Hello and welcome to Kentucky Afield.

I'm your host, Chad Miles.

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

This week, we're going to tag along with biologists as they trap and radio collar white tailed deer.

Then we're going to grab our headlamps and load the dogs up and head out on a raccoon hunt.

But first, the rut is in, and this is the time of year to get your rattle antlers and your grunt call and hit the tree stand.

Well, officially, my favorite week of the year to hunt is here.

It's the last week of October.

It seems like the whole month of October and most of September we had warmer than normal temperatures, completely dry, wind coming out of the south, it was hot.

It kept me in one particular stand, which we saw a lot of deer out of but now the wind direction has completely changed opening up a stand that I've been wanting to hunt all year.

We have went from 70 degree temperatures to highs in the forties.

This is going to bring these bucks into rut and I can't wait to get in the stand.

It's going to be a great evening.

I tell you what, it's cool.

It's a north wind.

This is what it's all about.

Something just stepped out.

Looks like a buck standing right at the point on that side of the field.

I can see it, It█s 300 yards away and I can see its antlers.

I can't tell how big, but it looked like a pretty good deer.

Hopefully that deer will make its way down here, if its a big enough, dominant enough buck, and come down and check out that rattle.

But it█s exciting.

Already seen a buck and it just happened that fast.

Oh, it█s a buck It█s a buck 30 yards right here.

Oh my gosh.

It's still early.

I sat here and rattled and the next thing I know, I look in the woods and I see these antlers, I see a deer and I see its antlers and I was like, oh my gosh, that's a pretty mature deer, I thought I need to take the shot.

Oh, that deer I think was hit pretty good.

Didn't get a ton of penetration, but those broadheads I'm shooting, those Grim reapers, have a cut about that wide.

Blood was pouring out of it.

Pretty sure my deer is only about 60 yards away down right now.

Still going to give it a good 30 minutes.

See how this goes down.

But I'm so excited.

Can't believe I'm getting down this early in the afternoon.

You know, normally when I take a shot at a deer and I know I'm going to be processing, I get more aggressive and try to take a second one because, you know, when you█re going to process, you might as well have two, you know, gun season█s not here And I still want to fill the freezer with a couple more does but I got to go see if that buck is down.

It's been 35 minutes.

It's time.

Oh yeah, here█s blood right here This is the first bit of blood.

Literally, just walking.

Walking alongside it.

Oh, someone else's arrow Not the first one who's been hunting out here.

Obviously someone else's arrow looks like it's been broke off.

It's not mine.

All right, back to the blood trail.

Here we go.

Going to get a little more difficult to track.

Oh, there it lays, right there.

It barely barely made it out of the field.

You know, my instinct was that it was down and it was down real close.

But you never want to bump one.

But there lays it's definitely down.

See if I can't get down there and get it.

Well, here he is.

Very respectable buck.

As a bowhunter, you put your time in the stand.

I've only had one or two deer this size in range.

And the way it went down, where we just rattled, this deer shows up literally 10 minutes later and walks out and gives me a perfect 20 to 25 yard broadside shot that I was able to put it right where it needed to be is an opportunity I couldn't pass up.

It's been a great season and you know what?

I'm not done.

With gun season coming up.

I'm going to get out with the gun and my rifle and try to take a few more deer.

But right now couldn't be more excited about the opportunity to come out here and take a nice buck like this with my bow and arrow.

Getting those close encounters is what it's all about.

That was super exciting.

Wildlife biologists are working hard to protect our whitetail herd, as well as to reduce collisions while you travel down the highway.

Here they come.

We're just waiting on this deer to walk under the net.

It's about to happen.

Watch it.

All right, go get her.

Go get her!

Go get her!

Go get her!

Easy.

We're out here today in Jefferson County in a cold afternoon.

And I'm here with deer program coordinator Joe McDermott.

Joe, I know you traveled the state trying to gather data on deer, and we're sitting right here in the middle of 2 or 3 highways, all within sight range, trying to catch deer.

Yep.

Tell me a little bit about what we're doing and why we're doing it.

The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet recently received a big federal grant to look at deer vehicle collisions along Kentucky's highways.

