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 jump in a kayak and head to Dale Hollow Lake and Chase Trophy smallmouth bass.

Then we're going to join a biologist and use a thermal scope to count deer.

But first, we're headed to Western Kentucky to get in the swamp and chase swamp rabbits.

We got dogs everywhere today.

How many dogs got on the ground today?

I got three.

You got three?

I got two, four, five, six, seven.

Ten, ten.

Total ten.

Total dogs.

I'll tell you what.

If we can't, get a rabbit up here in Graves County with ten dogs, then, we got other problems.

Yeah, we just need to sell out and start deer hunting.

I guess.

Don█t say that I'm not ready for that.

Haffle, get there.

Come on, come on, come on, come on.

Get in there and look for him, get in there and look for him.

There it is.

Right here.

Right here.

Well, he squirted out right there.

And I did not have a good shot with the.

Hey.

Dead dead dead dead dead dead dead.

Waylon, You're carrying all the rabbits today, right?

Oh, man.

You're.

I love that.

I'm not going to have you do that.

I'm just teasing.

Now Waylon, you're in the second grade and you're no, no newbie to rabbit hunting are you?

All right, rabbit one.

Hopefully this is the beginning of a great day.

I hope so, everybody gets to pull the trigger.

All right.

This is a rubber boot kind of day.

I've took people from all over swamp rabbit hunting.

And, you know, I'll bring them to something like this, and we jump rabbits, and they just can't believe it.

Yeah.

You know, every time I've come down here to do a swamp rabbit hunt, it's this deer woods.

It is.

That's what the guys from Georgia and Alabama call it.

Deer woods.

Bring your rubber boots, get ready.

You're going to tromp through some stuff and i█ll tell you what.

A lot of times they're not only that long races out.

These rabbits are pretty good about tricking the dog.

Oh, yeah, they'll cross something high.

They'll run on logs up off the ground.

They'll set down off the ground.

Yeah, yeah.

There's a good open spot right.

Yeah, let█s go this way Leah.

Oh, there he goes!

Oh, there he goes!.

Get in there Hay Hay.

Norman, you just said they'll set the spot like that.

Well, see, they don't require a lot of cover.

Hey, you two, hop up here, see if they bring it right back.

Come on, bub.

They're out in front of you a little bit, so be looking coming through that woods.

He's going to be coming into this ditch.

Here he comes right here.

Get your gun up.

Get your gun up.

He's coming straight.

Click your safety off.

Get your gun up son, get your gun up.

Put that beed on him.

Smoke him, smoke him.

Look, he█s right there.

Put your safety on.

Right here, right here.

Get your gun up, get your gun up.

Turn your safety off.

He's right here.

Right here in front of you.

Shoot him.

Is he down?

No, no he's sitting right behind that tree.

Chad, you want to shoot this gun?

Shoot him.

Good shot Chad.

Good shot bub.

Hey, good shot.

You did a good job.

You slowed him down and stopped him right there.

Hey, you stopped him.

You sure did.

Hey, you got 90% tree, 10% rabbit.

I love you, boy.

Hey, good job buddy.

You're going to get another chance to.

But that was a great job.

Let█s get him before the dogs.

Yeah, let█s hop over there.

My buddy Waylon gets the assist on that one for sure.

That was.

That was fun.

You know, you're in western Kentucky.

Start seeing those cypress knees up there like that, yeah, yeah.

They get you tripped up quick fast.

Yeah.

They don't bend.

No.

There he goes.

See it?

Yeah.

He come right out of that brush right here.

Right there is where I saw it.

Shoot him.

Did you him him?

Hang on, hang on.

Where they at?

Got him!

Had to wait till he cleared you.

Yep.

Yep.

I did shoot it.

sure you're here?

I thought you hit him in the butt.

There you go.

Oh, the rabbit came through the woods, and I shot the first time, and I hit him a little bit too far back.

And then dad shot again, and I shot again.

And we finally got done after the fourth shot.

First rabbit in Kentucky.

Your first Kentucky rabbit, that█s a big old swamper isn█t it?

yeah, I█ve never killed a swamp rabbit before.

Yeah.

It's your first swamper isn█t it?

Yep.

That's a big yeah.

Show them dogs and they get up here and show them them dead.

Too far.

