Nugent no longer tells the story after aligning himself with the Reichwing Party but he used to be so proud of how he got out of Vietnam. He used tell how when he got his draft notice, two weeks prior to reporting him he began urinating, defacting and vomiting on himself. He didn’t bathe or change clothes for the two weeks. He then reported in and they threw out the door telling him that he was the most disgusting thing they had ever seen and needed psychiatric help. He then proceeded to go home, bathed, changed clothes and then took himself out for a steak dinner to celebrate. Nugent is okay with others sacrificing their lives in war but like Cheney and Clinton had other priorities.

WB,

The question was, why do hunters following the rules get a bad rap?
It is precisely because of the “style or manner” of Mr. Nugent and others like him. He can’t articulate the facts to the uninformed if people are so put off by his style that they will not listen.
I know and respect many hunters, and yes, I’ve read some of Mr. Nugent’s larger than life purple prose about his pursuit of game. I know that appeals to some folk, but ol’ Ted using his public persona probably does a better job of preaching to the choir than convincing non-hunters to take up arms.

I went out into the plant and ask some of the hunters the question. Why do hunters who follow the rules get such a bad rap, I ask them. The answer was fast and easy. We don’t get a bad rap from other hunters, just people that don’t hunt. Different strokes for different folks might be the best answer to this question.

Teresa, without jumping in the fight too deep, I don’t think Ted is trying to convince any non-hunters to take up hunting. He takes the extreme position on hunting in a counter to PETA-type, anti-hunting folks. Is he harsh and unapololgetic in his delivery? Yup.

Been hunting since I was about 12 or 13. While hunting out west (age 33) one beautiful, crisp, cool fall morning I saw mule deer, buck at about 125 yards. I sighted my .308 BLR and dropped him where he stood…very nice shot! Excited, I took a fast walk, almost a trot up the slope to my kill. As I stood over the animal congratulating myself on the perfectly placed shot through the heart my eyes fell upon his eyes. When I looked into those huge, black, lifeless eyes of that deer the question that I could not get out of my mind was “why?” It felt wrong. I could not answer the question of “why” I had killed that animal. It certainly wasn’t for food, my family was not needy. I came to the conclusion that the mule deer died to prop up my ego, to make me feel more of a man. I have not hunted since.

So be it Lunar. If you don’t have a little remorse for an animal you just killed, you aren’t human. My remorse lasts about one minute or until the gutting process begins and then it’s just future steaks.

Now think about that the next time you fry a chicken or order a steak or hamburger. Something died in order for you to eat.

Yes, people are quick to criticize deer hunters.

A true conservationist, one who really cares about our land and wildlife, will understand and support the need for effectively managing our wildlife. Hunting is one of the more successful methods used to accomplish this today. Those who criticize us who do hunt are saying, let the deer die a slow painful death by starving.
Or, they are saying, we don’t raise crops so we don’t give a damn about our farmers and how many millions of dollars they lose each year because of deer eating their crops. They know nothing about conservation and are voicing an uneducated opinion.(knuckleheads)
There may be quite a few people who have a bit of difficulty in understanding that deer hunting is going a long way toward preserving deer herds, but it is. Without the hunting, in fact, there is little doubt that the deer would be a lot worse off, and may even be on the way toward extinction.

One of the biggest points is that natural predators for deer have been hunted extensively, with a result that there is much less natural culling of the herds. This means that there are more deer, but they include weak and old animals that would normally be hunted and killed by predators. Wolves, bears, and cougars, which once roamed from coast to coast are now much more rare.
This means that the animals that once controlled the deer population no longer exist in numbers great enough to make a significant difference on deer populations in most states. By killing off the predators, man has established himself as the prime predator. However, that also means he has the responsibility to keep the herds culled. This is done through hunting.

Amazed, you’re right again. If I truly had the strength of my oonvictions, I would be a vegan. I’m not, and yes, it occurs to me that I contribute to the abusive conditions under which chickens, pigs, cattle, etc. are kept and slaughtered to serve my hunger. I have an idea that if I had ever worked in a slaughterhouse, or perhaps in a Tyson chicken plant or some such, I might never touch meat or poultry again. I guess I’ve perfected the art of drawing the line between hunting and raising domestic animals for the purpose of killing and eating them, which I reluctantly condone — as long as I’m not the one doing the killing. And I repeat — I do not denigrate those who hunt. I just don’t want to, and I will never see it as “sport.”

The deer come in my back yard and eat all my sunflower seed in my bird feeders, and I watch them through the greenhouse window and delight in their grace and beauty. The thought of shooting one of them is about as appealing to me as considering nailing my foot to the floor and seeing how fast I can go around in circles.

Boyd, I’d shoot 1000 deer and millions of other animals before I nail any part of my body to anything. I’m selfish like that.

They get a bad rap for the same reason any group gets a bad rap: Somebody does something stupid or dangerous, and the assumption that ‘all’ those who participate are represented by the idiot.

It doesn’t help when really bad things happen (they do, every year), and the hunters close ranks. I remember a story from some years ago where a young woman who lived with her family in the woods was shot and killed by a deer hunter in front of her house. The hunter was acquitted because she wasn’t wearing blaze orange. In front of her house. In a clearing several hundred yards across. Where were the responsible hunters then?