2-22-26 - Late Winter Wildlife Activities and Fishing Opportunities.

Jim and Scott discussed late winter wildlife activities and fishing opportunities.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
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(00:23):
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(00:44):
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(01:05):
at five oh two, eight oh two, six oh two
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To join in on the conversation, call us at five
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radio Jim Straight or Outdoors right here on News Radio

(01:28):
eight forty whas.

Speaker 2 (01:31):
If you're just catching up with us. We were preempted
by the UK women's basketball game, but we did have
a jam packed with information show for you tonight. Scott
Corner and I are going to cover a whole lot
of ground as we go through the program, and to
set the stage, Fard, I guess I want to talk
a little bit about the fact that here in my

(01:55):
place it was snowing. Blue buddies is today and it's
getting caught again. But nature is definitely starting to do
a big reset. There's several things that I can point
to that indicate that to me, and I'm sure most
of you probably have noticed some of this, but I

(02:16):
want to mention it because it's set in the stage
for what I think is going to be a pretty
early spring. I know that's stretching my neck a bit
given the type of winter blasts we've had, but as
we all know, the weather can turn just as quickly
as not. So I want to mention a couple of things.
I want to talk about soil conditions. First, daffodils are

(02:40):
already up. If you don't garden, you know what I'm
talking about. Some people call them easter flowers, they go
by various names, jonquills, but they're already sticking up old
three to four inches out in the areas that received
any amount of sunlight, and we're exposed to this warmer
air period that we've ad The rye grass in the

(03:04):
wildlife management fields has started to sprout a bit and regenerate,
which came right in time to help these deer that
went through pretty bad gauntlet with the snow and ice
that we had for some time. There's flocks of robins
in the areas around the state that are migrating and
starting to come back North ducks. A lot of ducks

(03:27):
are staging to talk to a buddy mine that's got
some duck management areas down in western Kentucky, and he said, man,
I wish the season was open now. I've got mixed
species like crazy moullards, gab walls, pintails, you name it.
They're on the move back north. Sand Hill cranes have

(03:48):
been moving through and staging, and crown hogs have been
active traveling going to New Denning areas. They'll be very busy,
of course. I'm sure if you've been out and around
and on the country roads or in the countryside, you've
been smelling the skunks. The skunk rut really kicked in

(04:08):
the gear almost two weeks ago, which was early. Another
reason I'm thinking spring's gonna be a little early. And
I can tell you there's just a lot of signs
out to me, Scott, I know you'd probably add to
that list. And then we'll talk a little bit about
what we're going to discuss through the rest of the program.

(04:33):
All right, I'll just go ahead with what we're gonna
be discussing tonight, because we got a real strong program
lined up for you. We're gonna talk a lot about
wildlife management situations that are upon us that you can
capitalize on.

Speaker 3 (04:48):
Right now. It's gonna run, you know.

Speaker 2 (04:51):
Across the board on things that you need to be
doing right now in terms of helping your wildlife. We're
also gonna be talking about sheds, you know, the shed
situation with the deer. We're gonna kind of cover a
lot of ground too on the winter croppie and bass fishing.

(05:13):
Believe it or not, the changes that have come about
have already spurred some movement. Crappie catches were really good
at several of the lakes around the region already, and
smallmouth fishing has been on fire. So we're going to
talk about that, and then Scott's gonna give us a
rundown on the SCI that's Safari Club International in the

(05:36):
National Wildlife National Wild Turkey Federation conventions that spanned the
last two weekends.

Speaker 3 (05:43):
He's been down there and talking to folks.

Speaker 2 (05:46):
Are going to give us a rundown on his overview
of what went on into those shows, and they were
extremely well attended, especially the NWTF show. So we've got
all that and more coming back for you right after
the news break here and the break of course, is
presented by sm I Marine. Hey, I'm telling you spring's

(06:11):
coming quick. You better get your boat in there and
get it serviced and ready for all the fishing that's
right around the corner. And remember you never get soaked
by my friends at SMI all right, folks, we're back
and Scott corner. We got a lot to talk about tonight, buddy.

Speaker 4 (06:31):
It's a great time of year.

Speaker 3 (06:34):
It sure is that.

Speaker 2 (06:35):
I do want to remind everyone too tonight if you
would like to call in if you got questions for
myself or Scott. The numbers are five O two five
seven one eighty four eighty four or one eight hundred
four four four eighty four eighty four.

Speaker 3 (06:53):
Scott.

Speaker 2 (06:54):
A lot of things happening on the wildlife world. I'm
sure you could hear what I mentioned about. I'm looking
at what I think is going to be probably early spring.
We'll have some up and downs as usual, but a
lot of things are telling me that this is going
to turn a lot quicker most people.

Speaker 4 (07:12):
Think, no doubt. I know, technology gave us a little
bit of a battle there at the beginning. But speaking
of technology.

Speaker 5 (07:18):
The weather man are so gifted and what they're able
to utilize to predict things out in advance. But one
of the great things about being in the outdoors and
being an outdoors manner woman is we tend to be
really keen and pick up on things, and a lot
of those things are pointing towards things being a little
bit ahead of schedule.

Speaker 4 (07:39):
Not by much, but it.

Speaker 5 (07:41):
Looks like spring may pop and come a little early,
and it gives all of us a lot of concern
because it's a timing year where between frost seeding and
burning and doing our shed hunting and everybody's getting geared
up for fishing.

Speaker 4 (07:55):
You know, we want to know when.

Speaker 5 (07:57):
To strike because that flip can be switched so quickly.
But more so on the dangerous side of things is
what some.

Speaker 4 (08:06):
Of these warm ups can do when they are.

Speaker 5 (08:09):
Above average, and then sometimes mother Nature will come and
she'll recheck everything and a lot of impact there on
our mass crop. In my opinion, that's really debated on
whether or not those hard frost and freezes impact our
oaks as much as what I think they do. But
you know, vegetation sometimes can get up and going and

(08:31):
then you got some frost and freeze damage.

