Ted Nugent pleads guilty in illegal Alaska bear kill

Discussion in 'Turf and Surf Hunting and Fishing' started by Quigley_Sharps, Apr 25, 2012.


  1. Quigley_Sharps

    Quigley_Sharps The Badministrator Administrator Founding Member

    ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Rocker and gun rights advocate Ted Nugent pleaded guilty Tuesday to transporting a black bear he illegally killed in Alaska, saying he was sorry for unwittingly violating the law.

    "I would never knowingly break any game laws," Nugent told the court. "I'm afraid I was blindsided by this, and I sincerely apologize to everyone for this."


    Muscician and NRA member Ted Nugent addresses a seminar at the National Rifle Association's 140th convention in Pittsburgh Sunday, May 1, 2011. (AP Image)
    With his plea, the singer and avid hunter followed through with a signed agreement he made with federal prosecutors earlier this month.

    Magistrate Judge Michael Thompson accepted the deal at a U.S. District Court hearing in Ketchikan. Nugent and his attorney participated by telephone.

    Asked by Thompson if the agreement was clear, Nugent responded: "It is with me, your honor."

    According to the document, Nugent illegally shot and killed the bear in May 2009 on Sukkwan Island in southeast Alaska after wounding another bear in a bow hunt. The bow incident counted toward a seasonal limit of one bear in that location. Nugent and his lawyer, Wayne Anthony Ross, said neither of them knew about that law.

    The judge said he wasn't aware of the "sort of one-strike policy" either.

    "It probably is not widely known, and if there is a side benefit to the agreement reached here today — since apparently newspapers are interested in Mr. Nugent and his doings — this probably will serve to alert a great many hunters to that very issue and may, in fact, prevent violations in the future and court activity for a whole slew of folks."

    The plea agreement says Nugent knowingly possessed and transported the bear in misdemeanor violation of the federal Lacey Act.

    Ross said after the hearing that he was unaware of any state charges pending. A database search found no state charges against Nugent.

    "It seems to me that would be double dipping," Ross said.

    The hunt was filmed for Nugent's Outdoor Channel television show "Spirit of the Wild," according to the plea deal.

    Under the agreement, Nugent must pay a $10,000 fine and serve two years of probation, including a special condition that he not hunt or fish in Alaska or on U.S. Forest Service properties for a year. Nugent used a number of bear-baiting sites on Forest Service land during the Alaska hunt, the document said.

    He also must create a public service announcement that will be broadcast on his show every second week for a year after approval by a representative of the U.S. Attorney's Office.

    Nugent told the court he wanted to make numerous PSAs to keep the interest level up, "so it's not just the same statement." Thompson said that would be fine, as long as the PSAs were approved before airing.

    The musician famed for his 1977 hit "Cat Scratch Fever" also must pay the state $600 for the bear that was taken illegally.

    Nugent briefly drew the attention of the Secret Service last week after he rallied support for Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney and said of the Obama administration: "We need to ride into that battlefield and chop their heads off in November."

    His comments were made during a National Rifle Association meeting in St. Louis.

    As a hunter, Nugent has run afoul of the law before.

    In August 2010, California revoked Nugent's deer hunting license after he pleaded no contest to misdemeanor charges of deer-baiting and not having a properly signed tag.

    Nugent's loss of that deer hunting license through June allows 34 other states to revoke the same privilege under the Interstate Wildlife Violator Compact. Each state, however, can interpret and enforce the agreement differently.
     
  2. Pyrrhus

    Pyrrhus Monkey+++

    They are the king's creatures, not to be hunted by commoners.
     
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  3. LukeK

    LukeK Monkey

    Why kill unless threatened or hungry? If its for sport then i hope he rots in hell.
     
  4. Pyrrhus

    Pyrrhus Monkey+++

    You really need to go somewhere else. Does your mom know you are on the computer this late?
     
  5. E.L.

    E.L. Moderator of Lead Moderator Emeritus Founding Member

    I eat most of what I kill, but the coyotes, snakes, and other varmints rot where they lay.

    I suppose you want me to rot in hell as well.
     
  6. Quigley_Sharps

    Quigley_Sharps The Badministrator Administrator Founding Member

    Sounds like PETA to me...
    You obviously didn't read the article, you cant get a transporting a black bear illegally killed in Alaska, if you wasn't taking it home to eat it.
     
