Ted Nugent leads broad charge against DNR overreach in committee

All eyes were on guitarist and avid hunter Ted Nugent on Wednesday as three House committees convened to hear testimony on alleged overreach by the Department of Natural Resources.

Nugent primarily criticized DNR policies banning deer baiting – meant to curb the spread of chronic wasting disease – claiming they discourage hunters from participating in the sport. He also referenced his failed legal fight to preserve Russian boar hunting at his Jackson County ranch, which was ordered closed last year under a state invasive species ban.

Nugent is an icon among many Republicans drawn to his support for the right to bear arms, hunting and longtime vitriolic criticism of Democrats. However, Nugent is loathed by Democrats and others. He once advocated shooting liberals, Democrats, the news media, academia, half the U.S. government and RINOs (Republicans in name only), decrying them as “rabid coyotes” and “scam artists” responsible for evil and dishonesty. He once called former President Barack Obama “a subhuman mongrel.”

Republican committee members said that Nugent helped bring awareness to DNR accountability during his testimony, while Democrats questioned his authority in the matter and called the meeting “absurd” and unnecessary.

The joint meeting participants were the House Appropriations Agriculture and Rural Development and Natural Resources Subcommittee , the House Oversight Weaponization of State Government Subcommittee  and the House Natural Resources and Tourism Committee .

Standing surrounded by cameras, Nugent delivered a freewheeling monologue that blended praise for the outdoors and hunting with attacks on the DNR.

“I’ve testified the irrefutable truth, logic and common sense,” Nugent shouted. “If I move apples closer to my terminally ill young boy – because when girls and boys were about to die, for years, they’ve asked to go hunting with Ted Nugent before they die – is there a more powerful connection than that?”

He continued: “Now, according to the DNR and NRC, those billions of apples falling from trees in Michigan are somehow going to cause a disease if I move them. That’s insanity.”

DNR spokesperson Ed Golder said in a response statement that baiting is strictly regulated to prevent large, unnatural gatherings of deer, which can spread disease.

“The department maintains that continuing to prohibit the act of baiting and feeding is in the best long-term interest of our deer resource,” Golder said. “The decline in hunters is part of a national trend that has occurred over the last few decades. The DNR continues to work with partner groups on retention, recruitment and reactivation of hunters to try to address this decline.”

Nugent switched topics, asserting that the DNR’s order calling the boar an invasive species was invalid because Russian boars aren’t a species – they are a cross between a wild boar and domestic pig. The department, however, had contended that its order was indeed valid.

Other hunting ranch owners echoed Nugent’s frustration. Greg Johnson of Marquette, who fought the DNR in court for years, and Tom Cody of Superior Wildlife Adventures both shared stories of what they see as agency overreach. Cody described a 2021 incident in which undercover DNR officers paid to hunt wild boars at his ranch, then filed charges years later.

Russian boars are not native to Michigan, and prior caselaw regulating them has stated that large numbers of them across the nation have escaped hunting ranches and entered the wild, which in turn creates various ecological and environmental destruction.

They also are known to tear through livestock or game fencing and consume large amounts of feed, minerals and protein supplements. The order regarding Russian boar was issued in 2010, and legal challenges in 2012 and onward had been upheld by the appellate courts.

Nugent returned to baiting laws and implied that DNR officers were ignoring sex offenders to issue baiting citations. He offered no evidence for this claim. Further, the Department of State Police – not the DNR – manages the state’s sex offender registry.

Rep. Laura Pohutsky (D-Livonia) referenced Nugent’s controversial 1981 song “Jailbait,” which includes lyrics about desire to have sex with a 13-year-old, in a post on X during the meeting: “Talking about sex offenders in front of committee this morning is a choice.”