The Queen of the Forest Strikes Again By Ted Nugent
Feb 23, 2009 - 6:21:07 AM
A happy Ted celebrates with wife Shermane and her kill.
I called upon my lifetime of finely tuned predator stealth to slither undetected amongst the withering oaks and dry bluestem. Avoiding the glow of the burning Texas sun and hunkering down in the shadows, I moved invisible, silently, closer to my prey. Well within striking distance of the graceful beast, I settled down to simply gaze upon God's stunning creature, the thought of finishing my stalk all but gone, moved by the grace and beauty of this gorgeous animal. I sat a stared, moved.
I didn't have in my possession the proper license and paperwork necessary to "harvest" this trophy, for you see, I was on one of my favorite hunts, getting close to Mrs. Nugent, Shemane, Queen of the Forest, on the 3-D target range shooting her pink bow. If ever there was a singular inspiration for bowhunting, it could very well be the sheer pleasure of watching this shapely, svelte woman, standing on the line, gracefully drawing back her bow, upright and focused as she aims her arrows true, her body conforming to one of God's most natural functions and forms as she becomes one with the mystical flight of the arrow. Good grief gentlemen, if your woman isn't a bowhunter, I can only feel sorry for you. Archery form and the female anatomy are surely made for each other. Dear Lord help me!
And of course as Shemane's primary Spirit of the Wild VidCamDude, my professional duties demand that I zoom in and focus on the marriage of shape and form where bow and arrow meets the archer's body logic, the mystifying ballet that is the confluence of the physics of spirituality. Whew! I get tired just writing about it!
So as we wrap up another eye candy session of dead eye shooting, Shemane zips up her Mossy Oak ScentLok suit, camera rolling, me drooling, and she Bad Boys into the ash juniper infested Texas hinterland hunterland for an afternoon of winter bowhunting.
She even has a beautiful forest of live oaks and assorted pucker brush that bears her name; Shemane's Grove, where many a backstrap have come to fruition. We settle in for a soul cleansing evening of sharp stick predator celebration together. Till death do us part.
Like all across Texas, we never know what special creature might just show up at our SpiritWild Ranch. The always tantalizing ubiquitous whitetail deer is evasive yet likely to appear. And thank God for Texas' exotics like blackbuck antelope, fallow, sika and axis deer, African Aoudad sheep, and Shemane's favorite, the stunning, big, delicious Scimitar Horned Oryx.
This hearty, white and tan antelope, nearly extirpated in their homelands of Africa, is thriving in Texas with a growing breeding population found across the LoneStar State. On our own SpiritWild Ranch, we produce numerous new animals yearly, and it brings grand gratification to us as stewards of such a precious creature. And as proponents and adherents to the perfection of sustain yield conservation, we also celebrate the balancing duties of the much appreciated wise use of this most delicious, tender source of the world's finest venison. It is agreed that Oryx flesh is like fawn venison; tender and scrumptious.
On the way to our treestand, Shemane had stated matter of factly how she had never killed an Oryx before, and how she dreamed of a close encounter with this special beast. Deer, squirrels, quail, rabbits and birds galore could be seen here and there as we sat taking in all the bowhunting spirit that is each and every hunt. After an hour or so, as if on cue, my camera lens picked up a glint of long black horn in the distant scrub. Shemane looked at the camera with big, excited eyes, and we readied ourselves.
Like a seasoned pro, Shemane made all the right moves, slow, deliberate, and perfectly timed. As the largest Oryx bull in the herd walked across a small opening, she drew her forty pound pink Martin bow, and in an instant the zebra colored arrow sliced hard deadcenter into the giant bull's ribs, penetrating this seven hundred plus pound beast's chest cavity, the scalpel sharp two blade Magnus BuzzCut broadhead cutting everything in its path, sticking hard into the far shoulder.
Shermane proving Ted isn't the only hunter in the family.
The swirling dust from the departing herd created an effervescent halo around Shemane's camo ringed face, but her smile took over everything. It was a perfect arrow into a perfect animal on a perfect day, all caught on film for the whole world to celebrate on our Spirit of The Wild Outdoor Channel TV show.
Again, the camera loved what it was filming as she carefully tracked her prize for a short eighty yards. The fallen monarch was huge, eclipsed only by Shemane's joy and happiness. The recovery defined reasoning predator heart and soul, and her articulation of respect and reverence for the beasts and dedication to be the best predator she can be is why Spirit of the Wild is the most watched and influential hunting show on TV. Truth, logic, passion and believability is how we promote and celebrate the hunting lifestyle, and Shemane hits home deeply and dearly with a segment of society that needs to hear it the way Shemane delivers it.
A call for reinforcements went out to family and friends to join us in the photo taking celebrations and to help load up the giant antelope. After a careful winching up onto the Bad Boy ATV, we headed back to camp for the important ceremony of processing the animal. A grand party at the firepit went on into the night as the Queen of the Forest retold the story of her first Scimitar Horned Oryx bowhunt, and all was good.
For more exciting bowhunting stories, go to tednugent.com for copies of BLOODTRAILS II-The Truth About Bowhunting.
