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 headed out to Cave Run Lake for some wintertime crappie fishing.

Then we're headed to Butler County, Kentucky, for a good old fashioned rabbit hunt.

But first, we're jumping in a deer stand in the middle of a rut, looking to punch a buck tag.

So far, this year's modern firearm season has been a little different.

You know, the rut came in kind of after the first week of the season.

I was seeing some bucks.

Quite a few does.

Very little chasing, but it started to pick up a little bit.

Now, I haven't seen a buck that really is worth a buck tag just yet.

I've had a few opportunities, but I've elected to pass.

I also have yet to make my donation this year to Hunters for the Hungry.

So hitting the woods tonight, hoping that big buck shows up.

I'm really excited about this afternoon's hunt, because I'm headed to a stand that the wind hasn't been right yet this year for me to get in here since firearm season came in.

So I am ready to get in, see what happens.

Well, that's a pretty good sign.

I haven't even loaded my gun yet.

I've been in the stand about a minute.

Really little spike buck but they're up and moving back here.

It's a great sign.

Right here.

You got it?

No.

Less than 5 minutes in the stand.

I've already seen a spike buck.

And then I saw a doe take off running.

And it looked to be a pretty good 8 or a 10 pointer.

And they were running through this creek behind me.

There's another one in the woods.

See it?

Oh, yeah.

It's a buck too.

Can you see it?

Oh yeah.

I'm on it.

Now that is three bucks and one doe, she must be hot.

Those two bucks are still right here.

That's a bigger buck.

Hey there's a pretty nice buck bedded down right behind us.

Do you think it's the biggest of the three?

There's that buck right there.

I've trying to figure out which one is the biggest one.

And I need to just take one.

I have never had such an insane 15 minutes in a deer stand.

Bucks grunting, running does all over me.

I actually have a buck that is bedded down.

Has no idea I am here.

About 70 yards away.

I'm trying to get a good look at his rack.

He's got to be at least a 10 pointer.

He just stood up.

I just saw him walking.

I see him.

Oh, looks like he's got a limp.

Are you on him?

Yeah.

I've been deer hunting for 40 years, and this was the craziest 20 minutes in a deer stand I've ever had.

I had three bucks grunting and running this one doe and one doe just.

Or one buck was kind of out of the game.

He was just laying down over here.

Finally I could barely see him through all these Osage trees.

So thick you can't get a shot.

And I looked over and noticed he was not laying where he was at.

And he started to walk out.

I think it's the biggest of the three.

And I thought I put a pretty good shot on this deer.

I need to go down there.

I'll tell you one thing.

This may not be the biggest deer I've ever killed.

It may not be the biggest deer I have seen today, but I could not be more excited about this deer and this hunt.

I've hunted numerous times throughout archery season waiting for a big buck to come through.

You know, I saw a couple small bucks.

I get in the stand today, and in 20 minutes I had three bucks and a spike running all around me.

And while they were being very vocal and grunting and carrying on, these two bucks chasing a doe, looking over the Osage, I see this buck laying in there and it gets up and decides to start getting in on the action and walking out.

I noticed it had a little limp, and it looked to be as big, equally big as the others.

So I thought, you know what?

I know I've got two really nice bucks for next year and this buck is good enough for this year.

So I went ahead and put a shot on it, fell about 30 yards.

Got into the creek.

And man, what a hunt.

20 minutes of insane buck footage it was like playing a video game.

I had bucks running and grunting all around me.

Four bucks.

Three of them about this size and was lucky enough to get this one.

I couldn't be more excited.

What a hunt.

When planning your next fishing trip.

Don't forget about crappie fishing.

The winter time can be the best time of year to get out and fill the skillet.

Today I'm on beautiful Cave Run Lake with an old fishing buddy Khris, Mann How are you doing?

Doing well Chad.

Good to see you today.

Good to see you as well.

Good to be back out.

You've always told me this is one of the lakes that you like the fish the most.

And people think of this like as a muskie lake.

It's not one that comes top of mind, for people█s favorite crappie lake.

