Joe Rogan Experience #1138 - Ted Nugent

Ted Nugent 0:00 ... Morgan.

Joe Rogan 0:00 Yeah.

Ted Nugent 0:00 The masters are out there.

Joe Rogan 0:02 I use one of three, two, one (snaps fingers) , boom, and we're live. We're just talking about target panic, ladies and gentlemen.

Ted Nugent 0:06 Sure.

Joe Rogan 0:06 Most people don't know about all that.

Ted Nugent 0:07 It's like, uh, um, uh, uh, erectile dysfunction for archery.

Joe Rogan 0:11 It's panic. It's panic, right?

Ted Nugent 0:12 Yeah, (laughs) panic.

Joe Rogan 0:13 You're freaking. Yeah.

Ted Nugent 0:13 Just because you want that arrow to go so bad. By the way, thanks for having me on here.

Joe Rogan 0:17 My pleasure.

Ted Nugent 0:18 I understand from all the input I get from all my intelligent friends that you deserve me.

Joe Rogan 0:23 Oh, I'm excited about this.

Ted Nugent 0:24 So we'll have a good time. We'll have a good time.

Joe Rogan 0:25 Well, your, your assistant reached out and said, "I think-"

Ted Nugent 0:28 My people reach out, yeah.

Joe Rogan 0:29 She said, "I think you'll have more in common with Ted than you realize."

Ted Nugent 0:33 Yeah. That was-

Joe Rogan 0:33 That was her, that was her pitch.

Ted Nugent 0:35 Truth, logic, common sense-

Joe Rogan 0:36 Hmm.

Ted Nugent 0:36 ... spirit, physics of, uh, the American dream.

Joe Rogan 0:40 Perhaps controversial and misunderstood people?

Ted Nugent 0:43 Uh, yes. Boy, we're surrounded.

Joe Rogan 0:44 Oh, maybe both of us.

Ted Nugent 0:45 Clusterfuck ring any bells?

Joe Rogan 0:46 Yeah. Yeah, indeed.

Ted Nugent 0:48 Yes, indeed.

Joe Rogan 0:48 So, uh, yeah. So target panic, I got lucky in that, uh, I got hooked up with John Dudley early before I developed target panic.

Ted Nugent 0:55 He's the master.

Joe Rogan 0:55 And he explained to me tension releases-

Ted Nugent 0:58 Shot sequences.

Joe Rogan 0:58 Yeah, shot sequences. Yeah.

Ted Nugent 1:01 And let's, let's make this available universally to all of our podcast-

Joe Rogan 1:05 Uh-huh.

Ted Nugent 1:05 ... friends out there.

Joe Rogan 1:06 Okay.

Ted Nugent 1:07 In life, the clusterfuck to omniscience is what we aspire to.

Joe Rogan 1:16 Yes.

Ted Nugent 1:17 Maximum level of awareness on all fronts. I don't care if you're a welder, or a podcaster, or a guitar player, or a butcher.

Joe Rogan 1:22 Right.

Ted Nugent 1:23 Maximum efficiency, um, being the best that you can be, clear mind, clear conscience, true north compass. In the world of archery, because it does consume you, and here I am 70 years clean and sober because I'm (laughs) currently and forever consumed with the mystical flight of the arrow, which is the origins of zen, the Japanese religion of not shooting an arrow, not being an arrow, but being the path of your life. And if you use the gifts from God to the ultimate application of efficiency and effectiveness, you can put that fucking arrow-

Joe Rogan 2:07 (laughs)

Ted Nugent 2:08 ... right (imitates arrow firing)

Joe Rogan 2:12 Right where you want it to.

Ted Nugent 2:13 And the baggage that all humans have to deal with, and it's most painfully manifested in the pursuit of archery, is too many minds. You can't think about it. If you gotta think about playing Wang Dang Sweet Poon Tang, you ain't gonna play it. It better just be you and unleash. And with an arrow, because you want to let that arrow go, because you're, you're shooting an arrow.

Joe Rogan 2:38 Yeah.

Ted Nugent 2:38 It's archery. I need to put that arrow down there in that bullseye or in that pump station or in that crease of the buffalo. And so you want it to go because that's what you're here for, is to let the arrow go. So you gotta tell yourself, "You can't let the arrow go." You have to shoot so many arrows throughout your life that no, no too many minds. Subconscious physics of spirituality ingrained deep within your origins and aboriginal ancestry. There it is. If ever there was an aim small, miss small perfection, it's archery. And let me, I don't mean to monologue here-

Joe Rogan 3:22 Don't monologue.

Ted Nugent 3:22 ... but this is so much of my life.

Joe Rogan 3:24 I know.

Ted Nugent 3:25 No matter what you do, and I've done this since the '60s when the hippies were trying to get me stoned, I'm going, "No, no, that's not what you wanna do. What you wanna do is get a bow and arrow. What you wanna do is escape what you're trying to escape, the pressures. The pressures, fuck those pressures. You, be the source of pressure, not the receiver of pressure." And my dad raised me, my dad was a drill sergeant. (laughs) God bless that son of a bitch. (laughs) He was awesome. I hated him. Discipline, discipline, discipline, discipline, especially at the archery range. And so I learned archery, and when I'm playing guitar and I'm playing all this outrageous Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, uh, Little Richard stuff, and everybody is getting high and drunk, and they're really great musicians, and the more high and the more drunk they got, they became less great musicians until the point where they weren't even musicians anymore. And so I would escape that, and I was 11, 12, and there was no hippies, it was beatniks. And I'd get back to my little house in Redford and on the Rouge River in Detroit, and I'd get that little bow and arrow and I'd go down to Skunk Hollow and hit a river rat. (sniffs) And even as a stupid, mushy brained idiot child, I was able to... Little l- the long bow, no recurves yet, you know? I could shoot a rat in the eye because I had no baggage yet. I hadn't developed any social baggage.

Joe Rogan 4:52 Hmm.

Ted Nugent 4:52 And that has served me so-

Joe Rogan 4:54 The many minds.

Ted Nugent 4:55 Well, too many mi-

Joe Rogan 4:56 Yeah.

Ted Nugent 4:57 No minds.

Joe Rogan 4:57 Right.

Ted Nugent 4:58 Spirit.

Joe Rogan 4:58 But that, that's the baggage.

Ted Nugent 4:59 Yeah, too many mi- And I think-

Joe Rogan 5:01 Yeah.

Ted Nugent 5:01 What is it?

Joe Rogan 5:01 Do you think... That, that's a thing that people who don't shoot arrows, when you start talking about this, they don't really understand what you're saying. I know exactly what you're saying, but for a lot of people, this is a very misunderstood subject, right?

Ted Nugent 5:11 Yep.

Joe Rogan 5:12 That, that, that, that this is a meditation. There's a meditation involved in this.

Ted Nugent 5:15 It's absolute meditate. You ha- It's out of body. The ultimate arrow, like the ultimate guitar lick. I suspect, uh, a comedian on stage, which I qualify, um, y- you can't be thinking of your routine. It's gotta flow. I mean, I was in the presence of Sam Kinison for 50, 60 spontaneous performances, and Robin Williams at The Comedy Store, and lit- and, and, uh, Richard Pryor, you see... Remember I me- mentioned a moment ago I've been on the mountain top with Bill Stropp and the Broncos and Parnelli Jones taught me to race. I played bass for Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley. I mean, I married Mrs. Nugent. I mean, I've been to the peak of peaks available to mankind. I hunted with Fred Fucking Bear.

Joe Rogan 5:57 When did you do that? How old were you?

Ted Nugent 5:58 I met... I was five or six, I met him. He was, started the brand new archery shop in Grayling, Michigan. My dad was already a follower before I was born.

Joe Rogan 6:05 Explain to people who he is because-

Ted Nugent 6:07 Fred Bear.

Joe Rogan 6:07 ... people who are uninitiated-

Ted Nugent 6:09 ... powerful story.

Joe Rogan 6:10 He's like the Richard Pryor of archery.

Ted Nugent 6:12 Yes. Ex- He- I was expecting his afro to catch fire any moment.

Joe Rogan 6:16 (laughs)

Ted Nugent 6:17 (laughs) It was awesome. So I'm already into bows and arrows. I didn't know who Fred Bear was. I really was just getting, you know, baptized by the Chuck Berry/Bo Diddley electronic guitar orgy. And in that f- late '40s, early '50s, it was a firestorm of defiance and rebellion musically manifested. But Roy Weatherby was going beyond the 30-30, which everybody used for deer hunting, and it was a good 100 yard. And if a real marksman, real zen marksman could shoot a 30-30 200-plus yards, whether open sights or scope. And marksmanship and sniper discipline was a powerful force in a hunting family and in all families. Every family I knew, we all shot every weekend, pistols, shotguns, rifles, .22s, hunting woodchucks in Fryeburg, Pennsylvania, with the Targetmaster Remington Single Shot Bolt .22, 22 shorts, 25 cents a box at the dry goods store. It was awesome. (laughs) And, and we... My dad taught me to shoot him in the eye. Aim small, miss small. Breathe. Sight acquisition. You have a responsibility to kill that animal outright. If you're gonna utilize that precious gift of flesh and fur, body fluids and bone, you better kill him clean because you're a reasoning predator. You have a moral, intellectual, and spiritual obligation to kill your dinner humanely and cleanly. Duh. And so that marksmanship routine was developing with ballistic Ted Nugent Ballistically Maximized Firepower. And Roy W-

Joe Rogan 7:51 Is that what that stands for?

Ted Nugent 7:51 I-

Joe Rogan 7:51 I thought it said bad motherfucker.

Ted Nugent 7:54 You know, that has a ring to it. Maybe that's-

Joe Rogan 7:56 Yeah.

Ted Nugent 7:56 Maybe that's what it could...

Joe Rogan 7:58 All right.

Ted Nugent 7:58 So, all right, anyhow, so, uh, Fred Bear.

Joe Rogan 8:00 Fred Bear.

Ted Nugent 8:01 So Roy Weatherby was extending long-range marksmanship and developing the, the famous Weatherby magnums with more powder, more efficient burning powder, um, better primers, better designed ballistic bullets that would cut air better and go flatter longer, better trajectory and velocity. And so it was fun to shoot that deer or a bullseye at 100 yards. That takes a lot of trigger control and, and discipline. But now Roy Weatherby was creating Weatherby magnums, the 300 Weatherby magnums, shot 180-grain bullet at a... 32, 3400 feet a second, which was unheard of. And so you could aim small, miss small, and if you really got that really intricate, meticulous triggered, uh, smoothness, you could shoot 1,000 yards once you learned the trajectory of your gun. However, 1911, the last of the Yani Indians, Ishi, was discovered in Oroville Ca- I can't believe I remember all this. In Oroville, California, Northern California. And there was a bounty on Indians back then. You could shoot a man Indian and get 25 bucks. You shoot-

Joe Rogan 9:10 In 1911?

Ted Nugent 9:11 Yep. They had bounties on them. And instead of shooting this Yani, this last Indian, they called the local sheriff, and they took Ishi into custody, and they called, uh, some scientists and, uh, um, paleontologists, um, from, uh, California University by the name of, uh, uh, Saxton Pope. And Saxton Pope came and studied Ishi as a, as a aboriginal

Joe Rogan 9:40 Saxton Pope of Pope and Young?

