14 years of hunting on the Big Island of Hawaii comes to an end

[hardwoods]

That's some great info- thank you Doc.

Been looking at the state lands and before trying to call DLNR it appears only two or three of the 5 pieces of land would maybe be accessible at all and not surrounded by private land. Sadly I see those pieces of land appear to be in the heart of the jungle- lol. The best bet for better looking "axis country" would be Unit E, however its unclear how to get to that piece and most google earth images I find have a giant cloud blocking most of the view-lol.

I will keep digging around and hopefully find someone who has hunted those lands and can confirm that the axis live up on the top of the mountain in the jungle- lol.

Thank you again for all your help.

 

[Huntr Pat]

I only hunted the Big Island. There is some really good axis deer hunting on Molokai, but it is really, really rough terrain and most of it is private. The state land can be tough to get to. You need a sturdy 4WD and those are really expensive to rent. If you can befriend a local there, they can steer you to some hunter friendly private property where you will have a good chance of bagging a deer. Maui is loaded with deer, but it's all private land. The Big Island is by far the best for public land hunting, but there are no deer. LOTS of pigs, quite a few sheep, lots of goats, some wild cattle. Also, the turkey hunting there is unbelievable. I'll be going back in May and again in December and will probably come home with 100+ pounds of beef and another 50 pounds of pork and sheep---providing the virus is under control.

Doc, keep in touch I might join you. So far because of covid there is 7 day holding period before you frolic around the islands.

 

[bsmithwy]

Aloha:

I haven't posted on this forum for many years. Moved from So Cal to Big Island 15 years ago but due to lack of medical care there and the fact that I am now in my 70's, my wife and I moved to Fallbrook, CA, about 1 year ago. Quite a change in terms of hunting and shooting and not for the better. I still have access to private farms and ranches on the Big Island to hunt wild boar, mouflon sheep, turkeys, and wild cattle [Vancouver bulls] but due to covid, can't get back there. Really miss the hunting there.

So, in those 14 years, here is the score: 175 wild pigs, 12 mouflon sheep, dozens of turkeys, and 35 wild cattle. The hunting season is 365 days per year, no limit on invasive species [pigs, sheep, cattle] and during the bird season, the limit on turkeys is 1 per day and they are everywhere. The resident license cost for all that is $10 per year. When I turned 65 [7 years ago] my license was free. I would hunt about 1 time per week and when hunting pigs, I would get a pig about every other time on a 5 hour hunt, stillhunting in beautiful jungle wilderness. Never, ever saw another human. Sheep a bit tougher to get. The wild cattle were easy. I would get a call from a coffee farmer telling me that a particularly aggressive bull was harassing coffee workers and I'd take off with my 375 Ruger and track them up into the jungle. They are very wild and easily spooked, sort of like hunting elk in heavy timber. A long shot in the jungle is about 40 yards. I'd take about 30 pounds of the best meat and then lead the coffee workers up to the carcass. Most of the workers are Mexicans with large families and they have a lot of little mouths to feed and they know how to butcher cattle. They would get about 300 pounds of meat and that would feed their families for several weeks. Figure I got about 1200 pounds of beef for myself and over 10,000 pounds for the workers. Some of the bulls were extremely aggressive and charged and had to be stopped at really close range in tight quarters. In terms of the pigs, there are so many of them that I never gutted a single one, just boned out the best cuts and walked away with 25 pounds of meat from a 175 pound boar. This is not wasteful. Pigs are like rats there, doing a huge amount of damage to the native vegetation and spreading diseases like leptospirosis. A neat trick was to shoot a bull and then come back to the carcass 3 days later. Quite a stink but that stink would attract pigs by the dozens. One dead bull would result in 2 or 3 dead pigs. My wife and I didn't buy one single ounce of beef or pork for the last several years we were on the Big Island.

