Rock star and gun rights advocate Ted Nugent was fined $1,750 Friday in Yuba County Superior Court after pleading no contest to a charge of baiting deer on his hunting show “Spirit of the Wild.”

Yuba City attorney Jack Kopp, representing Theodore Anthony Nugent, entered the plea to Department of Fish and Game charges of baiting deer and not having a deer tag “countersigned” at the closest possible location, said Deputy District Attorney John Vacek.

Nugent, who did not appear in court, also illegally shot an immature buck on the show but was not charged, according to Fish and Game.

The rest of the news story is here.

Again, I’m not a fan of Ted and his act, but I don’t have the level of hatred this story has exposed in some of the more hardcore hunters in the online community. Take a look here.

- An evangelical preacher – I’d say hit or miss on this one;
- Who led, “the world’s most notorious anti-Semitic and apocalyptic sects” – not good.
- Who was serving 20 years for sexually abusing children – neither good, nor surprising.
- Suspected in the death of an American mathematician – weird, but definitely not good.
- Fought for the Luftwaffe in WWII – he was born in Germany, we’ll give him the benefit of the doubt here…
- Traveled the German country side preaching abstinence after the war – Red flag!
- Until he was accused of molesting two boys and fled to Chile – Of course.
- Allegedly tortured political dissidents during the rule of Pinochet – German roots run deep.

I could go on… read the piece yourself if you want to know all the details on what a quality human being he was. But here’s the fun part:

He had a glass eye, having accidentally gouged out his right eye while trying to untie a shoelace knot with a fork.

Perhaps it’s just bad luck, but I’d like to think there’s at least a little Karma working here…

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) Indonesian villagers are hunting a giant python that killed a 13-year-old boy a week ago on Sumatra island.

Police Chief Capt. Joshua Tampubolon said Monday that the 23-feet-long (7-meter-long) python was believed to be hiding in waterway tunnels built by a textile company for its industrial waste.

The rest is here.

RED WING, Minn. (AP) A Cannon Falls man accused of poaching a world-record eight-point buck has pleaded guilty to three charges and was sentenced to 245 days in jail.

Troy Alan Reinke had claimed he found the buck already dead when he was hunting in the Cannon Falls area last Halloween night. But the 33-year-old had already taken two deer, the legal limit in the area.

The deer had the highest-scoring eight-point antlers ever measured by several methods.

Reinke got credit for 120 days already served in jail on a separate matter. He also must pay $1,500 in restitution and $583 in fines, forfeit his bow and the deer’s rack, and give up the right to hunt large and small game for five years.

Here

And the more interesting story is that of John Lewton. Apparently the Montana Fish and Wildlife people got a tip that this taxidermist and video maker was illegally guiding sheep hunters. So they sent one of their agents under cover with an extremely coveted tag for the Missouri Breaks region, one of twenty opportunities such tags made available in all of 2009. The undercover agent arranged to hunt with Mr. Lewton and eventually killed a 204″ monster. Apparently up to that point the state had only gathered evidence of a handful of misdemeanors and many Montana hunters are wondering why such a wonderful animal had to be killed for a relatively minor crime. Some months later the agent did further the crime by agreeing to sell the ram to Mr. Lewton, making an illegal sale of wildlife which is a minor felony. It seems like an entrapment defense to me, but I haven’t seen the evidence or watched the trial. Not surprisingly, the defense made an issue of the unnecessary killing of the ram. As of today the case went to jury, so stay tuned for a result. If you want to read more you can follow the coverage at the Montana Standard.

* The process for selecting the archers led me to believe that a pre-determined group of hunters was expected to be given the opportunity. After the final class was closed we were informed that the otherwise unnecessary bowhunter’s education course would be required regardless of experience, age, proximity, or anything else. Since Kansas does not require the class basically no one has taken it. One can only guess why they didn’t inform us during the late summer and early fall of this requirement…

So the deer head guy and his friends are back and hoping that the parks commission will install a plan to catch the deer and give them some form of birth control. No problem except for that whole $400-2000 per animal price tag. Oh, and the Department of Wildlife won’t approve the plan.

Unfortunately the precedent has been set that archery can’t handle the job even though it was not given a fair chance so I suspect we’ll see the police “sharpshooters” again next fall. I’ll keep you informed if I hear any different.

I got an email today from the Kentucky Department Fish and Wildlife with a nice little press release letting us know that Terrell Royalty has killed a new state record elk measuring 372 6/8ths B&C non-typical. It also reminds us that you must apply for the Kentucky elk draw by April 30th. I’ve applied each of the last two years but alas, no luck. I encourage you to try as well. It costs only $10.00 and is very simple.

Here’s the press release.

So the question is: what next? I have not seen any type of plan put forth by KDWP although I certainly haven’t done an exhaustive research project on the issue. I actually hope their plan is to do nothing, at least at this point. I’ve hunted several times in Colorado, and I’ve had a few elk tested. I’ve also had deer in both Missouri and Kansas tested. It’s really no big deal from a hunter’s standpoint. In a few weeks they give you the results and you move on with life, no big deal.

For now the KDWP is advising hunters who kill a deer in the Northwestern corner of the state from traveling with the carcass. Here’s the new press release.

The 38-point whitetail generating the buzz was shot Saturday by a 24-year-old Texan hunting on private land in Richardson County. On Wednesday, Wes O’Brien told the Journal Star his trophy has received a preliminary score of 281.

The rack’s official score won’t be determined for 60 days. During the so-called drying period, antlers will shrink a little.

So it remains to be seen if the O’Brien buck will top a famous set of antlers from a deer killed 47 years ago in Hall County by bowhunter Del Austin of Hastings. Commonly called “Old Mossy Horns,” the Austin buck scored 279 7/8 , ranking it not only first in Nebraska, but a world record for a whitetail taken by archery.

Grab the rest of the story and pictures at the Lincoln Journal Star, here.