Ted Nugent 9:41 That's right. And then he contacted his buddy, Art Young, who also studied in that genre. And they discovered Ishi and the... They were fascinated by his stealthy awareness of the wilderness and his archery control, with his funny little style of shooting the bow with his thumb and getting close and doing a ice cold river bathing before the hunt to cleanse himself to be worthy of the beast. So Fred Bear witnessed the film that Pope and Young eventually made of them becoming consumed with the mystical flight of the arrow. Now this was in the '20s and '30s, and they put a newsreel out and went all over the country and showed this newsreel of Hunting with the Bow and Arrow by Saxton Pope and Art Young, shooting grizzly bears in Yosemite and going to Africa, filling lions full of arrows 'cause they (laughs) , they weren't really as good as Ishi so they'd fling a lot of arrows, and these animals were pretty relaxed, almost tame, because they'd never been hunted like that before. And so Fred Bear come from Pennsylvania around that time, um, to work at the FoMo Company, uh, building cabinets for the new radio they just invented and the wood dashboards for the Ford Motor Company, and he was also making bows, uh, handmade yew wood and or- osage orange bows in his little archery shop with Nels Grumley. I can't believe I remembered it. Nels Grumley, one of the greatest bowyers of all time. So my dad got the archery bug because Fred defied the trend of easier hunting, easier long range. You didn't have to be very stealthy to shoot a deer at 500 yards. They don't even know you're there. All you have to do is be a disciplined marksman, which is a discipline and a great accomplishment unto itself. And it was a new challenge for long-range ballistic capability. Well, Pope and Young and a handful, Fred Bear and Nels Grumley, went and saw this newsreel of these guys, these doctors, these, uh, uh, professors hunting all over the world with these handmade bows, and Fred was already into it, and he goes, "I'll be damned. This... I didn't realize you could do that." And so now people, after seeing the Pope and Young newsreel, started asking Fred to make bows, and it sp- it spread, so he started the Bear Archery Company, m- late 20s, early 30s. And he moved to Grayling up in the northern part of Michigan, where the wilderness was, and they had cut down all the trees so there was this new growth of ideal wildlife habitat 'cause m- not many animals can live in an old growth forest, an owl or two, but you need low-level...... escape sanctuary and browse that the animals can, uh, access. And so Fred was now promoting archery in Michigan, won all the, uh, uh, national field archery champs- championships along with Ann Marston. It's awesome. And so my dad was a follower because he'd come back from World War II and he needed that escape. He needed that cleansing to get away from that horror, which is why they never talked about it. And so we'd go up north every year, October 1st, the Nugent family in the Ford station wagon and I had my little bow and arrow with the suction cups and I'd shoot stuffed animals off the couch, but my dad would walk the woods with his real bow and we'd stop at this little, uh, uh, brick shack that said Baer Archery and I had no idea. And so I was already into bows and arrows, shooting all the time. I was obsessed. I was going down to the river every day, no baseball, no football, no hockey, bows and arrows, bows and arrows, critters. I think I had the songbird world slam by the time I was eight. And, uh, and so now I'm meeting this tall, lanky gentleman named Fred Baer. It didn't register with me until I started seeing him on the cover of True Magazine and sporting magazines and, and Life Magazine with a grizzly bear and an elephant and a tiger and a lion in the news reels. And I'm going, "I'm shooting river rats," which is so thrilling, I can't even describe it, and here's this long, lanky, tall, lanky guy that was building bows in this r- rus- rustic shop in northern Michigan on my way to my favorite thing in life, October 1st, opening day of archery season, as a six, seven, eight-year-old boy and we'd have chocolate milk and cherry pie with this Fred Baer guy. Now it's registering. This is the Chuck Berry of bow hunting. This is it. This is the guy. So I became enamored with him, and he was kind to me and he'd show me stuff, but I got to hang out with him as I grew. By the time I was 16, we moved to Chicago because my dad got transferred, but I got to visit with Fred Baer at least every other October.

Ted Nugent 14:14 Never hunted with him. And I'm now, I started Amboy Dukes. I'd already had a great band, won the Battle of the Bands in Michigan with the Lords. We opened up for The Supremes and The Beau Brummels at Cobo Hall. Wow. And so now I'm in Chicago, shooting my bow and arrow all the time, started the Amboy Dukes, playing like a madman, graduated in '67, went back to Michigan the- two years later and immediately went up to Grating where now there's this huge cathedral, Baer Archery, and Fred Baer is like the dude. He's like the sporting dude because he taught the long-range marksmen that there is an intimacy. There's a- a better learning process and more important lesson to not kill the animal, but to understand your relationship with the animal and to try to use those God-given gifts I mentioned a moment ago to penetrate the otherwise impenetrable defense system of game, because they are sneaky, elusive, crafty. God made them to get away from guitar players with sharp sticks. And so this caught on because people go, "You know, I kill my deer every year with my 30-30 now with the 30-06 and Roy Bre- Weatherby long range. I wonder if I'm a badass enough to get close to a deer with a bow and arrow." So it caught on like wildfire. And they made the first... Fred got the first legal season in Michigan at the Allegan State Park on November 1st, 19, uh, 47 where George Nichols, my buddy, got the first legal buck in Michigan with a bow and arrow on that morning. And so I knew, these are the guys I hang with. These were the founders. These were the... You were- I was at the Concord Bridge of Archery.

Joe Rogan 15:53 Mm-hmm.

Ted Nugent 15:53 And so Fred em- embraced me and he was real suspicious of the long-haired, hippie-looking, you know, rocking maniac, Motor City madman, but all of his friends went, "No, no, he's not into drugs. He's, in fact, he's anti-drug and he's always promoting archery." I shot my bow and arrow on stage forever. I'd shoot flaming arrows at skulls in a big illegal, I think it was a felony, a big turkey vulture I had stuffed, but it looked great back-lit, you know?

Joe Rogan 16:19 (laughs)

Ted Nugent 16:19 And I'd shoot that fucker off the amps at night and people didn't know whether to shit or go blind (laughs) as this wild man screaming at the bird lands going (screams) just making all this outrageous racket and I come out with a bow and arrow and a flaming arrow and blow up a turkey vulture. Yeah, like what more do you want? And so Fred loo- got- looked past the insanity of the fear factor of rock and roll and he finally admitted to me, he said, "Every sporting goods show I go to, Ted, all the young people, anybody under 30, all they want to know if... is if I know Ted Nugent." Because that was the first time they ever saw a bow and arrow. And they read my in- do my interviews about the- the spirit, the cleansing of escaping the insanity of whatever your job description might be, mine being maniacal rock and roll. I need to shut the fuck up. Take a deep breath. Get my bow and arrow. Let my guitars breed, head back to the woods and live and- and remember who I am and what I'm here for, and I never killed a deer. I was just a little too uppity and we didn't know what we were doing back then. But-

Joe Rogan 17:33 You were too uppity?

Ted Nugent 17:35 You think?

Joe Rogan 17:35 What do you mean?

Ted Nugent 17:36 I just... I'm high energy. (laughs)

Joe Rogan 17:38 So you're too-

Ted Nugent 17:40 I do- I-

Joe Rogan 17:40 Too loud, too... Right.

Ted Nugent 17:40 I wasn't the stealthy guy. Well, I don't know about too loud. I mean, I could walk ru- I learned from Fred, I learned that walk toe first and I learned to go around anything you... instead of stepping over and to stay in the shadows, so I knew the maneuvers, but coming out of a tour and playing 350 nights a year and then you get a couple days off during November and you get the bow and arrow, it's hard to go from that to-

Joe Rogan 18:03 Right. Total silence.

Ted Nugent 18:04 This. But you know what, Joe?

Joe Rogan 18:06 What?

Ted Nugent 18:07 I've mastered it.

Joe Rogan 18:09 Oh, I know you have.

Ted Nugent 18:10 Finally. I mean, I did by the-

Joe Rogan 18:12 Well, you've been- you've been doing it for a long time.

Ted Nugent 18:14 ... by the '60s. By the '60s I, I don't know about mastered it, you'll never master it, but I've mastered the transition.

Joe Rogan 18:19 What do you say- what do you say when people... Like, the- one of the arguments about hunting that people bring up is why would you use a bow and arrow? A bow and arrow is not as effective. If you wanted to kill something, you should use a gun. There's people that don't hunt that think that hunting should only be one thing and it should only be killing the animal for meat.... whereas I think that someone who hunts definitely kills the animal for meat.

Ted Nugent 18:39 Always.

Joe Rogan 18:39 But there's more, there's more to the whole thing. And-

Ted Nugent 18:42 Have you ever seen me expound on that fun, sport, meat-

Joe Rogan 18:47 Yeah.

Ted Nugent 18:47 ... trophy? You can't hunt without having fun, or you won't do it. It's fun to challenge yourself. It's fun to get up in the dark of the morning.

Joe Rogan 18:53 But some people have a problem with that word, right?

Ted Nugent 18:55 Well, they, they can kiss my ass.

Joe Rogan 18:56 (laughs)

Ted Nugent 18:57 If it didn't... If it wasn't fun, none of us would do it.

Joe Rogan 18:59 I understand your, your, your take on it, they can kiss, kiss your ass, but you... It means something to you. It's not as simple as, like, "Fuck you. This is just how I'm gonna do it."

Ted Nugent 19:09 Oh, it's deep, deep fun.

Joe Rogan 19:10 Yeah.

Ted Nugent 19:10 Is, is being the greatest basketball three-point shooter, isn't that fun?

Joe Rogan 19:15 Must be.

Ted Nugent 19:16 Discipline. He wouldn't do it.

Joe Rogan 19:17 Yeah.

Ted Nugent 19:17 But it's al- it's always fun. It's... Because it's invigorating.

Joe Rogan 19:21 Right, and the bow hunting-

Ted Nugent 19:22 And-

Joe Rogan 19:22 ... is more invigorating.

Ted Nugent 19:23 Because it's so difficult.

Joe Rogan 19:25 It's so difficult.

Ted Nugent 19:25 It's borderline impossible.

Joe Rogan 19:27 Yeah.

Ted Nugent 19:27 Fun, sport (laughs) . "Well, I don't think sport hunting is good. You shouldn't have sport." How can you hunt without sport?

Joe Rogan 19:34 But don't you think there's just too many of these words are poisoned? There's like, like-

Ted Nugent 19:38 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 19:38 ... trophy hunting. By idio-

Ted Nugent 19:39 Like that term trophy hunting.

Joe Rogan 19:40 You can't hunt without a trophy! You know what I have on my wall in my northern cabin? You're gonna... You already are inclined to love me, but now you're really gonna... You're going for it. (laughs)

Ted Nugent 19:48 You're gonna butt-fuck me right here on the show.

Joe Rogan 19:49 Whoa! That's not love.

Ted Nugent 19:51 Um, well, it's, um, metaphorically speaking.

Joe Rogan 19:53 (laughs)

Ted Nugent 19:53 Um, well, it is for some of my buddies. Anyhow, so on the wall of my cabin in northern Michigan is my first kill, November 15th, 1969, with my dad's pre-64 Model S-

Joe Rogan 20:04 It's a buttonbuck?

Ted Nugent 20:04 Buttonbuck. Did you hear the story?

Joe Rogan 20:06 Yeah.

Ted Nugent 20:06 You know, I took it to the taxidermist-

Joe Rogan 20:08 Yeah.

Ted Nugent 20:08 ... and I said, "I want this mounted." He said, "You're gonna mount this?" And I go-

Joe Rogan 20:11 People don't know what a bu- buttonbuck-

Ted Nugent 20:12 "Yeah, it's a buck." Buttonbuck is a fawn of the year that has little buttons on his forehead, which is a legal deer with a doe tag, and I had that deer. And I, I said, "It's a buck, feel." (laughs) You have to feel on the head to make sure it is a buck, 'cause it's such a little guy. And it's a legal deer, and it's a delicious deer. The Deer of the Year is a fawn. That's why we have this hunting season in the fall, because now they're independent. They're not... They've been weaned. They're, they're independent animals. In fact, the, the buttonbucks are... Their asses get kicked by their mother to throw them out of the herd to get the hell out of the way for more breeding, which is what I do. And, uh, and so I have that buttonbuck mounted. Well, who's gonna tell me that's not a trophy? The, the, the, the experiences, the memories, the clothes, the bullets, the day, the sunrise, the crows, the sandhill cranes, the birds, the movement, the anticipation. And I got backstraps. I had fun. Ultimate discipline-challenge-sport, ultimate meat, ultimate protein, the purest, most organic, before it was even hip. And if you could... I dare you to tell me that buttonbuck is not a trophy. I got... I have woodchucks mounted. (laughs) I got... I shot a woodchuck in the eye with my grandson. Well, I, I have, I have squirrels mounted. It's always a trophy.

Joe Rogan 21:30 You mounted a squirrel?

Ted Nugent 21:31 I sure... I'm, I'm the squirrel czar. Um-

Joe Rogan 21:34 (laughs)

Ted Nugent 21:34 You know, when you, when you first start out and you kill that first squirrel, that's exciting stuff. It's, it's, it's all fun.

Joe Rogan 21:41 Where would you put a squirrel that you mounted?

Ted Nugent 21:42 On a, on a limb at the... In the cabin.

Joe Rogan 21:45 Is it-

Ted Nugent 21:45 Along with Rocco. Rocco, my son out here, his first wood duck-

Joe Rogan 21:48 (laughs)

Ted Nugent 21:48 ... that he got very, uh, with much effort. And we have that wood duck mounted. There's a, there's a love affair with our instinctual stewardship duties to the wildlife to harvest the surplus to make room for next spring's productivity, because there's gonna be more animals, but there's not gonna be more habitat. Hence, sustain yield, successful wildlife management model that is so perfect it defies criticism, unless you're a lying sack of shit.

