Bambi's Revenge! Ted Nugent Faces Music for Offing Defenseless Deer on TV

Spirit of the WIld it ain't. Republican rocker ordered to pay fine for illegal hunting practices

There might be more than one way to skin a cat. But there's only a few legal ways to kill a baby buck—as Mr. Cat Scratch Fever found out.

Animal-slaying rocker Ted Nugent pleaded no contest in Marysville, Calif., courtroom to offing a defenseless deer on a reality TV show using illegal hunting tactics.

A lawyer for the 61-year-old rocker entered a no-contest plea on Nugent's behalf Friday in Yuba County Superior Court to misdemeanor counts of baiting a deer and failing to acquire an authorized signature to confirm the kill's legality.

Nugent originally faced 11 charges, but managed to get those dropped after his attorney negotiated a deal. He must now fork over a $1,750 fine to settle the matter.

The conservative crooner got into hot water with the California Department of Fish and Game when he went out on a bow and arrow hunt as part of his Outdoor Channel reality show, Spirit of the Wild, last February.

Department spokesman Patrick Foy told local station KBET-10 that a game warden witnessed him target a deer too young to be hunted.

"They watched him appear to shoot a spiked buck, which is an illegal buck to take, because it's too small. And he had it right there on television, and it wasn't live, it was taped," Foy said.

To make matters worse, Nugent didn't kill Bambi mano a bucko. Instead, he cheated by using deer bait called, ahem, "C'mere Deer" to lure his trophy. Under California law, enticing animals with bait for hunting purposes is illegal.

"We were disappointed because he had been an advocate for hunting, so for him to make this decision was very disappointing," said Foy.

The Motor City Madman issued a statement today on his Website expressing regret for his hunting snafu.

"To my Fellow Outdoorsmen...You may have read the news that I pled no contest to two misdemeanor game violations. I should have been better informed, more aware and I take full responsibility," he wrote. "The honorable hunting lifestyle is my deepest passion."

Nugent has taken heat over the years from both hunters and anti-hunting advocates alike for allegedly arranging canned hunts on his fenced-in Renegade Ranch in his native Michigan.