As Ted Nugent Rails Against Michigan Wildlife Regulations, Dems Call Hearing ‘Absurd' And ‘Shameful'

Michigan Advance

June 25, 2025

Ted Nugent was in the house on Wednesday – the Michigan House of Representatives, that is – to rail against state Department of Natural Resources conservation and hunting regulations he deemed “immoral” and “insane.”

Meanwhile, several Democrats who were present for Wednesday’s joint meeting of the three separate House committees that hosted Nugent, said it was shameful that other important work was cast aside to give Nugent a podium to rail against officials of a state agency, whom he at one point referred to as “jackbooted thugs” and the enemies of conservatism.

Nugent, a hard rock guitarist and avid sportsman who became a conservative firebrand in the latter part of his career, was invited by state Rep. Ken Borton (R-Gaylord) to testify before the members of the House Natural Resources & Tourism Committee, the House Rural Development and Natural Resources Committee and the House Oversight Subcommittee on Weaponization of State Government.

Rep. David Martin (R-Davison), one of three chairs for the meeting, said it was his intention to use the hearing to shine a light on alleged recent abuses by DNR officials. The meeting followed the Oversight subcommittee’s recent hearing on a decade-old invasive species order issued by the DNR surrounding feral pigs and allegations that the department was running covert enforcement against pig farmers and game ranch owners.

Nugent’s visit to the Capitol and ensuing commentary focused on various instances where he ran into trouble with the DNR, its conservation officers and game wardens throughout his time of owning a 340-acre, fenced-in hunting area near Jackson.

To that, Nugent told the cadre of legislators and onlookers that he hopes what they heard “pisses you off, because everybody that comes up to me is just livid that the DNR and the [Michigan Natural Resources Commission] have chased families out of the sport over absolutely insane anti-nature, anti-science regulations.”

Nugent also ran afoul of the DNR regarding alleged feral pigs when the department sued him and others in Ingham Circuit Court, to which he countersued in the Court of Claims and lost there. Nugent’s main argument was that the order on feral pigs – specifically related to so-called Russian boar – was invalid and unlawful. The case in Ingham Circuit Court was closed in May.

Still, Nugent had plenty to say about the DNR and how they allegedly treat hunters in Michigan, which the guitarist said was a reason why hunters were leaving the state in droves. His comments stretched over 10 minutes, during which he stood the entire time, but with his mesh sheriff’s star ballcap removed while speaking.

“We were the number one conservation state in the nation,” Nugent said, adorning a short-sleeved button-up shirt, cargo pants and camouflage Crocs. “More family hours of recreation, more revenues generated and more opportunities to optimize the wildlife biodiversity battles. … And now, Michigan is the laughing stock of the nation. There’s no place I go where families don’t come up to me with horror stories of being given a ticket because [they] have a salt block on [their] farm.”

Nugent said it was important to “set the table” because there were “people in this room that were stupid enough to listen to the lying, anti-hunting media,” who he claims have falsely accused him of being in violation of DNR regulations. He went on to defend himself and other hunters accused of the same.

“I abide by the law before I go deer hunting, I buy a deer license. I examine where I can deer hunt with what weapon,” Nugent said. “My dad raised me in the discipline of conservation, marksmanship, safe gun handling and the perfection of venison as the healthiest diet in the world.”

He went on to claim that chronic wasting disease regulations were based on a “lie,” claiming that the disease affecting deer can’t jump to humans. Nugent previously testified in 2019 against a ban on deer and elk baiting that had been issued to prevent further spread of chronic wasting disease, a fatal neurological illness that affects members of the deer family, namely the white-tailed deer in Michigan.

While there have been no reported cases of the infection in people, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the disease “may pose a risk to people” and recommends that infected animals not be consumed as food by either humans or domestic animals.

Nugent also claimed that the DNR and the Michigan Natural Resources Commission have abdicated their “moral duty” by violating hunters’ rights on wasting disease regulations.

He also called the people in the department and on the commission “insane,” claiming the regulations have run good hunters out of the state.

“There were 11 counties that were forbidden to hunt on Sunday,” Nugent claimed in a particularly loud portion of his commentary. “Who is the man that can intervene between God’s nature and my recreational sporting spirit, [my] connection to the good Earth, that can tell me that, somehow, mysteriously, the hunting season ends when the sun goes down on Saturday. That’s insane.”

Nugent went on to call for legislators to do away with game laws that he and others testifying before the committees on Wednesday said were based on junk science for the sake of regulation and not for protection of people and wildlife.

Borton has had his own seemingly negative interactions with the DNR. Borton said that the DNR cited him in 2010 for a birdfeeder with a livestream he operated near his home, dubbed by Borton and his wife as a “snowman cam.”

It was alleged that the department falsely claimed the birdfeeder was an illegal bait pile for hunting deer. Borton said he contested the alleged government overreach and eventually won. He has since been calling for decreasing the scope of the DNR’s regulatory authority.

Borton controls the appropriations subcommittee that oversees the department’s budget, and Wednesday’s hearing seemed like a precursor to a potential scaling back of the department’s enforcement funding.

The Oversight subcommittee’s chair, state Rep. Angela Rigas (R-Caledonia), also called on residents to testify following Nugent on allegations that DNR agents used fake names to hunt privately owned pigs on northern hunting grounds. The aim, they claimed, was to kill and seize them without compensating their owners.

At one point during the meeting, state Rep. Regina Weiss (D-Oak Park) was given an opportunity to speak and chided House Republicans for hosting Nugent and the hearing when they had a budget to pass.

The GOP-led House has passed its public and higher education budgets but has yet to pass a budget funding the rest of the state government and its agencies. The Democratic-led Senate, however, has passed its total budget for the 2025-26 fiscal year and is eager to start negotiations.

“I appreciate the passion of the testimony and concern around law and order,” Weiss said. “I’ve got to say, I feel really emotional, really upset, because I’m a mother and a teacher and the fact that we’re sitting here talking about salt licks and feral pigs when we are a month away from a deadline to get a budget passed. … I think it’s shameful.”

Weiss was almost immediately cut off, with several of her Republican colleagues jeering, grumbling and saying, “oh shut up,” as Weiss continued to call the proceedings shameful.

Following the meeting, state Rep. Laurie Pohutsky (D-Livonia) agreed with Weiss’ assessment and questioned Nugent’s use of the word immoral to describe hunting regulations given the content of some of his music and lyrics.

“We have submitted school aid budget that we could be negotiating on, and just frankly, I’m not interested in being lectured about morality by somebody who sang about raping 13 year olds,” Pohutsky said, referring to the lyrics of Nugent’s song titled Jailbait. “It’s absurd.”

That point was echoed by Sam Inglot, Progress Michigan executive director, who issued a statement noting the controversies in Nugent’s past.

“Ted Nugent has a long, documented history of promoting racism, misogyny, violent political rhetoric and election denial. Nugent’s past also includes deeply disturbing allegations of grooming and abuse that should disqualify him from being legitimized by Michigan Republicans. His presence at today’s Natural Resources hearings is not only offensive, it’s dangerous,” Inglot said.

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