Joe Rogan 22:19 Have you ever had to have a reasonable conversation with someone who's anti-hunting? Have you ever, like, sat down-

Ted Nugent 22:23 Often!

Joe Rogan 22:23 Yeah?

Ted Nugent 22:23 Often! Absolu- And, and to the man and woman, and I mean adamant, vagin until I explain to them, well-

Joe Rogan 22:30 Vagin, I like that.

Ted Nugent 22:31 Vegan, but-

Joe Rogan 22:31 Veg-in, whatever it is.

Ted Nugent 22:32 Vagin, veg-in (laughs) . I can't even pronounce it, much less-

Joe Rogan 22:34 (laughs) It barely comes out of your mouth.

Ted Nugent 22:35 ... figure it out.

Joe Rogan 22:36 (laughs)

Ted Nugent 22:37 Very... So stupid.

Joe Rogan 22:38 (laughs)

Ted Nugent 22:38 By the way, my son Rocco-

Joe Rogan 22:40 Mm-hmm.

Ted Nugent 22:41 ... who I love beyond description?

Joe Rogan 22:42 Yep.

Ted Nugent 22:43 Vegan.

Joe Rogan 22:44 No.

Ted Nugent 22:44 Yes. He has di-

Joe Rogan 22:45 He looks like he needs to eat more.

Ted Nugent 22:46 Yeah. Well, (laughs) actually, I... When he's asleep, I try to shove a backstrap up his ass, but he re-

Joe Rogan 22:52 (laughs)

Ted Nugent 22:52 He's got more muscles than I do. Anyhow, uh, my point is, is that when I-

Joe Rogan 22:57 How did that h- how did he become vegan? 'Cause he's a hunter.

Ted Nugent 22:59 He has a dige- he has a dige- and he is a great hunter. He doesn't like to hunt anymore. He's decided not to. He's, uh, killed great deer, great hogs.

Joe Rogan 23:06 I've seen him on your TV show.

Ted Nugent 23:07 Ducks. Yeah, he's a great hunter. But he dec- he decided he does not want to take part in the harvest. I respect it completely. But if-

Joe Rogan 23:16 Good for you.

Ted Nugent 23:17 ... if you really want to kill the most things, be a vegan, because the farmers who protect your beans kill everything. I kill one animal per arrow. In order to grow tofu, you have to kill every ground squirrel, every vole, every shrew, every snake, every turtle, every frog, every bird, every rabbit. Anything that gets in that bean field, I'm either gonna plow and dismember, which is why the crows and the, and the seagulls-

Joe Rogan 23:48 Vultures.

Ted Nugent 23:48 ... follow the, the, uh-

Joe Rogan 23:49 The combines.

Ted Nugent 23:50 ... the combines every year. And then if anything does survive my first slaughter, I'm gonna come in with Mansanta and poison the shit out of everything so you can have a tofu salad and not be responsible for any death. Fuck you.

Joe Rogan 24:03 That's a really good point and it's a point-

Ted Nugent 24:04 Hello!

Joe Rogan 24:04 ... that a lot of people ignore.

Ted Nugent 24:06 And- and avoid because it's, it's uncomfortable.

Joe Rogan 24:09 Yeah.

Ted Nugent 24:09 Isn't life full of uncomforting thing- And you shouldn't be uncomfortable. To kill game to feed mankind is perfect. To kill cows and pigs to feed mankind. It's... The system is often less than perfect, but until someone comes up with a better system, I salute and genuflect at the altar of farmers and ranchers and people who kill animals to sustain my fellow man.

Joe Rogan 24:38 I agree with you. I think you and I would probably both disagree with factory farming, when you see animals stuffed into cages.

Ted Nugent 24:45 (laughs) But you-

Joe Rogan 24:45 But we have to-

Ted Nugent 24:45 ... w-

Joe Rogan 24:45 ... come up with a better system.

Ted Nugent 24:46 We have to come up with a better system. I kill a lot of deer and I, I, I feed more people than any, any hunter, ever. Like, I kill so man- much game every year is I have to. I have to-

Joe Rogan 24:55 Well, you know what?

Ted Nugent 24:55 ... I don't hire sharpshooters. I gi- sh- I kill the animals on my beautiful swamp in Michigan and my Texas property that have to die. They have to get out of there to make room for the next year's fawns. So, I've soup kitchens, homeless shel- I literally give tons ... And, and I'm a sweetheart, but I'm not an idiot. I keep the backstraps. But I give tons of venison to soup kitchens and homeless shelters and veterans. We make jerky and send it over to the troops overseas. I mean, I, I have to adjust my halo just to get in the room. So what I do is literally perfect.

Joe Rogan 25:27 Well, th- the problem is that y- what you do, everybody can't do. Like, everybody's not gonna have your kind of land.

Ted Nugent 25:33 More people could, though.

Joe Rogan 25:34 More people could.

Ted Nugent 25:35 Yes.

Joe Rogan 25:35 Well, you are, you definitely ... I know the Hunters for the Hungry distribute a- a-

Ted Nugent 25:40 Tons.

Joe Rogan 25:40 ... ton of meat.

Ted Nugent 25:41 250, 250 million ... Joe, 250 million meals every year of venison and there are people that would ban that? Shame on you.

Joe Rogan 25:53 Well, I d- I just think there's a lot of films and a lot of documentaries that portray veganism as being this perfect way of living that doesn't have any death or any-

Ted Nugent 26:02 You're right.

Joe Rogan 26:03 ... habitat loss associated with it.

Ted Nugent 26:05 (laughs)

Joe Rogan 26:05 And then they look at the extreme of meat-eating, which is the w- the worst aspects of it, factory farming, some of these disgusting pig farms and chicken farms.

Ted Nugent 26:13 Oh, disgusting.

Joe Rogan 26:13 Horrible. Horrifying.

Ted Nugent 26:14 And they're ... The upgrade goes on because more alarms have been sounded, not by PETA and not by the Humane Society of the United States, they're just scam artists. By people who are coming to realize that we do not only have a re- responsibility to kill critters to feed mankind, but it can be done in an environmentally beneficial way. I mean, if you watch my great late friend Anthony Bourdain on his shows, and Andrew Zimmern on the Travel Channel, you watch their shows and the emphasis on environmentally friendly productivity, more and more organic farming, more and more conscientious waste dispersal, whether it's, you know, pig guts and they re- re-utilize those. Or in Las Vegas they get all this wasted food and they feed the pigs so it's good food going in, the pork tastes better. So there is upgrade taking place. And here's the ultimate inescapable fact of upgrade environmentalism. When I was growing up, Joe, Lake Erie would catch fire because of the pollution. It wasn't environmentalists or greenies that sounded the alarm, it was the duck hunters that said, "You're polluting this area so bad there's no ducks. There's no wild salry6. There's no walleyes. There's no fish. There's no muskrats for the trappers." Hunters, fishermen, and trappers have sounded the alarm more often than not about environmental irresponsibility. And now, Lake Erie that would spontaneously combust when I was growing up is now the number one walleye and small mouth bass fishery in the world, and it's still, we're still producing, we still got the industrial revolution going on there. But conscientious, higher responsible level of awareness is spreading like wildfire across the country. And I believe that there's no mutual exclusivity whatsoever to productivity and environmental responsibility. I believe that they both benefit each other and I've got so many un- unlimited examples where that's worked, from farms ... I mean, people who live downwind of a ping fa- pig farm are gonna be the m- biggest squawkers, rightly so.

Joe Rogan 28:21 Yeah.

Ted Nugent 28:21 And, and so w- I see a lot of upgrade going on, more organic, more conscientious, less waste. It's not, um ... It's not as, uh, r- regular operating procedure as it should be, but I see upgrade. I see upgrade.

Joe Rogan 28:34 I think, I think you're right. And I think that the, the thought process behind all these people that are upset about factory farming and people even that go vegan, the thought process behind it is in the right place. I just think there's a lot of misguided energy there because they don't really understand where the food is coming from. They don't understand large-scale agriculture. They don't understand when you ... And a lot of large-scale agriculture is to grow food to feed animals-

Ted Nugent 28:58 Yeah. It's essential, yeah.

Joe Rogan 28:59 ... that people eat. Yeah, but it's also wheat and it's also a lot of grain that people-

Ted Nugent 29:02 Sure.

Joe Rogan 29:02 ... consume and that displaces thousands and thousands of acres of animals.

Ted Nugent 29:07 Sure.

Joe Rogan 29:07 And the, th- the process is not a clean process. It's not clean in, in terms of there's no death, there's no harm.

Ted Nugent 29:16 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 29:16 It's cruelty-free. That's crazy.

Ted Nugent 29:17 A- as, as-

Joe Rogan 29:17 It's just not.

Ted Nugent 29:18 ... if you could, as if you can possibly go through a day without having blood on your hands. Do you drive on the highways ... Does any of your sustenance come on the highways? Because billions of animals are slaughtered on the highways every day and if you are on planet Earth, part of that blood is on your hands. You gotta be ... Who doesn't know this? Who's not willing to admit this? But again, I see an upgrade in level of awareness and responsibility, but the, the charge began in the hunting, fishing, and trapping community, because-

Joe Rogan 29:51 I agree.

Ted Nugent 29:51 ... where does, where does quality air, soil, and water come from? I'll go ahead and answer that. Wildlife habitat. Who's-

Joe Rogan 29:56 Well, it's a lot of the people that are out there every day-

Ted Nugent 29:59 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 29:59 ... that really recognize it.

Ted Nugent 30:00 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 30:00 Yeah.

Ted Nugent 30:00 And more and more ... You know, I used to ... I still get death threats because I murder innocent animals. (laughs)

Joe Rogan 30:06 Yeah, but-

Ted Nugent 30:06 I mean, but-

Joe Rogan 30:07 No, I get those too.

Ted Nugent 30:07 What the hell? So, I mean, it's just so absurd.

Joe Rogan 30:10 But I think they're, they're heart, like, really is in the right place.

Ted Nugent 30:13 I don't think ... No. I don't think-

Joe Rogan 30:13 They just don't know what they're talking about.

Ted Nugent 30:15 No, they're just haters. They're just-

Joe Rogan 30:16 There's a little bit of that too.

Ted Nugent 30:17 How i- how in 2018 do you not, not acknowledge barbecue?

Joe Rogan 30:24 (laughs)

Ted Nugent 30:24 How in 2018 do you not acknowledge there's a few dead turkeys on Thanksgiving? What? I mean-

Joe Rogan 30:29 (laughs)

Ted Nugent 30:29 You gotta be braindead. I think they're so consumed with hate that they fight. Ignorance is acceptable. I'm ignorant of ... When I go to the Indy 500 I couldn't tune a Cogsworth. I don't ... I'm ignorant about Cogsworth.

Joe Rogan 30:41 Right.

Ted Nugent 30:41 Ignorance is acceptable because you can remedy it with knowledge and, and research. Stupidity is when you guard your ignorance. If you think-

Joe Rogan 30:50 Hm.

Ted Nugent 30:50 ... that we're murdering innocent animals-... to feed our families with the purest protein available to mankind, balancing the herds with more deer, more elk, more bison, more turkeys, more waterfowl, more cougars, more bears than ever in recorded history, except for the bison, but we're way back. We have as many bison as we can sustain in North America. Ma- a lot of the Native American tribes are desperate to get more harvested in an efficient and responsible manner. So, wildlife is thriving because hunters implemented regulations for sustained yield. How many ducks can we kill? How many will they reproduce? Where is their habitat? Where, th- determines their reproduction, we must safeguard that. Delta Waterfowl, Ducks Unlimited. But see, this information is universally available, but the fake news, academia, Hollywood, and half of our government is stone-cold obsessed with political correctness and denial.

Joe Rogan 31:46 Yeah.

Ted Nugent 31:47 So I do what I do and our Spirit of the Wild show has been number one on Outdoor Channel, what is this, 29 years now? Wow, I'm getting old. Um, because we say it like it is. We don't play around. Fun sport and meat trophy, sacred beasts, prayer for the wild things, resource stewardship, conservation-wise use, walk the wild ground before you comment on the wild ground.

Joe Rogan 32:08 Yeah.

Ted Nugent 32:09 Duh.

Joe Rogan 32:09 Well, this is what I'm talking about when you were talking about that last Indian that they found, the guy who used to get into the-

Ted Nugent 32:14 Right, Ishi.

Joe Rogan 32:14 Yeah.

Ted Nugent 32:14 Ishi.