Hope everyone from the Old Days on the forum is doing well. Will be deer hunting my secret hidey holes on Palomar Mtn for rifle and muzzleloader this fall. Have always taken at least one deer. What is a shocker is the idea of paying $500 for a pig hunt. Some of the ranchers on the Big Island paid ME to hunt the pigs there. I feel very lucky---blessed---to have had the opportunity to hunt on the Big Island. It's the closest thing to Africa on this side of the planet.

Will hunt elk, deer, and maybe bear next fall in CO and Idaho and then, if the virus allows, make a few trips back to the Big Island to chase the bulls and the boars.

Aloha for now.

Doccherry

Aloha Docchery,

Guessing by your post-name and time on BI, you may be the Cherry from RMEF. Regardless, I'm curious about your post saying "mouflon meat is superb". I'm primarily an elk hunter from Wyoming that has spent years working in HI (and playing outdoors when time allows). Currently in WY until travel is safe. Please share your insights about mouflon meat. I've not hunted them as of yet, due to VERY mixed reviews on the meat. There are plenty of pigs, turkeys and deer on the islands to hunt for good meat. The mouflon "hunt" has great appeal! But, don't want to waste meat. Please share any sources on the topic.

Mahalo

 

[doccherry]

Aloha Docchery,

Guessing by your post-name and time on BI, you may be the Cherry from RMEF. Regardless, I'm curious about your post saying "mouflon meat is superb". I'm primarily an elk hunter from Wyoming that has spent years working in HI (and playing outdoors when time allows). Currently in WY until travel is safe. Please share your insights about mouflon meat. I've not hunted them as of yet, due to VERY mixed reviews on the meat. There are plenty of pigs, turkeys and deer on the islands to hunt for good meat. The mouflon "hunt" has great appeal! But, don't want to waste meat. Please share any sources on the topic.

Mahalo

I am one of the writers for Bugle Magazine, the RMEF periodical. Mouflon can be very good but it requires some attention. To remove the lanolin taste, I always soak the meat in a solution of ice water and baking soda, adding ice as necessary, and letting it soak for about 3 days. You may want to change the water after a day or two. The meat then tastes just like commercial lamb. Prepare it the same as you would lamb, using teriyaki or some other marinade with a hint of sweetness.

Now, I need your help. I'm too old to deal with elk bulls, just too much for me to handle. I am looking for an early season cow elk hunt, something before mid-Oct. Anything you would recommend in WY?

 

[oneclearshot]

Aloha:

I haven't posted on this forum for many years. Moved from So Cal to Big Island 15 years ago but due to lack of medical care there and the fact that I am now in my 70's, my wife and I moved to Fallbrook, CA, about 1 year ago. Quite a change in terms of hunting and shooting and not for the better. I still have access to private farms and ranches on the Big Island to hunt wild boar, mouflon sheep, turkeys, and wild cattle [Vancouver bulls] but due to covid, can't get back there. Really miss the hunting there.

So, in those 14 years, here is the score: 175 wild pigs, 12 mouflon sheep, dozens of turkeys, and 35 wild cattle. The hunting season is 365 days per year, no limit on invasive species [pigs, sheep, cattle] and during the bird season, the limit on turkeys is 1 per day and they are everywhere. The resident license cost for all that is $10 per year. When I turned 65 [7 years ago] my license was free. I would hunt about 1 time per week and when hunting pigs, I would get a pig about every other time on a 5 hour hunt, stillhunting in beautiful jungle wilderness. Never, ever saw another human. Sheep a bit tougher to get. The wild cattle were easy. I would get a call from a coffee farmer telling me that a particularly aggressive bull was harassing coffee workers and I'd take off with my 375 Ruger and track them up into the jungle. They are very wild and easily spooked, sort of like hunting elk in heavy timber. A long shot in the jungle is about 40 yards. I'd take about 30 pounds of the best meat and then lead the coffee workers up to the carcass. Most of the workers are Mexicans with large families and they have a lot of little mouths to feed and they know how to butcher cattle. They would get about 300 pounds of meat and that would feed their families for several weeks. Figure I got about 1200 pounds of beef for myself and over 10,000 pounds for the workers. Some of the bulls were extremely aggressive and charged and had to be stopped at really close range in tight quarters. In terms of the pigs, there are so many of them that I never gutted a single one, just boned out the best cuts and walked away with 25 pounds of meat from a 175 pound boar. This is not wasteful. Pigs are like rats there, doing a huge amount of damage to the native vegetation and spreading diseases like leptospirosis. A neat trick was to shoot a bull and then come back to the carcass 3 days later. Quite a stink but that stink would attract pigs by the dozens. One dead bull would result in 2 or 3 dead pigs. My wife and I didn't buy one single ounce of beef or pork for the last several years we were on the Big Island.