Speaker 4 (08:34):
But it's a good time of year to get out.

Speaker 5 (08:37):
A lot of times that cavin fever will hit people.
But there's so many activities and fishing's been well above average.
I mean, there's more to talk about tonight, Gym than
we got minutes to cover.

Speaker 4 (08:50):
I can tell you that.

Speaker 3 (08:51):
Yeah, there's no doubt, no doubt.

Speaker 2 (08:54):
Let's jump right in with some stuff we could be
doing right now for deering turkeys. And again we're going
to talk a lot of fishing tonight too, folks. But
mineral sites definitely need to be refreshing down. These deer
came through a pretty dagon rough period with all that
stolen ice for weeks on end, and they have, you know,

(09:17):
come through it in pretty good fashion. But their need
for mineral is going to really escalate going forward. And
this is a great time of year when things aren't
bustling in other regards to get out and refresh those
mineral sites.

Speaker 5 (09:33):
Yeah, then a lot of these does are packing right now.
You know there there are several months pregnant now and
to their term, and now it's going to help them
later on in the spring when it gets into lactation.

Speaker 4 (09:44):
But when we look at mineral we.

Speaker 5 (09:46):
Basically look at a couple of different things. First off,
you know, you've got salt, which is just normally needed
in the intake of any animal's diet to a certain extent,
and you've got your train brace minerals, which is going
to help with general body functions. And then you get
into the dichalsium phosphate, which is sometimes more or less

(10:09):
spotlighted for our bucks, but it's really important for our doze.
And when you think about a body condition of an animal,
if you've got any type of background at all in agriculture,
that body condition, that body score is going to be
really important on how well that pregnancy can be carried out.

Speaker 4 (10:30):
And that's going to affect the health of that fawn
in so many ways.

Speaker 5 (10:34):
And of course our bucks and dose that have gone
through that period of not necessarily so much cold air,
and it wasn't so much deep snow. It was the
fact that the ground was frozen over and it created
a crust.

Speaker 4 (10:49):
Especially for our turkeys.

Speaker 5 (10:51):
It made it a little bit more difficult for them
to get out and scratch in. And the turkeys aren't
going to benefit from the menial size, but man, those
deer when they are the plea did to the point
where they're left with just woody stem brows and things
that are part of the understory where they have to
get to it that was above that frozen shield that

(11:11):
they had to fight through. It's really important that that
supplement and that's what that is. That's a free choice
supplement when they have those mineral sites and they can
get in there and do things. And one of the
things I want to give you credit to, Jim is
I know you use trophy rock quite a bit, and
when that salt or that mineral is actually up and

(11:33):
above the ground, a lot of times people will think
about that deer needing to pull that ground and get
in there and dig that dirt. And while that may
be true as far as a natural intate, I do
think that there's an advantage of getting your mineral elevated.
And for folks that have had establishedmenteral sites for a

(11:54):
long time, even some folks I don't practice it myself,
they'll get more into that mineral time feeder where if
those deers start on a well advantaged farm and carry through.

Speaker 4 (12:05):
They get used to taking it that way. But it's
hard to beat.

Speaker 5 (12:09):
We're not out there pushing product, and Trophy Rock's not
a sponsor, but it's.

Speaker 4 (12:14):
Something that you can get at.

Speaker 5 (12:15):
Some of the folks that help sponsor the show, Trophy
Rock really shines this time of year. And if you
can get in there and mix some of your own mineral,
or you use a commercial blend of mineral, whatever it is,
it's just important that you've got something out there other
than just basic salt.

Speaker 4 (12:31):
Don't go for the attractive part of it.

Speaker 5 (12:34):
Go for the overall nutrition and health and care of
the animal right now, So one.

Speaker 3 (12:39):
Hundred percent, And I've got a trick you Scott.

Speaker 2 (12:41):
You've seen it and it works extremely well with the
trophy rock, which you know, people don't understand. That's a
natural sea salt that contains virtually every mineral that an
animal needs. And as you mentioned, they're not a sponsor
of the show. I use it because I believe in it.
It has shown good results for me. Not that you know,

(13:02):
I don't use other stuff like the dick cow, but
I take mine and put it on a milk crate,
and I turn a milk crate upside down and put
the trophy rock on top of that. You can, you know,
build a little box with a slight shelf around the
top if you wanted to. And what that does it

(13:23):
enables the animals to directly lick that instead of having
to pall for it, and it extends the life of
that block like threefold.

Speaker 3 (13:33):
And you know, I don't know about everybody else, but
I like knowing that.

Speaker 2 (13:37):
It's out there and that they can continually utilize it,
and I don't have to check it very often. So
it's a little tip I wanted to kind of pass
along there, and it's I've experimented with that for several
years now and it's it's shown me excellent results and
my blocks left a whole lot longer that way.

Speaker 4 (13:56):
No doubt.

Speaker 5 (13:57):
And for folks that have followed the show in the past,
we'll give them a real quick mineral recipe that you
can utilize over to Bartchtown Meals or somewhere close to you.

Speaker 4 (14:08):
You need just a regular old bag.

Speaker 5 (14:10):
Of white salt, two bags of trace mineral sometimes people
will know that is the red salt, and the one
bag of Dike calcium phosphate, and so you can mix
all that up and blend it and it's really good,
especially if you've got three or four friends that you
can use a wheelbarrow. You can just kind of use

(14:30):
some cans. As long as your ratio is equal to
your bags.

Speaker 4 (14:34):
You can do to that.

Speaker 5 (14:36):
How you wish you can mix it up all at
one time, or just take a scoop here and there
and blend it together in a five gallon bucket. But
you can get still quite a bit of mineral for
under one hundred bucks. It's one of the best things
that you can do. And the good thing about it
is you can't mess it up as.

Speaker 4 (14:54):
Long as you get it out there. This time of year.