Joe Rogan 32:14 He used to get into the river.

Ted Nugent 32:16 Do a study. Study Ishi.

Joe Rogan 32:17 Okay, I will.

Ted Nugent 32:17 Oh, get-

Joe Rogan 32:18 I'll write it down. What's his... How do you spell his name?

Ted Nugent 32:19 I-S-H-I. You have to learn. I'll s- I'm gonna send you a bunch of stuff. I'm gonna get your contacts and I'm gonna-

Joe Rogan 32:25 All right.

Ted Nugent 32:25 ... send you stuff. It will expand your horizons like you didn't know was available. The, the history of modern bow hunting at the hands of Fred Bear and, and, and Saxon Pope and Art Young, and the families that wanted to get closer to game. Not necessarily kill, 'cause 90% of the time you don't kill squat with a bow and arrow. But when you do, it's because you dedicate yourself to a higher reasoning level predator awareness, and you put your gifts from God to the maximum efficiency. And again, that's welding and carpentry, but ultimately you're gonna kill something. You better kill it clean. And being human and failing overall to be perfect, you can be perfect and put that arrow, when you learn to read the wild signals, the, the, the, the attitude and the, the, the bird indicators when the deers come and you use the, the light, the wind, the camo, stealthy movements, silence, and learn to time that shot. My average deer dies in five seconds. The hea- the top of the heart's taken off, both lungs are penetrated. That deer falls asleep on his feet and boom, there's never been a beefsteak ever had it so good.

Joe Rogan 33:48 Y- the, also, there's a connection to what you're doing that's different than almost any other connection to food. I mean, the only thing that's reasonably close and it's pretty far off is when you grow it yourself. So if you grow your own vegetables, you got a connection to that food.

Ted Nugent 34:02 Absolutely.

Joe Rogan 34:02 But it's not the same, it's not the same connection as you get-

Ted Nugent 34:05 No, because you're looking-

Joe Rogan 34:06 ... especially if you send an arrow through an animal.

Ted Nugent 34:07 You're looking in its eyes.

Joe Rogan 34:09 Y- you're looking in its eyes, but also-

Ted Nugent 34:10 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 34:10 ... the, you know how difficult it is. And when you pull it off, there's this powerful connection between you and that animal.

Ted Nugent 34:15 You earn it.

Joe Rogan 34:15 And when you eat, you earn it. Yeah.

Ted Nugent 34:16 Oh boy, do you earn it.

Joe Rogan 34:17 And when you eat it, you feel that you earned it. You, you get joy out of it.

Ted Nugent 34:22 I'm telling you, when Anthony Bourdain came to my place, he was l- still a little squeamish with killing stuff even though he ate dead stuff on every show and got his paycheck from eating dead stuff. (laughs)

Joe Rogan 34:31 I hunted with him.

Ted Nugent 34:32 Yeah, did ya?

Joe Rogan 34:33 Yeah, we went pheasant hunting.

Ted Nugent 34:33 He was a great man. He was a great man, terrible loss.

Joe Rogan 34:36 He was... Terrible loss.

Ted Nugent 34:37 And we talked about it and I, eh, I shared my knowledge with him. I'm not... I don't have an opinion. It's an animal, it's dead. You either revere it or you don't. You either utilize it with respect or you pretend you didn't have anything to do with it. It's dead. You're eating it. You should've been closer to the system. And the hunters, fishermen and trappers of this country still carry on the definitive physics of spirituality that the native and aboriginal peoples called the Great Spirit, hence the Spirit of the Wild, the prayer for the wild things. You-

Joe Rogan 35:16 But we're in a weird place, Ted, with, with cities, right? We're in a weird place with-

Ted Nugent 35:20 But I was born and raised in Detroit.

Joe Rogan 35:21 Right. Right, you were. Yeah, but I mean, you got lucky-

Ted Nugent 35:23 Oh, lucky.

Joe Rogan 35:23 ... in that your father was interested in bow hunting and that it gave him an escape. Which, by the way, it gives a lot of veterans today. A lot of veterans and good friends of mine are finding-

Ted Nugent 35:32 The ultimate.

Joe Rogan 35:32 ... great relief-

Ted Nugent 35:33 Yes.

Joe Rogan 35:33 ... in, in bow hunting as a discipline after combat life.

Ted Nugent 35:37 Yep, you're talking to-

Joe Rogan 35:38 It's, it's-

Ted Nugent 35:38 ... a guy that's shared many campfires with those guys.

Joe Rogan 35:40 It's a great-

Ted Nugent 35:41 They were there last night.

Joe Rogan 35:42 ... great transition for them.

Ted Nugent 35:43 Yeah, it's consuming.

Joe Rogan 35:44 Yes.

Ted Nugent 35:45 It's, uh, Fred Bear uses the phrase, coined the phrase, and I use it all the time, it cleanses the soul. When you leave the pavement, when I leave the pavement and I make that transition from modern concrete jungle hand-to-hand combat city guy, because that's where my rock and roll career is the ultimate, and you take that deep breath, you literally go back to the year one. I know there's a highway nearby and I know I can hear trucks off in the distance and the train whistle, which is kinda titillating unto itself, but when I get in my swamp in Michigan or my woods in Texas, to quote Jimi Hendrix, "Ain't no life nowhere." I am the aborigine. It's me, my resources, and the beast. And it's a, it's a religious experience. It's the spirit of... The natives call it the Great Spirit. They've considered the buffalo their brother. And it is so consuming that I don't care what kind of stress, you could be going through the ugliest divorce in the world, and I have. You could be fighting against people who don't think that America should be first and you don't need secure borders and, and you don't need to earn your own way, you're able bodied but you want s- somebody else's income. You're just crazy shit. And all of a sudden I get out there and I'm telling you, Joe... (laughs) It's perfect. Yeah, I'm s- I'm literally intoxicated. I'm, I'm drunk, I'm stoned, trying to pick up all the signals. And I do, I do a pretty good job. I've learned over the years, because I need that so much to play my music like I play it, that it cleanses my soul. And I've, I've been contacted since the '60s with vets who have gone through just absolute torture in their military careers, and when I get them at a campfire and we go out and sit before the sun comes up, I can't tell you how many times they've cried because it's, it's good again. It was a great morning. I didn't have any stress. Forgot all about that bullshit when I thought I heard the deer. Then when I saw the deer, (laughs) it was perfect. So, you've expressed that, and I thank you for that because you're new to this sport.

Joe Rogan 38:12 Yeah.

Ted Nugent 38:12 And, uh, for you to be an advocate and to articulate, you learned because you were already a mature man when you entered it. I was a dirt ball, mushy brained kid. But thank God I learned about that spirit. I learned about the discipline. I learned about stewardship callings and responsibility, of course, pounded by my dad, God bless him. Um, and my brothers, my sister, we all are happy, healthy, successful, hardworking, funny, cocky, loving, giving people because of that discipline that revolved around my family hunting seasons.

Joe Rogan 38:48 Well, discipline is one of the, a big word. That, that, that was one of the really important aspects of it because I recognize the importance of discipline and always have, pretty much my whole life.

Ted Nugent 38:57 As a, as a martial artist-

Joe Rogan 38:58 Yeah.

Ted Nugent 38:58 ... especially, yeah.

Joe Rogan 38:59 Yeah, so I came into bowing-

Ted Nugent 39:01 You were ahead of the, you were ahead of the curve, yeah.

Joe Rogan 39:03 Well, I, when I recognized it, I was like, "Oh, I know, this is a different thing. This is not what everybody thinks it is."

Ted Nugent 39:08 And-

Joe Rogan 39:09 I'm like, this is a, this is a spiritual experience.

Ted Nugent 39:12 Yes, and because you were around the masters, Cameron Hanes.

Joe Rogan 39:15 Yeah.

Ted Nugent 39:15 Uh, you had John Dudley on here.

Joe Rogan 39:17 Steve Rinella is the one who got me into it.

Ted Nugent 39:18 Steve, he's a Michigan boy.

Joe Rogan 39:19 Yeah.

Ted Nugent 39:20 Um, yeah, that's, uh, that, they were good mentors for you.

Joe Rogan 39:23 I got lucky.

Ted Nugent 39:24 So you, you got past, um, the mistaken yet, uh, irresponsibly and dishonestly promoted aspect of the drunken hillbilly-

Joe Rogan 39:35 Yeah.

Ted Nugent 39:35 ... silent shooter hunter that-

Joe Rogan 39:37 Well, that, that stereotype is so ridiculous. I mean, my friends, like guys like Cameron Hanes, he's a goddamn ultramarathon runner.

Ted Nugent 39:44 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 39:44 I mean that guy runs 240 miles in a week and then, you know, i- is on the mountains all fall long.

Ted Nugent 39:51 He's a bad mofo. I'm glad he doesn't play guitar.

Joe Rogan 39:54 Yeah.

Ted Nugent 39:54 (laughs)

Joe Rogan 39:54 He, he's a bad motherfucker across the board.

Ted Nugent 39:56 Yeah, he is.

Joe Rogan 39:56 But he's, he's an incredibly disciplined guy.

Ted Nugent 39:58 Sure.

Joe Rogan 39:58 And this is his life is a ... And he, he'll tell everybody, all that stuff that he does, all the working out, that's so he can be at his best in the mountains as a bow hunter.

Ted Nugent 40:07 Sure.

Joe Rogan 40:08 That, he considers his true spiritual calling.

Ted Nugent 40:10 And I got to tell you, you're sitting across from a guy, and I'm not bragging, I'm just kind of sharing.

Joe Rogan 40:14 You can brag.

Ted Nugent 40:15 And accumulat-

Joe Rogan 40:16 It's your 10th midget.

Ted Nugent 40:16 And a-

Joe Rogan 40:16 You're allowed to brag a little bit.

Ted Nugent 40:17 Yeah, but it, it's, it's a celebration-

Joe Rogan 40:19 Yeah.

Ted Nugent 40:19 ... that I have been humbled and blessed beyond description to share campfires with more hunters than anybody you've ever met. Because I've been donating hunts for years, I started my Sunrise Safaris, I guide hundreds of hunters every year. I don't take them all out to their stand, but we all get together at my Michigan place, have 24 in a weekend, 20 in a weekend, and it's a campfire get down with Uncle Ted playing guitar, but we shoot our bows, we shoot our guns, we set things up. A lot of them are newcomers. I guide on my Spirit Wild Ranch in Texas. I guide in, uh, New Brunswick and Ontario for bears.

Joe Rogan 40:56 Didn't you get Kid Rock into bow hunting?

Ted Nugent 40:57 Yes, I did. I did.

Joe Rogan 40:59 (laughs)

Ted Nugent 40:59 And there's a great story too.

Joe Rogan 41:00 Has he hunted yet?

Ted Nugent 41:01 Well, remember that discipline word we were talking about?

Joe Rogan 41:03 Yeah, we don't have that yet.

Ted Nugent 41:04 He's, he's working on that.

Joe Rogan 41:05 (laughs)

Ted Nugent 41:06 He is, but his girlfriend is a killer.

Joe Rogan 41:09 Really?

Ted Nugent 41:09 Not only she is a killer, gorgeous gal, but, uh, a- her, Audrey is a dangerous bow hunting woman.

Joe Rogan 41:16 Really?

Ted Nugent 41:16 I mean, she's always killing stuff. It's awesome.

Joe Rogan 41:19 Jesus.

Ted Nugent 41:19 She's addicted. I get, I get pieces from her all the time and never from Bob.

Joe Rogan 41:23 That's hilarious.

Ted Nugent 41:23 (laughs) And, you know, she's awesome. I'll start sharing that stuff with you.

Joe Rogan 41:26 Okay.

Ted Nugent 41:26 I'll turn you on to a higher level of appreciation of fine ass women with a sharp stick.

Joe Rogan 41:30 (laughs)

Ted Nugent 41:30 This gal, between my wife Charmaine and Audrey, I'm telling you, yeah. But anyhow, the, the guys that you've hunted with, you're talking about great human beings.

Joe Rogan 41:42 Yeah.

Ted Nugent 41:43 Men of integrity and discipline and productivity and a drive to be in the asset column.

Joe Rogan 41:49 They're misunderstood.

Ted Nugent 41:50 Well, I, I-

Joe Rogan 41:50 Because th- because of movies.

