Ted Nugent: New hunting rules will trigger 'widespread civil disobedience'

Rock legend Ted Nugent.

Rock-star activist Ted Nugent warned state lawmakers in Michigan on Tuesday that a new rule banning baiting and feeding deer and elk in certain parts of the state will lead to "widespread civil disobedience" among fellow hunters.

Nugent, a member of the National Rifle Association, told reporters afterward it's a "Rosa Parks moment" for hunters, the Detroit Free Press reported.

"The law is wrong, the law is bad, the law is illegal," he said.

The Michigan state Department of Natural Resources, the Natural Resources Commission and other advocates of the rule argue its purpose is to lower the odds of the animals spreading certain diseases, the Washington Times reported.

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"We believe the authority to ban baiting and feeding should remain with the Natural Resources Commission, the body responsible for regulating the method and manner of take of game in Michigan," said DNR spokesman Ed Golder.

"In addition, peer-reviewed research has shown that baiting and feeding that concentrates animals beyond their normal movement patterns increases the likelihood of disease transmission," he said.

Nugent, who was born in Michigan, charged the state officials either are "liars or they're stupid," according to Michigan's Up North Live news site.

"But, in the world of political correctness, some guy in a lab coat made a decision. He's never even eaten a deer; he’s never been in a deer woods and if he has, he’s either lying or hopelessly ignorant," Nugent said. "I want regulations based on sound science to keep these precious wildlife resources in the asset column, attracted to the hunting families in Michigan, to become a destination state."

Nugent, 70, said he is the "ultimate conservationist," noting he killed two mature bucks on his property last year with his bow and arrow, and "neither of them anywhere near bait."

"I don't need to bait. Nobody needs to bait. I don't need an 850 horsepower hellcat either, but I'm an American and I own that property," he said.

"If you don’t want to hunt over bait, it's pretty simple. Don't. We choose. It's a choice."

The Washington Times noted the ban on baiting game is not statewide. It applies throughout Michigan's Lower Peninsula and in parts of the Upper Peninsula where many deer have become infected in recent years with a contagious neurological disease.