Hope everyone from the Old Days on the forum is doing well. Will be deer hunting my secret hidey holes on Palomar Mtn for rifle and muzzleloader this fall. Have always taken at least one deer. What is a shocker is the idea of paying $500 for a pig hunt. Some of the ranchers on the Big Island paid ME to hunt the pigs there. I feel very lucky---blessed---to have had the opportunity to hunt on the Big Island. It's the closest thing to Africa on this side of the planet.

Will hunt elk, deer, and maybe bear next fall in CO and Idaho and then, if the virus allows, make a few trips back to the Big Island to chase the bulls and the boars.

Aloha for now.

Doccherry

Well I'll be D@MN&D Hi Doc !!! L-O-N-G time no HEAR??? It's Oneclearshot in Temecula ! Glad to have ya' back Partner, but sorry to hear about the conditions that made it happen, just the same I know what yer' talkin about, I turned 72 in Oct. but am still kickin' it pretty well inspite of all this Covid restriction! Send me a response and a way to get ahold of you personally so we can get reconnected for some local hunts? Until I hear from you, take care O' yerself and stay healthy

 

[oneclearshot]

Hey Doc, let me know if you're interested for some Spring Turkey up in the Julian, CA area?

 

[doccherry]

Just joined MCC [My Country Club]. Went deer hunting last day of muzzleloader season, had huge area to myself, saw lots of deer including the club minimum of 3 points, unable to get a shot. Lots of snow. I will be hunting turkey on their properties. Saw a lot of turkeys, too, probably 75 or more, many toms and lots of jakes. Thanks for the offer but I think I'm all set.

 

[oneclearshot]

Just joined MCC [My Country Club]. Went deer hunting last day of muzzleloader season, had huge area to myself, saw lots of deer including the club minimum of 3 points, unable to get a shot. Lots of snow. I will be hunting turkey on their properties. Saw a lot of turkeys, too, probably 75 or more, many toms and lots of jakes. Thanks for the offer but I think I'm all set.

Hey Doc, glad you got my Post ! Are the Mendenhall's till runnin' that MCC Operation?
Haven't been up that way in a few years!

 

[doccherry]

Hey Doc, glad you got my Post ! Are the Mendenhall's till runnin' that MCC Operation?
Haven't been up that way in a few years!

Mendenhall's still running the place.

 

[oneclearshot]

Thanks Doc, I've gotta get up that way soon and see Frank and Janice !!!
Take care and I'll talk to ya' soon.

 

[doccherry]

Thanks Doc, I've gotta get up that way soon and see Frank and Janice !!!
Take care and I'll talk to ya' soon.

Oneclearshot: Bad news. Frank, Janice's husband, died about a year ago. Pancreatic cancer. Janice's son, Joel, was killed alongside the highway just this side of Henshaw. Working on a piece of heavy equipment, guy in cockpit hit wrong lever, bucket hit Joel in the head. I came back after 15 years and this, along with several of my best friends who also died while I was in Hawaii, really hit me hard. My advice---Don't waste a minute. Go out and hunt, hunt, hunt. Cherish your friends. This thing we call life is so fragile, here today, gone tomorrow. Took me 70+ years to figure this out. Take care, my friend.

