This week on Kentucky Afield, we're celebrating Father's Day weekend and we're kicking it off with a father-son turkey hunt.

Next, Chad's son, Leo, has his fishing pole handy and he's joining his dad for an afternoon of crappie fishing.

Then Father's Day is for grandfathers too.

So we're pond side with Eli Doom and his papa gigging frogs.

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.

It's a special moment when you take your first turkey or deer, but what makes that moment extra special is when it can be shared with your dad.

There's several that way.

If there's one roosting over there, he'll probably fly over here.

That would be sweet.

He might fly down right in front of us.

That█d be really good.

Those trees like right at the end there's like this big black dot.

It might be a turkey, but.

Think so?

I can't really tell what it is because it's not close enough.

How about that hen that█s over there yelping?

She's probably going to come over here right in front of the gun.

She sounds a little better than I do, doesn't she?

Yeah.

Well Hudson, you think we're going to get your first turkey this morning?

Yep.

I hope we do.

It's opening day of youth season, so I think we'll see something here sometime today.

So we just got to be patient.

This is the same spot your brother got his turkey last year.

Yup.

And he had three big Toms come out.

I remember you were supposed to go with us.

And you didn█t go.

There was three.

You could have shot one, too.

Yeah.

We got several birds within calling distance, so hopefully at some point today they make their way over here.

You remember where to shoot them?

Straight where the feathers meet the neck.

Right.

You shot that gun pretty good yesterday, so I don't think you are going to have any problem if he shows up.

No, this gun's pretty easy to shoot.

Yeah.

You were going to use your .410, but...

The 20 is a better option.

If he gets within 40 yards, he'll be in trouble.

That's.

Yeah, I will.

Well Hudson, we still got a few gobbling, but I think they flew down and found some girlfriends.

We need their girlfriends to come out in front of us.

What do you think?

Yeah.

Yep.

Maybe once girlfriends leave them we can call them in.

They've been on the cameras about every day, so if we just be patient, I think I'll show up.

Did you hear that one?

Yep.

He's not too far.

He█s not terribly far.

Hey Hudson.

What?

There's a hen down there.

You see that hen at the end of the ridge?

Yeah.

She came out of nowhere, but hopefully there█s a gobbler following her.

And hopefully she feeds this way because he's going to follow her, I█d say.

If there is one with her.

Yeah.

I forgot our decoys this morning, but she'll be our decoy.

She just needs to get closer.

There█s a deer up there behind her.

Do you see her, Hudson?

Yeah.

There's another.

Is that a buck?

It could be.

I bet you they're about to go bed.

Hudson, are you ready to go get some lunch?

Yeah, I'm pretty hungry.

Alright we will slip out of here and we'll be back soon as we can.

All right.

Well, we just got back.

I got my decoys I forgot this morning, so hopefully that'll help us out.

And, I guess we█re going to go spend the rest of the day in the blind.

You ready?

Yeah.

Hopefully we don't have to wait all day, but we will if we have to.

All right, let's go.

Well, as far as we know, we didn't bump any turkeys coming in.

So hopefully if they come out and see these decoys, they come right up to you.

Yeah.

The decoys really help.

Aim at that jake decoy.

Just like you're aiming at a real turkey.

Does it feel good?

Yep.

Are you right on his head?

Yeah.

Right where the feathers meet the neck?

Yeah.

Okay.

Oh Hudson don█t move there's a hen, like, 20 yards to our left right now.

She's in this long, tall grass heading for the decoys.

Just don█t move.

She's a good decoy isn█t she Hudson?

Yeah.

Did you hear him?

Yeah.

We got one over to our right that is answering us.

I'm hoping he gets in a position where he can see our decoys.

And I think if he does that, he'll be on his way.

I see him.

I see him coming.

They█re in the woods up there.

Oh, yeah.

You see him?

Yeah.

That's 3 gobblers.

He's looking.

He sees the decoys.

Hudson stay really still.

I mean, they might not want to walk through that little gap of tall stuff.

They might want to come around from the left.

Hudson, baby.

Hey.

Hudson, Hudson there's a gobbler.

Put your face mask on.

He's down here to the left.

He's really, really close.

I█m so tired.