Norman, I got a rabbit right here.

Oh, they was in check and jumping him back up.

I saw him coming.

So I headed him off.

He was moving pretty fast.

come on, dead, Max No.

Come on now.

Dead rabbit.

So, Paul I appreciate you inviting us down.

You know, part of the state I live.

I don't get an opportunity to run swamp rabbits ever, unless I come down here to visit you.

Yeah.

Waylon was out of school today.

He got to join us.

Your other buddy, Brian, he got to bring his daughter.

So, you know, this is kind of rabbit hunting is all about, right?

Good thing whenever you can get the youth out, enjoy the wildlife and listen to the dogs run in and kill a few rabbits.

Hit me up.

We'll be glad to do it again, sir.

Thank you so much.

Thank you.

The middle of winter and cold temperatures can be great for smallmouth fishing.

So we headed to Dale Hollow Lake and teamed up with Kristine Fisher to do just that.

So, Kristine, where are you from originally?

I am from the little town of Weeping Water in Nebraska.

Nebraska?

It had about 800 people.

801, something like that.

What got you into fishing?

Is there a really good lake to fish there local?

Oh, no.

Not at all.

Oh, heck no.

No.

My whole family.

There was one right there.

Hold on a second.

Get a bite.

Yeah.

Got one.

Well, it feels like a good one.

Yep.

Good fish.

Big small mouth.

Oh.

Very nice.

Oh.

You found that grass edge.

Man.

Look at that beautiful fish.

Very nice.

I'll tell you what.

That's what Dale Hall is known for right there.

That's a healthy fish.

God I love it.

Oh, here we go.

I finally got one hooked up here.

And you didn't flip the kayak on the hookset.

That's a, that's a huge win.

I've got a fish on and I'm still dry.

That's a that's a win win for today.

Now appreciate the intimacy of that fish being so close to you right now.

That's what it's all about.

Oh yeah.

Lookie there.

Yeah.

We'll take it.

I'll take it, though.

Beautiful smallmouth fish.

So what point in time did you decide that you were going to do the majority of your fish out of a kayak?

Well, about the time I looked at the price of a Ranger.

Yeah, I think I was in my early 20s, I bought one, there was a flier for a little local kayak fishing tournament, and that kind of got me into it.

Like, I spent like, 800 bucks on my first fishing kayak.

It was a used one I bought online.

It's kind of taken off since, and it's allowed me to travel all over the country.

I can handle it by myself and I can fish any water I want, which is really nice.

You know, some of the small rivers and creeks, big water, like Saint Clair.

You fish a lot of big water, don't you?

I do, yeah, I absolutely do.

A lot of my tournaments are on, you know, giant bodies of water.

There we go.

It definitely.

You have to really do some map study prior to jumping on a lake like this.

We can't just run spots as easily.

You limited a little more on how far you're willing to go.

And you got to watch the weather, too.

Yeah, absolutely.

I've been in some pretty inclement weather on this thing.

I would probably consider myself, a multi-species angler with muskie.

Muskie fishing is my passion.

Always has been.

Oh, my goodness.

I grew up fishing muskie, pike, walleye up north.

Nebraska is not necessarily known for your bass fishing, but I'm very active on the national kayak bass tournament scene, and so I've been doing that for three years now.

Active is one way to say it.

Extremely successful is another one.

I mean, you've won your fair share too, haven't you?

I've had a pretty good year this year.

Yeah, I was really consistent last year.

I did win a local tournament last year, and I had several top five national level finishes, but I didn't win a big one.

And this year I won three.

So that was that's kind of I was kind of a neat deal for me.

So people who think, okay, tournament style fishing in a kayak, how does that work?

Because you you don't have a livewell, you're not taking fish in, but you do it on a different method than what most people used to.

And that's a overall inches, right?

That's right.

Yeah.

Which is really good for conservation because we do catch photo release on this little measuring board I have back here.

You measure the fish, you've got a predetermined identifier.

And that fish goes right back in the water.

Gotcha.

Okay.

It's great for the sport and it's great.

You know, those fish go right back and they're not out of the water for a long time.

Oh, I got a bite right now.

This fish here is going to pull me out there, out to the ocean.

Yeah.

They'll take you for a ride.

That's a good one.

That looks like a good one.

