This week on Kentucky Afield.

We're getting started on cave run Lake targeting big crappie using a live scope.

Next there are turkeys with leg bands roaming the commonwealth.

How those leg bands got there.

Well, we're about to show you.

Then, one critical step in preparing for Turkey season is patterning your shotgun.

We're doing that and comparing loads with an expert, Mr. Harold Knight.

It's all next on Kentucky Afield Hello and welcome to Kentucky Af I'm your host, Chad Miles.

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

Cave Run Lake in Morehead, Kentucky, is well known for its Muskie fishing, but don't overlook fishing there for crappie.

Today I'm on beautiful Cave Run Lake with an old fishing buddy Kris, 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.

Many waterfowl hunters across the state of Kentucky have taken banded birds, but now this season there's an opportunity to take banded turkeys as well.

Zach, we're actually doing something pretty unique.

We're going to use several rockets and a net to catch turkeys.

Yup.

What in the world would we want to do that for?

Right.

For research.

Yeah.

This is research designed specifically to make sure our hunting regulations are where they should be for sustainability of turkey population for hunters.

Hopefully 10-15 gobblers will come in here on the bait site.

May take hours.

This is a waiting game, right?

Right.

But once you shoot the net and you catch these turkeys, you█re going to run out.

And then what are we going to do to allow us to gather data?

We█re going to put leg bands.

The leg bands are on the birds.

The birds are subject to harvest here in a couple of months.

Okay.

Hunter shoots the bird.

He reports it to us.

This is just one sample of birds here, but we're doing this all across the state.

You█re hoping to band 300 right?

Yeah, that's our goal.

But you█re specifically trying to get male birds, right?

In this case males, yeah, because we're trying to estimate spring harvest rate.

That's what we're after.

So bearded hens, yeah, we would band those too.

Okay, We've caught a few at this site already, so if we could get another handful, that'd be great.

We've got many other sites spread out.

That's part of the study is to be representative of the whole state.

So from western Kentucky to eastern Kentucky and us in between here, we've got multiple sites in each region so we can spread things out a little bit.

This is going to be really cool to watch.

Yeah, it's a rodeo, I'm sure.

All right.

Well, I guess it's about time for us to get back into our locations and get ready to go.

All right.

Good deal.

Well, we've got all of our rockets setup.

We've got our bait site set.

We've tested everything.

We should be good to go.

Now it's just a waiting game.

We've got big expectations of getting a good group of gobblers caught in the net.

Hopefully it doesn't take too long.

But when it happens and that boom takes place and that net goes out, it's going to be a mad dash from everybody around to get out there and to try to hold these turkeys down, get them secured, get them banded, and get them released back in the wild.

Yeah, here we go.

Our first turkey.

I can't tell if it's a gobbler or not.

It█s got a beard.

Well, that turkey that came in has now made its way off all the way at the far end of the field.

It didn't come to the bait, but that's okay.

We need more birds to come to trigger the rockets anyway.

So hopefully we get another flock of more birds that come in and make their way right there to the bait pile.

It█s still early.

Barely after nine.

Well, our turkeys didn't get the message.

They haven't showed up yet.

We've been here for several hours.

It's actually warmed up.

Went from about ten degrees to, it█s in the thirtys now.

It feels pretty good.

Some cattle are moving around, birds are flying, just not turkeys.

Alright, we█ve got turkeys on both sides.

Oh my goodness.

Man we█ve still got six or seven turkeys on the back side.

Here they come.

Are they going to come in or no?

And these are all male turkeys but some of them have got really short beards.

Not now?

No.

We█re going to get, we█re going to have a chance at catching 12 to 14 all in one shot.

This is going to be insane.

Come on turkeys It█s go time.

Okay.

let█s go.

Oh, my goodness.

All at the last minute.

We sat there for 8 hours.

10 hours.

All right, blindfolds on all the heads we can.

I think we've got 11 male turkeys on the ground right now getting these little socks on their heads, trying to settle them as best we can.

And it's time to start the work up process.

It just calm them down, keeps us from freaking out so bad.

We know that they're male birds unless they're bearded hens, so.

They're all male bird.

I thought.

I thought I saw a jake or two.

There's a couple of jakes in there.

2161..

He's got 2160.

