Legendary rock star and hunting advocate Ted Nugent was fined $1,750 in Yuba County Superior Court Friday after pleading no contest to charges of baiting deer and not having a properly signed hunting tag stemming from a 2009 incident in California.

California Department of Fish and Game spokesman Patrick Foy told the Appeal-Democrat that a game warden "just about fell out of his chair" when he saw Nugent kill an immature buck on an episode of "Spirit of the Wild," Nugent's hunting show on the Outdoor Channel, which aired earlier this year.

Further investigation into the incident revealed that the area had been baited with "C'mere Deer." Using any sort of wildlife attractant is illegal in California.

Nugent was originally facing an additional charge for killing an immature buck but this was dropped during negotiations between his attorney and the Yuba County District Attorney's Office, Foy said.

Nugent and two co-defendants -- Mitchell Moore and Ross Patterson, who also pleaded no contest -- did not appear in court. Patterson was fined $1,225 for taking an animal with bait, while Moore was fined $700 for possessing an animal illegally.

-- Kelly Burgess

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Photo: Ted Nugent. Credit: Michael Ives

