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's episode is all about youth hunting.

Turkey season for youth is right around the corner on April 5th and 6th.

But first, let's tag along with a couple of youth hunters as they experience their first duck hunt.

Hello.

Hello.

All the girls are on this side.

All the boys are on this side.

So you'll be in the first cabin behind this building.

Cabin eight.

Okay.

Thank you.

Take care.

See you at 4:30.

So this is our Green Wing Adventure.

We put it on every year for kids that have come to camp.

And it's not just at Currie.

It could be at Wallace or Webb, our two other camps throughout the state.

And the ones that came and got all their patches, their name gets put into a drawing.

We draw nine boys and nine girls to get to come on this great duck hunt.

So we were on the couch and just watching TV then my dad got a call from the Kentucky Fish and Wildlife, and we were drawn for the duck hunt and I called all my friends and told them that we are going hunting.

I was going to bed and my dad called me and he was like, you got selected for the duck hunt.

So I got up, I went to my mom and I was like, mom, I got in the duck hunt and I was like, jumping up and down.

I was really excited.

So right now, the kids and the parents are starting to come in and roll in we give them the lay of the land.

Some of them have been here, some of them haven't been here, but we're just getting them situated in cabins and we'll see everybody down at the introductions at 4:30.

We do some introductions.

We want them to get to know us, but we also want to get to know them.

So we'll spend a little bit of time doing that.

And as we move through the introductions, we also want them to get involved in potentially learning how to take what they harvest and actually put it on the table.

So the kids helped doing a wild game appetizer.

We did venison meatballs.

All right guys, so we're going to give you all some hands on experience with some wild game cooking.

So right now you all have got all the ingredients for some spicy cocktail venison meatballs.

So first thing you got to do is we got to mix it up.

So start mixing and let's see who's got the best tray.

The appetizer preparation was really fun.

It gave us like a hands on experience.

So as we wrapped up getting those appetizers ready we then went outside for a little bit.

Courtney Goodman she is one of our hunter ed instructors.

She has a dog she's training up to be a duck retrieving dog.

So she brought Squire with her and showed the kids what Squire can do at this point.

He's still a puppy and still learning, but also gave them some tips on how to maybe train your own dog, or what it might be like to have a dog that can hunt with you.

So Squire helped her out for a little bit.

All right, so he has a hand launcher.

It is a little loud.

It's a 22 blank, but with you all being over here, you'll be fine.

But I'm just going to show you a little bit of how we train every day.

Squire.

You see him throw that bed back.

He's got some umph to him when he goes.

Here.

Good boy.

Here.

Place.

Place.

Drop.

Good boy.

Leave it.

Place.

The first night we also do a duck cleaning demonstration.

Alex Klein came down and he showed them how to fully pluck a duck and breast a duck.

I'm just using my thumb and my pointer finger, and I'm pinching all the way down to the skin and pulling these feathers out.

This is called a glia.

It's going to burn those pin feathers off that breast.

Take our knife I'm going to cut right down this breastbone.

All right.

So we end up with that breast, thigh, tenderloin.

We'd clean up these feathers and then it's ready for the skillet.

And then the day of the hunt on Saturday, after the kids come back with all their ducks, we'll let the kids get hands on and do their own ducks themselves.

All right, so we just wanted to do a little duck hunting 101, because we know a lot of you have never been.

First duck hunt.

But not my first hunt I have been hunting since I've been five, and I killed a hog at five.

It's my first, like, hunt in general.

And I'm going to have a fun time.

This year around we don't have many, if any, that have actually duck hunted, so we want to spend some time with them kind of going through what some of the laws are or what to expect when they got to the duck blind.

What the ducks actually look like, so they can maybe help out with some of the ID and kind of know what's going on once they got into the blind.

So it gives them that background knowledge so they feel a little bit more confident when they step in the blind what they're seeing and what they're going to be doing.

So we do a brief duck calling demonstration we go over the different calls and the different species.

And then after that, we actually give them their own duck call, some of them their first duck call, and we let them go out and let them blow really loud.

We assign shotguns.

The department provides the guns that we will actually be using and the ammo.

And we also assign which blind they're going to.

We'll get a very good night's sleep, and hopefully tomorrow we'll have a really exciting hunt.

So it's Saturday morning.

Day two.

Hopefully everybody got a good night's sleep.

We are going to get breakfast in a few minutes.

And then we're going to go shoot some shotguns to get the kids familiar again with shooting those guns before we head out to the blinds today.

Pull.

There you go.

Pump.

Hit that safety for me.

There we go.

Put that shell in.

Pump forward.

Left hand there.

Right hand there.

Yell pull when you're ready and he'll throw the pigeon.

Pull.

There you go.

Good stuff.

They're doing pretty good.

They've all been to camp before.

And most of them are shooting at least two out of three.

So if we see a lot of ducks, that'll be a lot of ducks that get taken.

Yay!