Speaker 5 (14:56):
Where the rain or some type of backwater, something's not
going to washed away. Now, it's important to kind of
look at a mineral site and know how to establish it.
And the easiest way for you to go about that
is instead of just taking that mineral and pouring it
out on the ground, I want to encourage you to
grab a spade or some type of shovel, even if

(15:17):
you just got a garden hole, and you can put
all this stuff in the back of your pickup truck
or side by side, or even load it in a
basic backpack. Go out and find you an area that's
going to be somewhat secluded. Try to do it and
pinch points of intersections where deer will naturally travel and
work that ground up about three or four inches down

(15:37):
into the top soil and work that mineral in that
dirt together. It doesn't take a whole lot to get
that going and let it be, you know, absorb into
the soil and then a little trick over the years
that will help get that mineral site going and get
some aroma there. It's just some good old fashioned cherry

(16:00):
kool aid or some type of cherry drink sugar free.
I utilize that just because of some of the data
that's out there on what folks feel that that sugar
may do to deer's teeth or diet or health. I
don't know if I believe everything that you read, but
I know that that aroma will really get the curiosity
of those deer and they're naturally going through there. And

(16:21):
for the folks that already have their mineral sites already established,
you know, it's pretty quick and simple work. You can
knock out a whole lot of mineral work in just
a matter of an hour or so over several different farms.

Speaker 4 (16:35):
It's a great.

Speaker 5 (16:36):
Way to get out and the best thing about it
this time of year, gym, a squirrel season still in.
Sheds are on the ground, and you're probably already going
to be out there doing your frost seed anyway, so
you're really killing several birds with one stone this time
of year when you go about having us plan and
getting out in the mother nature.

Speaker 2 (16:55):
Absolutely, we're going to cover all those subjects you just
mentioned by the way them back from break. I'm gonna
go ahead and get to the break right now. It's
presented by Moss Properties part Realty. Paul Thomas is the
broker there. He's got all kinds of wildlife properties, farms,
vacation homes and riverfront properties for sale. Check out the

(17:16):
current listings at mop h A r T realty dot com.
And I think it's fair to say over the next
couple of weeks folks couldn't get a better time to
frost seed their wildlife plots.

Speaker 3 (17:30):
And obviously it's because there's.

Speaker 2 (17:32):
Gonna be a whole lot of up and down weather
patterns where there's gonna be intermitting frosting, and yet in
the meantime reasonable days to be out to do the work.
And there's a lot of different items you can utilize
for frost seed.

Speaker 3 (17:49):
Let's dive in on that a little bit.

Speaker 5 (17:52):
The most important part about frost seeding is that you're
able to get a really good seed to soil contact
and we're really going to focus.

Speaker 4 (18:02):
On our annual clovers there, and.

Speaker 5 (18:06):
Some people will throw a little chickery into the mix,
which sometimes can come and go with results. Chickery is
a unique plant itself, but on the lagoon side of
it with our annual clovers. When you get the ground
to the point where it's thawing out and a tree
freezing at night or things are happening with sunshine and

(18:30):
different weather front's coming in, that seed basically goes down
into the surface of the top soil because it more
or less forms like a honeycomb, like a like a
bee's comb. And that seed it's so important. You know,
your seed depth when you're planning is a lot of

(18:53):
times not looked at and focused on enough, and people
will plant their seed too deep in. What Mother nature
does is when that seed hits the ground, she basically
naturally absorbs it from that falling and in the process
of refreezing and it gets that seed to soil contact there.
And now this is a farmer's practice, you know that

(19:16):
was utilized in pastures for years and even if you
go back to our Land Grant University at the University
of Kentucky.

Speaker 4 (19:24):
They'll tell you that.

Speaker 5 (19:25):
Frost seeding during the right time of the year is
just as effective as using other types of cultivations and implements.
And why is this important for the listener. It's important
because you can put a whole lot of clover seed
in a backpack or back of your truck or side

(19:46):
by side, and you can walk into areas, power line breaks,
small little areas in what you keep up with bush
hogging and mold on a regular basis, logging roads that
have enough sun exp you're anywhere that you may or
may not be able to even get big equipment into,
or you may not have access to bigger equipment for

(20:08):
traditional style planning. So this is the only time of
the year that this window exists. And if you did
these same methods of broadcasting the sea on top of
the ground, say you did it in May or June, July, August, whatever,
You're not going to have the same effect. And that
temperature is what causes everything to work out really well.

(20:32):
And I know myself and a lot of other folks
were kind of out there on that ice skating rink
that we were talking about, that really hard ice covered
surface that we had for so long. First time I've
ever seen it last that long. When that last day
or two hit and we were able to get out
there and our own natural body we would kind of

(20:53):
push through that top layer and give us some traction,
we were able to get out there. And the good
part about it was there was just enough white on
the surface that you could actually see where your seed
was going, and a lot of your seed, whether it's
polded or not, when you've got that white surface area.
That's why frost seeding and snow cover has always been
so popular. It lets you know you know how much

(21:15):
density you've got there with your plant population of seed,
and it also lets you make sure that you're.

Speaker 4 (21:21):
Covering and doing things.

Speaker 5 (21:23):
And there's a little product out there that you can
pick up at about any sporting goods store that sells food,
plots and supplies and seed, and a lot of people
will pick these up.

Speaker 4 (21:35):
In the home and garden section.

Speaker 5 (21:37):
I know I've seen them personally, and a lot of
farm stores from Artchtown Mills again there.

Speaker 4 (21:43):
Come in on this one, Jim. But it's just a small.

Speaker 5 (21:48):
Seeder and most of the time it's by Scott's turf
Grass and it's.

Speaker 4 (21:52):
Got a little cut out hole and you put it.

Speaker 5 (21:54):
I'm right handed, you put it in your opposite hand,
so it goes on my left hand, and I get
just enough seed in there that I can walk and get.

Speaker 4 (22:02):
That seed distributed really well, Jim.

Speaker 5 (22:04):
And some of the best food plots that I have
to hunt, and some of the best deer hunting spots
I have, is from the efforts that I put in
in February and early March doing that frost seeding.

