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 journey the Red River Gorge in search of trout.

Then we're going to learn a little more about prescribed burning.

But first, we're headed to northern Kentucky with wildlife biologists in search of Turkey.

So today we're out here trying to trap or rocket net wild turkeys for our wild turkey study that we're doing.

And we're set up here.

We have anywhere from 4 to 12 birds showing up.

We'll pull the trigger on jakes or toms, and then we'll put bands on them and then release them back.

And then during hunting season, if anybody harvest those birds, we'll basically get that information back and goes into the four year study going on.

So hopefully it'll be a good shoot.

So this study began in 2021 in Tennessee.

The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency began trapping turkeys.

We joined the study the next year, and it's a really unique opportunity for both states to look at harvest rates on male turkeys during the spring season.

Hunting is the main source of mortality for adult gobblers, and so we're trying to get a sense of how much pressure we're putting on the gobblers and jakes in our populations across our states.

So this type of work has been done for decades in other places.

It was done in Kentucky back in the late 80s or early 90s.

And so it's kind of a pulse check on our population because things are very different now.

We have a lot more turkeys than we did at that point.

At that point, they were mostly confined to an area of western Kentucky.

Now we've got them statewide.

We harvest 30 plus thousand turkeys every spring, which is good.

But is that more than we should be taking?

The way you get at that is with harvest rate.

Everything is good there.

Beautiful.

So once we find a suitable site, then it's really getting an idea of where the birds are using, you know, what fields they are in.

We'll start by putting some bait out.

Usually thats cracked corn.

And we put a trail camera up.

We're watching to see when the birds show up.

At that point, we can get a sense of their pattern and we can plan the actual capture.

Once the birds have been showing up consistently for several days in a row, we've got to kind of act fast because turkeys can just turn fickle.

Inexplicably, they can just stop showing up at a bait site for no reason seemingly.

Everything is set.

Now time for a good shoot.

Hopefully.

Sitting for turkeys, you really don't realize it until you're in the middle of a study like this.

And we've set countless of hours in a blind without success and Russ and I we've set several times this year alone and have turkeys there, just not interested in corn for whatever reason.

Hopefully today's not that day.

Got deer now coming out into the field.

It's amazing how many deer this place holds.

There are several hunters that harvest does off this place, but it seems like they multiply up here faster than other places.

We just heard some birds gobbling down over the ridge, so hopefully it won't be too long now.

Yeah, we got birds coming down the hill right now.

Longbeards.

All right, here we go.

Got him.

Good shot fellas.

So once we fire and have the birds under the net, our first goal is safety.

So we're trying to help make sure the birds are as secure as they can.

And we want to reduce injuries.

So we'll throw a jacket over them.

Or maybe a towel.

Just something to calm them down so they're not thrashing about.

We'll put a leg band on them.

So these are aluminum held on with a rivet.

So they're very secure on the birds leg.

Most of them are regular silvery aluminum.

About a quarter of them though are green aluminum.

And those come with a reward.

And the reason we do that is to help us calibrate the estimates that we get.

And a big shout out to the National Wild Turkey Federation who chipped in funding on those rewards.

So they're another partner.

Really.

It's been a good opportunity to bring a lot of people together.

So a major thanks to the many landowners that have allowed us access to their farms across the state.

I mean, we've got birds banded from Pikeville to Paducah.

We've also got birds banded on public lands.

So that's a testament across the board to our department staff who have put in many, many hours.

It's fun work, but it can be some long hours while you're waiting for the turkeys to show up because they don't always cooperate.

We're going to weigh these birds.

And then on the back end, we'll subtract the weight of the box out.

So we're going to stick.

We're going to I'm going to go ahead before we go down I'm going to feel body condition.

We're looking to see you know are the birds healthy good condition.

A subset will also have a blood sample taken and a swab sample.

We're trying to look for various diseases and essentially just get a sense of the baseline health of the turkey population.

Turkey in a box.

One down, two more to go.

Our goal is to capture 300 male turkeys across Kentucky every year.

We just completed our fourth year of doing this, and we've met our goal this year, so we get a lot of good information from it.

We can kind of tell, you know, some years it's been harder to capture turkeys than others, and that sort of reflects the population.

But we've seen an increase recently.

And it's also looking good because this past year we've caught a higher percentage of jakes, of young turkeys, which bodes well for the future.

Ready?

I got the bird.

I say I did.

Big old bird.

With the weight of the box.

32.13, 31.11, 32.04.

Now is the fun part.

Releasing them back.

