Went for a hunt today at Laupahoehoe on the north side of the Big Island. Missed a grizzled boar [gray whiskers and gray along upper back] at 15 feet. He zipped away like a jackrabbit and disappeared. My shot missed him by a foot. Later, at about noon, I saw the largest boar I've ever seen in a hunting area and quickly shot. It ran straight into the really thick vines and tangles and then all was quiet. I felt pretty good about the shot so I waited a bit and then went in. Visibility is only about 6 to 8 feet at most and you have to crawl or stoop way over, so it's a bit disconcerting. Found it dead, fortunately. I used a small log to lever it out into the open because it was too heavy to drag. This thing was really obese. These pigs have unlimited fatty fruit to eat and I doubt if he ever saw another hunter in his life. Talk about a Garden of Eden for these pigs. Anyway, I was able to bone out the hams, tenderloins, and some other pieces. Both shoulders were largely ruined by the shot. Using my rifle as a reference, anybody have a guess as to what it weighed on the hoof? I don't have a clue but it's the largest I've ever shot.
- Thread starter doccherry
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One thing ive learned is that a picture is hard to tell the weight on a hog. my dad shot a 150 pound hog and a 50 pound hog and the 50 pound hog looked the same size as the bigger hog in the picture position makes a big diffrence. doccherry Nice hog how big were those cutters.
That settles it, next christmas vacation, I'm taking the family to the big island. I'm going hog huntin'.
Another fine job DC. How far of a hump back to the vehicle? Did you have to worry about the meat spoiling or is it cooler right now?
Another fine job DC. How far of a hump back to the vehicle? Did you have to worry about the meat spoiling or is it cooler right now?
larrysogla
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Probably 250+ lbs. live weight. That is a very nice looking pig. Congratulations!!!!! I have been using BarnesX bullets exclusively on boars and the meat damage is minimal and upon butchering, all we have to do is wash the area around the wound channel and we are able to save a lot of meat around the wound channel and the bullet penetration is excellent. I do not know about the other bullet styles since I have not used any on boars, but I keep hearing of lots of lost meat with lead core-cupro jacketed ammo. 'Nuff said.
To answer a few of your questions: The hike in to the hunting area takes about 30 minutes, mostly downhill, but even along the way the pig sign is abundant and I've jumped pigs 20 feet from where I park my truck. Then I hunt in an area of about 100 acres or so, wandering about. There are 3 ridges separated by gullies, the deepest being maybe 150 feet deep and 200 yards across. The gullies, or valleys, are heavily vegetated with vines and berry bushes but the hiking is much easier along the spine of the ridges. The ground is covered with mossy deadfalls and mossy lava rocks. It can take an hour to hike 1/2 a mile in that stuff. There is a pine forest from the road to the gullies and it is covered with pig sign. There is no water at all that I can find. When it rains, the gullies are awash but the terrain slopes downhill and the water rolls away to the sea. The gound is also lava and is incredibly porous so the water heads toward China the moment it hits the earth. I'm sure the pigs have found water, but I haven't. No signs of mud rubs on the trees anywhere. The four pigs I've taken in the past 4 trips were taken at about 10AM, 11AM, noon, and 1PM, far later in the day than what I experienced in California. A small hog can be quartered and packed out [tough hike, though], but a big pig has to be boned or it's too much to handle. There is no way I could ever drag out a pig because of the deadfalls and lava rock and there is no way I am physically capable of making two trips to get all the meat from a big pig. Remember, here on the Big Island pigs are looked upon in the same manner as coyotes are looked upon in California. They are a menace and considered vermin because they are destroying the native Hawaiian ecosystem and they are exploding in population. When a big pig is down, what I do is this: First, I don't even gut the hog because it's messy and there is no water other than the precious water in my canteens to clean up with. I slit the skin down along the backbone and skin it down about 8 inches on either side. Then I remove the tenderloins. I skin the hams and remove them. I then skin the shoulders and remove them. All of this is boned out and creates anywhere from 30 to 50 pounds of meat. It takes 1/2 as long and the only thing I miss that's really worth eating on a big hog are the backstraps. My backpack weighs about 25 pounds without the meat because I hunt alone since none of my hunting buddies will hike more than 5 minutes to hunt and I therefore need to carry a lot of survival gear in case I fall and break a bone or a hog gets me. I've learned over the past few trips that my freighter backpacks and other packs that have frames that extend upward don't work at all. They keep becoming entangled in the vines when I duck down to go beneath them. I bought an ALICE pack with frame and kidney belt on Ebay for 20 bucks and it is a godsend. Carries everything down low, most comfortable pack I've ever used, and doesn't get tangled in anything. I let the meat cool for awhile [this place is 6500 feet in elevation and it's shady beneath the vines so it is cool and often even cold] and stuff it in a waterproof rubberized canvas barracks bag. Now my pack weighs as much as 75 pounds and I begin the treck up to the truck, climbing about 700 feet and hiking for about an hour and 15 minutes. By the time I get there, I'm pooped [I'm 57] but can't wait to do it again.
