that ya'll show to people who love the outdoors as much as you do. Either head West or don't hunt is the attitude on here. And I already have seen some negativity from someone on this thread bitching about us heading West to share your public lands. LOL it's a lose lose for us I guess.

 

[shoots-straight]

So in Texas, your ancestors set the stage for the poor treatment of the "North American Model For Wildlife Conservation", but you chose to use night vision thermal imaging equipment on your TV show to kill a Wild Boar. Where does that fit? It's your choice to use equipment your ancestors never even heard about. You could choose differently. That wouldn't sell the new equipment though would it.

Game farms are a touchy issue, IMO, TV shows that use them, are one of the biggest threats to our heritage. We banned the hunting on them in Montana, and it was a great accomplishment.

I know Texas has a screwed up system. I've never hunted there, and most likely won't. It seems you are helping to further screw up things there. You have choices. Choose wisely as all TV hosts are putting themselves in the limelight, and things can go south in one hell of a hurry. Ask Zumbo!

 

[Joe Hulburt]

I have become totally convinced that the only thing Ted Nugent cares about is Ted Nugent's ego! He seems a desperate man as his mouth is pushing him into a corner all alone. My money says his attempt at a hunting show will be gone in the near future. He doesn't speak for me!

Most Texans are outstanding friendly people! I'm sure he is equally disliked in Texas as he is everywhere else.

Bummer about the lack of public land in Texas or I would own a place down there. Great music and great people. Just not enough public land for this hunting junky.

 

[shoots-straight]

Ya'll will never understand where we come from I guess but I don't get the blatant disrespect and condescending attitude that ya'll show to people who love the outdoors as much as you do. Either head West or don't hunt is the attitude on here. And I already have seen some negativity from someone on this thread bitching about us heading West to share your public lands. LOL it's a lose lose for us I guess.

Those lands are all of ours. Your more than welcome to come and use them. In fact, that's what keeps them from being forgotten and destroyed. The more people that use, and then understand their importance, the more supporters they gain.

You get most of what we are telling you.

I get the fact that things suck there. I sympathize with you on your hunting opportunities. I just wish that your people hadn't capitulated towards a different wildlife management technique.

Texas had so much promise. Sad.