Concord , Michigan ( CNN ) -- The drive leading to Ted Nugent 's house is lush with trees and water , and marked with the occasional yellow sign . `` Lab Xing , '' one warns , showing the silhouette of a dog . Another urges visitors to drive slowly : `` Do n't hurt my critters . '' This from the `` Motor City Madman , '' a rocker famous for decades of thrashing guitars with `` 10 digits of rhythm and blues doom , '' a hunter and reality show star known for killing whatever game he spots , and an outspoken conservative whose fiery talk has earned him a visit from the U.S. Secret Service . It 's a mild summer afternoon , and he 's just back home from a show that kept him up until 3 a.m . He 's a little tired and the water by the dock is calm . Gonzo , Nugent 's hunting dog , is blissfully rolling in the dirt at his feet . `` Did you feel your soul being cleansed , just on the driveway ? '' Nugent demands . `` Was it beautiful , or what ? '' He 's not really looking for an answer . He just likes to talk about this patch of wetland , a fen he says provides for oodles of frogs , deer and the rare Mitchell 's Satyr butterfly . `` This is a piece of private ground that is thriving biodiversity , '' he says . `` I could n't be more proud . '' So this is Ted Nugent offstage , Ted at age 63 . The Michigan native is still excitable , opinionated and loud , especially since his hearing is n't so great these days . He punctuates almost every rant and declaration by shouting `` Are you kidding me ? ! '' or `` Are n't I adorable ? ! '' But he says this place gives him balance . He can riff about music with his band members , spend time with his wife , Shemane , or dole out belly rubs to the dogs . ( There are three : Aging Thunder is a little creaky and just barely tolerating the bouncy , spotlight-stealing puppy , Rocky . Gonzo is the `` the wonder Lab , the master hunter , '' a retriever who 'd bring back any rabbit , possum or woodchuck . `` He 's a good dog and he loves his daddy , '' Nugent says . ) Most likely , this is the place Nugent would climb into a deer blind and sit silently for hours , thinking about everything or nothing . `` I want to play music during the spring and summer , but then I want to go hunting every fall and winter , '' he says . The music is `` so intense . It 's so draining , you push yourself such outrageous , animal limits . In order to maintain that intensity , I have to get away from it . '' Getting away means spending time on his land in Texas or in `` my swamps '' right here . They 'll dine tonight in the log cabin house a short walk from the dock , probably on something he shot with a bow and arrow . Nugent says he does n't do anything fancy for those meals -- he does n't want to tarnish what nature provided -- but they 'll sometimes use a marinade of garlic , pepper , olive oil and Vernor 's , Michigan 's beloved , peppery ginger ale . `` Here is the beauty of my perfect life : me , my dogs , my family , all of them , my band , my crew , my drivers , my pilot , my guys , my outfitters , my frogs , my production team , everybody . Meet anybody in Ted Nugent 's life ? Kickin ' ass . `` Everybody in my world is good . '' Watch Nugent tell Piers Morgan what 's wrong with America . While he believes everyone in his life is good , and he is always right , he 's willing to say that was n't always true . He does have some regrets . He did n't go to legendary hunter Fred Bear 's birthday party . Thought he was too busy . That was a mistake . `` I Love You So I Told You A Lie . '' Maybe you 've heard the song ? Never should 've been recorded . He should n't have exploded during a CBS interview earlier this year , when he used some language he wo n't repeat now . During the interview , he lashed out at the notion he 's extreme , directing some of his bleeped-out response at an off-camera producer . Nugent says he was passing a kidney stone at the time and taking pain relievers -- `` thought I was giving birth to a hedgehog . '' He regrets that he `` went into this disgusting street rant '' instead of keeping control . ( A few weeks earlier , Nugent stirred controversy by saying he 'd be `` dead or in jail '' if Barack Obama was re-elected . The Secret Service was concerned enough to stop by and the Army canceled his Fort Knox show . He did n't list it among his regrets . ) And there 's this : He loved his dad for the discipline , but Ma Nuge , he says , made him everything he is . Marion Dorothy Nugent was buoyant and loud and excitable , and she supported him from the moment he bought that big blond Epiphone , his first guitar . He did n't go to her funeral . `` I loved my mom so dearly . But I rationalized . I was with her throughout her illness . I was not a funeral guy ... .it was always so ritualistic . I did n't feel that was the relationship , '' he says . `` I did n't understand funerals . I plead ignorant . And I apologize . '' After she died in 1989 , he buried her remains here in his Michigan swamps , he says . `` It was a solemn experience , '' he says . `` The breeze is picking up . Mom 's talking to us right now . '' He still does n't see his family -- his grandkids -- as much as he 'd like . Nugent will catch a few days with them during his tour , or when he heads back to Texas . They call him Poppy , he says , and they will wrestle and play as much as his knees ( and his children , their parents ) allow . `` I 've been blamed by my children that I make it more difficult to put ( the grandkids ) to bedtime , because I get them more wired , '' Nugent says . `` But after all , I did write 'Wango Tango . ' We may as well dance . ''
At 63 , guitarist Ted Nugent is still playing music , with no plans to retire . Nugent : ` ` In order to maintain that life , I have to get away from it '' -- by himself . Between tours , charity and speaking engagements , he relaxes at homes in Michigan and Florida . Among his regrets : He did n't go to his mom 's funeral .