 

[oneclearshot]

Doc, I did NOT know this about Frank and I am very sad to hear it, but Thanks just the same for sharing! As I said, it's been a few years since I've been up in those Hills to Hunt or even visit folks and even with the mutual friends we share down here in the Valley, that NEWS did not reach me? I did know about Joel though, just a day or two after that tragedy! A family friend called and told me......I had given Joel and his wife their Hunter Safety Class and Test, along with a few of their select friends? Janice had me do two more later that same year in the Recreation Room at the Campground.....but all this was before the Twins were born. On one occasion I was able to set Joel and his Dad up on an Elk Hunt in Ariz. across from my property West of Seligman. I know just what you mean about losing your friends at OUR age? I just lost a good friend last week that had worked for the City of Fallbrook before he retired and he was THREE years younger than ME? I feel Blessed every single morning that I wake up and see I've been given another one! It was an unspoken fact we all knew but never talked about in Nam' that "Tomorrow is not promised for any Man" appreciate every Day you're given and never go to bed angry or with a harsh word being your last, whether it's your kids, spouse or friend, cuz' it may very well be and you may not have the opportunity to rectify that? And GUILT is a pretty powerful punishment ! Doc, how can I get my phone # to you so it's just for you? I'm still getting used to navigating this site now that I'm back? Take care and I hope to hear from you soon? OCS

 

[ozstriker22]

Holy smokin Toledo‘s! This must be fate, I swear I don’t think I’ve been on here in 5-10 years if not more and the first two people I see are @doccherry and @oneclearshot

How the hell are you gentlemen doing?!! I kind of went the opposite direction of Hawaii and ended up in DFW Dallas Fort Worth area of Texas. There is no shortage of deer out here, and I just found a local spot for wild boar about 10 minutes from my house. Tell you what though, the weather and the Mexican food sure as shit suck out here

Doc I’m really sorry to see that you had to leave Hawaii. Love reading that report though! Sounds like you did some really good work out there! Right before Covid started my (former) girlfriend and I were planning a trip and I just about had her convinced to a few days hunting those Vancouver cattle! No joke.

It sure is good back and see some familiar faces

aloha

 

[oneclearshot]

Holy smokin Toledo‘s! This must be fate, I swear I don’t think I’ve been on here in 5-10 years if not more and the first two people I see are @doccherry and @oneclearshot

How the hell are you gentlemen doing?!! I kind of went the opposite direction of Hawaii and ended up in DFW Dallas Fort Worth area of Texas. There is no shortage of deer out here, and I just found a local spot for wild boar about 10 minutes from my house. Tell you what though, the weather and the Mexican food sure as shit suck out here

Doc I’m really sorry to see that you had to leave Hawaii. Love reading that report though! Sounds like you did some really good work out there! Right before Covid started my (former) girlfriend and I were planning a trip and I just about had her convinced to a few days hunting those Vancouver cattle! No joke.

It sure is good back and see some familiar faces

aloha

 

[oneclearshot]

Well Damn Skippy !!!!!! How you been Jesse? I've thought about you off and on over the years and the huntin' we've done together? The Saltwater fishin' was a kick too! So you ended up in DFW area huh? I've got a couple of Cousins in that Neck-o-the-Woods, both married fellas from Texas and now they're Transplants! I'm still here in Temecula with the same email address, so if you can, contact me personal and we can re-connect for a pig hunt OR Deer there in yer' backyard I'll start checking these Forums again, now that I'm retired and back on the radar but if you can contact me Direct? Take care buddy, OCS aka: Bob

 

[McBullseye]

Just joined MCC [My Country Club]. Went deer hunting last day of muzzleloader season, had huge area to myself, saw lots of deer including the club minimum of 3 points, unable to get a shot. Lots of snow. I will be hunting turkey on their properties. Saw a lot of turkeys, too, probably 75 or more, many toms and lots of jakes. Thanks for the offer but I think I'm all set.