He's going to come up here I think.

Hudson you want to shoot this turkey or not?

No.

Hudson, you got to shoot him.

He's coming.

I'm tired.

There's a gobbler in the field.

Oh, he's going to come.

He█s strutting.

Pull your mask up.

Ok here grab your gun.

He's coming.

He's coming straight to the decoys.

You're going to see him pretty soon.

Just don't make any sudden movements, okay?

Ok.

He's going to come.

Oh, man.

He's a big ole tom.

I can see him.

Okay.

He's giant.

He's coming.

Take your gun off the safety but don't put your finger on the trigger.

Just don't move your gun a lot.

Okay?

Ok.

I'm going to call real soft to make him stick his head up.

Okay?

Ok.

Right there, Hudson.

Just go ahead and shoot him right there.

You got him, Hudson!

Yes!

You just smoked your first gobbler.

Good job.

I told you, I said, I said, if we can just stick it out, you're going to get one today.

Man.

We sat in this blind all day, and you just got your first gobbler.

And he's a giant.

He█s giant.

How beautiful was that?

He█s a longbeard too.

He's a big old long beard.

Well, Hudson, we spent all day in this blind.

I don't know how many hours we put in that blind today, but it was a lot.

We saw three that way.

We thought they were going to come, but for whatever reason, they decided they didn't want to.

We've had birds on these other ridges gobbling at us all day long.

I had to wake you up from your nap.

You were sleeping good, weren't you?

Yeah.

But you woke up and took care of business.

And he's got a big ole beard on him don█t he?

Big ole long beard.

Big beard and spurs.

A pretty fan.

I was hearing you say he's right there.

And I was like, where?

And then I looked out, peeked out with one eye from one of those holes in the blind.

And I saw him.

Yeah.

You were half asleep.

Yeah, he was strutting.

He was strutting his stuff.

And we tried our best to get his head to stick up, and he never would do it.

So finally, I had to tell you just to take a shot.

And I don't think you got any shot in the breast at all.

I think you did perfect.

You going to carry him or you want me to?

I'd rather you carry him really.

He's heavy.

Think you can?

Here put him over your shoulder.

Yep.

Just like that.

Ok. You good?

Yeah.

All right, let's go.

He's as big as you are.

Yeah.

That's what I said.

I love spending time in the outdoors with my kids, and pan fishing is one of the best ways to do it.

Leo, can you carry that?

Your rig is a little harder to cast.

Yeah.

So once we locate the crappie I'll let you reel them in.

You can start casting that over and over and over and try to catch them on your own.

You know what crappie are good for, don't you?

Fish?

Well, they are fish.

In my tummy?

For your tummy.

They are so good to eat Leo, you know you've had crappie before.

What's your favorite way to have them?

The fish and rice meal.

whoops.

Hey.

Hey.

That ones a crappie.

That's a crappie.

And that one's probably big enough to keep.

We█re keeping, its a keeper!

This is a homemade stringer here now.

Little joker came off.

Oh you get a bite?

Yeah, I had him on and he came off.

Try it again.

There you go.

When I was a kid, when the bluegill went on the nest, my dad used to take little what's called a Popeye fly and tie those on the bottom of one of those casting corks like that.

And I bring it across the nest.

And that is really kind of how I learned how to start casting and fishing is right there.

Casting cork across bluegill beds.

Really what I do now is just grab one of those plastic bobbers and cast it out in the backyard.

Hey, when you get home and you got 20 minutes before it gets dark and you got home from practice and you don't have time to go to the pond, just grab your casting cork and learn how to cast it.

Got any bites yet?

Not yet.

Where did you catch yours deeper or closer to the bank?

Probably right where my bobber is now.

Okay.

I don't think this is a crappie.

If it is, we got a good one.

my goodness, Leo.

This crappie.

That's a crappie?

Oh my goodness.

It█s like a five pound Largemouth bass.

Oh my.

I want to catch one.

Leo, look at that crappie.

That is two fish sandwiches right there.

We need to give that one to.

my gosh.

Catholic school fish fry.

You wanna take that to your fish fry?

I don't think they're allowed to do that.

Hey, we're going to put that baby there.