Most of the hunting spots that these kids are going to be in are in Ballard County.

We just got here at the hunting location.

We're meeting the landowner right now.

These are usually guides who throughout the whole season.

They've put on some really, really good hunts for clients.

And these kids get to go out there and hunt these great spots for free.

I cannot be more grateful for them, for allowing us to hunt on their properties, because they're really going to be making the event what it is.

Don't be claiming her ducks, okay?

You can't do that.

You will be claiming my ducks.

I will shoot all the ducks.

This is actually my first green wing as well with the department, so I'm very excited to go out with the kiddos this evening.

I'm going with Ellie and Colton.

And so I think they're excited and I hope I get to see them harvest some ducks.

We're about to head out to the blind, and we've seen a few ducks so far.

I'm going to miss the Louisville basketball game, but that's okay because we are going to be hunting.

Hopefully we can get something.

We've got it set up out here for snow geese, speckled bellies, ducks so we can decoy them all in.

We've had an exceptional year this year.

I think this is just a great thing that the state does.

We've got to keep these kids interested in hunting and keep bringing more and more in.

When we get to the blinds, we'll show them exactly where to stand, exactly how to pop up, and we'll practice that before they even take their first shot.

This is my grandson, Bailey.

He really likes to do the calling.

They usually tell me to put my call up.

I had to look for it this morning.

Most of the blinds will have dogs.

The ones that do not will have guides there that will walk out and retrieve the ducks afterwards.

Get on your whistle.

They are right in front of us.

Get ready.

They are coming back.

Get ready, get ready.

Kill them.

Shoot shoot shoot.

Shoot again.

I got one.

Got two.

Good lord.

What are you talking about?

Okay.

Oh I killed my first duck.

That is great.

Yeah.

It's going to be good.

It's going to be really good on the dinner table.

You see that duck right over top of those decoys?

Right there.

See him right there.

See him right in that gap?

Kind of.

No.

Okay, wait just a minute.

I think he went in the corn.

Okay.

Got some more coming in.

I got one on the right.

Kill him.

Take him.

I got one.

I got him.

I got him.

Yay!

There you go.

I just smoked him.

I went boom and he is down.

So my safety is on.

Oh.

That's good.

Yeah.

Yeah, Ellie.

This is the one I shot.

That's the one he shot.

Hers, I think is the dogs getting it.

So this one I shot.

He was still like fluttering in the air.

And I was like, okay, well I guess I'll shoot him.

So I pumped it again, and then I shot him again and he fell.

All right, so we've got two ring ducks that they've shot and one green wing teal, and we've got one more out in the corn.

But these ducks are coming in so good right now.

We will wait and then we'll go get that other duck later.

Kill it, kill it, kill it.

Oh.

Nice.

That was a good one.

Yeah.

Nice shot.

First shot.

Awesome.

It's a mallard.

Big one too.

Oh, yeah.

This one's going on the wall.

Oh, it's a swan.

It's a swan.

Don't shoot.

There's your eagle right there.

We've seen a couple of eagles, a swan, and ducks and geese.

We're just having a big old time.

This looks good.

Get ready down there.

Kill him, kill him.

Let's go.

Oh me.

That is great.

I think we're doing pretty good for our first duck hunt.

Try him.

Shoot shoot shoot.

Oh, he going down, he is down.

There you go, girl.

You going to be a natural.

Yeah, that was a long shot.

Okay.

Stay low.

Kill him, kill him, kill him, kill him.

Oh!

Did you see that?

Oh, what a shot.

What a shot!

Nice job.

He's a nice little mallard actually.

We had a great hunt here today.

Hopefully seeing the experiences these kids got to have will inspire other kids to want to enjoy camp and come to camp and hopefully get drawn for this great experience.

And we hope that they continue this on into their lives.

Did you guys have fun today?

It was awesome.

We had a blast.

I'll tell you, I've really enjoyed it.

I've been doing this for 30 years and these two did the best shooting that's ever been done.

It's their first duck hunt on top of that.

I'm mighty proud of them.

There are very few hunting experiences more exciting than calling in a gobbler.

Except for maybe calling in a gobbler with your son or daughter.

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.

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 the smile on Zayne Mattingly as he holds this beautiful smallmouth bass.

Check out this giant large mouth that was caught by Jason Kenner.

This fish was caught at Paintsville Lake.

What a trophy.

Ryan Boyer has got out and did a little bit of long beard hunting in Kenton County.

Nice bird.

Here we have Ava from Danville who caught these nice smallmouth bass while fishing at Lake Cumberland.

Now, here's a good day of deer hunting by father and son duo Randy and Riley Newsome.

Nikki Trahillo had a nice day of striper fishing on Lake Cumberland.

Congratulations.

Spring turkey season is right around the corner, and you know what that means.

It's time for our live question and answer show all about turkey hunting.

We will be live on YouTube, Facebook, and FW.KY.GOV.

We hope to see you there.

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.