As you read this little ditty, my lovely deeranddeerhunting.com NugeBlog#67, I will be surrounded by some of the greatest hunting families to be found anywhere on planet earth. Sixteen years ago I decided to further celebrate and promote our beloved hunting lifestyle by creating an annual Ted Nugent Birthday HuntBash at the famed YO Ranch in the critter infested Hill Country of Texas.
By Ted Nugent
We sellout all 36 spots each year and in some years we have doubled up with two soldout events. The fun factor and positive energy during this four day adventure is off the charts, and the sheer tonnage of precious backstraps that we harvest is something you must see to believe.
Wonderful families come from all around the country to hang out with, BBQ, hunt, track, gut, skin and ROCK with old Uncle Ted and family. It’s not for everybody, but if you’re not having fun with me, you’re weird.
Our hunters come in every size, shape, walk of life, lifestyle, gender and attitude. Many are lifetime diehard hunters who want to experience the unique flavor and dynamo of this event and stalk the glorious wilds and wildlife of Texas.
Our hunters kill many fine whitetails, sika, fallow, axis, elk, red deer, Barasinga, Pere David, zebra, eland, kudu, impala, waterbuck, nyala, gazelles, wildebeest, Oryx, Corsican rams, blackbuck, Aoudad, Asiatic buffalo, American bison, nilgai antelope, red sheep, mouflan sheep, Spanish goats, Ibex cross, hogs, javelina, coyotes, bobcats, red fox, gray fox, ringtail cats, raccoons, opossums, skunks, rabbits, squirrels and the occasional crow.
You can’t do this in France, or anywhere else on earth really. Every day provides another fascinating adventure and thrilling encounter with a difference species of animal. It is truly a very special place in America.
It is also very interesting to note that over the years we have hosted many entire families who were inspired to try this hunting fun life for the first time after witnessing the unbridled joy I exude on our Spirit of the Wild TV show on Outdoor Channel.
There’s a reason we have the number one rated hunting show in the world, and these newcomers excitedly express why- we make it look like such fun, and the right thing to do.
We have bowhunters, longbowmen, recurve enthusiasts, compounds, crossbows, large caliber rifles, black powder hunters, handgun hunters, we even had a spearchucker join us one year and he killed game with his custom made spear.
The Schreiner family and the YO Ranch staff live this outdoor, ranching, hunting, shooting, conservation lifestyle, and they make everyone feel right at home. The guides know their stuff and work closely with each hunter to accommodate everyone’s personal preference of hunting style.
Each animal is professionally gutted, and hung in the huge walk in cooler for proper aging, then most of the animals are transported to the world famous Woodbury Taxidermy and custom butchering facility in nearby Ingram, Texas for proper handling and meat cutting and mounting.
The three meals a day are traditional Texas ranching cuisine served in the historical YO Chuck Wagon by their own three star chef. On my birthday, December 13, we have a special meal at the lodge of quail lobster, shrimp, backstrap, buffalo steaks and an assortment of delicious food that everybody raves about.
My favorite chow in when ranch had Alejandro grills up some bacon wrapped axis backstraps stuffed with jalapeno and cheese over glowing indigenous mesquite coals along with some venison brats and sausage links. The food is to die for, and believe me, many things did!
So as the hunting season blazes on across the country in many jurisdictions, we wish you all continued success as we wind our way towards the sacred Christmas holidays. I know there are still many die hard hunters out there still after the big one, and we wish you goodluck.
December is my favorite time of year for hunting, especially in Texas, and we still have a long way and many more tags to go, so I am more pumped up for each day’s hunt now than I was even back in the exciting opening days of October.
I hunt every morning and every afternoon, and it will be an ambushers orgy every day with my family and friends at the YO Ranch as I hit my 66th birthday.
Birthday parties are always fun, but mine are more fun than any other I bet. Sure we have a really big killer cake and ice cream, but it is a 100% hunter attended party, so there is just more spirit and energy in the air.
I will whip out my guitar and jam the definitive rendition of the National Anthem, then some killer hunting songs, culminating with a powerhouse version of Fred Bear, and the spirit factor will jettison well beyond the stratosphere of our spectacular hunting heritage. The room will be electrified, and the BloodBrotherhood of hunters will be one with the Great Spirit.
Happy 66th Birthday to me as I charge broadhead first into my 67th hunting season, and what I am sure will be the best year of my life.
See you here next week, and may all your deerhunting dreams come true. Mine certainly have, and every human should experience such natural joy. Good hunting, Godbless, Godspeed all.
Ted Nugent is an award-winning musician and writer, with numerous best-seller books including “Ted, White and Blue: The Nugent Manifesto,” “God, Guns and Rock ‘n Roll,” and “Kill It and Grill It: A Guide to Preparing and Cooking Wild Game and Fish” with his wife, Shemane, among other books. Be sure to check out his website here for more news on his latest music, thoughts and upcoming shows in 2015.
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SEE
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