''Kentucky Afield'' is the communications arm of the

Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources The Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources, an agency of the Kentucky Tourism, Arts and Heritage Cabinet, is responsible for the conservation of wildlife resources and for boating projects in the state. A commissioner appointed by the ...

. Kentucky Afield consists of a

magazine A magazine is a periodical literature, periodical publication, print or digital, produced on a regular schedule, that contains any of a variety of subject-oriented textual and visual content (media), content forms. Magazines are generally fin ...

radio Radio is the technology of communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 3 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmitter connec ...

show and

television program A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via Terrestrial television, over-the-air, Satellite television, satellite, and cable te ...

. The magazine is a quarterly periodical. The television show is a 30-minute broadcast airing on the Kentucky Educational Television (KET) and YouTube. The radio show has transitioned from its original format into a podcast. These outlets are devoted to the fish and wildlife resources of

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

and covers a broad range of outdoor topics, including

angling Angling (from Old English ''angol'', meaning "hook") is a fishing technique that uses a fish hook attached to a fishing line to tether individual fish in the mouth. The fishing line is usually manipulated with a fishing rod, although rodless te ...

hunting Hunting is the Human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, and killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to obtain the animal's body for meat and useful animal products (fur/hide (sk ...

, conservation and

land management Land management is the process of managing the land use, use and development of land resources. Those resources are used for a variety of purposes for example agriculture, forestry, water resource management, Human settlement, human settlements an ...

. The television show is the longest continuously running outdoors television show in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and the fourth oldest in the nation for all television shows.

Magazine

''Kentucky Afield'' magazine began as ''Kentucky Happy Hunting Ground.'' Commissioner Earl Wallace founded the publication and appointed its first editor, Harry Towles, for the inaugural edition in December 1945 as a bi-monthly publication. The initial press run was 15,000 copies, with the subscription price set at 50 cents a year. The first issue featured a hunting dog on the cover and a drawing of pioneer

Daniel Boone Daniel Boone (, 1734September 26, 1820) was an American pioneer and frontiersman whose exploits made him one of the first folk heroes of the United States. He became famous for his exploration and settlement of Kentucky, which was then beyo ...

in the upper left hand corner. In 1947, Happy Hunting Ground absorbed a magazine published by The League of Kentucky Sportsmen (Kentucky's oldest conservation group). An agreement signed by League President Al Blum and Kentucky Division of Game and Fish Commissioner W. G. Buchanan on June 16, 1947, determined the Division of Game and Fish would publish and mail the magazine. The League could submit content and appoint an associate editor in return for turning over the 25 cent fee it charged its members for a magazine. In 1992, the magazine's name changed to ''Kentucky Afield''. The name change not only mirrored the names of the department's television and radio shows, but it emphasized all the outdoors, not just hunting. Since 2000, staff artist Rick Hill has painted the covers of the magazine. The exception was 2004, when the magazine switched to photo covers while Hill painted "Kentucky Fish," a department poster featuring 27 of the state's most recognized fish. ''Kentucky Afield'' emphasizes honest, intelligent writing with input from numerous subject experts employed by Kentucky Fish and Wildlife. It serves as an ongoing historical record of the department's research and accomplishments.

Radio

A radio program was added in 1952.

Television

The radio program was followed by a television show in 1953 when it debuted on WAVE TV. Ron Rhody delivered a weekly fishing report on Saturday mornings. In 1957, Hope Carleton, who was a Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources conservation officer, was named host and remained so until his retirement in 1980. He was replaced with Jeremy Dreier. In 1985, Dreier forged a deal with

Kentucky Educational Television Kentucky Educational Television (KET) is a statewide television network serving the U.S. Commonwealth (U.S. state), commonwealth of Kentucky as a member of PBS. It is operated by the Kentucky Authority for Educational Television, an agency of ...

to air the show statewide. Dreier was replaced as host by Tim Michaels in 1988 and then Dave Shuffett from 1989 until 1995. Under Shuffett, the format of the show changed into a magazine-styled format. Tim Farmer took over from Shuffett in 1995 and remained the show's host until December 2015. Chad Miles assumed hosting duties for the show in 2016.

Magazine

Radio

Television

See also

References

Further reading