Hello and welcome to Kentucky Afield.

I'm your host, Chad Miles.

Join us as we journey the Commonwealth in search of outdoor adventure.

And this week's adventure has a little bit of everything, from small game hunting to a youth deer hunt.

But first off, we're going to take you to the tail waters of green River Lake and show you how to target smallmouth bass using a unique method of transportation.

This is a half drift boat.

Half power boat, half kayak, You can do it all from this boat.

We're out here today on the green River.

I'm here with good friend Bobby Carey.

Bobby, you█re taking us for a trip down one of the most diverse streams, not only in Kentucky but in the United States and world.

Yeah, I think so.

I mean, today we're hoping to see a muskie, at least to see one and and get on some rock bass and smallmouth and whatever else might bite, you know, you never know what type of what are you going to get.

And today, it's a pretty low flow.

and you've got a unique way that you like to fish this type of water.

And that's in a small boat.

This is a jet boat.

It█s a combination really.

the oars, the trolling motor and the jet motor gives us a lot of flexibility and we can kind of scout a stream kind of downstream with the oars, see what we're working against.

And when we need to head back to the boat ramp, we just power up and can move up through the riffles that way.

well, our blue water trails highlights a bunch of access to do this type of fishing out of, kayak.

But when you're doing that, typically you're looking at a put in and take out location and you got to have a way to kind of taxi yourself back and forth.

Well, today we're going to fish down.

We're not worried about takeout.

We're just going to power back up when we're done and hey, a lot of good looking water today.

Green River is one of the premier smallmouth fisheries in the state of Kentucky.

A lot of good fishing, kind of, no matter where you're at in this river.

Well hey, we█ve got the ability to move.

say we make a move, make it happen.

Let█s make a move.

I feel like we're exploring.

It's what it is.

It's a little rough and dirty, but that's just the nature of it.

it's kind of new territory all the time.

The streams are always different.

A little bit of water, a little more water changes your whole approach to a new space.

So.

You know when you're muskie fishing you're fishing for such a predatory fish in such big size that it's not like there can be like a small mouth hundreds in here, you're looking at potentially.

A couple of fish per quarter of a mile, maybe.

You know.

Yeah.

They're not really wanting to move too far off of their spot.

Doesn't seem like.

I do think that, the smallmouth fishing will get better throughout the day.

And the muskie fishing probably will not.

As that sun gets up and gets beaming down.

I think our chances of catching a muskie are going to, unfortunately, decline.

Yeah, I assume they have to diminish.

We're coming up on another smallie water bean in this deeper slack water, which is where I think we got our best chance at moving a muskie or catching one.

Now we're back into the small mouth area.

Yeah.

You want to see what happens?

I'm gonna at least swap out rods for a second and see what happens.

a little better fish.

all right.

What am I going to do now?

You know, I really, really want to catch a muskie, but I'm such a small mouth nerd.

Yeah, it's not a better fish.

He just was in that current.

That's hard to beat, though.

Yep.

Well lets see what we can do.

We can throw a little of both.

Might get a mixed bag today.

Satisfy our appetite on all of that.

I about dropped him on his head.

What█s the state record rock bass?

that's what I'm after today.

Planes have changed.

You got him?

Oh, I got a little one.

Oh, I chose to let him go.

I heard a drag going for a second.

Oh you go.

There you go.

There we go.

Oh, you said you were going to catch a world record rock bass.

Yeah, I'm working on it.

This is the.

We're just getting started now.

I'll tell you what those things are.

There's a lot of them in green River, and, they're a lot of fun to catch, too.

Make big, tasty nuggets, too.

Oh, yeah.

Make great table fare.

All right.

Oh, now, that was a little bit bigger fish.

This one's quite a bit bigger.

Hey, you got a small mouth now.

There you go.

All right.

You know what, though?

That was two cast real quick two bites.

Yeah.

Matter of fact, I just had a sunfish hit too right there.

Ooh, there's a better one Here we go.