In the hunting area, the whole place is torn up with fresh rooting and tracks. Pig poop [fresh, with flies] is everywhere. Trails lead in and out of the banana poka vines and I'm all alone in the world. This is real wilderness.
I've attached a photo to show the area where I went in to get the pig. It's relatively open here, compared to the thick banana poka, but note all the vines. You really can't see much and there is no place to run if the pig you went in to get isn't dead and wants to get even up the score.
In the hunting area, the whole place is torn up with fresh rooting and tracks. Pig poop [fresh, with flies] is everywhere. Trails lead in and out of the banana poka vines and I'm all alone in the world. This is real wilderness.
I've attached a photo to show the area where I went in to get the pig. It's relatively open here, compared to the thick banana poka, but note all the vines. You really can't see much and there is no place to run if the pig you went in to get isn't dead and wants to get even up the score.
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larrysogla
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Looks like pig heaven!!!! Wonn'erful, bootiful hunting scenery, a real paradise for piggie hunters galore. Do those fruit fed piggies have a musky scent and gamey taste OR do they have a fresh, fragrant fruity scent and taste sweet with a nice flavor??? Thank you for your much appreciated pictures and high adventure stories. God Bless.
Speckmisser
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Doc,
I hate to even open your posts, because you always have me drooling. What a paradise! Marlin, ahi, ono, and mahi right offshore, and pigs and turkeys all up in the hills! You've picked a great place!
Ahhhh... one day I'll make it out there.
Congrats on a nice, fat hog! Keep 'em coming!
I hate to even open your posts, because you always have me drooling. What a paradise! Marlin, ahi, ono, and mahi right offshore, and pigs and turkeys all up in the hills! You've picked a great place!
Ahhhh... one day I'll make it out there.
Congrats on a nice, fat hog! Keep 'em coming!
Rancho Loco
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And let's not talk about the surf or the native wildlife on the beach.
Bevyhunter
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doccherry, is this public land you are hunting on? if it is my brother lives over their . i think invite myself over.
To answer your questions, the pigs I've taken at Laupahoehoe, even the big boar, had no gamey smell or unpleasant odor at all. The meat was very sweet smelling, like fresh pork at the butcher shop. All these things eat where I hunt is passion fruit, salmon berries, some other berries I can't identify, fern rhizomes, and a bunch of other fruit farther down the hill, like guava, mango, avocado, and the like. This thing looked more like a huge pregnant sow than a lean, mean razorback. These pigs are incredibly fat, although most of the fat is not in the meat, but right under the skin.
The land I hunt is public and is open to the public on Sat and Sun on a reservation basis, limited to 8 hunters. It's several thousand acres so even 8 hunters is no big deal but I'm almost always completely alone. I always ask the lady I telephone for a reservation how many other hunters are going to be there and she always laughs and tells me I'm the only one.