How do you say you want it?

On some rice?

Yeah.

What a pretty fish.

Hey, now, this thing didn't get in this pond this year.

It's been in here for a couple of years.

That crappie has got to be at least four years old.

What a fish.

Look at them side by side, What you like about that?

One's, like, double the size.

Double?

I'd say it's four times.

How did you catch that fish so good?

a little one.

It is a little crappy, but look how thick across the back that is.

The meat is right here.

So even though that crappie is only nine inches long, there's as much meat on that is what you would get on a bluegill.

Now, there's no way I'd go out on the lake and keep a crappie that size.

But on this pond we're gonna keep it.

Once you get right in that area, you don't even have to really pull it much.

Just kind of bounce it around.

you got him.

you see?

Yeah I saw him but he jerked away.

That's alright.

Where's the honey hole?

Little bit down from us is the spot I've caught the most crappie.

This is a beaver dam.

So I'll bet you there are crappie right here where this beaver dam is.

That tells me that all the sticks are also out there in the water.

To go fishing?

I got to go to the water to get- I can't pick this thing up on this 4 pound test.

He█s breaking my line.

what a beautiful, beautiful fish.

I'll tell you what.

It's not going to take many of these to have a good, solid mess of fish.

Wow.

Let me show you the best way to catch these.

I just have this little eight ounce jig, and it's got this little curly tail.

All you need to do if you're in tight quarters like this, or you got sticks and stuff around you, all i█m going to do is flip it out about ten or 15 feet.

Let it go to the bottom.

And then as I start picking the rod up, what I'm doing is look at my rod tip.

It's going up.

Look there█s a fish.

All I'm doing is casting it out there because the water is getting more shallow as it gets closer to the bank.

All I'm doing is keeping the bait two or three inches off the bottom.

And this is just a really good way to fish for crappie or bluegill in tight quarters like this.

Throw it out that way and see what you can do.

You caught him finally.

That's a bass.

I think.

Yeah.

Large mouth.

No.

Hey, normally.

Normally we love catching large mouth.

Not today.

That's not the objective today.

Nice job though.

Here you go, Leo.

Right here.

I█m going to get a monster.

That's a monster right there.

That's a monster.

Is that fun?

Why is it rainbow on the end like that?

You know what?

Fish Just have that color on them that.

That really pretty color.

That's a white crappie.

It's like metallic.

It's got blues and purples all up there in the top.

What a pretty fish, huh?

Lookie there, buddy.

It's a nice one.

That's pretty good fish.

Just get it over the bank.

You know what, Leo?

You know what I love about this?

When you were at school this morning, did you know we were going fishing today?

Not at all.

That's what I like.

It's just sometimes you don't have baseball practice.

Didn't have volleyball practice today.

You finally got a day off.

And look at the weather.

It's beautiful outside.

We decided to come out here.

And you know what the bonus is?

What?

What do you think it is?

food.

We get to take these babies home and filet these up.

Okay.

Hey, look, I've had a great time with you.

Thanks for coming out here with me.

Did you have fun?

Yes.

I hope we get to do this again real soon.

You, too.

All right, let's go Bud.

Bullfrog season is now in in the state of Kentucky, and I cannot think of a better way to get a youngster introduced into the outdoors.

We're down here in western Kentucky tonight in Trigg County.

And I'm with my old buddy, Eli Doom.

How are you doing, buddy?

Good how are you?

I'm doing good.

I tell you what, I know you're excited because what are we going to be doing tonight?

Frog gigging.

Frog gigging.

Man, I started frog gigging when I was about your age.

Mm hmm.

And it's still something that brings a huge smile to my face.

I absolutely love to go frog gigging.

Who else we bring here today?

Granddad.

Your granddad.

We got two pond behind the house, and he's chasing frogs, catching fish or something all the time.

You know, and the funny thing is, is I called you about a week ago and said, you know what would be fun?

I said, has Eli ever been frog gigging?

And you just kind of giggled, and you said Eli█s birthday's coming up.

And I was like, Okay.

Like we were taking frog gigging for his birthday.

I didn't understand how it fit.

But you're eight years old now, right as of last week?

Mm hmm.

All right.

What did you ask for for your birthday?