Looks good.

Oh, what a beautiful stream fish that right there is.

Come on, buddy.

Oh come on.

Look there.

That█s not quite 16in, but it's probably 14 and some change.

I'll tell you what they█re a lot of fun on light tackle.

You know, we're throwing little bitty eight ounce Lot of fun on one of those, aren't they?

There you go.

Largemouth or spot one.

You may.

What do you think?

I think it's a largemouth.

Yeah.

There you go.

Hey, we catch a spotted bass, we'll have the.

Get the grand slam huh?.

Yeah, the three black bass species today.

There█s our lamprey fish coming back.

It's just a strange shaped fish.

I swear to you, I think it's catfish.

Forked tail.

The fish we saw come by, it looked like it was two fish.

And then you see him swim like this when they're spawning.

But we notice is that you could see the lips of a fish out in front of it.

And that those are actually like a parasite, like a leech almost, that have attached themselves to that fish.

And, those are freshwater lampreys that are literally I can't tell.

Looks like it might be a catfish is the host, but those are big ones.

I don't think I've ever seen him any bigger than that.

Have you?

No, I haven't.

I mean, those those things are solid 6 to 8in long.

You got him too.

There you go.

Hey, I'm not joking around.

They want the little swimbaits don't they?

Well, it's hard to deny it really.

They work Especially in a creek setting, because everything a bite on them.

You've got rock bass, large mouth, small mouth, all of them.

He█s on them now.

Yeah i█m catching up Chad.

You are.

Oh, I just got annihilated.

Look at that.

Didn't get the hook.

Pulled it down on me.

That was a good bite.

Oh, what have we got here.

He's not as big as he looks, but, man, he came up and just hammered that swim bait.

That's a 12 or 13 inch fish.

I saw his mouth open up.

I had, thoughts that with that mouth opened up, it was all white underneath.

I thought, oh my gosh, I got a muskie eating this little swim bait.

No, it's a 12 inch bass.

But, goodness sakes.

He choked it.

Look at that.

They fight so hard in his current, so aggressive.

You█ve got him.

This feels like a red eye.

That is a good observation, Bob.

Yeah, that was the feel.

oh nice dark colors.

Oh, yeah.

Pretty fish.

All righty.

well, Bob, this is the best part of, having a jet boat.

Let's run back up and check some more of that small mouth water.

And I really do feel as the water is cooler toward where we started, we probably got a better chance to move a fish too.

But hey, we've had a great day.

As far as getting on plane is concern.

Should be okay because we got, couple miles an hour the water moving towards us.

Yeah.

So it actually pretty quickly we, we use that jump up right on top of it.

A little lift action.

Yeah.

Well we can always make adjustments.

Ha ha ha ha.

Oh my.

It doesn█t get any better than that.

Well, in our trip down river, there was really 1 or 2 spots where it got so shallow.

We're talking, like less than an inch, two inches that we needed less weight.

So here he comes.

See if he can make it.

I tell you what.

If he could give boat rides.

That's worth the price of admission right there.

That's a lot of fun.

Oh man.

That's an old one that's been around.

Oh, that's a small mouth.

That█s a smallie.

I'll tell you what Bob, we've got to see a lot of water already today.

An insane amount of species.

Unfortunately no muskies yet, but we've seen about everything else haven█t we?

We have, a lot of species today.

And I think we caught about five species too.

Here we go.

Sounds better.

Oh, look at this.

We got an acrobat here.

Lookie there.

What a pretty fish.

I'll tell you what, it never gets old.

Catching these, catching these smallmouth out here in these streams, it never gets old.

Bob, I know today was kind of a mixed bag.

We came out hoping we might be able to put our hands on a muskie.

That did not happen.

But I'll tell you what.

It was a lot of fun.

And I'll never turn down an opportunity to run shallow water in a jet boat.

We got to go fish a lot more stream than I could ever fish today in any other method.

And I appreciate you bringing me out.

It was a blast.