  7. Silversnake

    Silversnake Silverback


    Zombies kill because they are hungry. Don't be a Zombie.
     
    Cephus, Gator 45/70 and E.L. like this.
  8. LukeK

    LukeK Monkey

    Thats my opinion, if you dont like it, tough, grow up.

    If you hunt to eat,cool, kill to defend, cool, kill for sport then your a scumbag. Its the 21st century, im sure nugent isnt short on the funds to go grocery shopping.......
     
  9. LukeK

    LukeK Monkey

    Quigley

    You obviously didnt read my post, i said if your hungry and kill for food then cool, nugent doesn't NEED to kill to eat, he has plenty of green.
     
  10. Silversnake

    Silversnake Silverback

    Troll Alert
     
  11. Minuteman

    Minuteman Chaplain Moderator Founding Member

    Atypical liberal logic, which is in itself an oxymoron. Hunting for sport is bad. So we allow the populations of game animals to run unchecked. The deer population,along with other herbivores, those who don't starve to death due to overgrazed food supplies, will destroy agricultural areas causing untold millions of dollars worth of damage. Deer will increasingly move into urban areas significantly increasing traffic accidents and loss of human life.
    What of the wild pig explosion in Texas and moving into other Southern states Crop land is being destroyed at an alarming rate, auto collisions on the rise, albeit with less mortal results. I suppose the evil men slaughtering this menace from helicopters are evil too?
    Think with your mind, that's what it's for. These types never think through the equation to it's logical conclusion. They react with knee jerk, feel good, emotional rationale not clear logical thinking. And unfortunately they vote that way too.



    North America's Most Dangerous Mammal - Reason Magazine
     
  12. BTPost

    BTPost Stumpy Old Fart,Deadman Walking, Snow Monkey Moderator

    As one of the few Alaskans who frequent this place, I have a Personal interest in Teddy's Conviction. He wasn't convicted by the State of Alaska, of ANY violation of State Law, PERIOD. Ted was convicted of violation of the Lacey Act. "Transporting a Game Animal across State Lines, that was taken in Violation of the Law. His violation was of Federal Law, not State Law. Even the Federal Magistrate had never heard of the Federal Statute that Ted was convicted of violating. Part of his reparations is to make PSAs to publicize this type of Violation, and get the word out, so that others know that it is a REAL LAW. The Federal Prosecutor was looking to make a Statement with this conviction, by picking Teddy for indictment. It is not like this Black Bear was an Endangered Specie, or anything. We have plenty of them around here. Some folks even think we have a few to many.....

    Lukie, Best you stay out of Alaska, your attitude would go over, up here, like a Lead Brick....

    .... YMMV....
     
  13. LukeK

    LukeK Monkey

    BTPost, please, grow up a bit. And don't level empty threats at people you don't know.

    Look, all i said is that if you hunt for sport then i think its wrong, if some of you are infantile to agree to disagree then so be it. Those who can give me a logical reason then im all ears and i will listen to your opinion with respect, i might not agree with it but i will listen all the same.

    If your livelyhood and thus your family is threatened by any animal then cool, do what has to be done, if you need to provide for your family then cool, do what needs to be done, but to kill simply for the enjoyment of killing i think is wrong, and if you don't like what I have to say, tough you can call me all the names you want it won't matter to me, tell me ne er to go to a certain state, like to see you try and stop me, i love the 2nd amendment and this country.

    just ask yourself is killing for killing sake right? Why does someone like nugent NEED to kill? He doesn't, if he was in need of food and to protect his own, im on his side 100% but he does not need to kill so why do it? Seems to me nothing other than pleasure and thats perverted.
     
  14. LukeK

    LukeK Monkey

    I never said killing to cull to protect agriculture was wrong or killing to provide was wrong, im no liberal, i just dont see any justifiable reason why someone with money enough to more than sustain his family is killing? Why? Is his land in danger? No, is his family in danger? No. He just wanted to kill something for the sake of killing is how it seems to me, and thats wrong in my book.
     
  15. Minuteman

    Minuteman Chaplain Moderator Founding Member

    Because he can. It's called sport. He enjoys it and he eats what he kills or donates the meat to needy families. Sport hunting serves many purposes, including wildlife management to prevent inhumane suffering of the animals from unchecked population growth. Preventing loss of agricultural land and prevention of damage and loss of human life.