Speaker 2 (22:15):
I'll exactly say one really honestly, with clovers and with switchgrass,
which is something else that can be frost seeded. It
negates what you were talking about, the situation where you're
planting too deep, which doesn't work out very well obviously.
So it is a perfect time, all right, folks going

(22:37):
to break. It's presented by SMI Marine.

Speaker 3 (22:40):
Go see them.

Speaker 2 (22:40):
Get your boat ready for spring before the big rush.
You never get soaked by my friends at SMI. You know,
it's got We mentioned hunting for sht antlers, which is
a really fun thing to do in this late winter
period moving into spring, and I'd really encourage people to
get involved with it this year for several reasons beyond

(23:04):
just finding the sheds, and that is to monitor the
situation with their deer herd. There're no doubt going to
find some deer that's succumbed to a disease and or
deprivation of food from the ice and snow. You know,
deer that were already under stress went through a pretty

(23:24):
dagone harsh period there. And a lot of folks are
telling me they have already got out and found a
lot of places where fauns had been killed by coyotes
while that ice and snow was on. And it's just
a great time of year to ramble and do that.

Speaker 5 (23:45):
Yeah, well, the main thing is let's help people stay legal.
You got to remember that anytime that you get out
this time of year to start shed hunting, it's pretty
easy to find some deer that just whatever it is,
old age. Maybe they had a little setback from EHD
and they couldn't get through winter. Maybe it was a

(24:08):
you know, a wound that you know, gave them unfortunately
a longer death and what traditional hunting does, and they
veted up in some thick stuff and died. But if
you come upon a dead head versus a shed, it's
an important thing that you've got your game Mordan's number

(24:28):
in the county or the surrounding area that you're in,
because legally, you can't pick that carcass head up that's
got both antlers connected or one to the main part
of the skull legally and remove it without getting a
call tag for that. And that's something that a lot
of people don't know they're breaking the law and they

(24:50):
don't mean to. And it's important just to you know,
get your game moar and have a good working relationship
with them honestly where you can get a text message
to them because a lot of times people will be
out shed hunting, maybe on a Sunday when a warden
may be enjoying time after church with his family or
or what have you. It's just a it's good report

(25:11):
period to get all that. But you know, take your rifle.
I really encourage you to to take a twenty two
rifle with you for a lot of reasons. There's always
quite a bit of kyode activity, believe it or not
this time of year because of their breedings world seasons
still in. You've got the ability to enjoy that as

(25:34):
you as you walk these trails and it's not hard
to find a quiet path to walk on, a good
deer trail, and that's where a lot of your your
sheds will be found. You'll find sheds a lot of
times and big winter food destinations that you can kind
of calm over scan quite frequently. And if you don't
think this is true, go talk to a farmer or

(25:56):
a tar shop every spring, and you know, farmers aren't
taking their tractors up through the woods planting corn and
soybeans are getting out in the fields and antlers pop
a lot of tractor tires, and a lot of farmers
believe it or not, that may not let you deer hunt,
will let you get out on their property and should
hunt because of that particular reason. There's no secret there

(26:20):
that you know, tractor tire saving, you know a thousand
dollars fifteen hundred dollars or more or combine tire, it
means means a lot to them. And you can once
again build that rapport. And we talked about those mineral
sites and anywhere that deer frequenting and spending a lot
of time they're bedding area, the trails are walking from.

(26:41):
Like we said, those primary food sources that are pretty
routine and regular.

Speaker 4 (26:45):
This time of year. It will teach you a lot
and a.

Speaker 5 (26:49):
Lot of times we overthink deer hunting, especially killing big deer,
and there's no better way for you to get out
this time of year and look at all of the activity,
especially after you fresh snow or anything like that, and
figure out where these areas are these deer in because

(27:11):
a lot of these betting areas, these dough groups have
gone to a spot that they spend a lot of
time in just not winter, and the sign that you see,
you'll still see some scrapes, and you'll still see a
little bit of a rub activity, not as much as
you will some of the late season scraps. It will
tell you where you need to be next year, and

(27:34):
that impact that you have going in and out of
those betting areas and walking property lines. It allows you
to have enough time to have a really, really in
depth disturbance into key areas that deer really don't need
to be bothered in a month or two or three
or four months before season, and of course you've got

(27:56):
the advantage of not having to deal with mosquitoes and
ticks and snakes to the level that you do another
months of the year, but don't think that ticks aren't out,
because believing or not, we were out and about on
one of these warm afternoons this past week and we
didn't see any ticks. But I can tell you that

(28:16):
I killed two mosquitoes that were biting me, and I
shook my head like this can't be true. But when
you put as much time and effort that it takes
to look down at the ground and kind of calming area,
you'll be amazing how much your brain naturally soaks in,
like the sponge that it is on attention to detail

(28:39):
of what else you're seeing. Other than just as shed
you're seeing directions that deer travel. You're seeing basically the
size of the hoofs that are marking the surface of
the soil, which kind of lets you know your age
structure of deer in the area. It's really easy to
find fresh droppings and sign this time of year.

Speaker 4 (28:59):
Deer tend to be a little bit more.

Speaker 5 (29:00):
On the constipated side in so many ways, but at
the same time they'll have quite a bit of fiber
in their diet from other food sources and coons everything
else that scat.

Speaker 4 (29:13):
Those droppings can can tell you a whole lot and.

Speaker 5 (29:17):
If you're not finding deer sign on your property, it
should even tell you more. If you're not finding sheds,
it should let you know that you're not holding deer
and there's got to be something wrong with your habitat,
and you really need to start thinking about your thermal betting,
and you need to start thinking about how well your
particular piece of ground is able to hold a deer

(29:38):
herd and help carry them through those months. And it
can show you the telltale sign that basically you don't
have enough food and you don't have enough cover because
once those leaves and all that vegetation starts to dorm
it out in winter, hits. Don't think that those deer
don't like to have that dense cover to hide any
even though hunting seasons over there. They're pretty unique characters

(30:02):
and what they'll do and what they'll tell you, and
more importantly too, Jim.