Oh I think so, yeah.

Put a lifejackets on kill switch on.

Hold on tight and see if we can, when we get to the boat ramp if we can somehow get the smile off our face.

The opening day of rabbit season is November the 1st in the Eastern Zone.

And I don't know about you, but I'm ready to get the beagles out and hit the field.

I'll tell you what.

November 1st out here in Henry County, you know what that means.

Rabbit season.

Opening day of rabbit season here in the eastern part of Kentucky.

You know, out of all the hunting seasons that comes in.

This is the one I look forward to the most.

You know, deer season and archery, I love it, but it can be hot.

You know what?

The dogs are ready.

I've been looking forward to this for a while now, and my dog's been out for a little bit.

I know you've had yours out a little bit.

A little bit.

Not a whole lot.

Hot and dry.

Makes it hard on them.

Hard on me too.

I've known you for a while.

Actually, Josie came from one of the one of your dogs here today.

And I know that you're an avid outdoors person, and I know you're an avid hounds man as well.

That's right.

So this this is one of those days where when you can get your dogs out and turn them loose and actually carry a shotgun and finish out some of these chases, it's pretty special.

Yes, sir.

Tell me how you got with you today.

This is a John Payne.

Friend of mine.

We hunt together a lot.

Nice to meet you, John.

I know this is a piece of property that that your family owns.

I appreciate you letting us come out today.

Yes, sir.

Thank you very much for coming out.

Well, I tell you what, I'm super excited.

I know these dogs are ready to go.

I say we turn them loose and right here looks beautiful.

I mean, this spot right here.

It just looks fantastic.

Let's turn them loose and we'll catch up and talk some more.

And I'm sure there'll be some teasing going on, because I don't I don't plan on hitting them all do you?

No.

First one that misses buys lunch.

Well I just won█t shoot until one of you guys miss.

Let's turn them loose and let's let's start right here.

Go.

All right.

Go, Josie.

There's a bunch of rabbits in here, buddy.

Hunt ‘em up, josie.

Not today, Peter Cottontail.

It█s a good start.

Oh, there he is.

What did he do?

Turn and go back in?

Yeah.

I didn't know where Josie was at, and I didn't- When I went to take that shot, I just didn't know where all the dogs were at.

I'm gonna kill that rabbit.

I see it.

Not now.

It's a big rabbit.

Yeah I'm going to have to score him.

Little buck.

There he goes.

How many pictures you going to see of him?

Yeah.

We got unicorns up here.

Yeah, you do.

rabbit right in there.

You got that one, didn't you?

Yeah.

Came out behind me.

I know.

He came out right behind you.

Good shot.

Hey, buddy.

Good job, guys.

Good job, Arlo.

Arlo, good job.

Man, they ran that one a minute, you know?

Yeah, they did put a good shot on it, too.

I'll tell you what.

We knew it was coming that way, and I just happened to be turned like- Just like this.

And it shot out right here.

Gave you a great opportunity.

Nice shot, man.

Thanks buddy.

The dogs did great on that Rabbit.

Good job, checkers.

You started that one.

Good job.

He jumped the fence right here.

That█s number three.

Getting ready to throw in my ves Here you go.

Nice job.

That rabbit got pushed in a big circle and was coming right back.

That rabbit, was jumped right here.

And you shot around that fence.

Coming right back over the jumps We stayed close.

And you were smart enough to go.

Hey, you know what?

I've seen this game before.

I know where he's going, and I'm going to cut him off.

There he is.

I got him.

Well, those dogs finally ran this rabbit up out of this bottom here, and it's real thick in here, as you can see.

And I got a shot and had to try to take a second shot before It got behind this tree.

We got it, though.

Dead, dead, Hey, good girl.

Good girls.

Come here.

Good boy.

Good boy.

I was waiting on it to jump again behind the tree because I wasn't sure if you were going to get him.

I know, I was out of ammo.

And then I was like, Well, he ain't moving.

He didn't come to the left, you█d had to hit him.

Well, Dustin, I believe our dogs have about had it.

Done buddy.

you know, opening day.

I mean, how many they run?

over ten.

12 at one time.

12 on top of the ridge.

Almost 13 is what we What we finished out, well, 13 miles.

So, hey, for day one, you know, they ran a ton.

And I do believe if one of us would have just sat right here on the back of the truck, we would█ve got our limit in about 30 minutes.

Yeah right out of the tail gate.

Yeah, we jumped a lot of rabbits.

We ran a lot.

Big running today.

Big running.

Yeah, a lot of runs.

They brought them by us numerous times before we could g get the rabbit on the ground.

You know, they'd run behind and take a big loop and come by us again.

But you couldn't see because its so thick.

But, hey, I'd rather hunt a thick area and have the dogs run a lot and see fewer rabbits than hunt wide open and see zero rabbit.

Exactly.

Hey, It's a lot of fun.

Thank you, guys.

Hopefully you have a youngster that's excited about this year's opening youth deer season, which is on October the 12th.

Now, let's take a look back several years at my daughter's very first deer hunt.

What if I told you I got you something?

What if I told you I got you this?

You know what that is?

That is your license.

And it's your deer tags.

And I got you a new hunting jacket.

This is for me?

Yeah, and some hunter.

Cool!

Some hunters orange and a new shirt.

And guess what?

I can.

Guess what?

What?

Miss Rachel, who you have been going and shooting with.

We're going to squeeze as slow as possible.

Okay.

Miss Rachel is going to take you this Sunday, and you get to go on your very first deer hunt.

Are you excited?

Yeah.

And I will be getting home right about the time you guys get out of the stand.

So if you get a deer, I'll be able to come there and help you out.

Yeah.

Well, Rachel, I can tell you that Campbell is pretty excited to be going deer hunting with you.

Chad.

That's awesome.

I've known Campbell a long time, and I'm so grateful you asked me to mentor her for her first hunt.

And I'm just as excited as she is to get out there.

Campbell, are you excited?

Today's the day.

Yeah.

And we're going on what?

What are we doing today?

We're going on my first hunt.

First hunt?

And what are we going to try to harvest today?

A deer?

Yeah.

Deer.

Taking a kid on a hunt is not only a fun experience for the kid, it's also a great teaching opportunity.

Exactly.

There are some deer scat right there actually.

And the ground blind is right around the corner here.

Sound good?

Yeah.

You ready?

Yes.

Good.

And now you're just going to rack your bold up there.

Yeah.

Push it down.

Yep.

Keep that finger off the trigger.

We█re on safe there, see?

Yeah.

Okay.

All right we█re overlooking a food plot here so I feel like we'll have some luck.

It█s kind of hot and windy today, though.

Yeah it█s good weather.

Yeah.

So I believe the last shooting light is like 7:40 somewhere in there.

We still have about three hours.

I think, until dark.

So we'll just sit tight.

Let's see if we can get a deer to come in soon.

Yeah.

How far is it to the other end of the field?

I don't know.

What do you think?

What's your guess?

I don't know, looks pretty close through the binoculars though.

It's not going to pull it through here.

You're going to have to look through here.

So if you look through that and press this button it█ll show you a yardage at the bottom.

The screen is blocking it for me.

It says 371, but that's all the way down to that red tree.

So obviously we█re not going to shoot that far.

But I think that the deer will be feeding on the food plot at this end.

So I would think that we would get a close shot like 100 or closer.

Yeah.

We█ve got a good win tonight.

Feel confident.

Milkweed█s a good scent checker.

You really see what the wind's doing.

Yeah.

I see a deer out there, Campbell.

There's deer walking up right now.

Oh, gosh.

You're okay.

She's walking to us.

I see her in here.

See her?

Yeah.

Okay.

Do you want me to zoom in or anything.

No, this is perfect.

If you look at it█s head It's a button buck Campbell.

Can you tell?

Oh, yeah.