For a lot of people, you're not going to hear Cave Run, but you've always said it's one of your favorite lakes to fish.

Absolutely.

This one flies under the radar.

It truly does.

It's a great fishery.

You'll see today just some of the habitat that we have here is second to none on the lake.

And to be honest with you, this time of the year is when I really, really enjoy fishing.

Well, let's get after them.

Let█s do it.

That's about a that's about a ten inch crappie right there.

Let█s see if we can prove it.

He may be bigger.

There you go.

That looks like a better fish.

Oh, yeah.

That's a nice crappie.

What do you got there.

11, 12, incher?

I need to stick it on the tape measure here and see.

What did we say 12 and a quarter, 12 and 12 and three quarter.

And that's a good fish.

Neat fish.

That's a giant there.

You got him.

That█s a dandy.

Looks like a really big fish.

Yes.

Look at that.

Now that's a kind of crappie in a tournament you want right there.

That's your tournament grade fish right there guys.

Pretty belly on her starting to get egged up.

Look at this.

Look across, the back how big shoulders on her.

She's a pretty one.

That's a big crappie anywhere in the state of Kentucky.

A quality fish.

What was my prediction of pound 65?

Oh, I missed it.

Pound 74.

Get her turn back loose.

Beautiful fish.

There we go.

Good job, Good fishing Chad.

I█ll tell you what that fish committed and it came pretty good ways, didn't he?

Yeah, he did.

You really had to work him and get him in there.

Pretty fish.

That it a pretty fish.

Look at the belly on that.

Look at the belly and the mouth on that crappie.

I mean, that's just a quality.

That's like a quality like Kentucky Lake crappie.

Isn't it?

That█s a beautiful fish.

I can see why you like coming to cave.

Run.

Like I said, that that is a really good looking fish.

You got him to.

I reached out Got him way out there.

Look at that.

That's a good fish there.

Well, you saw him come up and hit that bait.

Now, that fish there was sitting right on the bottom, just a beautiful fish that is so cool watching that happen.

Another quality fish.

Nice crappie not quite to the size that your last few but still we're looking at you know that tells you what kind of fish that we're targeting when you pull up a crappie like that is probably 12 and a half inches and you go well, it's a little smaller than we've been catching.

That's a good day.

On the water.

That's pretty good day.

Big old eyes sitting right on top of their head.

So I tell you what we try to.

You can tell where you're at compared the lure compared to this fish in the water column like you don't want to be down here.

Look with our eyes are at.

So I make sure when I'm pulling that bait, I'm trying to keep that bait of either mouth and higher up in this angle you get down here, they just can't see it.

That fish would have to turn complete nose down to see that bait.

So I try to keep that bait right above it.

And Chris has told me today that keeping that baited real slow retrieve is a really good way to entice that strike.

Even with cold water.

There you go.

Uh Oh.

Oh, I'm going to have to hold this up Chad.

Oh no Little comparison.

Here.

Yeah.

Those are good table fair.

Nine and three quarter inch fish.

Oh yeah.

And a lot of people like to keep those.

And that's the ones I suggest you keep.

Yeah.

Let that big baby go back and produce some more big ones.

And that's the way to go.

How often on this live scope, when you see them hit, do you not feel the bite at all?

Do you sometimes set the hook and you're like, I didn't feel that fish, but I just know he hit it based on what I'm looking at on the screen.

Yeah, it can certainly happen more times than not when you don't feel the fish hit at all and he has hit, it's because you've got a little bit of slack line somewhere, you know, and you just don't notice it.

But there are times when the fish will bite so light.

they're such a subtle bite that that you won't feel them.

And I think there are a lot of anglers out here that aren't fishing with forward facing sonar, that are missing a lot of bites.

And they never know it.

They never know they've had them.

Well, this water temp too this these fish, I mean, these are cold crappie are a cold water fish.

They're not going to come flying across the water to come eat your lure.

You got to put it right on their face, just like we just saw, because the water temperature look, it's 39.5 degrees.

Don't take too many.

Those make a great sandwich.

