It's been a long while since my last post, but my wife and I have been busy getting settled into our new home in Kona, Hawaii, on the Big Island. One thing I've found out is that this is really the frontier. Kona has about 35,000 people but the surrounding 4000 square miles or so are largely wilderness. I went on my first hunt on Friday, mainly a scouting trip, just to see how things work on public land here. I had no idea what to expect and wasn't too excited, based upon my hunts on public land in CA.
Friday, it turns out, was a public holiday and therefore is a bird hunting only day on Mauna Kea, the 13,700 foot mountain about 30 miles from my home, so I brought my bird hunting stuff and went. During the morning, I jumped coveys of CA quail, chukar, 2 ringnecks, Erkel's francolin [a bit smaller than a pheasant, like a large grouse], and 2 coveys of Rio Grande turkeys, each about 20 birds. Never saw anything like it. I ended up with 2 quail and 2 francolin since I don't have a dog and I really shot quite poorly.
This is where the boar comes in. I found a hillside away from the other hunters, about 12 miles back in on a really bad jeep trail, up at around 8500 feet. There were deep ravines with small springs at the bottom and that's where I began finding the birds. No sign of any hunters every having been there and lots of pig sign. I stopped to rest along a ravine and on the other side, maybe 100 yards away, was a jet-black, thick-bodied boar, maybe 200 pounds or so, just feeding on the grass and digging around. Perfect broadside shot only my weapon was a Ruger Red Label with low-base 7 1/2's. It was about noon, which is an odd time to see a pig, but there are no predators whatsoever on the island and from the looks of things, no hunters in this area.
Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday are big game days so you know where I'll be.
And how's this for an odd hunt: Not far from where I was hunting, over on the Northeast slopes of Mauna Kea, is a large cattle ranch. Over the years, about 100 head of cattle have broken through the ranch fence and taken up residence in the state forest. They are really tearing the place up so, the state has declared several weekends as feral cattle hunt days, with a limit of 2 per hunter. Can you imagine that hunt? Walking through the woods with a heavy rifle looking for wild cattle. I didn't know about it because it's really hard to get info on anything pertaining to hunting here. You have to call around and take a lot of notes. Next year, if they have that hunt, I'll go.
Doc
Friday, it turns out, was a public holiday and therefore is a bird hunting only day on Mauna Kea, the 13,700 foot mountain about 30 miles from my home, so I brought my bird hunting stuff and went. During the morning, I jumped coveys of CA quail, chukar, 2 ringnecks, Erkel's francolin [a bit smaller than a pheasant, like a large grouse], and 2 coveys of Rio Grande turkeys, each about 20 birds. Never saw anything like it. I ended up with 2 quail and 2 francolin since I don't have a dog and I really shot quite poorly.
This is where the boar comes in. I found a hillside away from the other hunters, about 12 miles back in on a really bad jeep trail, up at around 8500 feet. There were deep ravines with small springs at the bottom and that's where I began finding the birds. No sign of any hunters every having been there and lots of pig sign. I stopped to rest along a ravine and on the other side, maybe 100 yards away, was a jet-black, thick-bodied boar, maybe 200 pounds or so, just feeding on the grass and digging around. Perfect broadside shot only my weapon was a Ruger Red Label with low-base 7 1/2's. It was about noon, which is an odd time to see a pig, but there are no predators whatsoever on the island and from the looks of things, no hunters in this area.
Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday are big game days so you know where I'll be.
And how's this for an odd hunt: Not far from where I was hunting, over on the Northeast slopes of Mauna Kea, is a large cattle ranch. Over the years, about 100 head of cattle have broken through the ranch fence and taken up residence in the state forest. They are really tearing the place up so, the state has declared several weekends as feral cattle hunt days, with a limit of 2 per hunter. Can you imagine that hunt? Walking through the woods with a heavy rifle looking for wild cattle. I didn't know about it because it's really hard to get info on anything pertaining to hunting here. You have to call around and take a lot of notes. Next year, if they have that hunt, I'll go.
Doc