Ted Nugent 41:52 Very rarely, I, I got to tell you, my-

Joe Rogan 41:54 I don't think-

Ted Nugent 41:54 I was about to say, I share campfires with lots of newcomers because they see this rock and roll guy that they love the music and we share the appreciation for my m- American rhythm and blues rock and roll, uh, jihad, and so they want to try hunting and they come to my, buy a hunt with me or they make a donation for a military or children's charity and they've never hunted and I tell them what to buy and they show up and it's Natty Bumppo, man. You know who Natty Bumppo was?

Joe Rogan 42:19 No.

Ted Nugent 42:19 You need to get into that.

Joe Rogan 42:20 Okay.

Ted Nugent 42:20 Anyhow, um-

Joe Rogan 42:20 Should I write that down too?

Ted Nugent 42:21 And he, and, uh-

Joe Rogan 42:22 How do you spell it?

Ted Nugent 42:23 No, I'm gonna sell, I'm gonna send it to you.

Joe Rogan 42:24 (laughs)

Ted Nugent 42:24 Um, uh, uh, uh, James Fenimore Cooper, he was a character in his, uh, Last of the Mohicans.

Joe Rogan 42:30 Oh, okay.

Ted Nugent 42:30 He's a new hunter, Natty Bumppo. He's like a novice, a rookie.

Joe Rogan 42:34 Oh.

Ted Nugent 42:34 Anyhow, I get a lot of these people and, you know, I've never met anybody at any of my campfires that wasn't honest, that wasn't friendly, wasn't successful to some degree, whether it's a teacher on a teacher salary, successful, they're a teacher, that's successful. Who care deeply about the wildlife and the wild grounds. So when you hear about, "Well, that drunken bum's just shooting everything." Well, nobody's spent more time with more hunters than I have. I've never seen that.

Joe Rogan 43:09 Well they, there's some of them do exist, yeah.

Ted Nugent 43:12 Never even seen it. I know it exists. I know it exists, but so do-

Joe Rogan 43:13 It's sad that they exist.

Ted Nugent 43:14 ... so do priests that butt fuck kids.

Joe Rogan 43:16 Right.

Ted Nugent 43:16 You know, but that's not the priesthood.

Joe Rogan 43:18 Right.

Ted Nugent 43:18 I hope. Um, so there's always gonna be aberrant, dipshit, demonic behavior by our fellow man somewhere somehow.

Joe Rogan 43:25 Right.

Ted Nugent 43:25 But it is so rare in the hunting world that I, u- uh, again, I-... that's all I do seven months a year, is hunt.

Joe Rogan 43:34 Well, I haven't hunted as much as you, but I've been around a lot of great people.

Ted Nugent 43:37 Great people.

Joe Rogan 43:38 Yeah. And-

Ted Nugent 43:38 And that goes right back to Fred Bear, which is the start off of our dialogue here. Great man, we hunted until 1987 together in October and he was on oxygen then he passed away. Have you ever heard the song?

Joe Rogan 43:50 Yeah, I have heard-

Ted Nugent 43:51 And then that s-

Joe Rogan 43:51 ... your Fred Bear song.

Ted Nugent 43:52 And then that song happened with a life of its own because of my love and admiration for the man and what-

Joe Rogan 43:59 Well, s- and w-

Ted Nugent 43:59 ... and what he represented.

Joe Rogan 44:00 Someone like that, that just carries that torch further than everyone. That, that-

Ted Nugent 44:04 And at times people-

Joe Rogan 44:05 ... those people are so important.

Ted Nugent 44:06 At a time where there was no indication that-

Joe Rogan 44:08 Right.

Ted Nugent 44:08 ... you might have to.

Joe Rogan 44:09 Right.

Ted Nugent 44:09 The animal rights thing hadn't really started, um, meaningfully yet. Um, political correctness was- wasn't even coined. There was no fake news. There was the beginning of the attack on hunting from, you know, ignorant citified people that somehow believed that their food didn't die, or they're not responsible for any death. And so they would, you know, play the holier than thou dishonesty move by attacking those of us that actually took part in the process of feeding our families.

Joe Rogan 44:39 Mm-hmm.

Ted Nugent 44:39 And Fred was such a gentleman, and he was so clever, and he so efficiently promoted the challenge and the intimacy of man and wild connection that, uh, he will live in infamy. Uh, everybody in the hunting world knows that he was a force to reckon with and he's always there, and as the song says, "In the wind, he's still alive." And it's powerful medicine.

Joe Rogan 45:05 Well, a lot of people know of him because of you.

Ted Nugent 45:07 Oh, yeah.

Joe Rogan 45:07 A lot of people do.

Ted Nugent 45:08 More people have learned about Fred from me than from the archery industry, yeah.

Joe Rogan 45:11 Do you, do you ... This, this conversation, you've been having this conversation about hunting forever. I mean, I've heard a lot of these things that you're saying today before from you. Does this ... Do you ever get tired-

Ted Nugent 45:21 No.

Joe Rogan 45:21 ... of being this evangelist?

Ted Nugent 45:22 No, not at all.

Joe Rogan 45:23 No?

Ted Nugent 45:23 I love it so much. And the other side is so dishonest that I know I make inroads. You go to my Facebook, I have millions-

Joe Rogan 45:32 Do you think they're dishonest or you think they're ignorant?

Ted Nugent 45:35 They know the ... They know that there's gonna be new fawns next year, but there's not gonna be any new ground. They know this. They know that venison is good food.

Joe Rogan 45:42 Right. But they don't think of it that way.

Ted Nugent 45:44 Well, they don't think, period.

Joe Rogan 45:44 They think of it as suffering.

Ted Nugent 45:45 That's why I continue to do this, because I cause them to think. I can tell you thousands of examples since the '60s where people thought I was a, a, a coward for murdering innocent animals that can't shoot back.

Joe Rogan 46:00 (laughs)

Ted Nugent 46:00 I mean, what does that sentence even mean? What does ... What do you mean they can't shoot back? They don't have trigger fingers, you jerk! (laughs) So, I have taken this on and I ... You notice that I smiled throughout that whole thing.

Joe Rogan 46:11 Yeah.

Ted Nugent 46:11 I don't get angry. Um, so I know that by continuing to promote in the absence of any education in our education system. In fact, it's the opposite. Animal rights gets more time in our education system, our anti-education system. The media, lying sons of bitches. Hollywood, goofy. Um, half of the government out to lunch. So, guys like you and me that know the truth, we should never give up because there is a scourge of political correctness and dishonesty. And that's what political correctness is, it's denial and dishonesty. And I know we're making inroads. You should see the bombardment I got, "Joe's a big hunter now. He's really a fighter. He'd speak cleverly, he speaks accurately and, and passionately about it." Well, hallelujah, there's a bunch of us out there. With the advent of the Outdoor Channel and Sportsman Channel, the Pursuit Network, um, more and more people are getting, you know, wind of what we're doing.

Joe Rogan 47:03 I think a lot of it from the internet, too.

Ted Nugent 47:04 And the in- m- monster communication power.

Joe Rogan 47:07 Yeah. People ... I think people understand that there's more to it than they thought. And if they're willing to just look a little bit further, look a little bit further, they realize like, well, especially western hunting.

Ted Nugent 47:16 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 47:16 These guys are running hills in their, their, their, their backpacks with-

Ted Nugent 47:20 Super people.

Joe Rogan 47:20 ... heavy weights on their back-

Ted Nugent 47:22 Discipline.

Joe Rogan 47:22 ... for hours and hours every day-

Ted Nugent 47:24 Fun. Sport.

Joe Rogan 47:24 ... just to build up their endurance so they can hike out with meat. These western hunters, man, that are going out and-

Ted Nugent 47:29 Bad mofos, yeah.

Joe Rogan 47:30 ... bow hunting elk and then packing them out by themselves-

Ted Nugent 47:32 In-

Joe Rogan 47:33 ... over the course of five days.

Ted Nugent 47:34 ... incredible job. I went to Alaska-

Joe Rogan 47:36 I mean, it's crazy to pursue-

Ted Nugent 47:36 ... first time when I, when I was 20-something. I guess I must have been 28 my first Alaska trip, '77. And I was out there for two weeks in a soggy, wet and nasty cold tent. You know, pu- pup tent with George Fairebear and I got a giant caribou, a great black bear, and a big old moose. And boy, humping them quarters in that, that tundra. I ... Yeah, I thought I was a Superman athletic, you know, amplifier jumping rock and roll sinew muscle boy. (laughs)

Joe Rogan 48:04 Yeah.

Ted Nugent 48:04 I got my ass kicked.

Joe Rogan 48:05 Carrying a moose shoulder-

Ted Nugent 48:07 Oh, man.

Joe Rogan 48:08 ... Jesus Christ. A moose quarter?

Ted Nugent 48:09 150 pounds, just one big moose quarter.

Joe Rogan 48:10 Yeah, yeah.

Ted Nugent 48:11 And it's-

Joe Rogan 48:11 When you see one in real life, it's hard to believe that that's a real animal.

Ted Nugent 48:14 And that goes back to what you said earlier, that when you dine on that and you put that effort forth, and you spent all those days skunked and wet and cold and nasty, enjoying it-

Joe Rogan 48:25 Yeah.

Ted Nugent 48:25 ... for what it was. But it's also a pain in the ass, you can't wait to get back to some place with a wood burner. But when you've packed it out yourself, when you take that sacred flesh off that grill, before you even finish the first knife slice, all those memories and it just tastes better. And it really does taste better. But with that effort, it is a spiritual moment that this ... Like the natives say, "You don't kill the animal, you accept the gift if you put your heart and soul into your reasoning predatorship." And that's always been my mantra. And my kids were all raised on venison, uh, we just don't buy meat. It's all we eat is the stuff we kill. Pheasants and quail and doves and woodcock and grouse and rabbits and squirrels and ducks and geese and gull and ewes and snipe (laughs) and, and, and beavers and, and deer and elk and antelope and bear and cougar. That's the greatest food in the world. I'm

Ted Nugent 49:25 70 years old and-... I'm forced to reckon with because of my disciplined diet of the ultimate rocket fuel available on planet Earth.

Joe Rogan 49:34 You really do look good for 70.

Ted Nugent 49:36 So if I had-

Joe Rogan 49:36 You look fucking fantastic.

Ted Nugent 49:37 If I had some sleep, I'd be downright handsome.

Joe Rogan 49:39 (laughs)

Ted Nugent 49:40 (laughs)

Joe Rogan 49:40 But you think about, you know, the average person that's been eating the average American diet for 70 years-

Ted Nugent 49:45 Oh.

Joe Rogan 49:46 ... by the time they're your age, they're deteriorating rapidly.

Ted Nugent 49:49 The poison, the fructose, the, the chemicals, the preservatives. Oh, my ... Here's ... If I may, on the Joe Rogan podcast-

Joe Rogan 49:55 Please do.

Ted Nugent 49:56 ... my friends, get rid of the goddamn sugar.

Joe Rogan 50:02 Thank you.

Ted Nugent 50:02 If you can't pronounce it on the package, do not buy it. Do not feed your children high fructose poisoning. My God, people. Get the poisons out of your blubberous lives. Good food is so simple. Buy a f- well, catch a fish or buy a fish. Buy some fresh or grow some fresh vegetables. Put real butter and use the real fat. Don't take the skin off the chicken. That's where all the good fat is.

Joe Rogan 50:39 (laughs)

Ted Nugent 50:39 That's where all the flavor is. And eat real food. "Well, we can't afford that." No, you can't afford not to! Everything that says diet on it or no sugar is poison. It's not my opinion. It's a chemical reality. And when you, when you die- when you attempt to digest fructose and preservatives, your body goes, "I don't recognize this bullshit! We can't process this!" And it turns into blubber.

Joe Rogan 51:08 Blubber.

Ted Nugent 51:08 And here's a little update. Blubber is for sperm whales, not people. If you have to lift up slabs to dry off after the shower, your diet sucks.

Joe Rogan 51:21 I saw you in an interview once a long time ago. It was before I started watching your show.

Ted Nugent 51:24 I've been ... I've done a bunch, haven't I?

Joe Rogan 51:26 I know you have.

Narrator 51:26 (laughs)

Joe Rogan 51:26 But when I saw you, I was like, "How's this guy have so much fucking energy?" I remember thinking that. I'm like, "This guy's so fired up." And then you started talking about your diet. You started talking about ... You said, "All I eat is venison."

Ted Nugent 51:36 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 51:36 You started going off about backstraps. And then I started thinking, like, what ... Like, think about the dark red meat of wild game, like-

Ted Nugent 51:43 And this is before you became a hunter, right?

Joe Rogan 51:45 Oh, yeah.

Ted Nugent 51:45 Yeah.