Oh, he█s got 2160?

Yup.

All right.

So you got the number, everything recorded?

2161 jake, right?

Yeah, everything's good on that one.

We're actually doing this study in conjunction with Tennessee, Tennessee Wildlife Resource Agency and Tennessee Tech University.

And what we're trying to do is estimate harvest rates of male turkeys.

Okay.

Band number 10-55.

10-55.

We know from telecheck how many legally hunters harvest.

What does that mean?

You know, so this is kind of a percentage thing.

Plus, we'll be able to look at survival of the bird.

Got him.

So I'm taking his...

Hold on to him a little longer next time.

The only way you can do that effectively is you have to disperse the number of birds you're taking across the state because certain areas have higher hunting pressure and higher population of birds, different habitats, different landscapes.

You know, Kentucky's very diverse east west, so we're doing it across the state.

Both public and private lands?

Yep, for sure.

Okay.

Today we're on a private land property.

Yeah, but you also had some people today at Clay WMA, right?

That's right.

Yep.

Yep.

They caught five birds right before we did these, so.

Okay.

How many years is this project going to go on?

It█s a four year project.

This is the first one.

You can just sat him down... Don█t Don█t keep hanging on to him.

Well, you told me to hold on long while ago.

I noticed some of these are, you know, silver, and some of them are green.

Tell me about the green ones.

Yeah, every fourth one is green.

They are reward bands.

Oh, okay.

Purpose of the reward bands is to help us estimate harvest rate of the non-reward bands.

Gotcha.

They're doing this type of work for a long time in the waterfowl world.

There█s some type of financial or surprise award for whoever turns in one of these?

$75.

Yeah.

$75?

And we've got some really good cooperation there.

We have the Kentucky Fish Wildlife Foundation would be contacting the hunters and the funds for that are donated by the Kentucky chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation.

Okay.

So multiple partners helping out.

So, hey, if you're out and hunting and you come across a turkey that's got a band on it like this, make sure you report it.

Get all the information back to the agency.

But the turkey is theirs to keep.

The band is there to keep.

And hey.

Absolutely.

I've never killed a banded Turkey, have you?

No.

There's not been many been a bird since George.

Wright years and years ago when turkeys were still being restored.

And if you're lucky enough to get a green one, then there's actually a financial incentive as well.

That's right.

All right.

Hey, thank you so much.

I appreciate your time.

Yes, sir.

Are you looking for more knockdown power out of your turkey gun?

Well, now you have many options.

Well, Herald turkey season is right around the corner right here on us, brother.

You know, the crazy thing about turkey hunting is it's changing every year and it's changing fast to keep up with all the new trends.

You really got to spend a little time, you know, you do not try to read up on it and keep up with it.

And I tell you what, it's a full time job.

Do that now.

Absolutely.

You know, we had you on a call-in show about four years ago and you said something that at the time I remember thinking, that's pretty radical.

And that was you were going to Turkey that year with a tungsten load shooting nine shot?

That's correct.

And I was amazed the difference between it and Leon.

And you got some more shots, several hundred more.

Yeah.

And it is unreal what it█ll do.

More energy down range.

So if you can sight your gun in in a way that you can take a bird at 50, 60 yards and they build choke tubes now specifically for a particular type of ammunition and show you exactly how it should pattern.

Seems like every year somebody is coming out with new chokes.

You said you're hunting with a 20 gauge this year.

12 gauge has been the standard.

You're right, I'm shooting a 20 gauge now over 12, predominantly because of tungsten ammo.

It's been a game changer.

These tungsten shells and dot scopes and things.

It really have.

Well, I happen to have bought a new 20 gauge this year, and I've bought a gun that I plan on using in the field for a whole range of outdoor recreation from sporting clays to doves to rabbit to Turkey.

And I never thought I'd be making a transition to 20 gauge.

But let's gather up some ammo.

And, you know, we came down here to talk turkey.

We're also going to shoot some guns and pattern our turkey guns for this year.

I want to learn a few things from you.

And hopefully when I leave today, I feel confident that my gun is ready to go.

Good deal.

All right, let's give it a shot right here.

See here where we at.

So we want to fine tune it with ammo.

You're going to shoot, but get on the paper and make sure you're getting close with your less expensive load.

That's right.