Speaker 4 (30:08):
When you get out and walk.

Speaker 5 (30:09):
Your property this time of year, fortunately or unfortunately, a
lot of times you can find who's trespassing on you,
or if there's been any type of hunting activity on
your property that wasn't supposed to be there, and you
start finding some shotgun holes or maybe somebody has left
a climber, or maybe they've dropped a seat cushion or
something like that. You really got to start evaluating whether

(30:32):
or not your property is as secure as what you
think it is. But that private ground gets the most attention.
But if there's one thing that I can encourage people
to do, really encourage them to get out and walk
their public lands as well.

Speaker 4 (30:46):
It's pretty easy to cover quite a bit.

Speaker 5 (30:49):
Of ground, and it gives you a little bit of
an alternative even if you don't have a lot of
acres to cover for shed hunting, if you need, if
you want to try it, you don't have to go out.

Speaker 4 (30:59):
There and just find the big antlers.

Speaker 5 (31:01):
Gather up some of your friends and family and go
out and get a big trail.

Speaker 4 (31:05):
And it doesn't matter if.

Speaker 5 (31:05):
You're over in the Who's your National Forest or coming
somewhere over you know Towsville Lake, and there's lots of
wm as out there, and and lots of recreation in hiking,
winter hiking and shd hunting and of course, like we said,
squirrel hunting.

Speaker 2 (31:20):
Yes, sir, and I want to close out this shed segment.
The best days hunt sheds. Contrary to what some people
believe in the cloudy days because those antlers almost shine
in the woods. It's it's a lot easier to spy
them whether it's over cast and cloudy than it is
when it's sunny. There's too many other things here shiny

(31:42):
when the sun shines right out there. And in a
place that I like to look a lot at if
I know where they are, is places where deer jump fences.
There's something about that jostling that obviously when it starts
to loosen about like a kid's tooth, those oftentimes are

(32:03):
spots where I'll find some shit. So good good information
all around. I'm gonna go to break here. This break
is presented by SMI Marine. Take your boat in there
and get it ready for spring, because it's right around
the corner. You don't want to get caught.

Speaker 3 (32:21):
In the rush.

Speaker 2 (32:23):
And they've got a lot of new boats to show
you that they brought in for the boat show that
are on display over there. And remember you never get
soaked by my friends at SMI Marine. Well, folks, this
is been quite a convention season. What I mean by
that is to the nation's biggest organizations, the National Wild

(32:45):
Turkey Federation and Safari Club, International and held their conventions
here recently, and our man Scott Cronin was down there
and on hand and conducting seminars and networking with very
industry people. Scott Phillison on the Turkey Federation Show first.

(33:05):
I know it was a huge success. A lot of
observations you've got about it and some of the goings
on there.

Speaker 5 (33:12):
Yeah, I want to give a big shout out to
Charlie and all the state staff out of Kentucky especially.

Speaker 4 (33:19):
They worked really hard and.

Speaker 5 (33:23):
Several states worked hard with putting this NWTF convention together.
And we'll talk a little bit about what's going on
with America right now and how it relates to the
NWTF and other organizations.

Speaker 4 (33:36):
But they're saying.

Speaker 5 (33:38):
That's not official as far as the number that I
know of, but there's folks thinking that it's going to
be close to a hundred thousand people went through Oppryland
Hotel for the NWTF convention. And one of the things
that really stood out.

Speaker 4 (33:56):
At the convention to me.

Speaker 5 (33:59):
It and it's a little bit of a sire note Jim,
is that over one hundred thousand.

Speaker 4 (34:05):
Folks could get through that convention.

Speaker 5 (34:08):
Now, a lot of folks are there working and they
can't make it. But there was a great turnout for
doctor Michael Chamberlain's wild Turkey DNA project that's going on
that we're going to cover here hopefully next weekend with
doctor Chamberlain. But if you want to know what's wrong
with the wild turkey, even though there was two hundred

(34:32):
and fifty three hundred seats in the room to listen
about turkey research in the state of the Turkey, they
weren't all filled. But the showroom was filled with young
people buying gizmo's and gadgets, and all the retails out
of it was booming. And I want to remind you know,

(34:52):
folks that these species that we have, they need to
be managing, and it's our due diligence to to really
make sure that we're taking an active role in making.

Speaker 4 (35:07):
Sure that we know what we can do in order to.

Speaker 5 (35:09):
Help not just a wild turkey, but but other species.
And there was something that was really alarming that come
from one of the meetings that I tended at the convention,
and it was talking about how people need to volunteer
and how organizations such as the National Wilde Turkey Federation and.

Speaker 4 (35:31):
And others are really in need of.

Speaker 5 (35:35):
People to step up and and serve to to do
something to give back for conservation, and and that that's
a really important thing about my character and in me
it's a it's a big reason why I accepted the
ability to come onto the show and co host with
you a few years ago, is that it is our

(35:58):
it is our purpose. That we need to remember that
everything we do in life, we.

Speaker 4 (36:03):
May not get a paycheck.

Speaker 5 (36:04):
And I think that several of the organizations, you know,
we're really good friends with Jason Lapartis and Turkeys for Tomorrow.
Scott Vance has been on with Delta Waterfowl. Several of
us are still you know, active with a DU chapter.
I can't stress to you enough if you haven't gotten

(36:24):
involved and gone to a local meeting lately, or you
don't know who your officers are, of any of your mngos,
back country hunters and anglers, they all need people to
actively get engaged for not just conservation, but just good
old fashioned fellowship. There's a lot of good things going on,

(36:45):
you know, there's scholarships out there, there's events to where
people can learn how to catch a fish and pilley it,
and a lot of field to fork stuff. And don't
think just because you're in the Nashville Turkey Federation that
you're going to be learning about keyes. And don't think
this cause you're in back country hunters and anglers, that
you're just going to be learning how to live in
a back country. All of these groups they interact and

(37:08):
it's a small world, and especially the folks that have
young children or folks that are trying to master a
certain craft or learn how to do something. Maybe it's
go over and hunt another country, maybe it's do an
out of state hunt. Maybe it's to stalk your pond,
or just do some habitat work on your property. These
organizations have people who a lot of times will provide

(37:33):
services to you at no cost.

Speaker 4 (37:36):
But you got to get engaged in Jim. This has
been a big, big, big.

Speaker 5 (37:40):
Problem coming off of COVID for a lot of our organizations.

Speaker 4 (37:45):
But the show was great.

Speaker 5 (37:48):
There was just a tremendous influence of young people. I mean,
I can't even begin to tell you if I ever
remember a time where so many young men and women
were coming up from Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, lose in Arkansas
to Nashville. There is definitely a huge push, and I

(38:10):
think we're going to see a tremendous push in the
amount of young people coming from Southern states up through
Kentucky and other states this spring at the NWTF convention.
Is is anything at all like our spring Turkey season
this year between resident non resident hunters, you better watch out,

(38:33):
because man, there's one thing for certain, there may be
some data out there showing that there's a decline in hunters.
There's not a decline in Turkey hunters. But because auprey
Land was packed elbow to elbow and I'm talking for
three solid.

Speaker 2 (38:49):
Days, Yeah, I was really pleasantly surprised to hear how
big those numbers were because we all know turkeys have
been into cloud certain areas and and it just shows
you how much passion there is for that sport. All right, folks,
you gotta go to break here. This break is said
by monsil Property's Heart Realty. Check out all their current

(39:12):
listings at mop H A r T realty dot com.
Got right after the Turkey Federation event, we had the
Furry Club International and I understand it was a roaring
success as well, and.

Speaker 4 (39:29):
It sure was.

Speaker 5 (39:30):
But you know what will scare you quicker than a
line chasing you.

Speaker 3 (39:37):
Well, yeah, if the lord was mad at.

Speaker 5 (39:40):
Me, well, I'll tell you what scared me Quicker than
that line chase me? Was man I was I was
took back by looking at those pieces of artwork, some
of the firearms that were there all jokes aside, and
it's there's some pieces there, and it's a little scary
when you see the tags on on some of these

(40:01):
guns if you don't know what you're what you're getting into.
But not not every day that you get to go
and pick up twenty and forty thousand dollars shotguns and
and kind of see those masterpieces with your with your
own eyes and hold them in your own hand. It's
a you know, it's a it's a positive movement of
the needle when it comes to outdoors men and women

(40:24):
in the Kentuckyana area. The SCI Club has been very
good to me over the years. They've they've been really
good with supporting youth. They've they've got a tremendous scholarship
program with Sam mont Arcs legacy and what that means
to to his family.

Speaker 4 (40:43):
Uh, I've had students that have benefited.

Speaker 5 (40:46):
From that as a classroom teacher, and I know several
other students who.

Speaker 4 (40:49):
Have as well.

Speaker 5 (40:50):
But but we're benefiting gim from s CI Ben in
Nashville down at the Music City Center because that at
some point in time of everybody's hunting career, they want
to do something other than just go chase rabbits in
the backyard or or go deer hunting. And I think
everybody's kind of got a dream, whether it's catching pecan

(41:13):
bass or going and shooting some wing you know, sport
there in Argentina, or maybe going to New Zealand for
a red stag. And a lot of our leaders in
Kentucky with our conservation organizations that are very well traveled
individuals and and they've done quite a bit of safari hunting.
And when you think about SCI, you think about you know,

(41:38):
maybe people that are out there going and hunting for
lions and tigers and bears. But for just a minute,
as a listener, if you've not gotten involved with SCI.

Speaker 4 (41:49):
Want to encourage you to do so. And here's why.

Speaker 5 (41:54):
Several years ago I took and reached out to SCI
because I want to learn more about them, and I
had a stereotype Jim. I didn't necessarily know what I
should have known about SCI, and I'm glad I did
reach out because what I come to find out is
not only just on a local level with the Kentucky

(42:15):
Ina SCI chapter, on a national and global level. I
was blown away with the amount of power that was
there when sportsmen and women's voice come together and organized
and collaborative fashion to fight for our rights as hunters
and anglers. And that's very important because there's a lot

(42:36):
of issues going on.

Speaker 4 (42:37):
With our use of public lands.

Speaker 5 (42:40):
There's a lot of issues going on with what type
of shot we use and how we fish certain creeks
or streams. And it's good to know that there's that
strong voice there with individuals who are looking out for
our heritage to hunt and fish, not just in Kentucky

(43:01):
and Tennessee and Indiana, but but globally across the United States.
And and that's what you see at s CI, besides
all the all the other stuff. I mean, it's it's
just not you know, take it for granted of what
it takes to get into the door.

Speaker 4 (43:15):
It's not not your average show.

Speaker 5 (43:17):
It's uh, you know, it's one hundred and fifty dollars
two hundred bucks to get through the.

Speaker 4 (43:21):
Door to.

Speaker 5 (43:22):
Take part in that convention. And it seems like it's
really expensive. But man, that's a group, Jim, that's really
putting their money and their mouth together. They're they're they're
doing things, and they're doing things, uh not just with
legislation and lobbyists, they're doing things to help with conservation
efforts across the world.

Speaker 4 (43:43):
And and I don't.

Speaker 5 (43:44):
Think there's a a conservation group out there that's any
easier to see the pods of direction and what they're
going than s CI when you actually attend their conference.
And and man, folks are coming in from from everywhere.

Speaker 4 (44:00):
I mean, it's it's big hats and big boots.