Narrator 51:45 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 51:45 Quite, quite a few years before. I flirted with it for several years before-

Ted Nugent 51:50 Can't be flirted with.

Joe Rogan 51:52 I didn't have anybody to take me.

Ted Nugent 51:53 You gotta swan dive into it.

Joe Rogan 51:54 I got lucky.

Ted Nugent 51:55 You did.

Joe Rogan 51:55 Steve Rinella took me-

Ted Nugent 51:56 Steve, he's a master.

Joe Rogan 51:57 ... on his show.

Ted Nugent 51:58 I know Steve doesn't like me, but he's really, really good.

Joe Rogan 52:00 Why does he say he doesn't like you?

Ted Nugent 52:01 Huh?

Joe Rogan 52:01 Why does he say he doesn't like you?

Ted Nugent 52:02 I've heard c- comments with his attacking me for the whack 'em and stack 'em because it would be much better if I just butchered them and slaughtered them, because semantics is so important.

Joe Rogan 52:11 Oh, the w- the way you phr-

Ted Nugent 52:13 (sighs)

Joe Rogan 52:13 ...rase things, whack 'em and stack 'em?

Ted Nugent 52:15 Yeah, it's like it's fun. I'm whacking, I'm stacking. I got 12 bluegills, that's a stack. Shut the fuck up.

Joe Rogan 52:20 (laughs) Well, do, do people think that your outrageous behavior is somehow detrimental to the, the movement of acceptance?

Ted Nugent 52:28 Stupid people do.

Joe Rogan 52:29 Yeah.

Ted Nugent 52:30 But the people who come and join the sport because of my exuberance don't.

Joe Rogan 52:34 Well-

Ted Nugent 52:34 I would say that God bless Steve Rinella, and God bless Cameron and all those guys. I, I revere them. They're masters of their craft. I have caused more young people to become hunters than all other forces in the world. Case closed, because I'm having so much fucking fun. They go, "Hey! This guy's out of control! Bows and arrows? Let's get a bow and arrow and go kill something!" They absolutely come to it because of the fun. Then they hear about the discipline and they hear about the quality diet and they hear about the spiritual trophy, whether antlers or not, that has guided my passionate life and manifests itself in these killer songs and killer guitar licks and outrageous fire-breathing concerts, and they go, "Oh fuck, I can do that." And so they s- they get a bow and arrow, they get a shotgun, they start hunting. Go to my Facebook. I don't know if it's millions, but thousands and thousands of young people that would be inclined to be anti-hunting are now gung-ho hunters because Uncle Ted is having so much fun because I whack them and stack them.

Joe Rogan 53:39 Well, congratulations with that. Yeah, the, the, the thing is that they don't get ... When, when they hear your enthusiasm, then they go, "Okay, well, I haven't had this perspective before. The perspective on hunting that I've gotten before is that these are cruel assholes that go out there and shoot animals and they don't care, and-"

Ted Nugent 53:55 Or worse, or worse, Joe, uh, my critics, and I won't mention any names, but, you know, when they're on their, uh, hunting TV shows and, uh, they're so ultra cautious not to ruffle any feathers, they kind of come off like Mr. Rogers with a Lawrence Welk soundtrack, and young people think you're a fucking asshole if that's all you've got. And if hu-

Joe Rogan 54:16 So you're not having fun.

Ted Nugent 54:16 And if hunting is that boring, I think I'll just smoke some dope and go, you know, cruising tonight. Which I know you like to smoke your dope and-

Joe Rogan 54:25 Listen, I like dope.

Ted Nugent 54:25 And, uh ... And I-

Joe Rogan 54:25 I don't call it dope, though.

Ted Nugent 54:26 And go nuts.

Joe Rogan 54:27 Cops call it dope.

Ted Nugent 54:27 What do you call it?

Joe Rogan 54:28 Marijuana.

Ted Nugent 54:28 Well, I'm a cop.

Joe Rogan 54:29 Yeah, there you go.

Ted Nugent 54:30 (laughs) Well, but, but-

Joe Rogan 54:33 Pot.

Ted Nugent 54:33 But I got buddies, and I'm not gonna condemn you for that.

Joe Rogan 54:36 Pot's misunderstood too.

Ted Nugent 54:36 I, I just don't think that Comfortably Numb is the way to go. In fact, I have a song-

Joe Rogan 54:40 It's a great song.

Ted Nugent 54:41 I have a ... Well, you wanna know a better song?

Joe Rogan 54:43 Sure.

Ted Nugent 54:43 It's on my new record. It's called Uncomfortably Dumb.

Joe Rogan 54:46 Oh.

Ted Nugent 54:46 And my point is, is ... Are you a father?

Joe Rogan 54:49 Yes.

Ted Nugent 54:49 You want your babysitter high?

Joe Rogan 54:51 Uh, no.

Ted Nugent 54:52 Oh, how about your doctor?

Joe Rogan 54:53 No, but I don't want my-

Ted Nugent 54:54 How about your pilot?

Joe Rogan 54:54 I don't want my babysitter sleeping either.

Ted Nugent 54:57 You don't want her what?

Joe Rogan 54:57 Sleeping. I want them paying attention. You know what I'm saying?

Ted Nugent 55:00 Yeah, yeah.

Joe Rogan 55:00 So it doesn't mean that you shouldn't get high ever, it just means you shouldn't get high when you're watching kids.

Ted Nugent 55:06 Damn right.

Joe Rogan 55:07 Yeah.

Ted Nugent 55:07 Or when you're flying my plane, or on your playing bass guitar.

Joe Rogan 55:10 I agree with that too.

Ted Nugent 55:10 You know, the only, the only guy I want-

Joe Rogan 55:11 Well, I don't think you should be compromising me doing anything delicate.

Ted Nugent 55:13 You know the only guy I want high?

Joe Rogan 55:15 Who?

Ted Nugent 55:15 My comedians.

Joe Rogan 55:16 Ah.

Ted Nugent 55:17 (laughs)

Narrator 55:18 (laughs)

Joe Rogan 55:18 It helps.

Ted Nugent 55:19 (laughs)

Joe Rogan 55:19 It's like steroids for comedy.

Ted Nugent 55:21 I was there. I was there with Richard Pryor and, and Robin Williams and Sam Kinison and God knows ... Go ahead and snort anything you got, motherfucker, because I need to laugh till I shit.It's hard to come up with that shit sober.

Joe Rogan 55:34 (laughs) Uh, but Pete, but the problem-

Ted Nugent 55:35 I do every night. I'm a funny son of a bitch. You gotta come see my show.

Joe Rogan 55:38 I believe you. I want to.

Ted Nugent 55:39 I have so much fun on stage it's stupid.

Joe Rogan 55:41 I think the perceptions about pot are very similar to the perceptions about ... There's a lot of people that abuse pot. They abuse alcohol. They abuse ... People abuse everything.

Ted Nugent 55:48 Sure.

Joe Rogan 55:48 Doesn't mean you can't use it responsibly.

Ted Nugent 55:50 I agree. Um, unfortunately in my 60 years of pursuing the Chuck Berry soundtrack of ultra James Brown type music, I have never seen anything but heartbreak from-

Joe Rogan 56:06 From drugs?

Ted Nugent 56:06 ... from the drug use.

Joe Rogan 56:07 Yeah.

Ted Nugent 56:08 Uh, even j- j- ... And I'm on a new council by the way, uh, working with President Trump to legalize medical marijuana nationwide.

Joe Rogan 56:16 Really?

Ted Nugent 56:16 So I want you to know that, and I'm all for that because I-

Joe Rogan 56:18 That's awesome.

Ted Nugent 56:19 ... I deal with a lot of terminally ill kids and there's nothing that's off limits to take away that suffering.

Joe Rogan 56:24 Yeah.

Ted Nugent 56:24 So I need to fight for that.

Joe Rogan 56:26 Well, it's great for people with epilepsy as well.

Ted Nugent 56:27 Absolutely.

Joe Rogan 56:28 For a lot of kids.

Ted Nugent 56:29 Sure. Sure.

Joe Rogan 56:29 Kids that have severe autism.

Ted Nugent 56:30 In fact, I got, I got in my bag out in the truck, um, some guy's making water with cannabis oil, with the CDB.

Joe Rogan 56:38 Mm-hmm.

Ted Nugent 56:38 Is that part of it?

Joe Rogan 56:39 CBD? Yeah.

Ted Nugent 56:40 Yeah. And he says it'll help me relax after my sonic bombast torture test-

Joe Rogan 56:44 I'm sure it will.

Ted Nugent 56:44 ... on stage every night.

Joe Rogan 56:46 I'm sure it will.

Ted Nugent 56:46 Think I oughta drink some of that shit?

Joe Rogan 56:47 Yeah. Yeah. Well, I know you've had some problems with your knees and stuff too.

Ted Nugent 56:49 I have both new knees and that was tortured.

Joe Rogan 56:51 Did you get them replaced? Yeah?

Ted Nugent 56:52 Both of them, yeah.

Joe Rogan 56:53 Yeah.

Ted Nugent 56:53 From jumping off all those amps. I never knew ... I never heard the word meniscus till my doctor said I had none.

Joe Rogan 56:58 I have a tear.

Ted Nugent 56:59 (sighs)

Joe Rogan 56:59 In mine. I just got, uh, stem cell shots in it yesterday.

Ted Nugent 57:02 Oh, pain in the ass.

Joe Rogan 57:03 For a slight tear.

Ted Nugent 57:03 I have two brand new knees and, um, I ain't dancing like the 25-year-old Ted Nugent, but I-

Joe Rogan 57:09 But you're walking fine.

Ted Nugent 57:10 I'm doing fine. I can still climb.

Joe Rogan 57:11 So you used to have a bad limp, right? From that?

Ted Nugent 57:14 Shuffle, yeah.

Joe Rogan 57:15 Yeah.

Ted Nugent 57:15 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 57:15 And now-

Ted Nugent 57:16 They were both gone.

Joe Rogan 57:17 Steve Tyler was here from Aerosmith.

Ted Nugent 57:19 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 57:19 And his, his-

Ted Nugent 57:20 He is gone. Yeah.

Joe Rogan 57:20 He's got a new one. He's got one new one and he's thinking about getting another one. I- I s-

Ted Nugent 57:24 I had them both at the same time.

Joe Rogan 57:25 Yeah?

Ted Nugent 57:25 I'm a fool.

Joe Rogan 57:26 How long were you down for?

Ted Nugent 57:27 Um, I was walking the next morning.

Joe Rogan 57:31 So what do they do exactly? They, they take-

Ted Nugent 57:33 Well, they go and they cut your knee open and they get a hammer and a chisel.

Joe Rogan 57:36 Ooh.

Ted Nugent 57:36 And they pound out the old shit and put in some metal stuff.

Joe Rogan 57:39 Ooh.

Ted Nugent 57:39 Ah, have you ever seen? It's actually available online. You don't want to watch it if you're going to have it done.

Joe Rogan 57:44 Oh.

Ted Nugent 57:44 It's brutal. But I had a good surgeon and, uh, it came out good. And the pain going on stage for so many years, since, certainly since the year 2000 with The Damn Yankees even.

Joe Rogan 57:58 What year did you get it done?

Ted Nugent 57:59 Uh, 2000 ... What is this? '18 now? '12 maybe.

Joe Rogan 58:05 So 12 years of pain?

Ted Nugent 58:06 Yeah. No, it was, it was more than that. But, uh, because I jumped off those fucking amplifiers. (laughs)

Joe Rogan 58:12 (laughs)

Ted Nugent 58:12 What? What the fuck?

Joe Rogan 58:13 You just blew your knees out?

Ted Nugent 58:15 Oh, my ... What kind of dirt bag (laughs) was I? Somebody should have said, "You have meniscus."

Joe Rogan 58:22 Well, you know, um-

Ted Nugent 58:22 "You must save your meniscus."

Joe Rogan 58:24 You know Maynard Keenan, the lead singer of Tool?

Ted Nugent 58:27 Right.

Joe Rogan 58:27 He blew his hip out from just stomping on the ground while he was singing.

Ted Nugent 58:30 Sure. Just the ... Because the music-

Joe Rogan 58:31 Yeah.

Ted Nugent 58:31 The m- ... I have a new record called The Music Made Me Do It. The music made him do it.

Joe Rogan 58:35 Yeah.

Ted Nugent 58:35 The music made Steve Tyler do it. When you get up there, it is a world unto itself. It is out of body. It is stream of consciousness. It, it ... You gotta be careful because you think you're-

Joe Rogan 58:48 Invincible.

