A friend's boss lives up in the jungle above our house and he has 3 wild donkeys on his property. He also has some nice landscaping that abuts up against some gnarly jungle. He told my friend that pigs come out of the jungle and eat the food he puts out for the donkeys and then the pigs go after the landscaping. My friend suggested I call him, which I did. I went up yesterday evening and he gave me a tour of the property and I got the lay of the land. He went back inside and I set up an ambush. 5 minutes later, a smallish pig, maybe 60 pounds, shows up 30 yards away and begins feeding. I shoot and the arrow is low. I saw sparks from where the arrowhead hit a piece of lava. Piggie disappears. Another pig shows up but spots me and begins to trot away. No time for a shot. Now it's too dark so I call it a day.
This morning I went back at sunrise and began to walk slowly around the lower part of his property. I saw the first pig feeding in the jungle and shot. The hit looked good and the arrow passed through. I retrieved it and cleaned it off. The arrowhead was in fair condition. I waited 10 minutes and followed the blood trail. The pig got up and ran down the hill and into some brush. Just then I saw another pig 20 yards away and shot. The arrow lodged in the chest cavity and the pig took off into the thick jungle stuff. I saw it stop so I shot again and the second arrow lodged in the chest cavity. The pig took a couple of steps and dropped. I then concentrated my attention on the first pig and got to within 30 yards of it and shot. The arrow lodged in its chest back a bit behind the lungs. The pig went under the fence and wobbled and then staggered and then fell down a steep hillside into a ravine. I tried to retrieve it but the vines and mud [lots of rain last night] made retrieval impossible. It was simply too dangerous to deal with that steep hillside. I went back to retrieve the second pig and by now I only have 1 arrow remaining of my original 4 and that arrow is not in the best shape. Another pig scoots out from some brush and I have a good shot although the pig is trotting in some heavy cover. I shoot and can't tell whether I hit or not. I went in to see and my arrow is stuck in a giant fern and from the looks of it I didn't hit anything other than the fern.
So I went back to the second pig, a 130 pound sow, and it's down for keeps. I'm preparing kalua pork right now so my wife and I can have some carnitas tonight.
What is interesting about all this is that the property I hunted is only 2 acres. It was like the OK Corral this morning and I've never experienced anything like it before.
Glad to see some other JHO's are coming over to sample the Big Island. I get more quality hunting in a two-week period over here than I did in my best year in California.
By the way, Speck, I had grilled ono for lunch today, taken last week from my 15' skiff [along with mahimahi and a tuna].
Aloha for now.
This morning I went back at sunrise and began to walk slowly around the lower part of his property. I saw the first pig feeding in the jungle and shot. The hit looked good and the arrow passed through. I retrieved it and cleaned it off. The arrowhead was in fair condition. I waited 10 minutes and followed the blood trail. The pig got up and ran down the hill and into some brush. Just then I saw another pig 20 yards away and shot. The arrow lodged in the chest cavity and the pig took off into the thick jungle stuff. I saw it stop so I shot again and the second arrow lodged in the chest cavity. The pig took a couple of steps and dropped. I then concentrated my attention on the first pig and got to within 30 yards of it and shot. The arrow lodged in its chest back a bit behind the lungs. The pig went under the fence and wobbled and then staggered and then fell down a steep hillside into a ravine. I tried to retrieve it but the vines and mud [lots of rain last night] made retrieval impossible. It was simply too dangerous to deal with that steep hillside. I went back to retrieve the second pig and by now I only have 1 arrow remaining of my original 4 and that arrow is not in the best shape. Another pig scoots out from some brush and I have a good shot although the pig is trotting in some heavy cover. I shoot and can't tell whether I hit or not. I went in to see and my arrow is stuck in a giant fern and from the looks of it I didn't hit anything other than the fern.
So I went back to the second pig, a 130 pound sow, and it's down for keeps. I'm preparing kalua pork right now so my wife and I can have some carnitas tonight.
What is interesting about all this is that the property I hunted is only 2 acres. It was like the OK Corral this morning and I've never experienced anything like it before.
Glad to see some other JHO's are coming over to sample the Big Island. I get more quality hunting in a two-week period over here than I did in my best year in California.
By the way, Speck, I had grilled ono for lunch today, taken last week from my 15' skiff [along with mahimahi and a tuna].
Aloha for now.