Speck---You mention all the turkeys. I probably saw 25 turkeys while I was hunting yesterday, but that area is closed to all bird hunting. There are so many turkeys on this island that they are a nuisance, roosting in trees in housing developments and pooping all over the golf courses. Remember, there are no predators on this island other than the little mongoose, owls, and a relatively rare hawk. My wife runs just above our neighborhood in another neighborhood and the turkeys are everywhere. The darn pigs are everywhere, too. They come into the suburbs at night and tear apart the sprinkler systems to get at the water. The Spanish goats are all over down low, also. We see them down at the beach and in the lava fields. They have a strong taste, though, and most people make jerky from them. I was francolin hunting up on Mauna Kea a few weeks ago and stumbled onto a herd of 30 or 40 mouflon sheep, some real monster rams among them, that had taken up residence near a water guzzler. There are so many mouflon sheep, feral sheep, and hybrids that you can take all you want up on Mauna Kea and in some other public areas. There are so many that the feds hire sharpshooters in helicopters to shoot them. They shot something like 300 in the past 6 months. I'm going to start hunting them [the sheep, not the feds] with rifle and bow in about a month or so, once they come down a bit lower. That should be a thrill. Some of the best hunting for mammals, archery only, is the PTA army training area at the foot of Mauna Kea. A buddy of mine went there recently and he and his party saw 130 sheep, each bagging one. It's also loaded with pigs and the hiking is much easier than where I go, but it is barren country that looks like the desert around Tucson. I'll start going there in a couple of weeks, once I get my archery skills up to snuff.
Took a couple guys out fishing last Sunday, one a transplant from CA and the other from Idaho. We didn't have any luck trolling so I brought them in to the entrance to the little harbor and fished the buoy there, 100 yards offshore. I rigged the Idaho guy up for sharks and bingo, he hooks one I'd estimate to be about 300 pounds. He had a look of panic on his face as he told me he had never caught anything larger than a trout. The other guy took his turn and I did, too, but the rascal broke off at the last minute. We were going to cut the line, anyway.
As I've said before, if you do come here to hunt, make sure you've taken Hunter's Safety. You need that for a license, which costs 115 bucks for everything. In November, mid-month, the turkey hunting is very good [one per day], the francolin, pheasant, quail, and chukar hunting is beyond belief, and the pig hunting is great. Mouflon sheep are an option but by no means assured. I'd guess your odds on a hard one day hunt for mouflon are about 30%, give or take. The mahi mahi are in, the wahoo are around, and you may even hook a billfish. Aloha Airlines has specials about 10 times per year, short notice deals, for $99 each way from a few spots on the mainland. Their regular super-special fare, if you book in advance, is only about $350 direct from Oakland or Orange County to Kona.
If any of you guys can get over here, I'll take you out hunting and fishing.
You know what's really nice about hunting over here? Tell the locals you're a hunter and they smile and say, "Great!! So am I and so is everybody in our family." There is absolutely no stigma at all to being a hunter over here. Hunting, for pigs specifically, is an integral part of Hawaiian culture and religion. I got sick and tired of defending myself anytime someone found out that I like to hunt and then attacked me for my doing so, all the while scolding me between taking bites of their T-bone steak or pork chop.
I don't miss CA a bit.
The land I hunt is public and is open to the public on Sat and Sun on a reservation basis, limited to 8 hunters. It's several thousand acres so even 8 hunters is no big deal but I'm almost always completely alone. I always ask the lady I telephone for a reservation how many other hunters are going to be there and she always laughs and tells me I'm the only one.
Speck---You mention all the turkeys. I probably saw 25 turkeys while I was hunting yesterday, but that area is closed to all bird hunting. There are so many turkeys on this island that they are a nuisance, roosting in trees in housing developments and pooping all over the golf courses. Remember, there are no predators on this island other than the little mongoose, owls, and a relatively rare hawk. My wife runs just above our neighborhood in another neighborhood and the turkeys are everywhere. The darn pigs are everywhere, too. They come into the suburbs at night and tear apart the sprinkler systems to get at the water. The Spanish goats are all over down low, also. We see them down at the beach and in the lava fields. They have a strong taste, though, and most people make jerky from them. I was francolin hunting up on Mauna Kea a few weeks ago and stumbled onto a herd of 30 or 40 mouflon sheep, some real monster rams among them, that had taken up residence near a water guzzler. There are so many mouflon sheep, feral sheep, and hybrids that you can take all you want up on Mauna Kea and in some other public areas. There are so many that the feds hire sharpshooters in helicopters to shoot them. They shot something like 300 in the past 6 months. I'm going to start hunting them [the sheep, not the feds] with rifle and bow in about a month or so, once they come down a bit lower. That should be a thrill. Some of the best hunting for mammals, archery only, is the PTA army training area at the foot of Mauna Kea. A buddy of mine went there recently and he and his party saw 130 sheep, each bagging one. It's also loaded with pigs and the hiking is much easier than where I go, but it is barren country that looks like the desert around Tucson. I'll start going there in a couple of weeks, once I get my archery skills up to snuff.