Ted Nugent 58:48 Invincible on that stage with ... By the way, the movie Invincible, they used Stranglehold. Best use of my song ever. But anyhow.

Joe Rogan 58:55 No, best use of your song ever was Randy Couture coming out to Stranglehold in the UFC.

Ted Nugent 58:59 Yeah, you're probably right. Yes. I remember that. Yes. And, and The Black Hawks in Chicago, every gigs for the 25, 30 years, they play Stranglehold.

Joe Rogan 59:06 He came out to Stranglehold when he beat Tim Sylvia for the UFC heavyweight title. He's a severe underc- underdog and he came out and the place went nuts when Stranglehold played.

Ted Nugent 59:15 Stranglehold says it all.

Joe Rogan 59:16 It's great.

Ted Nugent 59:16 Here I come again now, baby, like a dog in heat.

Joe Rogan 59:19 It's just a great riff.

Ted Nugent 59:19 She tells me by the clamor, baby, and I'd like to tear up the street.

Joe Rogan 59:23 Yeah.

Ted Nugent 59:23 I've been smoking for so long, I'm here to stay. Got you in a stranglehold, bitch. Get the fuck out of my way.

Joe Rogan 59:28 Well-

Ted Nugent 59:28 Fucking awesome.

Joe Rogan 59:29 You getting excited?

Ted Nugent 59:30 It's a love song.

Joe Rogan 59:30 You getting excited?

Ted Nugent 59:31 It's a love song.

Joe Rogan 59:32 The connection between rock and roll guitarist and bow hunting for most people is like a big stretch.

Ted Nugent 59:39 Stretch?

Joe Rogan 59:40 It's like what? How are those-

Ted Nugent 59:41 Different galaxies.

Joe Rogan 59:42 Yeah. Different universes.

Ted Nugent 59:43 Yeah. Except for the most important elements, and that is discipline.

Joe Rogan 59:47 Discipline. Yeah.

Ted Nugent 59:48 The focus, uh, to create an- ... I've been so blessed beyond words to have the greatest musicians at my side forever. For literally 60 years. Right now I got Greg Smith on the bass guitar. Just a god of thunder. Greg Smith, the best. Like a Funk Brother in heat. And Jason Hartliss, 23-year-old drummer from Detroit is just an absolute animal. And every band from my Royal High boys in the '50s, to The Lourdes in the '60s, and the Amboy Dukes, and even The Damn Yankees with Tommy and Jack and Michael. Are you kidding me? I've had literally the A-list of musicians at my side from Tommy Aldridge and Tommy Clufetos and Mick Brown on drums and, and, and Cliff Davies. Are you kidding me? Denny Carmassi. I mean, the best drummers, the best bass players. I've just been the luckiest guitar player in the world.

Joe Rogan 1:00:37 But it's a weird connection, right? Like most people don't think of rock and roll and bow hunting at the same ... They, just they're so far removed-

Ted Nugent 1:00:44 Well, if you think of Ted Nugent, you do. I used to-

Joe Rogan 1:00:45 But you're the on- you're the only one.

Ted Nugent 1:00:46 But there I was geographically in Michigan, uh, a, a firestorm of musical influence. All the best musicians in the world, they'll tell you, come out of Detroit from Motown, Bob Seger, now Kid Rock, Eminem and just, just killer, killer bands. MC5, I got a great Wayne Kramer story. He has a wonderful book coming out called The Hard Stuff.

Joe Rogan 1:01:06 Kiss.

Ted Nugent 1:01:06 You ever, you ever talk to Wayne? You need to have Wayne Kramer on your show.

Joe Rogan 1:01:10 Actually Kiss isn't from New York. They're from New York.

Ted Nugent 1:01:11 From the MC5.

Joe Rogan 1:01:13 But D chart Rock City, I'm thinking of.

Ted Nugent 1:01:14 Yeah, I'm gonna turn you on to Wayne Kramer.

Joe Rogan 1:01:16 Okay.

Ted Nugent 1:01:16 He's got a new book about his tragic mistakes and near death heroin prison dirt bag maneuvers. But he's a great man, a musical authority. And in the music of Detroit and of course, '50s, Little Richard. How do you not get moved by Little Richard and, and Bo Diddley and Chuck Berry? How do you not ... H- how are you not touched by that? And then you see them on TV in The, Ed Sullivan Show. And I don't care who you are, Steven Tyler or Billy Joel or whoever, or Elvis Presley and now The Stones and The Beatles. Are you kidding me? On-... and, and it's Ed Sullivan and I had a guitar, plus I'm in Michigan and I've ... Every kid was born, you got a Red Ryder Daisy BB gun, you had a WHAM-O Slingshot, and you had a little bow and arrow of some kind. I lived right next to the Rouge River so I was always down there, you know, chasing critters and building forts and crossing the river. And the music and the bow hunting, music and the bow hunting. I met Fred Bear, I got these great musicians, the music and the bow hunting, music and the bow ... Unbelievable. What a life, what a dream, what a firestorm of cravings and fulfillment of those cravings every day. And here it is, last night was my 6,680th concert and that goes all the way back to sock hop.

Joe Rogan 1:02:33 You've got them all ...

Ted Nugent 1:02:34 Count it, all the way back to the 1950s.

Joe Rogan 1:02:36 How do you-

Ted Nugent 1:02:36 6,680.

Joe Rogan 1:02:37 Do you write them down?

Ted Nugent 1:02:38 No, I d- I did for years. I took out all the books and started adding them up, but from the, from my, uh, uh, musical review with the Royal School of Music in 1958 and then with Joe Podorsek from the Capitol School of Music at the s- at the Detroit Fairgrounds, and then we started playing sock hops and pool parties and malt shops and everywhere, you know, basement parties. I counted those. Those are gigs.

Joe Rogan 1:03:00 (laughs)

Ted Nugent 1:03:00 And then when the Amboy Dukes started in '65, we'd do 300 concerts, three f- plus 300 a year for many, many years. And then even with the Damn Yankees in the early '90s, we did over 200 concerts a year. So I added them all up and last year was 6,679 in Okinawa for the US Marine Corps.

Joe Rogan 1:03:20 Whoa.

Ted Nugent 1:03:21 Pretty intense. And then last night at The Coach House in San Juan Capistrano, 6,680. Tonight is 6,681.

Joe Rogan 1:03:29 Jesus.

Ted Nugent 1:03:30 Yeah, cool, huh? That's why I look tired.

Joe Rogan 1:03:32 That's a lot of-

Ted Nugent 1:03:32 And like-

Joe Rogan 1:03:32 ... a lot of shows. How do you have the time?

Ted Nugent 1:03:33 That's a lot of tree stand remedy.

Joe Rogan 1:03:35 How do you have the time? Because I always figure out ... I try to figure out how I have the time to do what I do, but I think you do more than I do.

Ted Nugent 1:03:41 Uh, I think we can both agree the greatest philosopher of all times was Dirty Harry when he said, "A good man knows his limitations."

Joe Rogan 1:03:48 (laughs)

Ted Nugent 1:03:50 Um, back in the Am- with the Amboy Dukes we'd do over 300 concerts a year and I was still craving my hunting, so I'd, I'd carve out a weekend in October and a weekend in November with my dad and we'd get out there and hunt, but that wasn't enough.

Joe Rogan 1:04:01 What about practice time?

Ted Nugent 1:04:03 With the archery?

Joe Rogan 1:04:04 Yeah.

Ted Nugent 1:04:04 I'd bow and arrow on the road.

Joe Rogan 1:04:05 Do you take-

Ted Nugent 1:04:06 Everywhere.

Joe Rogan 1:04:06 ... like, a block target-

Ted Nugent 1:04:07 Absolutely.

Joe Rogan 1:04:08 ... at these places?

Ted Nugent 1:04:08 You bet.

Joe Rogan 1:04:08 Shoot in a parking lot somewhere?

Ted Nugent 1:04:09 You bet. Morrell Targets for me is like-

Joe Rogan 1:04:10 Yeah. Oh, Morrell's, huh?

Ted Nugent 1:04:12 (laughs)

Joe Rogan 1:04:12 Someone's got a sponsor.

Ted Nugent 1:04:13 Sponsor. You're damn right. Um, but no, I've shot my bow and arrow on stage for thousands of concerts.

Joe Rogan 1:04:18 Right.

Ted Nugent 1:04:18 And then I always have it with me. And I always have friends that have bows and arrows. In fact, I wish I'd have brought it today because I could show you some, uh, the zen of Mystical Flight of the Arrow maneuvers.

Joe Rogan 1:04:28 Yeah.

Ted Nugent 1:04:28 I shoot a really lightweight bow, only 50 pounds.

Joe Rogan 1:04:30 Yeah, you shoot-

Ted Nugent 1:04:31 So it's real graceful.

Joe Rogan 1:04:32 You shoot, uh, that new Matthews?

Ted Nugent 1:04:33 I shoot the new Triax-Matthews, yeah.

Joe Rogan 1:04:35 Yeah.

Ted Nugent 1:04:35 They're all great.

Joe Rogan 1:04:35 It's a sweet bow.

Ted Nugent 1:04:36 There's not a bad bow out there. They're all-

Joe Rogan 1:04:37 Not anymore, no.

Ted Nugent 1:04:38 ... awesome. The competition is awesome. So anybody listening, the most important thing, you can tell Joe and I love the Mystical Flight of the Arrow, go get you a bow and arrow. Find-

Joe Rogan 1:04:47 Get to a bow shop, get measured.

Ted Nugent 1:04:50 Find, find a bow that fits you and make sure it's graceful enough. Don't struggle when you're starting to re- ... It's gotta come back mushy. Archery is grace, not power. And get that bow so it settles back here for hand-eye coordination and you don't have to struggle. People should start with a 25, 30-pound bow to get that archery thing going. Preferably an old recurve or longbow if you can.

Joe Rogan 1:05:12 Mm-hmm.

Ted Nugent 1:05:13 And find out where you're pointing, where's that arrow going? And you will be consumed with it.

Joe Rogan 1:05:18 Yeah, and-

Ted Nugent 1:05:18 And, and then work your way up.

Joe Rogan 1:05:19 And find someone who can really teach you if you can't.

Ted Nugent 1:05:21 Yeah, you have to have a mentor.

Joe Rogan 1:05:22 Yeah, because if you do it wrong and you start off with bad habits-

Ted Nugent 1:05:24 You get on the bad tra- yeah, bad habits will plague you. Then you get target panic.

Joe Rogan 1:05:27 Well, it's, uh, that's a problem with martial arts too. It's really important to start off with a good instructor. If you learn things poorly first and then try to re-fix it-

Ted Nugent 1:05:36 I'll bet.

Joe Rogan 1:05:36 ... you're still kind of wired incorrectly.

Ted Nugent 1:05:39 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 1:05:39 Yeah, it's very difficult. And archery as well, right?

Ted Nugent 1:05:41 That's why America's in trouble, because people are learning at schools. (laughs)

Joe Rogan 1:05:46 (laughs) Well, that's a really good analogy. I mean, it really is.

Ted Nugent 1:05:47 They're learning the wrong stuff.

Joe Rogan 1:05:49 Yeah. I mean, it really is what's going on. You know, you get taught that life is boring, droning, pay attention to the rules-

Ted Nugent 1:05:56 Show me a grad-

Joe Rogan 1:05:56 ... stuck in a box.

Ted Nugent 1:05:57 Show me a graduate from the American anti-education system that can balance a checkbook.

Joe Rogan 1:06:03 Do people do that anymore?

Ted Nugent 1:06:03 (laughs) Well, they ought to.

Joe Rogan 1:06:05 Yeah.

Ted Nugent 1:06:06 No, unfortunately they don't.

Joe Rogan 1:06:07 Yeah.

Ted Nugent 1:06:07 Hence the debt. (laughs) You know, pragmatism-

Joe Rogan 1:06:11 Checkbooks went the way of maps, right?

Ted Nugent 1:06:12 Yes, it did. But you know what I mean, uh, be pragmatic, be responsible-

Joe Rogan 1:06:16 Yeah.

Ted Nugent 1:06:16 ... be accountable-

Joe Rogan 1:06:17 Yeah.

Ted Nugent 1:06:17 ... be utilitarian, self-sufficiency, be the best that you can be, call your body the sacred temple that it's supposed to be, treat it with reverence, eat good, be good, be the best that you can be, be competitive. Life isn't fair, get used to it. If you want to excel in life, you show up earlier than the competition, you work harder than the competition, you do a better job than the competition, you stay later than the competition, you'll end up owning the damn company.

