''Kentucky Afield'' is a

magazine A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combinatio ...

radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmit ...

show and

television program Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, e ...

, and is the official publication 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 ...

. The magazine is a quarterly periodical while the television and radio programs are a 30-minute broadcast, all of which is devoted to the fish and wildlife resources of

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

and covers a broad range of outdoor topics, including

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

hunting Hunting is the human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products (fur/hide (skin), hide, ...

, conservation and

land management Land management is the process of managing the use and development (in both urban and rural settings, but it is mostly managed in Urban places.) of land resources. Land resources are used for a variety of purposes which may include organic agricul ...

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

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

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

Magazine

''Kentucky Afield'' magazine began as ''Kentucky Happy Hunting Ground'' under the leadership of Editor Harry Towles 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 (September 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 beyond the we ...

in the upper left hand corner. The League of Kentucky Sportsmen (Kentucky's oldest conservation group) took over the magazine from May 1947 to June 1948, before giving it back to the Department. 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.

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 state network of PBS member television stations serving the U.S. Commonwealth of Kentucky. It is operated by the Kentucky Authority for Educational Television, an agency of the Kentucky state governm ...

to air the show statewide. Dreier was replaced as host by Tim Michaels in 1988 and then Dave Shuffett from 1989 until 1995. Under Dave, the format of the show changed into a magazine-styled format. Tim Farmer took over from Dave from 1995 until December 2015.

Magazine

Radio

Television

See also

References

Further reading