No sir.

Oh, here comes a big fish.

You got him to.

I never felt that fish bite Chad.

I just saw that he was bound to have overrun the bait.

And I just went ahead and set the hook.

That one get a hook right where you want them.

Right.

And that that part of the top of the mouth.

And that's another good quality fish about a 12 at least a 12 inch fish, maybe 12 and a half.

Beautiful, beautiful fish.

Oh, Oh, that time I just had to kind of be patient as you scanned away and came back to him and wait to see where my lure was and when I to when it came back and I can see my lure.

I happened to be right on it.

You got a good one right there.

He's got you.

Oh, lost my hat almost.

Just don't lose the fish.

We can go get your hat.

what a pretty fish.

Beautiful fish.

Good job Chad.

Beginning of February, Eastern Kentucky catching and beautiful crappie like this, you know, and people for whatever reason, I still have a ton of friends.

When I tell them I'm going to the lake tomorrow, they're like, You're crazy.

And I can sit here.

And this beautiful scenery with a light jacket on catching crappie like this and think if you're not doing this, you might be the ones crazy, beautiful.

I know you've talked about big crappie here at Cave Run Lake that.

You know what seeing is believing and I have seen a bunch of them today.

We've we've had a good day, blessed day and plenty of big fish in this area, you know, just moved around a little bit.

And a lot of people overlook this winter bite and I suggest they get out here and weather these cold fronts and see if they can get on them.

Thank you so much for bringing this out and showing us how to do it.

Thanks for coming.

I appreciate Chad.

Great time.

If you ask me what a perfect day in the field looks like, I'd tell you It's a couple of friends, a few beagles and a youth hunter experiencing rabbit hunting.

Get up there Josie.

Hunt with them.

Hunt with them.

Let's go, Let's go.

There he goes!

There he goes!

We're out here in McCreary County this morning.

It's the week after gun season wrapped up.

If you're a rabbit hunter, that's your favorite time of year because it opens up to some new properties.

And I had a gentleman that's been texting me on via Facebook for quite a while now telling me that he had a couple dogs This is Rage, a young male of Luke█s.

And this is a full litter mate named Lilly.

Okay, so Rage.

And Lilly Yeah.

Okay.

You had them out quite a few times this year?

A handful, You know, probably probably eight or ten times this year so far.

Okay, So that's pretty good amount.

We made the trip down here today.

He brought his two dogs out, and a young boy that he wanted to get out and do some rabbit hunting.

So, brought my two four year old dogs down here.

Josie and Checkers.

And we've already jumped a rabbit.

And we're looking forward to having a great day in the field.

Ease up here Luke on top, and see what they're doing over here.

That sound of those beagles opening and chasing those rabbits just rings through these hollows.

It's a beautiful, beautiful sound.

Opening up this morning.

Now, let's see if it's productive.

I missed him.

Missed him alright, it█s still up.

Let me get up here by you, Luke.

My gun wouldn█t cock.

This lever on the side wasn█t up far enough so I just had to pull the hammer back and just shoot that way.

You live and learn.

We got another bunny up here.

We had a rabbit in this bottom that got jumped up and they ran it out to about 185 yards.

The dogs went quiet I█m literally watching them on GPS and they didn't move.

That is almost a guaranteed sign that they've pushed that rabbit in a hole and they're sitting there on that ho They could be they're digging.

They could be trying to go in the hole, but they quit barking and they quit moving.

So that rabbit won today.

Get a couple moving across here.

These are better shooting lanes here.

Right over there.

I just saw it.

You get him?

Yeah I hit it.

Bounced him around.

He should be laying up there to the left somewhere.

Where they at?

Hunt them up.

What do you know?

I knew I bounced him.

I'll tell you what.

We saw this rabbit run around the chicken house couple of times and you said you shot him.

Nice job.

Thank you.

You got him The dogs were over there and then they kind of quit barking for a minute.

And you go, I bet he's laying right there on that hillside.

Yeah.

You wasn't lying.

Here you go Luke put him in my sack.

That█s one down.

Get in here.