So what we've learned so far is that harvest rates in Kentucky seem to be right in line with where we want to be.

We're harvesting about 28% of our gobblers, which is pretty in line with common recommendations for management.

We also know that where we have a lower bag limit.

So our Wildlife Management Areas where you're only allowed to take one bird, we see lower harvest rates.

While it may seem like common sense, it's an important piece of information to know because in the future we might want to make a regulation change.

And now we've got a sense of how well that can work.

And really, we just have the overall goal of maintaining a healthy turkey population and good hunting opportunities for Kentuckians into the future.

The Red River Gorge in eastern Kentucky is a great destination for many outdoor enthusiasts, including trout fisherman.

Today we are in the Red River Gorge here in the Daniel Boone National Forest and I'm with Bill Carman.

Long term friend.

Yep, been a while.

We have some of the same passions as well.

Yeah, we sure do.

That's for sure.

You love to fish.

I do.

And you- What else is there?

Yeah.

So there you go.

You know, one of the things that I do not do that you are deeply involved in: That's writing.

You're actually an author.

You've got several books out.

Yeah, I've got currently got four books on the market, and I've got one more that's getting ready to hit.

By the time this airs, it'll probably be on the street.

The name of the book is Fishing with Daniel Boone: Fly Fishing the Streams of an American Hero.

Now, Daniel Boone was not a fisherman.

He for sure wasn't a fly fisherman, but he may have caught some fish from time to time with nets or spears or something, but, you know, for food.

But the book's point is that I was able to immerse myself literally in places where Daniel Boone had his adventures and did some exploration and had some tragedies.

So this book will really appeal to, obviously a fly fisherman because you're talking about fishing exploits on these bodies of water.

That's correct.

What you caught, what you caught them on.

You're giving all the details, right?

Right.

How you access the creek and streams.

But then you're also putting a lot of history into those pieces as well.

As far as what it may have been like when Daniel Boone was there, what they experienced, which would have been much different time.

Yeah, a little different time.

They probably didn't have cell phones like we do.

Well, I'll tell you what, this area behind this looks like It's a great opportunity to catch a trout.

This is a cold stream isn█t it?

it is.

So this is an opportunity to catch a trout.

I want to try to catch a fish and hear some more stories about Daniel Boone's time here in Kentucky.

Water is a little bit high today, which makes it a little more difficult to find fish.

Sometimes when there's quite a bit of current and the water█s high like this, sometimes they'll hang out in eddies right on the edge of the main current so they can see food.

Like right in here?

Yeah.

Give it a whirl right there.

This area where we are right now, the Red River Gorge, is an area that Boone spent some time on starting in the summer of 1769.

This is the Daniel Boone National Forest, and we're near the Sheltowee Trace, which is a hiking trail that is named after Daniel Boone█s Shawnee name.

The book takes the reader from the Yadkin River in North Carolina, where he spent his youth, all the way to the Femme Osage, the stream behind the house where he died in Missouri.

There are 25 streams in the book, and I fished all those streams and I wrote about the fly fishing, but I also wove the Boone lore through the fishing stories.

I'm going to walk over here and try this fly over here.

I'm really kind of in shock that we haven█t caught some fish here.

Let's walk down here.

Yeah.

And wade across.

See that big rock down there?

Let█s fish that little spot there by that rock.

Yeah.

All right.

Good cast.

There's a family in Lexington and for years they had this elk antler and it had “D.

Boone” carved in it.

And these people had this antler, been in their family for years, and they decided they were going to donate it to the museum at Boonesborough.

Okay.

And they said the museum said, well, you know, everybody's got something with “D.

Boone” carved on it.

Yeah, because how many “D.

Boone█s” were hunting in Kentucky in late 1700█s?

Yeah.

So they approached RMEF to pay for the carbon dating.

Of course RMEF is involved in the elk restoration here and everything.

They thought it'd be kind of cool.

So they did and it's sure enough late 1700s.

It's the correct age.

The antler was found in Hingston Creek in the mid 1800s.

And sure enough, the trip that they took when he was captured by the Shawnee, he was with a group of salt makers and he was their hunter.

He was hunting for food for them to eat while they were boiling salt.

That was the same year that was on the antler.

Wow.

So there's you know, you've got it's all circumstantial, but you've got the antler█s the right age.

You got Boone█s signature.

And he was a hunter who would have been- Yeah.

So where does it at now?

It's at Boonesborough.

That's amazing.

I know, isn█t that cool?

It█s very cool.

I keep getting hung on a stick here.

Always one stick guarding a beautiful hole.

Fish on.

Sweet.

That's why I like to bring people who know how to fish.

Well, we've got a trout.

We definitely have a rainbow trout.

Yeah.

You to work it over here?

Sweet.

Good job, buddy.

Pretty little rainbow trout.

Now, that was in that little seam- right there.

That we literally walked up and that fish was- That█s what did it, we woke him up.

We sure did.

Woke him up.

We got him up and rolling.

Very cool.

Come here.

I don't want to touch it.

You're not really- It's bad to get your hands on the skin of those things.

I was pulling it up through right there and all of the sudden, It just popped it.

Sweet.

There you go.

There you go.

Well, let█s stand here, you fish.

Fish it some more.

Fish that whole area right there some more.

There may be more right in there.

We went upstream and I was just dragging this little fly.

That keyed into what to do and where they were.

We got lucky.

I█ll have to pay you to come with me on all my trips.

I was being a little lazy and just with these overhanging limbs when I was keeping my rod tip up.

I ended up putting the- Here you go.

Perfect.

It's a nice one.

That looks like a decent fish there.

Yeah.

What do you know?

On the something here.

Nice.

Wasn█t a whole lot bigger but a little bit.

Now we're getting some fish.

Hop out there and catch you one.

The one cardinal sin is for a guide to catch a fish bigger than his client.

And the way to prevent that is to just don't fish.

I got one.

Oh, there you go.

That looks like a pretty good fish, too.

Very cool.

I hope your rod there.

Perfect.

You throwing the same little bait?

No, I'm throwing that mop fly.

That's a better fish.

Yep.

Come down here- Look at that jump.

Look at that.

Look at that.

So much fun.

I missed him.

There we go.

You got the old bass set.

That was not quite as big, but still a fish.

He█s not as big.

But we'll take it.

Hey, down here, fishing the gorge, you█re taking in the beauty.

It's not about catching 10 pound fish, man.

Just looking round.

The beauty of the Red River Gorge.

If you've ever been here, you'll never forget the trip to the Red River Gorge.

I always enjoy coming out and fishing with you and I enjoy the stories.

I just enjoy your passion for fishing, the outdoors, and history.

Well thank you very much.

I appreciate it.

It's always a fun time.

Are you wanting to see more turkeys and other wildlife on your property?

One of the best ways is through prescribed burning.

Today we're out here at the Department of Fish and Wildlife, and I'm with small game biologist, Cody Rhoden.

Cody, just four short weeks ago, this whole field right here was on fire, wasn't it?

Yeah, Chad that's right.

So four weeks ago, we kind of try to practice what we preach here at Fish and Wildlife.

And so we preach habitat message here, native habitat, native plants, native animals.

And part of that messaging has to do with manipulating the environment in a natural way.

Right.

And the most natural way we as humans can possibly do that is with fire.

So Kentucky is actually very much a fire landscape.

So humans have been burning the state of Kentucky for the last 3000 years or so.

Most of the species we consider native, and most of the species that we wish to conserve in the state can actually deal with prescribed fire.

So when we start talking about a long time, we're talking way before Europeans came that that the landscape has been burned.

People from long time ago saw the benefits of fire.

Yeah, definitely.

So about 3000 years ago, native people stopped roaming around in these bands and they started setting in one spot.

And so if you imagine you're a native person 2000 years ago and you're sitting down in one place in eastern Kentucky or central Kentucky, and the grass is getting high, you know, there's a lot of ticks around.

What tools do you have to manipulate the landscape around you?

And fire was pretty much the only tool they had that could manipulate the landscape on a large scale, and they used it a bunch.

You're not using the tractors, you're not using the sprays and the chemicals in which all those can be used effectively.

But fire has a more lasting effect on the landscape, and it's a positive effect.

It's natural.

Right.

Exactly.

And it█s cheaper.

Oh, it's way cheaper.

Yeah.

And so the mechanical and chemical means that we utilize to manipulate the habitat around us.

Essentially it's just emulating prescribed fire.

So we can see here this was fescue many years ago.

And then we planted it to native plants.

And the only thing we've been doing to this every single year, has been burning it for the last 5 or 10 years.

And so it's a native practice for native plants.

And again, it's very much a lot cheaper.

As a biologist you look at what we're standing in and go, okay, here's some potential for habitat right?

Yes, yes.

As far as small game habitat and essentially habitat for any species, we seek to conserve in the state of Kentucky.

You know, if they couldn't deal with fire, they wouldn't be here because, again, native people burned for 3000 years.

That was long enough to shift the fauna and flora that exists in the state today towards fire tolerant species.

So we're standing here, we're looking back.

We can see bare dirt and honestly, that bare dirt in a couple months, we won't be able to see that.

The plants will grow up and form a herbaceous canopy over the top.

You'll still have that bare ground in there.

So quail chicks can run around in it, baby rabbits can get around in it, and animals have that herbaceous cover, so hawks and stuff can't see them, but they can run around in that habitat and move around and get bugs and other things like that.

Butterflies, rabbits, birds, you name it.

Yeah, all of that wildlife is going to prefer this over the beautiful landscape lawns, right?

Yes.

Yeah.

And honestly, if we can do it here, I think it can be done on a vast majority of our almost 4 million acres of open land in the state.

We got here a while ago, and we've walked in just a few feet of this, and you already found a nest where a rabbit has raised its young.

And this is four weeks ago.

This was on fire.

Exactly.

So that rabbit has since then found that as a suitable location, put a nest in raised young and they are off on the landscape.

Literally right there.

Right there.

And again, you know, four weeks ago this was all black.

It kind of looked like a moonscape.

And these plants, they're fire adaptive.

They count on fire as a part of their life history.

And so they sprung right up for burning off that thatch.

All the trash above the ground.

You burn that off.

The new plants are ready to come up.

So, Jacob, we just heard about all the benefits to burning your landscape here.

And this obviously at the Department of Fish and Wildlife.

So this is on state properties.

This is not just for state properties.

This can be done on individual home farms as well right?

Oh yes, Chad that's a great point.

We burned here on our property.

And we also like to support private landowners, in getting this on their properties.

Through the private lands program.

We have 17 biologists across the state that can help you set up a plan to get this done effectively and safely meet the wildlife goals that you are looking to meet.

We work with the Kentucky Prescribed Fire Council to put on landowner courses to teach you how to do this safe and effectively, which allows you to come on fires with us and do learn and burns.

We support landowners to do this, because at the end of the day, we have somewhere about 20 million acres of private land in the state of Kentucky that could use this as a management tool.

And obviously we can't do all that.

We need some help from the private landowners to get that done.

We're not telling people to go out in their backyard right now and throw some diesel out and set it on fire.

There are steps that need to be taking place.

Reach out to your private lands biologist with the Department of Fish and Wildlife and learn how you can get involved.

So our goal is to train people.

We have a process to get you to become a burn boss that allows you to burn within the state of Kentucky.

And again, the whole goal of this is, is not to just send people out there and just do this.

There is a safe and effective way to do these fires.

And we're here to help you and support you along that way.

So where does a person start?

I mean, if they're sitting at home and whatever county they may live in the state of Kentucky, they're like, I'm not sure, but this may benefit my property.

Where do they start?

So first off, they can either go to our website and go to find my private lands biologist.

Send in a request for a visit.

They can come out and talk to you about it.

And then we have a, the Kentucky Prescribed Fire Council has a website.

It's kentuckyfire.org.

And you go on there and look at trainings and you can sign up for information on when those would be.

We've got to see on this particular burn here how quickly it goes from black to green and beautiful.

And that has to do with time of year you do most of your burning, right?

That's correct.

A lot of the open land burns we do are in the late winter or early spring, and it times up perfect that it burns, the green up comes and you get a flush of new growth.

Now, depending on what your management goals are, we may say we want to burn a different time of year to get different responses.

Hey, you want to get ahead of the curve and you want to get your place looking good?

Yeah, maybe go get trained up and set it on fire.

Exactly.

Well, thank you so much.

Hopefully many of the landowners take advantage of this because as an outdoor person and outdoor enthusiast and animal lover, this is how it happens, right here.

It's a win.

Yeah, it's a win.

Now let's check in and see who else has been out having fun.

And this week's ones that didn't get away.

Check out the beautiful largemouth bass that was caught by Jason Kenner at Painesville Lake.

Nice job.

Here.

We have seven year old Lynn Bell, who took our first turkey in Harrison County.

Nice job here.

We have nine year old Lilly Latham with their very first turkey that she took on the opening day in Hardin County.

Nice job.

11 year old Carter Hall took his bird on the opening morning of youth Turkey season, and Russell Springs seven year old Ethan Smith went crappie fishing in Nolan River before the floods hit.

Nice job.

If you're interested in improving the habitat on your own property, go to fw.ky.gov and search for your private lands biologist.

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.