It's a good fish.

You might want to use a net on that.

Oh, yeah.

That's a beautiful fish.

That's a 20, I bet.

What do you know?

I think I just landed a four and a half pounder in a kayak.

This might be a first for me.

Yeah, that's a good one.

This is a good fish here.

And I tell you what, did you see that pull, pull my boat?

Yeah.

I need to get out of your way here.

No.

You're fine.

I'm cast.

I cast right behind you.

Look how thick that thing is from the top to the belly.

Yeah.

So do you want to put it on the board and see how long it is?

We can do that.

That's got to be a 20.

Yeah, it's probably 20in.

And I bet you that fish there is at least four and a half pounds.

That's got to be four and a half.

Let's throw it on the board real quick and we'll see how long it is.

So for tournament we'd have an identifier somewhere along the board I usually strap up here, but then what we would do, you take the fish.

That's going to go right.

Yep.

Right at 20, like I thought.

20 inches.

Yeah.

Make sure the mouth is closed.

Look how thick that fish is.

So you then take a picture of it.

Yeah.

And would immediately upload 20in, would be real time?

Or do you do you get your data at the end of the tournament?

You take the picture and then submit.

You either submit it right then and there or you can wait.

Some people sandbag.

Or you sneak in 60 inches worth of bass all in the last seconds.

Yep.

That's a beautiful fish though.

Thank you I appreciate that.

That's why Dale hollow has a very special place in my heart.

And I just.

The first time I was on this lake I fell in love with it.

I think it was back in May a few years ago.

I was there pre spawn at that time, if I'm not mistaken.

And gosh, it was just incredible.

For someone who's from Nebraska, you do spend a lot of time in Kentucky, don't you?

I spend more time in Kentucky than I do.

I'm in Nebraska maybe just once or twice a year anymore.

And in Kentucky and Tennessee, this part of the country, a lot.

Yeah, yeah.

Do you get a bite?

Right under the boat.

Oh, man.

My line caught my rode right after I.

That's why I don't ever keep my rods up front like that.

Bad habit.

Really bad habit.

How many days a year do you think you spend on the water?

Boy, I would say at least 300.

I'm not.

I'm not joking.

Like, how many days are there in a year?

I know it's 360 something, right?

I'm on the water most throughout the year.

It's every single day.

Yeah.

Oh my gosh.

For at least a few hours.

Maybe it's bigger than I thought.

But it's what I do full time.

So it's, they say if you if you love what you do.

Yeah.

Oh, absolutely.

Oh, look at him.

Oh.

That's huge.

300 days a year.

I bet you hold fishing license in at least eight states right now.

Nine, nine.

Well, I've got annuals in nine.

I just looked at this the other day.

I think I've got 26 or 27 other ones that I've had just purchased licenses this year, but nine annuals.

Isn█t that crazy?

That is crazy.

Yeah.

This is about ready to happen right here.

Now we've got to pull one more off of this spot.

We've missed several.

Oh.

You kind of called that, didn't you?

Yep.

This one's not quite as big as the last one.

Pretty aggressive though.

I'll tell you what.

These fish, man, they school up on the edge of these grass mats.

You can catch good quality fish and big numbers of fish.

And out here in the wintertime, who thinking December is one of my favorite months to fish out here at Dale.

Hollow, is December and January.

February.

Well, I say we make a few more casts.

We got so many spots, you know, we're a little bit less mobile, but we can get more than one spot.

Oh, yeah.

Thermal imaging is a very useful tool for biologists to count deer, especially when it's cold outside and the ground is frozen.

So tonight we're using thermal cameras.

They're roof mounted, and we're going to run about 15 miles of routes here in Garrard County.

So we base every decision that we make for deer off of a myriad of things, one of which being our population reconstruction model that we do.

And there's a lot of different inputs that go into it, but basically that spits out a number as to whether or not there's too many deer, too little deer, or just the right amount of deer in a county.

And before we go and bump a county, either more liberal or more conservative bag limits, we like to get some actual data on the ground.

And that's what we're doing tonight.

So we're we're doing a deer density survey, much like a spotlight survey, but with some, some new technology.

And we'll get out here and see what we can find.

You ready?

Yep.

So when we start, you're going to click route.

Yep.

Okay.

When we see a deer, you're going to click unknown deer.

And then you got to click done up in the right hand.

So if there's a big group, you got to remember that.

Unknown, done.

Unknown, done.

And we're going to click the record button on the computers and the route button at the same time.

One, two, three.

All right.

So now we're recording video and we're recording the route.

Garrard County, the county that we're in, there's different types of habitat.

You know, there's a lot of cattle country, but there's also big chunks of forest.

Basically, we looked at a map and did our best to draw these routes to encompass a representative area throughout the county.

You know, it would take months to try and count every deer in the county.

So we try and get a good sample based on the landscape and how that represents the county as a whole, the management unit as a whole.

So for Garrard County, we've got a mixture of cattle country like we're looking at right now and then we're going to get into some more wooded area that's going to represent another section of the county.

Yeah, there's a bunch of cows right there.

Hey, there you go.

There you go.

There's four deer right there.

Check that out.

We're going to mark that we got a deer.

Like that.

That█s what we're looking for.

The app gives us the ability to not only track the route and track the deer that we see on the route.

Drops a pin right where we see the deer.

but it takes weather for us, wind, how fast we're moving, all the metrics that we would have to stop and take during a traditional spotlight survey.

They're all being recorded right now as we're driving down the road.

So it's making this process a lot more efficient for our staff, and it's making the data a lot more reliable, where we're going to be able to come and run these exact routes year after year, do the exact same thing and have data that we can, you know, reliably compare year over year over year.

That█s a deer way out there.

Yeah, see?

There's a deer down on the creek.

See it walking?

There's a deer.

Yeah, there's one bedded up on the hill right there.

Then let's bump on up.

I think that'll be another one there.

So that's a second deer that's bedded on this hillside right here looks like.

And then can't really tell what's in here.

That looks like at least two, maybe three something.

So we'll mark that, go back and look at it on the video to see.

Coyote.

Pull on forward.

There he is.

There he goes.

Okay.

I got three deer over here.

One, two, three.

And that is a rabbit or something like 20 yards ahead right there but those are deer.

We just finished out here in Garrard county.

Last route of the night.

We're gonna download and log all these videos, compare them to the real time counts that we took tonight.

and kind of come to a consensus on how many deer we were able to see.

We'll take the routes that we ran, put them into our mapping software, and figure out how much we were able to see.

and then from there, we'll be able to get a real time density of what's going on in Garrard County.

Quite a few deer tonight.

Excited to get back to the office and see what it all comes out as.

All right, so we are back, at headquarters this morning after the Garrard County thermal survey.

We've had time to review the footage, and we were able to pick out quite a few more deer than we thought we saw.

So that's a good thing.

The ability to be able to come back and review the footage and count deer again just to confirm.

So now we know how many deer we saw on these routes.

What do we do now?

From there, we'll take the route that we ran off of the app that we used during the survey.

we dropped the route into this mapping software, say how far the camera was off the ground, and it uses a lidar layer in our map to to determine what we were able to see depending on the topography, vegetation.

This was our visibility on the route that we ran right here.

So now thinking back to math class, you've got your area, you've got the number of deer inside that area.

So now we can figure out our density.

Turns out this survey was really supportive of our population reconstruction estimate.

It indicates that the county has reached a threshold that it probably needs to be bumped to the next zone, a more liberal zone.

Zone 2, to try and get some deer taken off of the landscape.

The main reason that we are trying to keep deer at a manageable level is for the herd health and the landscape health.

So, you█d imagine you put too many cows in a field, they're going to over graze it pretty hard.

Same thing happens to the landscape when we have too many deer.

That's our goal in the deer program, is to find that balance between having enough deer for hunters to be satisfied.

When they go out there seeing deer, they're harvesting deer, but also keeping it at a level that is manageable to where they don't overpopulate and don't start causing all the problems that come with overpopulation.

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 eight year old Ellie Givens with their first deer.

This deer was taken in Butler County.

Congratulations.

Check out this beautiful rainbow trout that was taken from the Cumberland River by Ryan Rothrock.

Nice fish.

Nine year old Clayton Sissel was able to take out his brand new Christmas rifle and take this coyote in Nelson County.

Congratulations!

2025 has started off brutally cold, but warmer weather is right around the corner.

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.