A frog gig.

A frog gig.

I don█t know too many people.

Eight year old boys would say, You know what I need for my birthday is a frog gig.

Now, I haven't heard any frogs yet, but we're getting close.

It's getting dark.

Let's go get loaded up and let's go sneak up to the first and start taking a look.

What you think?

Yeah.

All right, let's do it.

Got a frog right here.

It looks like maybe even two.

It went under theres another one to your right.

That thing was huge.

All right.

Eli's got a frog right here.

We're going to practice, but we're not going to gig him.

He's right here.

Try to get that gig down close.

Right there.

Right there.

Okay, now let's find a bigger one.

What you think?

Yeah.

Let's go get a big one.

We saw a big one, didn't we?

Yeah.

Got spooked.

Got spooked, thats ok. That's a leopard frog.

I'm going to try to catch it with my hands.

You got him.

Leopard frog.

What do you think about that, buddy?

First catch, kinda.

Ellie didn't know what to think about that.

Does she?

There he goes.

Nice job, buddy.

While sitting here searching for frogs, we come across something like, What is that?

We happen to notice it looks like a turtle.

And if it is, it's a snapper.

So Jim said he's going to get it.

Crazy man.

Hey you never know, you get yourself outdoors.

You never know what you're going to see.

Sometimes you go out looking for frogs and you end up finding turtles.

You ever handled a snapping turtle before?

Yeah.

Oh, you have.

Okay.

Don█t let him turn around and get you.

I tell you what, Jim, you raise them different down here.

Like a Cottonmouth, that mouth wide open.

There it goes.

He's like, Im not going to that part of the pond any more.

Get him, Eli.

Oh, man, you missed that one.

That's all right.

Aim better next time.

Oh, I believe you got that one, buddy.

There you go.

Hey, what do you think about that?

You got him good.

Got him pegged.

Way to go.

I think we█ll get more.

What you think?

Yeah.

Look at that one right there Eli.

That's a big one.

You want to go after that one or look around... lets make our way over there and kind of hunt while we go.

What do you think?

Yeah.

Oh, here's a big one.

Okay, we got a big one.

Oh, got him.

I think you got it.

You did get him.

That█s a great job.

That was a good shot, Eli.

It'll be some good eating.

Here's one, good one.

You missed him that time.

But I bet he'll circle back around, come back up on the bank.

Maybe you get another shot at him.

We got a bullfrog here, and immediately on the right, we got another bullfrog.

They're just a little bit small.

Looks like a big one there Eli, be easy.

I believe you got him.

Yes, sir.

Frog on the end of the stick.

You got him.

Thats a big old bullfrog there.

You█re getting pretty good at this.

Hold this light for me.

Take a look at what you got.

There you go.

You know what people ask me?

City slickers that don't know any difference.

They'll say, You eat frogs?

Is it green?

What color is their meat?

White.

Very white and very tasty, isn't it?

Yeah.

Here's one right here.

It█s under this limb.

You want to shoot at him?

Yeah, I'll shoot at him.

Awesome.

He'll be on the end of the arrow here in a second.

I think I got him.

I believe you smoked him.

That's a good one.

Look at those meaty frog legs.

And you actually I still get excited shooting a frog.

It doesn't matter what the game is.

You know, if you have a passion for shooting archery it doesn't matter whats your target.

It's just a lot of fun.

It is.

Well Eli frog gigging is fun isn█t it buddy?

Yep.

We'll have to do it again.

What do you think?

Yeah.

Jim, I always have a blast coming down in West Kentucky hanging out with you.

Either we're fishing or hunting or doing a combination of both.

Kind of like tonight, a little bit of fishing and hunting.

Sure.

A lot of fun.

Thank you so much for bringing Eli out with us tonight.

And we'll have to start planning our next adventure.

What do you think?

Yeah.

All right, let's do 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.

Check out Renee Claypool Hayden out of Bradfordsville, Kentucky, with this beautiful 7 pound largemouth bass.

Here we have five year old River Wilson, who took this squirrel using his .410 shotgun.

Pictured beside him is his little brother, Woods.

Hopefully you found time to get outdoors and spend some time with your father this Father's Day.

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.