It's up to you, but I think maybe we could wait for a bigger doe.

What do you think?

Yeah.

Let's wait.

Yeah.

Okay.

But what we want to do is shoot just like that deer is standing right now.

And you can look through your scope and practice.

Keep your finger off the trigger.

He might be quartering away a tiny bit, but he's pretty much broadside.

Yeah, that's how we want to shoot a deer.

Okay?

Okay.

Hey, Campbell.

There's a little squirrel.

See him?

Oh, I see.

Oh my gosh.

Look at it.

That's funny.

Campbell, there's another deer.

It's way in the very back of the field.

I'm not 100% sure, but I think it's a big doe.

But she's still really far away.

I mean, 300 yards, she's far.

Yeah.

There's a squirrel with her.

Yeah, she looks fat and happy out there.

She's eating, but hopefully she'll eat this way towards us.

It looks like a big doe.

Looks through your scope.

See if you can find her.

There's a button buck.

Here it comes.

Go ahead and ease your safety off.

It'll be in range once it gets to the top of the hill.

The button buck is in the way.

So we're just going to wait for them to feed around in that food plot.

This is kind of the key.

Is keeping your nerves at bay, having patience, okay?

Okay.

Just like we practice on the range.

Only going to take good shots.

And when it's right, we're just going to slowly squeeze the trigger and stop.

And looks like just a couple more steps that way and you might have a shot right behind her shoulder, okay?

Okay.

She's turning.

Alright you feel good, you on her still?

Yeah.

Alright put it right in that pocket of her front shoulder and just slowly squeeze the trigger like we practiced, okay?

Okay.

Good shot Campbell.

Did I get it?

Yeah.

You got it.

Listen to her.

Listen to her.

Just wait.

Listen.

You hit her really good.

You hit her really good.

You hit her really good.

Well, Rachel, I was just getting back into town when I got a call from Campbell and told me she just had shot, and, man, she was excited.

She definitely was excited.

Hello?

Hey, Dad.

Hey hun.

Hey.

Guess what?

What?

We got one.

You got one?

Yeah.

That is so exciting.

Yeah.

Well Chad, as soon as Campbell shot, I was watching with my binoculars.

I knew she made a great shot and that the blood trailing was probably going to be a pretty great learning experience for her.

We started her right at the hit site.

She was the first to find blood right away.

Here, I see blood.

We talked about where the deer went into the brush and she led us right to it.

There it is.

Way to go girl.

Good job.

That's a big old doe.

Well Rachel, obviously it was an experience that I would have liked to have been there for.

I'm so happy that you were able to take her.

Tell me a little bit about what mentoring a hunt meant to you.

Well, I mean, it's really special.

You know what your first year like, I think I was shaken more than Campbell was.

As soon as she shot I couldn't get my nerves in order.

For year after year Campbell's wanted to go.

We hadn't been able to put it together and you stepped right in, and you've made a lasting memory for her, so I can't thank you enough.

Well, it was a lasting memory for me, too, Chad.

And something that I think everybody would enjoy if they just take a kid or an adult out hunting.

Now let█s check in and see who else has been out having fun in this week█s Ones that didn█t get away.

Here we have Aurora, who is pretty happy with their bluegill catch at Greenboe Lake State Park.

Nice job.

Check out 11 year old Ashton Levell who took this nice buck with a compound bow.

This was his first archery harvest.

Put the arrow where it's supposed to be.

Nice job.

Check out seven year O'Conner Coleman with this nice eight point buck that he took with a crossbow.

Congratulations.

Hey, make sure you join us this Monday, September the 30th at 7:00 on Facebook, YouTube, or FW.KY.GOV for our question and answer show all about hunting.

If you're a new hunter, or if you have a question regarding any of our hunting seasons, that's a time to ask.

And remember, hunting and fishing on private property is a privilege.

Always ask permission and thank the landowner.

Until next week, I'm your host, Chad Miles, and I hope to see you in the woods or on the water.