Hey doc, I was interesed in looking/joining MCC, i would love a bit of intel on this place. I am an all around bird, deer and hog hunter, thanks in advance for the info.

 

[Kentuck]

Wow. A blast from the past. I don't come on here as much as I used to due to social media platforms but I remember enjoying your hunting stories. Especially the wild cattle ones.

 

[big island will]

Aloha:

I haven't posted on this forum for many years. Moved from So Cal to Big Island 15 years ago but due to lack of medical care there and the fact that I am now in my 70's, my wife and I moved to Fallbrook, CA, about 1 year ago. Quite a change in terms of hunting and shooting and not for the better. I still have access to private farms and ranches on the Big Island to hunt wild boar, mouflon sheep, turkeys, and wild cattle [Vancouver bulls] but due to covid, can't get back there. Really miss the hunting there.

So, in those 14 years, here is the score: 175 wild pigs, 12 mouflon sheep, dozens of turkeys, and 35 wild cattle. The hunting season is 365 days per year, no limit on invasive species [pigs, sheep, cattle] and during the bird season, the limit on turkeys is 1 per day and they are everywhere. The resident license cost for all that is $10 per year. When I turned 65 [7 years ago] my license was free. I would hunt about 1 time per week and when hunting pigs, I would get a pig about every other time on a 5 hour hunt, stillhunting in beautiful jungle wilderness. Never, ever saw another human. Sheep a bit tougher to get. The wild cattle were easy. I would get a call from a coffee farmer telling me that a particularly aggressive bull was harassing coffee workers and I'd take off with my 375 Ruger and track them up into the jungle. They are very wild and easily spooked, sort of like hunting elk in heavy timber. A long shot in the jungle is about 40 yards. I'd take about 30 pounds of the best meat and then lead the coffee workers up to the carcass. Most of the workers are Mexicans with large families and they have a lot of little mouths to feed and they know how to butcher cattle. They would get about 300 pounds of meat and that would feed their families for several weeks. Figure I got about 1200 pounds of beef for myself and over 10,000 pounds for the workers. Some of the bulls were extremely aggressive and charged and had to be stopped at really close range in tight quarters. In terms of the pigs, there are so many of them that I never gutted a single one, just boned out the best cuts and walked away with 25 pounds of meat from a 175 pound boar. This is not wasteful. Pigs are like rats there, doing a huge amount of damage to the native vegetation and spreading diseases like leptospirosis. A neat trick was to shoot a bull and then come back to the carcass 3 days later. Quite a stink but that stink would attract pigs by the dozens. One dead bull would result in 2 or 3 dead pigs. My wife and I didn't buy one single ounce of beef or pork for the last several years we were on the Big Island.

Hope everyone from the Old Days on the forum is doing well. Will be deer hunting my secret hidey holes on Palomar Mtn for rifle and muzzleloader this fall. Have always taken at least one deer. What is a shocker is the idea of paying $500 for a pig hunt. Some of the ranchers on the Big Island paid ME to hunt the pigs there. I feel very lucky---blessed---to have had the opportunity to hunt on the Big Island. It's the closest thing to Africa on this side of the planet.

Will hunt elk, deer, and maybe bear next fall in CO and Idaho and then, if the virus allows, make a few trips back to the Big Island to chase the bulls and the boars.

Aloha for now.

Aloha doccherry.
I am on big island and would love to have any help I can get to have more info to hunt the invasive game on the island.
Mahalo!

Doccherry

 

[Debbiem]

Curious whether there might be a reasonably consistent boar, and other, hunting group out on the Big Island for a variety of goals - love your success out here @doccherry

 

[Huey43]

Was actually going to the big island this July and looked into guided pig hunts. The only thing they offer is tracking them with dogs (which I don't really like as I've seen videos of dogs mauling poor pigs instead of the hunter shooting them) and then you have to stab the pig... no shooting.