They're focal area for this study is the I-64 and US 60 corridor.

They're basically going through identifying hot pockets of deer where they are trying to figure out ways to make the roadways safer.

They asked us to be a partner with them to help provide some GPS collar data.

So they're using thermal drones, ground surveys, camera surveys, things like that to get a lot of good data along the roadways.

But adding some real time collar data with these deer that are living along the roadways is just another piece of the puzzle that sheds some different light on the subject.

To gather that data you have to catch a deer.

Yep.

Collar that deer, and then turn it loose.

And then how long can you gather data on a collar?

It depends on how many locations we take.

But for the most part, about 3 or 4 years with the GPS collar.

Okay.

So this will give you information on how often they're crossing the highway, where they're crossing the highway, how far they're living away from the highway?

Exactly.

So this morning we are in Beckley Creek Park.

We're going to set our drop net.

And, hopefully get the deer used to it, get back out here in a couple of days and try and get some collers on some deer.

The Parklands has cleared a spot for us up against the creek here.

We've been baiting this site, trying to get the deer patterned to come into this area.

The Parklands at Floyds Fork.

What a beautiful area for a lot of residents here close by.

We like to think of the park as Louisville's biggest conservation project, and our motto is safe, fun, clean and beautiful 365 days a year.

Safe being that first word.

That's why we were really excited when we heard about this study to partner with Fish and Wildlife, the transportation cabinet.

To really see how we can make Kentucky roads safer.

This is thousands and thousands of acres that doesn't get any hunting pressure.

So it's a great spot to gather this data because there's a lot of deer here.

It's a good spot for us to put up a net and capture these deer and put them back out on the landscape, because a normal deer may not last 3 or 4 years in Kentucky, but you might be able to gather three years of data right here.

Most of these animals are living here on this property.

We'll be able to get good data for a longer period of time than normal.

Again, they're living right here next to highway 64, right.

So they're interacting with it all the time.

This is a perfect scenario for us.

That's the center of the drop net.

It's going to look like a big circus tent by the end of it.

We're going to try and line that up right in the bait pile there.

Have they got ways where deer can go underneath the highway instead of going over top of them, put signs for deer crossings is that type of information we're talking about?

Yeah, along those lines, trying to figure out where it is that they're going to cross the roads, are there ways that we can make them safe.

We don't see them so much in the East, but we do in the West a lot.

And like these big migration corridors.

Transportation cabinet is out there putting in overpasses, underpasses, ways for these animals, large numbers of them to cross the roads without impacting the roadways.

So I'm not sure what form it'll take here in Kentucky, but we do know that they are using some existing structures already.

Places like you see right over here with the bridge underneath 64.

They're crossing those naturally.

Right.

So how can we take things that they're doing naturally in conjunction with this data and improve upon it?

Right.

To make it even safer.

The trap is set, the drop net is ready to be dropped on deer.

But before we leave, we're going to do a quick test drop.

Make sure all the knots are where they need to be.

Everything's connected how it should.

Looks good.

Let's put it back up.

So you've got a net that's up right now, and you're actually baiting these deer to come in so we can catch them.

Well, hopefully the deer come under the net, so hopefully they show up.

But I think they will.

They'll go to the drop net site.

Our ideal tonight is 2 to 3 deer.

Unless we can get a male.

If we get a male we'll do a solo.

But once they go in and get to the center of the net, it'll be pretty cool to see.

We've got a big cat fishing pole, an 80 pound braid, and runs about 200 yards out to the net.

And we'll set the hook and net falls, and we all run in there and tackle them.

Look at the deer.

Look at the deer.

Look at the deer.

Well.

Well, Tommy, we've been here about 45 seconds.

We haven█t even cut the truck off yet.

The truck's still running and we already had a deer cross the road.

How far away are we right now?

160 yards?

Yeah, a little bit over 100 yards.

Joe, here he comes.

He doesn█t even realize we already got deer in there.

There's a deer right there.

We just pushed it.

It was bedded down in this stuff right here.

I tell you what.

I've got some weird things on a rod and reel.

Never a deer.

Pretty good.

We got a deer.