Get in here.

Come on Lill, come on.

Work him out.

Work him out.

This is so thick in here.

You know, you do all your work trying to get a rabbit up, and then you got to find yourself a shooting lane and just have some patience.

If you try to move through here, try to keep up with these rabbits, they see you and they turn and ends up you never seen anything.

You got to kind of stay still.

and let the rabbit come to you.

That's why it's always good to have four or five hunters.

When it crosses hopefully we get a shot.

Right here.

Right at you.

Gun jammed.

Think you got it?

No, he stopped right there.

But I don█t think I got it.

Shell case didn█t eject.

I have never seen that.

Literally, the brass came flying out, but the hull expanded and stuck inside right there.

You'd sure think in and around this old truck and equipment we█d have some bunnys.

There he is, get him.

She█s on it right there.

Here he is.

Shot him right here.

That rabbit was hit right here.

Went in right here.

Here it goes.

Josie's got it.

Come here Josie.

Come here.

Come on.

Come on.

That's a good girl.

Good girl.

Good girl.

Okay, Let it go.

Let it go.

I think she only got half of it.

Jason, that rabbit got jumped over there and it came running up right through here.

And when I shot it cut and got in this briar thicket.

Well you need a bulldozer to go retrieve it.

Yes.

The dogs actually got in here and got to it.

And I heard a squabble.

They got most of it.

Yeah.

They were like, Hey, we ran this rabbit by you twice.

We get our part first and they did.

But that's part of it.

It█s rabbit hunting.

It sure is.

There he is.

There he is!

Coming right to you.

And a miss.

It█s a little farther than I wanted to shoot, but that was my only shot.

Oh this dog here is going to pick it up.

There he goes.

I█d have never dreamed that rabbit would be sitting there.

That rabbit's got to be hit.

You think he'd stop and let that dog get that close.

I mean that dog put nose on him.

They got it.

Oh they did?

Checkers has got it.

Let that go.

I must█ve hit that rabbit.

So we were sitting here waiting for him to run it back out.

And we knew that the rabbit let us get way too close to it.

And then all of a sudden, I heard a whine or squeal, which if you've ever varmint hunted or coyote hunted, you know what a rabbit squeal sounds like.

That's usually the sound you make.

Checkers had caught it.

All right, well, here we go.

Well guys, it's been a blast.

I can█t tell you how much I appreciate you inviting us down.

You got beautiful countryside here.

Yes, it's been a great time.

We'll have to do it again.

Now let's check in and see who else has been out having fun in this week's ones that didn't get away.

Check out this smile on Grayson Stewart as he shows us the buck that he took while hunting in Logan County.

Nice job.

Here we have Matt Lyle with a nice sized bobcat that he took while hunting in Greene County with a shotgun.

Congratulations.

Eight year old Eli Floyd is learning how to trap coyotes, and he had some luck while running his trap line in Edmonson County.

Nice job.

Here we have John Hunter Harrison with a nice buck that he took while hunting in Todd County with a crossbow.

Congratulations.

Here we have seven year old Savannah Smedley, who was successful on her very first day ever deer hunting.

Nice job.

Check out seven year old Gunnar Key and his dad, Chris.

They went to Eastern Kentucky on their very first Kentucky elk hunt.

Nice job.

Do you have a youth hunter in your house that would like another day in the field deer hunting?

Well, Good news.

On December the 27th and 28th is our free youth deer hunting weekend.

Check our website for more details.

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.

Hunters, anglers, boaters, paddlers, trappers and wildlife watchers.

This one's for you.

We're launching regional pages across Kentucky, tailored to where you live, fish, and hunt.

Want to know when and where fish are being stocked near you.

When new public lands or water access sites come online.

How about the season dates and bag limits specific to where you're hunting?

Now you'll get real time updates, local opportunities and expert tips.

Straight from the biologist, educators and game wardens in your region.

Follow your local page and stay in the know right where it matters most, with the purchase, Green River, bluegrass, Southeast, and Northeast Regional Facebook and Instagram pages from the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources.