This week on Kentucky Afield Man's best friend loves to hunt.

And we're taking a look at three breeds that do just that.

First, we're running the hounds at night in search of raccoons.

Next, we've got the beagles out and they're looking forward to chasing some rabbits.

Then we'll look to tree some squirrels with a mountain feist.

It's all next on Kentucky Afield.

Hello and welcome to Kentucky Afield.

I'm your host, Chad Miles.

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

Now that modern fire arm season for deer is winding down, this week's show will be totally dedicated to working dogs.

Up first, we're going to grab a spotlight and go out at night in search of raccoons.

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

Dr. Mark Brockman, 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.

Well 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?

Yeah.

Sweet.

I'll tell you what.

Dogs never, never cease to amaze me.

Look at how thick and nasty and narly this is.

And to think 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.

Next up, we're rounding up some dogs and headed to western Kentucky in search of rabbits.

Well we're here in Graves County getting ready to do a rabbit hunt.

So I'm here with Paul.

Tell me a little about the dogs you brought today.

I got a big male tri-colored, his name█s smoke, and I got him as a pup.

And then I got a little tri-colored female.

Her name is Tess.

And then I got a blue tick male in here named Trump.

He's only ten months old, but he's doing really good this year.

How many days a week do you usually run these dogs?

If it's real hot two times a week, but mainly 2 to 4 times a week.

Every week.

It don't matter.

July or August, year around.

This part of the state a lot of times you can find both cottontails and swamp rabbits.

This piece of property we█re on, what do we expect to find here?

Mainly swamp rabbits.

Okay.

You got a buddy that came with you that also brought some dogs, right?

Yeah.

Let's go get those dogs out as well.

All right.

So, Troy, how many dogs you bring todoy?

I brought four today.

This is Echo.

This is Jeannie.

This is Festus.

And this is Leon.

Just a fast footed strong dog that's got all day hunt, you know.

I look forward to seeing how he's going to finish.

He's doing a really good job.

We've put in a lot of time to get him ready for a hunt like this.

I'm excited to get out here.

Hopefully these dogs get a rabbit up pretty quick.

All right.

Here we go.

They're all take it off to that one dog that just opened.

Oh, they just saw it run over there.

Let's get a move on.

Here he comes right to you Brian.

Shoot him.

Shoot him Cody.

Good shot.

And it looks like they may have one down.

Now, this is not a big swamper.

This is a smaller size swamp rabbit.

This could very easily be confused for a cottontail.

But this what we're going to be seeing a lot of today.

Hopefully some bigger ones.

You know what?

They get too much bigger.

Four of them turned into a load.

Well, nice job.

Nice shot.

I believe you could have shot that one off the porch.

Almost did.

Looks like there's a bunch scat on this log.

This is a sure sign that you got swamp rabbits, isn█t it?

This is a good sign that they're swamp rabbits.

Sometimes you catch a big hill rabbit, jump on a stump or something and do this.

But nine times out of a ten, this is what a swamp rabbit will do.

You know, he tries to get up out of the water and use the bathroom.

Another thing that you can look at, the rabbits will eat the bottom of the trees, the bark off the trees.

This is a good sign that this place has got a lot of swamp rabbits in it.

They're working it back.

They went almost 600 yards and they're working their way back.

Pretty big running swamper.

Here comes.

Coming straight to you.

There it goes.

There we go.

There we go.

Good job Tim.

Did you get it?

Bout time.

I was about ready to start yellin “the British are coming”.

That rabbit had a lot of heat right off the bat.

You know, he was getting sight chased hard.

Oh, yeah.

Golly what a rabbit.

Now there's a swamper.

Well, they're finishing the track up.

He killed the rabbit.

We like to let him finish the track.

Show them it█s dead, before we go on to another rabbit.

How far out are they Paul?

310.

310.

They're out of hearing distance but, they'll be bringing him back here in a little bit.