    The hunting is bad unless you have to mentality is what is infantile and irrational. Hunting serves a purpose and hunters are more cognizant of environmental issues than the general public. We are stewards of the land and the wildlife and contribute more to conservation of them than any other group.

    A moron out indiscriminately killing animals for no other reason than some perverse thrill of killing would outrage hunters as well as you. But to compare legitimate hunting to that is asinine.
     
  16. LukeK

    LukeK Monkey

    Well if thats true then maybe i have Nugent wrong, I respect your opinion and your reasoning resonates with my opinions on the matter and you have also presented your reason for hunting in a logical and defined way that, to be honest, makes sense. I did not know that he donates his harvests to needy families, fair play to him for doing that.

    Knowledge is the key to survival, I've killed to eat before because I had no other choice, didn't enjoy it but was thankful for another life giving itself up for me. I never really hunted though as in the sense of licensed to do so for the purpose of overpopulation or threats to local agriculture, there was never a need for me to do it really.

    If I got him pegged all wrong then so be it, I'm man enough to admit being wrong when I am, guess I've comes across too many morons who do just kill for the sake of it.

    Sir, not that it means much but you have my respect and thanks for educating me more about hunting and for your reasoned debate.
     
  17. BTPost

    BTPost Stumpy Old Fart,Deadman Walking, Snow Monkey Moderator

    Sonny, You have no idea what you sound like, to the average bush Alaskan..... so let us all hope that YOU, stay out of the bush, and never find out.... ...... YMMV....
     
    Cephus likes this.
  18. Minuteman

    Minuteman Chaplain Moderator Founding Member

    It means a lot Luke and thank you. I have found that if people on both sides of an issue just present their reasoning in a concise and respectful manner and actually listen to each others side then they will find most times that they have much more in common than they realized.

    I am not much of a hunter myself but I grew up hunting and fishing and enjoying the outdoor sports. It has been my observation that true hunters are more akin to and have more respect for the animals they hunt than most do. I have seen deer hunters who failed to make a clean kill search for hours in the freezing rain to find the animal and prevent it from any needless suffering.

    To equate killing with hunting is disingenuous. The killing is a part of the hunt but far from the objective. It is the hunt that is important, the chase, the stalk, the time spent enjoying nature and the beautiful creatures that inhabit it. The kill is almost a sad event in that it signals the end of the hunt.

    I do not believe in killing for sheer sport either. I am repulsed by people who kill animals for "fun". But that is not my experience with hunters. They respect the animals they hunt and they do a service to their communities.

    I lived in an area where collisions with deer was a regular occurrence. I joked that I was going to paint on my wife's car deer heads with the red slash through them like on a fighter plane. After seeing that everyone is alright the first call we make is to the local fish and game dept to come and retrieve the deer. They take the carcass and have it processed and the meat given out to needy families in the area.

    And as to the law that Nugent violated it was enacted to prevent the wasteful harvesting, and wanton killing of animals for commercial purposes.

    Welcome to the board Luke and I hope you stick around and get involved in other areas of the site. There is a lot of knowledge to be had here and some really great people. I hope you give it a chance. MM
     
  19. LukeK

    LukeK Monkey

    Thank you sir, I will be sticking around, and i concur, reasoned argument is always the way to go and one always has to have an open mind. We don't grow and evolve if we cannot listen to someone elses point of view, more often than not we learn something new, as I have, and we also think of things we've always done in a different way.

    I can understand the chase being the best part of the hunt, i might go myself, armed with a weapon for self defense and an SLR camera.
     
    Mountainman likes this.
  20. Minuteman

    Minuteman Chaplain Moderator Founding Member

    I have been on many hunts where I never got a thing. And enjoyed every moment of it. To be out in the woods at sunrise, listening to all the sounds of the creatures around you stirring,unaware of your presence. That is a mystical, almost spiritual, experience. And to learn the habits and patterns of an animal, to follow it and remain unseen, watching. That is the best part of the hunt. There is something primal in all of us that is awakened in that situation. The adrenaline, the rapid heartbeat, quickened breathing. That is the thrill of the hunt. That is where the joy is to be found, not the killing.

    You may be interested in this;

    I have had this same idea for sometime. Only I would have the camera lens have a cross hair in it so you could see exactly where your "shot" was placed.

    Camera gun would let "harmless hunters" get killer wildlife shots
    killshot.
     
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