Took a couple guys out fishing last Sunday, one a transplant from CA and the other from Idaho. We didn't have any luck trolling so I brought them in to the entrance to the little harbor and fished the buoy there, 100 yards offshore. I rigged the Idaho guy up for sharks and bingo, he hooks one I'd estimate to be about 300 pounds. He had a look of panic on his face as he told me he had never caught anything larger than a trout. The other guy took his turn and I did, too, but the rascal broke off at the last minute. We were going to cut the line, anyway.
As I've said before, if you do come here to hunt, make sure you've taken Hunter's Safety. You need that for a license, which costs 115 bucks for everything. In November, mid-month, the turkey hunting is very good [one per day], the francolin, pheasant, quail, and chukar hunting is beyond belief, and the pig hunting is great. Mouflon sheep are an option but by no means assured. I'd guess your odds on a hard one day hunt for mouflon are about 30%, give or take. The mahi mahi are in, the wahoo are around, and you may even hook a billfish. Aloha Airlines has specials about 10 times per year, short notice deals, for $99 each way from a few spots on the mainland. Their regular super-special fare, if you book in advance, is only about $350 direct from Oakland or Orange County to Kona.
If any of you guys can get over here, I'll take you out hunting and fishing.
You know what's really nice about hunting over here? Tell the locals you're a hunter and they smile and say, "Great!! So am I and so is everybody in our family." There is absolutely no stigma at all to being a hunter over here. Hunting, for pigs specifically, is an integral part of Hawaiian culture and religion. I got sick and tired of defending myself anytime someone found out that I like to hunt and then attacked me for my doing so, all the while scolding me between taking bites of their T-bone steak or pork chop.
I don't miss CA a bit.
beastslayer
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Doc,
Now I really hate you!
Now I really hate you!
Bevyhunter
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doccherry,
how faraway are you from ewa beach
how faraway are you from ewa beach
Rancho Loco
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Trip, hell...I'm packing to move right now..
Bevyhunter:
Ewa Beach is on the island of Oahu, 150 miles north of my home in Kailua-Kona, on the Big Island.
MJB:
I don't know a thing about hunting on Maui. The best guy to contact re: that is Uncle Ji, right here on this forum. He just had some really hairy back surgery so I don't know if he's answering his emails. If he's reading this, I guarantee he'll post some valuable info.
I wasn't going to do this, but I want to attach a photo of my lovely wife sitting on our front lanai [deck] watching the sun set into the Pacific. It has nothing to do with hog hunting but it shows that if you lead a fairly clean life and love to hunt and fish, there is a heaven. I keep pinching myself and have given up most of my bad habits because I want to live a long, long time, right here.
Ewa Beach is on the island of Oahu, 150 miles north of my home in Kailua-Kona, on the Big Island.
MJB:
I don't know a thing about hunting on Maui. The best guy to contact re: that is Uncle Ji, right here on this forum. He just had some really hairy back surgery so I don't know if he's answering his emails. If he's reading this, I guarantee he'll post some valuable info.
I wasn't going to do this, but I want to attach a photo of my lovely wife sitting on our front lanai [deck] watching the sun set into the Pacific. It has nothing to do with hog hunting but it shows that if you lead a fairly clean life and love to hunt and fish, there is a heaven. I keep pinching myself and have given up most of my bad habits because I want to live a long, long time, right here.
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Here's a shot from up on Mauna Kea, taken on a mouflon sheep hunt. That's my truck and the elevation is 10,000+ feet. The flatlands below are loaded with sheep and pigs and goats, as well as all sorts of birds. The mountain in the background is Hualalai. Our home is on the southwest slopes of Hualalai, down around sea level. Hualalai is also a volcano that historically has eruptions every 200 years or so. The last eruption was in 1800. Hmmmm.
Doesn't look like Hawaii, does it?
Doesn't look like Hawaii, does it?