People who either don't use electronics or they really not paying attention to how far the dogs running, on a normal cottontail, and you call them hill rabbits, right?

Yeah.

About 200 is kind of normal wouldn█t you say?

200 on a cottontail.

Yeah.

If you get a hill rabbit that goes around 300, you really start thinking, you know, what's going on.

We█re at 375.

Swamp rabbits they got a lot of different advantages over a dog or a human.

The cypress trees, they're hollowed out at the bottom and they crawl up in there and you can't get them out.

Rather than go into a hole which might get full the water, they'll just go into a tree, just anything to get a dog or coyote or bobcat off of it.

Now they're coming back.

That's what I like most about it.

Whenever they pick him back up and they just start hammering.

That's the best part.

If you see it, shoot it.

There it goes.

There you go.

That's his first swamper.

That's your first one?

Yeah, first swamper.

Fantastic, man.

There it is.

There it goes.

Oh.

That one dog almost caught it.

Here he comes.

Here he comes Cody.

Here he comes.

We're going to let him run.

Y'all better be ready.

Here he comes.

Just got me a little cottontail rabbit.

Shot over him a little bit the first time.

Man, what a great race.

That dog ran that rabbit a long way didn█t it?

Yeah, probably a good three or 400 yards.

Yeah, for a cottontail that was a pretty good race.

But now, we've kind of come out of some real thick, swampy areas over here in more fields.

Over here we're going to get into more of these style rabbits.

Okay.

Hey, nice shot.

Thank you, man.

Hey, we got a lot of good looking area right here to hunt.

I think we're getting ready to get into it.

Find him, find him, find him.

That rabbit knows that this is field all the way around.

But this is a little peninsula that comes out.

So he's looking for a hole to get in there, and those dogs are trying to push it.

There it is.

Coming at you.

Too far away.

They had this rabbit in here and that rabbit came out, but he was out of range.

But I've been carrying this gun all day, and it was time to shoot.

There he goes, get him.

Oh.

There he rolls.

Hey there's two.

There's two.

So I think they just got that rabbit.

Someone yelled, “there's two”.

Good shot.

So I think they've got that second rabbit.

It looks like they just took it.

So that was great, man.

I tell you what, for the dogs to get in that log jam.

That's probably the safest place in this county.

They got down here in a very, very bottom and bumped that rabbit out, and lo and behold, jumped a second rabbit.

Looks like we got shot at both of them.

Man, that is some great dog work right there.

Well I'll tell you what, this was a great experience because we got to come down here today and hunt two completely different terrains that held different species of rabbits.

You guys are very passionate about your dog work, and today was a lot of fun watching these dogs run a lot of distance.

We had a great time.

Thank you, guys.

Thank you.

Appreciate it.

When I was a child, I didn't get the opportunity to squirrel hunt with dogs.

But as an adult, every time I hit the woods, I immediately think this is a great opportunity to introduce a child to the outdoors.

What's her name again?

Her name's Ellie May.

What type of dog she?

She's a mountain feist.

A mountain feist.

Mountain feist.

They use their eyes, ears and they're nose real well.

You might see them get up on their hind legs even.

They'll wind, and they just go.

Go get him girl.

She knows what she's here for.

And that dog immediately... Find a squirrel.

She█s pretty accurate.

This little dog here is, you know.

I can't speak for all of them, but I like the I like the the breed just for the fact that usually when they tree there's meat there.

Because, you know, they're not the smelling a track, they█re smelling that whole squirrel.

Yeah.

When it's up the tree.

Look how she█s jumping.

When she starts bouncing like that she's smelling something right there.

I think she smells one right now guys.

She█s treed.

Look at her.

Look at her biting on that stump.

That squirrel has went straight up into there.

Look how excited she is.

Oh yeah she's a she knows it's there.

Exactly where it█s at.

Good girl.

Good girl.

Good girl Ellie.

We ain't going to get that one, it█s in a hole.

Come here, baby.

Right through there.

That's a good girl.

I usually just pack her a little ways.

We'll go back up here and go through this gate.

All right.

And head up, up this way here to the right.

And she should have us another one treed in no time.

That's the way we're going.

There you go.

She's on that tree buddy, both front feet.

I see the squirrel.

I just saw the squirrel too.

Squirrel█s sitting right up in the top.

There's, there's two.

Is there two?

I'll tell you what Steve, you get in range where you think you can get a shot at one, and if the other one takes off, and we have to shoot at it running, I'll be ready.

I was taught as a kid to aim small, miss small.

I had to pay for my own shells buddy.

What my uncle didn't bring me from Hazard.

So I'm real careful about the way I shoot.

Ready?

There you go.

There's one.

There's one more up there.

Yeah, you want to shoot it?

He's right up in that same fork, Chad.

I told you that gun█s dead on.

Yeah man.

Good girl.

Good girl.

Good job Ellie May.

Good job, Ellie.

Good job buddy.

You think they don't want those squirrels.

I mean, I'm telling you what.

Oh, she loves it.

Hey, we enjoy getting out here, and it's always good for the table.

But you know what?

That dog likes it more than we do.

Oh, yeah.

I mean, look how excited she is.

Yes, she's excited.

I believe she's on the right.

Stay on this side.

I█ll let Ellie May tell us where we need to go.

That's exactly right.

You see right there where the fork?

It's sitting right there.

It's a grey squirrel.

She's looking right at it.

Here Chad, you come get the rifle and I'll handle the dog.

I got a pretty good shot right here.

All right, go ahead.

Crack shot.

Good job Ellie.

There she goes.

Good dog.

That dog is on it.

Nice shooting Chad.

Well thank you.

I'll tell you one thing, you've got a squirrel killing combination with that little 10/22 and Ellie may.

(laughing) Oh lordy.

I█ll tell you what, it doesn█t get any better.

You just turn the dogs loose.

It's very social.

Yeah.

We can sit here and talk and carry on.

Talk about our deer season, and lo and behold wait for her to bark, walk up there.

Yeah we've talked about bear hunting, elk hunting, everything else.

And then directly you hear it bark.

Let's go.

We've hunted everything in the state of Kentucky and got three squirrels.

(laughing) Pretty good.

That is pretty good.

Oh lordy, good job.

Where did this originate, using feist dogs?

Even George Washington in some of his memoirs was talking about, you know, a feist.

Feist dog.

And that's what they used to call them.

You know, it's been that far back.

But a lot of your poorer people, your early settlers in the mountains and stuff, you know, they could have one dog for everything.

So it's pretty much an all around dog.

So, that little feist dog was easier to feed and care for.

And so, you know, some families that couldn't afford the bigger dogs just took the smaller dogs and, and they they adapted into all around hunting dogs, varmint dogs, you know.

And now they're just specifically squirrel dogs.

That's interesting.

You know, there's always a good storyline behind something like this and this entire breed of dogs, because they are cheaper to feed and can be trained to tree multiple species, came out of the mountains because the people there just didn't have much.

Some of your first settlers, some of my people were some of the first settlers in southeastern Kentucky.

Came in through Cumberland Gap and that way in to Kentucky.

You know, my daddy always talked about the old feist dogs when he was a little boy down there and stuff, you know, them getting snake bit.

Treeing possums and coons of a night and squirrels of a day, you know and stuff.

And he loved the tree dog, and I guess I growed up hunting with him and that's what made me love the tree dogs.

I mean I rabbit hunt and stuff too and get them rabbit dogs and all you know but, man I've just... There█s just something about a tree dog you know, going, being able to go to it.

It's just so much different.

It is.

And you know, your dad loved it.

And I'm sure that it a little bit brings you back to your childhood.

Absolutely.

I think she█s fixin█ to tree.

She█s treed.

Here we go.

We have a little talk and tree a little squirrel.

That sounds like the beginning of a song.

Yeah.

Talk to him girl.

Good girl.

Oh, I see it going up the tree.

It's up there in the top now.

I can just barely see a little piece of hair there.

How's that?

Good girl.

Good girl, Ellie.

Good girl.

I just shot at what I could see.

You look out.

Look how red that squirrel is down its back.

Yeah, it sure is.

For a grey.

I'll tell you one thing.

She was sure it was on that tree, and I was not going to doubt that dog.

No, no.

There's probably one over there too.

There it sits, right there.

See it right there on top?

Right there it sits.

Oh, yeah I sure do.

See it?

That dog was on that tree.

Oh, yeah.

And we spooked this one out walking to it.

And sure enough, again, that's a fox squirrel.

So we've got a grey and a fox sitting hee side by side.

It is a fox squirrel.

Yeah, I knew she had a squirrel there.

And then we seen that other one, but a lot of times that'll happen like that.

Get ready.

Coming down the tree.

Get ready.

Here, here Ellie, here, here, here, here Ellie, here.

Coming down.

There you go.

Get him girl.

Good job, Ellie.

Good job, Ellie.

Fantastic.

I tell you what that is awesome.

When you sit there and we walk in and we see a squirrel and we think, Oh, that's what she's barking at right there.

And I said, you know, look at that dog.

She bites on to my coat and everything.

Look at her.

Oh, God, I love that enthusiasm.

Good girl.

We've got oak, scaley bark hickories.

We've got tight bark hickories, pig nut trees, the shag barks, scaly bark, same thing.

Got red oaks, white oaks.

There's plenty of big timber in here.

And then you got these little locusts.

That's pretty much their homes in there.

Besides the nest, you know.

Well the woodpeckers have opened it up for them and just said here, live here.

Yeah.

All right, girl, go get him.

Go find squirrel.

Go get him.

There she is.

She's already treed up again.

Straight out.

Yup.

Straighty out this ridge.

I see it.

It's a fox squirrel and it ain█t very high.

Here Chad, bust that fox squirrel right in the head.

Look right there.

Right here low.

Through the cedar.

Good shot.

Good shot Chad.

There he goes.

Yeah man.

Good job.

I think that's number ten.

Good girl.

Good girl Ellie.

You know, Steve, you like to shoot these fox squirrels right at the end of the hunt so you don█t have to carry them all day.

Exactly.

Exactly.

That's good thinking.

Look at there what Chad shot out to you, buddy.

Look there what a squirrel.

Nice.

Yeah man.

I'll tell you what, I could watch that dog work squirrels every single day.

Good job.

Are you still holding that buck tag?

Well, don't worry.

You still have another opportunity.

December the 9th to the 17th is the late muzzle loader season here in Kentucky.

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.

Did you know that Kentucky is home to the largest elk herd in the eastern U.S.?

With an elk zone twice the size of Yellowstone National Park.

Look how big that animal is.

I mean, this is just amazing.

And we enjoy one of the most diverse fisheries in the country.

Just ask Christine.

And by the way, Kentucky is known for being one of the top five states for trophy white tails each year.

Additionally, more than 100,000 Kentuckians have benefited from our conservation education programs like the Salato Wildlife Education Center, Summer Conservation Camps, and our learn to hunt and fish classes.

Or did you know about the 1.6 million acres open to the public?

These are just a few things that Kentucky's Department of Fish and Wildlife have helped preserve.

This is one of several we have on the Kentucky River.

She's got plenty of room in that nest for chicks.

Who pays for conservation in Kentucky?

Well, since the Department receives no general fund state tax dollars, we rely on the sportsmen and women of the Commonwealth.

He's been waiting years for that.

So if you enjoy Kentucky's resources, help us manage them by purchasing a hunting or fishing license today.

You can do so by visiting F.W.KY.GOV.

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Then you'll love the new Fish Boat KY app.

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