Fire in the hole.

I see a lot of green.

Not bad.

It█s close.

Okay, I'm going to go get it.

We're going to bring it back and we're going to look and see where we're at.

All right.

Let█s put another target out while we█re there, You know, I can see it.

Pretty good pattern.

Looks like he's a dead turkey.

There█s one, two, three, four, five, six, seven.

In a span in the head there.

But it looks like to me the pattern still is just a teeny bit low.

And I think that might be just to the left, just a little.

We need to make just a little adjustment and shoot another shell.

All right.

I█m going to shoot TSS this time.

Okay.

It's a tungsten shell.

So you got a few more shot.

A few more shot.

Yeah.

And I've adjusted my gun.

So let's see what it does.

All right.

All right.

Fire in the hole.

All right.

Let█s go see where we're at.

That's what I'm looking for.

I'm usually here.

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18.

In the red kill.

Not counting the other.

I believe that gun is ready to hunt.

That gun is ready.

All right, let's try a long beard.

Number five shot.

We█ll show the exact same gun, same choke tube with a LED shot long beard RX, which is a great shell.

It's a great round.

Let's just see what the difference is.

All right.

Let's see what is long beard will do.

All right.

The wind blew it down there walking up here, but that's a dead turkey.

You see.

We've got the gun right.

Look, look at a pattern there.

So we've got one, two, three, four, five, six, seven.

That's pretty good.

That's pretty good.

I'm impressed with that.

But the difference is the amount of holes in there.

And these are five shot, a lot bigger shot, but they weigh the same.

So the amount of energy that you've got here, not near as much is the tungsten shot that you put on there before.

I recommend that we bring this in to about 35 yards and shoot your gun and shoot with a regular shell and see where the pattern is.

All right, let's do that.

I've never shot this gun to this turkey choke tube.

So what we're going to do is use this bigger target and we're going to see exactly where this thing is hitting.

Alright, fire in the hole.

You hit the bulls eye , look here.

That's as center as you put one in there.

That is pretty lucky.

Overall, I've got some shot above and below, but the majority of the shots are below.

It looks like it's a little bit low.

Let's put another target up and shoot a tungsten.

What are you talking about?

I believe we're in good shape.

I believe you're in great shape.

If you look at the number of kill shots.

Look, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20.

All right, Harold.

Now, this is the setup I've been using for quite a few years.

Turkey hunting.

All right, I got.

So this is my Winchester Super X2, this is really a duck gun, but I've got a turkey choke tube in it, and this is shooting Winchester Long Beard.

So three and a half inch, five shot, a lot more recoil, a lot more gun to haul around.

But let's see what this does and then compare this to the 20 gauge TSS.

All right.

If you were to kill turkeys, this gun, so evidently you should be on.

We'll see.

Very good.

This is very good pattern.

I mean, it's all pretty tight.

This is the same distance 20 gauge TSS with a true log choke tube.

And this is the same gun I've had a lot of luck with hunting over the years.

I believe I'm more short haul and less gun.

Case closed, my friend.

There's the difference.

Well Harold, I can't tell how much I appreciate.

You want to come out here and shoot our guns today.

I think we're both ready to hit the woods.

You know, were your gun shoots now Chad.

Yes sir, and, you know, it's very, very important for a turkey hunter to shoot his gun before he goes turkey hunting.

Well, I tell you what, if I can only learn a few things about calling turkeys, maybe I'll fill my tags.

Oh I bet you can call a turkey.

Well, I appreciate.

Thanks for having us down.

Yes, sir.

Thanks for letting me be a part of it.

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 Cindy Tyrrell with a nice smallmouth bass she caught while fishing Floyds Fork Creek.

Congratulations.

Here we have Zoe Smith with a nice turkey that she took in Hart County, Kentucky.

Congratulations.

Check out this beautiful smallmouth bass that was caught by Travis Smith on Lake Cumberland.

This fish was caught on a sparrow rock crawler.

Nice job.

These three know how to spend a good day together that is crappie fishing at their local lake.

Here we have Robert Senior, Robert Junior and Chrissy Watkins.

Nice job.

April is a great month to be outdoors here in the state of Kentucky.

Whether you're turkey hunting, fishing or looking for antler sheds, there are so many opportunities.

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.