Speaker 5 (44:02):
Man, I mean it's it's a lot of western where
and you know, a lot of foreign currency and a
lot of different languages being spoke. But it's pretty neat
to see where where all that's going. And it's it's
only going to grow, and it's only going to get bigger.
And I can't imagine where there would be a better

(44:23):
spot within two hours drive a litlevel to go to
learn how to go and hunt different places of the world.
If if you want to go uh and and learn
about those things. I mean, you've got everybody from from
Jim Shocky to local guides and outfitters and trackers that
are coming in from from other countries to kind of

(44:46):
explain what you need as far as your gear and
how you start to save and plan on things like this.
And of course the taxidermy alone. Getting that stuff back
is no easy feat. But uh man, the the amount
of just top notch taxidermy that's there, and and lots
of lots of ladies were really enjoying the jewelry of

(45:09):
different parts of game animals, and of course the the
different types of stones that could be had there, and
just endless amounts of furs.

Speaker 3 (45:17):
It was.

Speaker 4 (45:18):
It's really good to.

Speaker 5 (45:20):
Just see what sci is doing in the heart of Tennessee.

Speaker 4 (45:24):
And if you haven't been to Tennessee.

Speaker 5 (45:26):
Lately, uh my, golly, is that place growing. If if
they if you know, if they say that Nashville is growing,
they're not. They're not pulling your leg on that one.
That's a Nashville's booming, man. It's uh it's it's absolutely booming.

Speaker 3 (45:42):
No doubt about it. We got a local event coming up.

Speaker 2 (45:46):
By local, I mean here in Kentucky with her buddy
Kevin Murphy, You want to speak to that real quickly
before I have to go to break.

Speaker 3 (45:54):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (45:55):
Uh.

Speaker 5 (45:55):
If folks have got something to take a note on
pencil paper, put in your phone. Kevin Murphy, he's known
as the greatest small game hunter from Steve Vanella and
the Meat Eater on March the seventh and March the fourteenth,
And I've talked to Kevin about this pretty extensively.

Speaker 4 (46:16):
We were actually at sci together.

Speaker 5 (46:18):
March the seventh is going to be the biggest day,
and we talked about weather. If if Kevin Murphy or
myself would go out and hunting at the event's still
going to go on. So don't don't let a little
wind or cold weather or little rain think that the
event's going to be caught off. March the seventh and
fourteenth down at Land between the Lakes over in the

(46:38):
Davenport Bay area on the west side of LBL The
Forest Service Road is one twenty five. But there's going
to be a tree planning and it's gonna be in
and around some of those riparian areas, and it's going
to be around the lake shore to help with erosion
control and cypress tree and a few other habitat projects

(47:01):
you're going to be going on, and I know there's
several people that have helped with.

Speaker 4 (47:06):
That in the past.

Speaker 5 (47:07):
Your lunch will be provided. It's not going to be
anything real fancy. We're gonna get a fire going and
allow folks to cook some hot dogs, especially the kids,
take a little bit.

Speaker 4 (47:17):
Of break between the work.

Speaker 5 (47:18):
But man, it's great for Boy Scouts and Girls Scouts,
any type of sports teams, high school fishing, fast teams,
church groups, men's youth groups, women's leadership routs, anything. If
you've got an organization or club and you're looking to
do some community service. That'll be March the seventh and
March to fourteenth over at LBL and Davenport Bay. And

(47:41):
you can reach out to Kevin Murphy for myself to
get you some more details. But no job there will
be too hard, but there's plenty of work to be
done and getting no cypress trees in and around the
water's edge gym. It not only helps prevent erosion, it
mix for future habitat for really good fishing.

Speaker 2 (48:02):
Is is there a website or Facebook contact here that
folks can go to from.

Speaker 5 (48:08):
The easiest the easiest place for him to figure it
out on Facebook will be to go to the Jackson
Purchase UH Foundation and and they're on the social media and.

Speaker 4 (48:21):
Of course they're on they're on there on.

Speaker 5 (48:24):
The website as well. Believe it's w W W j
UH p f UH or j p R. I have
to I have to go back on that. But the
main thing is just go to Facebook and look up
to Jackson Purchase R C D Foundation. And that's a
that's a great thing, you know, Uh Murphy and what

(48:44):
he's been doing over the years and in that area
between the amount of work of getting the khak ers
access to the to the water and and trying to
make the habitat better over there, it's been really really
really good. And and uh there's two thousand trees that
that need to be planted, about six foot trees and

(49:05):
and uh, getting all that done doesn't happen with this
three or four people standing in at to tailgate with
your hands in your pocket, if you know what I mean.

Speaker 4 (49:12):
It's a good day, yeah, good good day of labor.

Speaker 5 (49:16):
And and uh and if you've got a young and
and you can put them in the truck, you know, carpool,
come on down be I'll be there and be glad
to see everybody, and and uh, we'll figure out a way.

Speaker 4 (49:28):
That we can do.

Speaker 5 (49:29):
Our part goes back to being that servant to conservation
a great way to impact private.

Speaker 4 (49:35):
And public ground. But this is a public land project,
and uh, you know, all of us at.

Speaker 5 (49:41):
Some point in time I'm sure benefited from laying between
the lakes over the years, whether it was back when
Harold and David were starting to inform people about where
to go turning hunting in the state of Kentucky, or
some of the mecca high life days of the great
crappie fishing that the that the lake had, which is
actually really good right now, and the folks want to

(50:02):
just pull your boat down, work a few hours, and
then go fishing when you're done.

Speaker 3 (50:07):
Yep, I gotta go to break.

Speaker 2 (50:09):
Here is presented by SMI coming back from break, we're
going to talk about some fishing opportunities and things that
are actually pretty red hot right now. So we'll be
back right after this, Scott. We promise we were going
to talk a little fishing because crappy fishing has really
surprised a lot of people. The crappie went into fall

(50:31):
fat as butter uh and and the early part of
winter was so slight that they've continued to hold the
weight and they're they're catching some really nice fish. I know,
I've got some great reports from Green River.

Speaker 3 (50:55):
Dye Howl. Several of those lakes are pretty much on fire.

