The Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources is bringing the outdoors to the Kentucky State Fair, now underway.
Fairgoers are encouraged to visit Main Street Kentucky in the South Wing of the Kentucky Exposition Center through Aug. 28 to experience Kentucky Fish and Wildlife through a variety of special programs, educational opportunities, and displays.
Department staff also will be on hand each day to help answer questions about fish, wildlife and boating in the Commonwealth.
Opportunities being offered by Kentucky Fish and Wildlife at the state fair include:
(Photo from KDFWR)
• Complete the range portion of a hunter education course at the indoor air-rifle range. For details and to register, visit www.register-ed.com
• Ask a conservation officer and other Kentucky Fish and Wildlife employees your questions about fish, wildlife or boating.
• Check out Law Enforcement’s new “Operation Game Theft.” See wildlife that has been poached and illegally taken.
• Spin the prize wheel for a chance to win some gear.
Special programs include:
• Aug. 19: Fishing in Neighborhoods (FINs) program with Dane Balsman, fisheries biologist. Find fishing opportunities close to home at one of 45 FINs lakes across the state.
• Aug 20 and 26: Do you have Farm PONDering questions? Talk to a fisheries biologist and wildlife biologist.
• Aug. 25: Meet Kentucky Afield Television Host Chad Miles, 10 a.m.
• Aug. 25: Live ESPN Louisville radio remote. The Deener Show from 7 to 10 a.m.
• Aug. 25: Salato Wildlife Education Center with conservation educators and featured live critters from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
• Aug. 27: Kentucky Wild Day. Ask a wildlife biologist about Kentucky’s species of greatest conservation need.
The Kentucky Fish and Wildlife experience opens daily at 10 a.m. (EDT) and closes at 8 p.m., with extended hours to 9 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. The experience closes at 6 p.m. on the last night of the fair, Sunday, Aug. 28.
The popular self-contained air rifle range is open to all adults and older children to take a shot at hitting 12 targets for a small fee.
Those wishing to complete the range portion of their hunter education requirements may do so at the fair. Hunter education is open to anyone 9 or older, and is required in Kentucky for hunters born in 1975 or later who have reached their 12th birthday. (Younger hunters are not required to have the certification but must be directly supervised by an adult while afield.) Certification requires successful completion of the classroom portion either online or at an instructor-led course prior to successfully completing the range portion. Registration for range days is available online through the department’s website, fw.ky.gov.
For more information about programs and displays offered by Kentucky Fish and Wildlife at the state fair, visit fw.ky.gov and enter the words “state fair” in the search box. Please consult the Kentucky State Fair website at kystatefair.org for admission and parking fees, gate hours and other details.
Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources
