Ted Nugent finds killing animals to be a profoundly religious experience, says John Spong in Texas Monthly. A vociferous defender of gun rights, the famously foulmouthed rocker owns some 350 guns and likes to pack a 10 mm Glock. Last December, he celebrated his 60th birthday with a five-day hunt at a Texas ranch. “I’ve literally killed thousands and thousands of big-game animals,” he says. “Killing game is perfect. Perfect for my grill, perfect for the land, perfect for the animals themselves.” Nugent says he’s not into slaughter for its own sake. Rather, he finds that killing an animal and eating it puts him in touch with his own humanity as well as with a higher force. “You function like a wolf or lion, in your natural predator role. The flesh-gnashing teeth we have, the digestive system we have, the sense of reasoning, the conscience, the sense of guilt and emotion—it all comes into play when you’re out there.” It’s all part of a natural cycle, he says, that is as awe-inspiring as it is bloody. “You think, I’m here. That leaping deer is a beautiful, graceful, stunning creature. I’m going to kill it. When I am done with it, it won’t leap and run and breathe again. It’s going to help me leap and breathe and run. I think it can best be described as spiritual.”
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