Speaker 5 (51:02):
One of the things that happened this year is we
had such good weather and fall fishing was really good,
and the fishing in the winter. We've not had a
tremendous amount of rain to really, you know, fluctuate things
too much.

Speaker 4 (51:22):
I mean, we've.

Speaker 5 (51:22):
Had definitely some murky waters and some fluctuation and tempertures,
but we had such an impact from all the water
we got this pass spring, our fish numbers just seemed
to be really strong, and I think that may be
why the bite may be so good. There's quite a
few bait fish.

Speaker 3 (51:43):
You know.

Speaker 5 (51:43):
Our weather's been somewhat bipolar, and we've got the change
of the forward facing so on ar and different things.
And if you got out there and did some fishing,
it didn't take long to realize that you could find fish.
And what's been different about this winter is the fish
have been biting.

Speaker 4 (52:03):
It's easy to.

Speaker 5 (52:04):
Find fish on graft and so onar. But getting them
to bite this time of year is a different story.

Speaker 4 (52:11):
That's the secret. End.

Speaker 5 (52:13):
They've been bite and that's what's been really nice, and
they'll hollow. Just in general, the crappee fishing's been great.
Several bass tournaments is past weekend, you know, eighteen pounds
sixteen eighteen pounds to win it, which I know that
doesn't seem like a lot of weight, but man, for
this time of year, being able to put you know,

(52:35):
sixteen eighteen pounds of fish.

Speaker 4 (52:36):
And the boat is great.

Speaker 5 (52:38):
I mean, yeah, we're getting ready to come up on
being able to catch especially large mouth and you know
weight wise, some just absolute monster fish on different types
of fishing for winter in early spring.

Speaker 4 (52:53):
But you know, to get out there and.

Speaker 5 (52:56):
To be able to find fish and they're biting and
put that sixteen eighteen pounding your boat, it's it's worth
going out there and fighting the conditions, and it's worth
watching the weather and taking advantage of those windows and opportunities.

Speaker 4 (53:09):
And the other thing is is.

Speaker 5 (53:12):
When you uh take time to learn how to fish
in the winter, believe it or not, those those strategies
will will carry forward for you for several years ahead.
Now you may not have as as good as luck
one year to the next. But but winter fishing techniques
and tactics honestly or or sometimes uh, you.

Speaker 4 (53:35):
Know they're there's thought that they're a little bit harder.

Speaker 5 (53:38):
And really what it boils down to is not just
slowing down at times.

Speaker 4 (53:42):
A lot of times it comes with speed up. It's
learning how to read fish.

Speaker 5 (53:45):
And you know when they're when they're up, and when
they're active, and when they're actually down. And there's a
lot of people I think they they target too much
water uh at one time in the winter. And if
you'll just pick a bay, or you'll pick a cove,
or you'll pick a couple of points and start dissecting
your lakes and look at your maps, I would I would, uh,

(54:08):
I've encourage you to do that.

Speaker 4 (54:09):
The other thing is, too.

Speaker 5 (54:10):
Our guides that are out there that are doing winter fishing,
they know that you're gonna go and fish, and they
know that you're probably gonna come back and fish the
same lake.

Speaker 4 (54:21):
I mean, they know this is going to happen. But
utilize a good guide and go out.

Speaker 5 (54:27):
With some friends and and just talk to them about
their techniques. And of course it's just common courtesy and
character not to go back and fish their spots. You
don't want to go back in there and and and
utilize something to where you're you're crowding them out of
an area that that they're utilizing them make their their
earnings that are living. But uh, you know, the techniques

(54:48):
can be applied to two different channels and points and
rocks and stumps, and when you start learning how fish
react this time of year, you tend to have fresh
fish and you're skilled about every week.

Speaker 2 (54:59):
Yeah, the techniques that are standing out for me for
the cropping has been spider riggum, which has been you know,
around forever, but it's been producing some really big croppy
especially at Kentucky Lake for example.

Speaker 3 (55:16):
And then.

Speaker 2 (55:19):
The vertical fishing over the brush piles and fifteen to
twenty feet of water has been killer this winter, especially
when at times obviously when the snow and ice was on,
hardly anybody could get out, But around those times.

Speaker 3 (55:35):
You know, was when you could go, it was excellent.

Speaker 2 (55:38):
And I guess what we're trying to say is that's
going to continue to be great.

Speaker 3 (55:42):
And then shortly by mid to late March.

Speaker 2 (55:46):
These fish are gonna move up, you know, up off
the brakes, you get up shallow where you can catch
them in you know water, say four to twelve feet deep.
So it's gonna bust loose. It's been really good. Let's
talk small mouth real quick, because that's been really good
this morning.

Speaker 4 (56:02):
Small mouth has been solid. Large mouth bites good.

Speaker 5 (56:05):
Small mouth basically, uh, you know, same thing as your
tropy going.

Speaker 4 (56:09):
Back and and uh, you know I've not you.

Speaker 5 (56:12):
Know, going back on your tropery do on spider eggs.
I've not had much luck on the spider rig.

Speaker 4 (56:17):
Uh. Most of everybody's been kind of individually targeting.

Speaker 5 (56:20):
Specific fish based off of the sonar. And that's how
the that's how the small mouth bite has been too.
Is you'll see these schools of fish and there'll be
one or two that will be standing out actively moving
above the main school. And those are the fish that
you want to target. And it's not necessarily getting the
right bait in front of them, it's just getting that

(56:41):
bait in front of them and that target zone and
and they're striking, and they're striking pretty hard. So you
try to find where these fish are moving and chasing
bait fish and it's the bait.

Speaker 4 (56:51):
Fish move just where the big fish go, they're right
behind them.

Speaker 3 (56:55):
Yes, sir, one minder body.

Speaker 2 (56:57):
Next weekend we're going to be talking to doctor Mike
Kail Chamberlain, one of the pre eminent turkey biologists in
the country. He's got some really interesting data from some
studies that he's done recently, and we're going to do
turkey talk. So Jo understand, won't you. Thanks for being
with us, God bless everybody.