Got a buck right there.

There he is.

So you can see right here.

Here's a corn pole.

There's a center pole right here.

We're waiting on him to make that final 10 or 12 steps to get under the bait.

Net█s down.

He█s in it.

I see him jumping.

All right, so, Tommy, you all going to restrain him.

Watch his antlers.

Here's a blindfold.

All right.

I'm going to get his drug drawn up.

As soon as we stop.

He is definitely down.

We got the deer down right there.

Oh, shoot.

So the first thing we'll do is obviously physically restrain them.

So we'll lay on them, put our body pressure on him.

We█re paying attention to their head, neck and spine, things like that, making sure that they're in a safe position.

But you want to restrain them so they can't flop around and beat themselves up.

Got him subdued.

So he's not going to hurt himself.

Joe's working the immobilization drug up right now.

I've drawn drug up.

I'm coming in to immobilize it.

Usually within 3 to 5 minutes from the time the net falls.

They are on the ground, fully under and ready for the workup process.

So now that the drug has taken effect on the deer, it got all wrapped up in the net by jumping around.

So they almost got it out of the net so they can finish up the work up.

We're not doing a whole bunch to the animal during the work up.

It's mainly just ear tags and collars.

We just need to identify who they are and see where they're going.

In the event that this deer is actually taken by a legal hunter, I'm sure you want this collar back.

Yes, sir, I do.

It has our Fish and Wildlife number that tells you exactly who to call everything they need to know.

If they're a legal hunter and it's a legal opportunity you're not telling people not to take these.

We're not telling you not to take it.

Because, you know, there are different components in here with biases.

You don't want to bias your estimates, right.

But if it's an animal that you see and you would take it otherwise, then feel free to do so.

So once that's done, we're going to give them the reversal.

Pop them right back up there on their feet, on their way, none the wiser.

The ultimate goal is to make Kentucky's roadways safer.

And the really cool part about this project is we are making the roadways safer for everyone.

Whether you're a hunter, Fisher, anything like that, you interact with wildlife more than you know, especially along these roadways.

And we're trying to make that as safe as possible.

The days are getting shorter and the night times are getting colder.

And you may be experiencing cabin fever, but not if you're a coon hunter.

We're out here tonight in Washington County with a friendly face.

Dr.

Mark Brogdon, hey, we've coon hunted before, and that's what we're here to do tonight, huh?

Yeah, we're excited to do it.

Really looking forward to getting the dogs out.

So which one's this one here?

This is Doc.

This is the puppy.

He just turned ten months old.

Ten months old.

And he's grown up.

Looks like he's ready to rock and roll.

He's excited.

How many dogs you bring out with you today?

If you remember our last coon hunt, this is Hannah.

I had her as a puppy out there.

She's five now.

And so she's here.

And then we actually have Buzz.

So this is Buzz, huh?

Yes sir.

Oh he█s ready.

Ready.

This is the daddy to the pup that Mark is hunting tonight.

Okay.

All right.

He's a good looking dog.

Big dog.

He is a big dog.

I think this is good enough.

You guys ready?

We're ready.

Man, they're so docile walking along.

You, like, not a care in the world.

And so you turn them, loose then bang.

They're gone.

Yeah.

Yeah, That's what they're supposed to do.

I wish my dogs were that easy to handle walking out here.

They're just kind of like, Yeah, I'm not too sure about this tonight dad and all the sudden bam!

They█re ready to go.

That's a beautiful sound.

Sure is.

That's kind of one of the reasons we do it.

Listen to that.

Tell me what you got going on down here.

So, actually, once we turn Buzz loose, he came around this bottom, the other dog circled back around, and they actually met up and they started treeing together.

Okay, so you think we got one?

One coon.

So we'll see.

Sometimes they█ll coons will be close together and you'll have dogs split.

Sometimes they'll be together.

So it'll just be interesting to see what we all got down here.

They might not be together.

Might not be.

I█ll follow you.

Okay, Let's go.

And sure enough, there he is right there.

And we can actually show you sometimes when it's the summertime or when it's a real leafy tree, we can use a thermal.

Really confirm if we're having a hard time with the lights.