Joe Rogan 1:06:42 Yeah, and learning how to think. Learning how to think and learning how to look at things.

Ted Nugent 1:06:47 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 1:06:47 It's something that's never taught in school and it's one of the most important lessons in your life.

Ted Nugent 1:06:51 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 1:06:51 And you learn that lesson, I think, through doing difficult things.

Ted Nugent 1:06:54 Absolutely. And-

Joe Rogan 1:06:54 I had a conversation about you once and someone was like, "Well, well, what do you think he's like?" I go, "Look, this is what you have to understand. Forget about all the public shit. He's awesome at two things that are really hard to be good at: guitar and bow hunting."

Ted Nugent 1:07:06 Very difficult.

Joe Rogan 1:07:07 They're both very difficult.

Ted Nugent 1:07:08 Disciplined, be disciplined.

Joe Rogan 1:07:11 You have to be an exceptional person.

Ted Nugent 1:07:12 Especially since you sound like such shit for so long in the guitar, there's no satisfaction-

Joe Rogan 1:07:18 Yeah. (laughs)

Ted Nugent 1:07:18 ... whatsoever. You go, "Okay."

Joe Rogan 1:07:19 For how many years?

Ted Nugent 1:07:20 Took years.

Joe Rogan 1:07:21 Yeah.

Ted Nugent 1:07:21 I was the worst. All my buddies learned faster than I did. In fact, I just met up with Donny Henderson, he's probably listening right now, and he was in a band called The Gang when I had a band called The Lures and we kicked their ass and won the Battle of the Bands in Michigan when I was about f- 13 or 14. And he and I are still friends and he's, I guess he's gonna be 70 soon too, and he played all the Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley stuff perfect. And I'm stumbling and making stupid noises, but you know what happened? Because I couldn't figure out the exact licks, I created my own style. And I started playing, people thought I was being-... clever. (laughs) I just was doing them wrong, but it still had a good rhythm-

Joe Rogan 1:08:00 But it had a kind of cool sound to it.

Ted Nugent 1:08:02 Yeah, yeah. Like, uh, John Coltrane meets, you know, uh, a punk kid playing Bo Diddley licks. And so I developed my own style and I've had a lot of fun with it.

Joe Rogan 1:08:11 But with all your ... The, the question is though, with all your media, all the stuff that you do, you're, you're constantly doing interviews and phone-in interviews. You're constantly doing things. How do you have time to do all this, still write music?

Ted Nugent 1:08:23 I have a great team. You were talking about Linda getting ahold of your team. Um, Linda Peterson's been with me for 30 years. Uh, Doug Banker's been my manager for over 30 years. Uh, all my crew, Chris Helms and Jim Knapp and my sons and my daughters. Um, m- my wife, Shemaine, is the goddess. I mean, she's ... Have you ever seen Shemaine?

Joe Rogan 1:08:43 Sure.

Ted Nugent 1:08:43 God, help me.

Joe Rogan 1:08:44 I've seen your show.

Ted Nugent 1:08:45 Oh, she's so good. And I have-

Joe Rogan 1:08:47 She's the queen of the forest.

Ted Nugent 1:08:48 She is the queen of the forest, full time.

Joe Rogan 1:08:49 That's what I hear. (laughs)

Ted Nugent 1:08:49 Not a damn thing you can do about it. Um, and I have such a great team. My crew on the road right now, I leave nothing to chance. I don't have to worry or think about a thing. All I have to do is play my guitar and rock my balls off. So I've always had a great team, professional work ethic monsters that are conscientious, um, dedicated, professional, knowledgeable, so there's no loose ends.

Joe Rogan 1:09:18 But you're a-

Ted Nugent 1:09:19 And that's how I'm able to do all that.

Joe Rogan 1:09:20 You're this, but you're also this really loud voice in the culture war.

Ted Nugent 1:09:25 Have to be, yeah.

Joe Rogan 1:09:26 You have to be.

Ted Nugent 1:09:27 I r- I refuse to let lies go unchallenged. I refuse to let anti-logic go unchallenged.

Joe Rogan 1:09:34 Anti-logic like what?

Ted Nugent 1:09:35 Like, the, "You don't, you don't need secure borders?" Really? So the Democrats don't think we need to secure our borders? R- and the Democrats don't admit there's a difference between legal immigration and illegal immigration? Let me give you a little, uh, metaphor. If you go to the bank and withdraw from your account, you're a legal banker. If you go to the bank and draw from someone else's account, you're a bank robber. There is a division there. We're for legal banking, we're not for illegal banking. And this kind of anti-logic has f- has weaseled its way into policy, and it's just tragic. With a tr- multi-trillion dollar debt and unsecured borders and we're worried about separating families. Of course, we fail to say, "If you're going to come here, come legally or we will send you back." We sent out a message, "Eh, have at it. Just go ahead and swim across the damn river."

Joe Rogan 1:10:23 Well, do you personally have a problem when they separate families? 'Cause I, I think it's-

Ted Nugent 1:10:28 Oh sure, I do. I'm a father and a grandfather. Yeah, but-

Joe Rogan 1:10:30 ... beyond fucked up.

Ted Nugent 1:10:31 But the real fuck up starts with the, the v- the insane irresponsibility of daring to subject your children to that.

Joe Rogan 1:10:40 I don't think they have any choice. I think there's a lot of people-

Ted Nugent 1:10:42 I think they do.

Joe Rogan 1:10:42 ... that are over there, they're living in Mexico-

Ted Nugent 1:10:45 Oh, it's hell. Yeah, because-

Joe Rogan 1:10:46 ... or Guatemala.

Ted Nugent 1:10:46 ... because Mexico and Guatemala is one big gang-infested government military law enforcement shit hole.

Joe Rogan 1:10:52 Yeah.

Ted Nugent 1:10:52 Yeah, and if you call it a shit hole, I'm racist. Well, if it wasn't a shit hole, they would stay. It is a shit hole. You ever been there?

Joe Rogan 1:10:59 Well, some of Mexi-

Ted Nugent 1:10:59 It's a shit hole.

Joe Rogan 1:11:00 Some of Mexico's awesome.

Ted Nugent 1:11:00 Yeah, some of Mexico hasn't been raped and pillaged yet, but give them time, they'll make it.

Joe Rogan 1:11:04 (laughs)

Ted Nugent 1:11:05 (laughs) I mean, even in the big resorts, they're murdering and raping and, and b- brutalizing people. I mean, it's just a hell hole.

Joe Rogan 1:11:13 There's definitely some bad things happening and a lot of it is because of the drug war.

Ted Nugent 1:11:16 Out of control, yeah.

Joe Rogan 1:11:17 Yeah, and a lot of people think that the remedy to that-

Ted Nugent 1:11:19 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 1:11:19 ... is legalizing drugs and taxing them.

Ted Nugent 1:11:21 Man, yeah, yeah, I would like to-

Joe Rogan 1:11:22 Making it so they ... I mean, the same thing with prohibition.

Ted Nugent 1:11:24 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 1:11:24 The same thing that would happen in America would have, uh, lo- really boosted organized crime and Al Capone.

Ted Nugent 1:11:30 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 1:11:30 And they, they got a stronghold because of the money they were making from illegal drugs.

Ted Nugent 1:11:35 I think-

Joe Rogan 1:11:35 Which was alcohol at the time.

Ted Nugent 1:11:36 I think that right now, that the spoiled brat epidemic in this country, if you don't get everything you want, you start shooting people or you cut people off and road rage if everything doesn't go just right. Everybody is so touchy and so pussified. That when I was growing up, sticks and stones may break your bones, but words will never hurt me.

Joe Rogan 1:11:56 What do you think that's coming from?

Ted Nugent 1:11:58 Um, the liberalization of policy and the, the horrible lie of the welfare dream that people who need a helping hand are always given a helping hand by neighbors and family and friends and-

Joe Rogan 1:12:14 If they have them.

Ted Nugent 1:12:15 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 1:12:16 Yeah.

Ted Nugent 1:12:16 Well, the, the Catholic Church has $8 trillion just in jewelry, they could probably provide some sandwiches and blankets. Um, so there is plenty of help available, but when you get into a system and you, you play on the peoples' emotions that, "We need a safety net. These poor people are destitute, they need help. Okay, let's create a welfare where we can help these destitute people." Meanwhile, it's infested with scammers and bloodsuckers and liars who are able-bodied and they just don't want to stop at the Help Wanted sign. They want some of your income 'cause you're stupid enough to get up early and work really hard, and they don't want to. That's pandemic. So meanwhile, the people who are truly needy, they slip through the cracks. We don't even get to know who they are. And, and the w- the liberal policy of eliminating, "The heartbreak and the disrespect of Cuckoo's Nest, we can't, we can't call them mental health centers, we might hurt some feelings." So now what are they doing? They're putting spikes in boards and attacking people walking their dog in LA.He said there's no place for them to go. When I was growing up, there was a place in Detroit called, uh, Eloise. It was a nuthouse. And that's a, a cuckoo's nest. That's where if you were mentally ill and you needed help, that there was a place for you to go to get you off the streets, so you don't attack people with spikes and two-by-fours.

Joe Rogan 1:13:29 What are you talking about with spikes and two-by-fours? Are you saying-

Ted Nugent 1:13:30 The guy right here, right down the street here, two days ago.

Joe Rogan 1:13:34 When did this happen? Really?

Ted Nugent 1:13:34 Yeah. He attacked some, uh, fashion photographer walking his dog and hit him in the head with a two-by-four with a spike and almost killed him. And a, and a citizen-

Joe Rogan 1:13:42 I didn't even hear about this.

Ted Nugent 1:13:43 Oh, yeah. It was awesome. A citizen jumped up in the air and caught this guy with both feet right in the neck and knocked him down, beat the shit out of him. (laughs) It was awesome.

Joe Rogan 1:13:50 Well, that's nice.

Ted Nugent 1:13:50 So it was a rare occasion of justice.

Joe Rogan 1:13:52 Pro-wrestling coming in handy.

Ted Nugent 1:13:53 But, but yes, but that, that incident is not rare. Where you go to San Francisco and the, the mental health institution isn't supposed to be the streets. The mental health institution-

Joe Rogan 1:14:05 San Francisco is a good example of too much liberal policy.

Ted Nugent 1:14:09 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 1:14:09 And you get people that are a little bit too progressive and too open-minded and-

Ted Nugent 1:14:12 That's not progressive, that's regressive. I don't know. How did they ever utilize that term? That's bastardized.

Joe Rogan 1:14:18 Well-

Ted Nugent 1:14:18 That's not progressive.

Joe Rogan 1:14:19 It gets so far that it becomes regressive when you're letting bums shit all over the streets, but-

Ted Nugent 1:14:24 You think? I think that would be an indicator. (laughs)

Joe Rogan 1:14:26 But they're so like, they're so ... The idea is that just, like, these poor people, leave them alone. You know, they're fine. They just, you know, they ... It's okay if they live on the streets. But if you go to San Francisco, they're very aggressive. It's, it's one of the weirder places I've ever been in terms of homeless people. And one of the most "progressive" places in our country.

Ted Nugent 1:14:44 Yeah, yeah.

Joe Rogan 1:14:45 It's one of the most progressive cities.

Ted Nugent 1:14:46 Heartbreaking.

Joe Rogan 1:14:47 Yeah.

Ted Nugent 1:14:47 We need more cuckoo's nests. But even those institutions, the corruption and the abuse of power that runs rampant, the Nurse Cratchit.

Joe Rogan 1:14:54 Mm-hmm.

Ted Nugent 1:14:54 I mean, that, that, that, that wasn't just a fantasy, uh, script. That, that's happens.

Joe Rogan 1:15:00 Yeah.

Ted Nugent 1:15:00 The irresponsibility and, and, and pharmaceuticaling everybody. You know, they got a mental problem, and then they increase the mental problem with big pharm.

Joe Rogan 1:15:10 Yeah.

Ted Nugent 1:15:10 I mean, I've had personal experiences with that, with dear friends of mine that were having mental problems, and they end up in an institution. And then their mental problems are exasperated by chemical warfare upon them. You know, when I was growing up ... How old are you, Joe?

Joe Rogan 1:15:27 50.

Ted Nugent 1:15:28 50, just a boy. Um, when I was growing up, there was this, this, uh, mantra, this, uh, colloquialism, better living through chemistry.

Joe Rogan 1:15:35 Yeah.

Ted Nugent 1:15:35 And in many ways it is. I mean,