The sportsman ’ s foodplot phenomenon
REAL CONSERVATIONISTS AT WORK
By Ted Nugent
Nothing makes for more soulful , greasy , stimulating guitarlicks like adequate terra firma shrapnel twixt one ’ s 10 digits of doom .
Allow me to translate for the adventure-challenged linguistics amongst us – the more a guitarplayer works the Good Mother Earth , the more soulful his or her guitarplaying will be .
Let me tell you all about it ! I love music , pretty much all music , as long as it has spunk , funk , spirit , shimmy , energy , attitude , passion , groove and believability .
But my favourite music in the world is my music because I write , sing and play killer music of the earth , down and dirty , instinctual , premeditated sonic bombast celebration of life , for God ’ s miraculous creation , His critters and wild places , The Great Spirit of the Wild , tooth , fang and claw , blood and guts , love and lust , no holds barred gut wrenching , gut piling , gut fondling , backstrap sizzling , snarling , sexy , physics of spirituality animal breeding soundtrack dance music from the depth of creation itself .
Are you still with me here ? Can you please bear with me as I call in an airstrike to allthings status quo deerhunting ? Now , mind you , nobody loves allthings status quo deerhunting . com more than I do . I actually look to all the various , and dare I say brilliant outdoor publications and writings as my daily dose of SpiritWild bible-thump , as I , like most of you , am wonderfully addicted to the deerhunting lifestyle and dearly appreciate all the wisdom , opinions , ideas , thoughts , data , science and joys that glow from such pages and screens .
That being said , I am , afterall , the deerhunting guitar-guy , and I do believe that my channeling of our phenomenal outdoor lifestyle into my creative musical guitar life is not unlike everyone ’ s channeling their own outdoor joys into each individual ’ s life , lifestyle and passions overall .
JOY IN , JOY OUT . So as we throttle headlong into another wonderful springtime and summertime with excited peeks into future calendar pages identifying all the thrilling anticipation for our upcoming opening days 2016 , nothing says deerhunting springtime like the plunging of our mitts into the Good Mother Earth as we participate in the new year ritual of foodplot partying .
AND I DO ME PARTYING !
To me and all my hunting buddies , for many years now foodplots for wildlife have become as integral to our deerhunting lifestyle as the hunt itself .
I remember way back in the roaring 1960s when I started planting handfuls of autumn olive seedlings in the national forests of northern Michigan where I did all my hunting . It seemed that whenever I had the best grouse , woodcock and rabbit action was when the best puckerbrush habitat was surrounded by red berry heavy autumn olives bushes .
AND THE DEER WERE ALWAYS THERE TOO .
So I improvised , adapted and upgraded to the best of my ability pursuing my own variation of little Johnny Appleseed of the forests .
Then of course the foodplot craze exploded sometime in the early 1980s when landowners , biologists , botanists and hunters literally went crazy developing and planting custom food sources to enhance habitat and wildlife health .
Not everybody can afford land , tractors , discs , plows , fertilizer , seeds and the substantial time needed to groom expansive and expensive foodplots , but I literally created my original plots for many years with a borrowed four-wheeler and a chain-dragged old bedspring , hand sewing 19-19-19 fertilizer and feed mill bought bags of oats , wheat and rye on ¼ acres of hand-cleared openings in the woods .
Those of us that work the ground know how special that aroma and touch are . My nostrils flare as I turn the ground , plowing , discing and broadcasting my various seeds every spring .
When those first emerald green shoots begin to emerge , all that hard work is more than appreciated and celebrated knowing we are being good stewards and critter managers helping our beloved wildlife grow healthy and strong .
No need to go into seed choice detail here as the world is loaded with every imaginable plot mixture best suited for your individual regions .
All I know is that when I wrap up a dirty white boy farmer-Ted day and grab one of my amazing Gibson Byrdland guitars , dirty fingernails , sweaty brow and all , the screaming licks and pulsating , driving rhythms that erupt are a direct result of my down to earth deerhunting lifestyle .
We should all salute and thank all North American landowners , conservationists , hunting families , ranchers and farmers for the incredible effort and investment they make , dedicating millions of dollars and millions of acres across North America just to benefit wildlife .
God knows we deserve the reward of sacred backstraps for all our hard work and sacrifice .
Happy summertime North America ! Now get out there and get dirty !
Courtesy of Ted Nugent & TedNugent . com . Visit Uncle Ted at his Facebook page : www . facebook . com / tednugent
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