Man, that thermal will allow you to pretty quickly scan a tree and find out.

It gives you confidence in your dog.

Right.

Especially when it's hard to find.

Well, let's do what I want to do.

Tie some dogs off, and we'll see what we need to get done.

Sounds good.

I've got him pretty good here.

Good shot.

So Doc is a young dog, and he's kind of still training.

Yeah.

So Doc's ten months old, and like I said, it's his second coon he's had shot to him for.

Nice job.

Thank you.

Hey, that was fairly quick.

Got the dogs out.

Got it.

Got one treed.

nice job.

Go ahead.

All right.

There's Hannah.

She's on a trail right now.

She's trail barking.

You got two treed.

Yeah.

So we had Hannah treed and we're making our way to her.

And now Buzz and Buzz came.

treed over here.

He's back over this way.

Correct.

All right, so we're going to go to him first.

So we'll go to him first and then go up and over to Hannah.

All right.

That sounds good.

Hannah is going to be on that tree for a while.

But that yeah, that's part of it and that's part of it.

She's trained to do that, so she'll be okay.

Might be in the side of this river here.

Oh, wow.

Look, this dog Doc is down here trying to get out of that old sycamore tree out over the out over the river here.

We'll search this tree.

But, you know, these sycamore trees, especially on the river, they█re going to be hollow the majority of the time.

And a lot of the time that raccoon is going to be on the inside.

Okay.

Now, even if we do see it, you don't want to shoot a raccoon out because it's going to go in the water.

Yeah, dog's going to go after it.

Pull him off here and head to Hannah.

I think that's probably best.

Yeah.

really good way to learn your property.

Oh, yeah.

You turn dogs loose at night, you start realizing how your property lays pretty fast.

Yeah.

You want to know the easiest way to get to them too.

You got one?

Sweet.

I'll tell you what.

Dogs never, never cease to amaze me.

Look at how thick and nasty and narly this is.

That dog is hunting through here at a fast pace.

And as soon as it finds that coon and trees it I mean, it's locked on.

It's jumping and trying it knows it can't climb that tree, but it's not giving up no she█s not.

And like you said, she's been here for close to an hour.

While we went to Buzz and she's she's stay treed and she's got the meat.

Good girl.

Good girl.

He's right here.

He's dead.

Man, that thing sound like a ton of bricks.

Yeah, that's a big raccoon That's a big one.

Nice shot.

Hey, that was a lot of fun.

I can't tell much.

I appreciate you guys getting out here and doing this.

It's obvious watching you guys work your dog.

How how much you one love doing this, but how much you love working your dogs.

Oh, you never know what these dogs are going to do.

You never know what the raccoons are going to do.

Oh, yeah.

You know what, Hannah treed this, this last coon.

Doc, treed one earlier, right?

Buzz, buzz.

And then Doc and Doc was in on.

Yeah, got in on it, too.

So honestly, for a night in the middle of the week to get out and be able to do all this and get home at a decent time and still get to work your dogs as well.

Oh, yeah.

Perfect night.

That's great.

Absolutely perfect night.

Thank you all for coming.

Thanks a lot.

I really appreciate it.

Thank you.

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 Matthew Rieger.

He took this nice ten point buck while hunting in Owen County during the early muzzleloader season.

This buck still had velvet on its antlers.

Congratulations, Jason, but he took this beautiful buck in Meade County.

He said he had over four years of history chasing this buck.

Nice job.

Cody Angel went smallmouth fishing in Dale Hollow Lake and caught this beautiful 20 inch fish on a chatter bait.

Nice job.

Here we have Case Allen with a nice largemouth bass that he caught in his neighbor's farm pond.

He got a new spin cast reel and immediately put it to work.

Nice job.

11 year old Jayden Chanthevong got out in Berrien County and took this nice buck shooting a 270 Winchester.

Nice job.

Owen Barnes got out for a buck hunt in Campbell County with a crossbow.

Nice job.

Kentucky's modern firearms season for deer comes in this weekend on November the 8th.

If you're hitting the woods, make sure you handle your firearms safely.

And always wear your hunters orange.

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.