Hawaii Oinker

[EvBouret]

Got a chance to meet up with doccherry for another Hawaii adventure! We met at 530 and jumped into his truck and journeyed out 20 miles down a dirt road to the spot. Looked to be a nice clear day and we even saw a nice pig on the ride in. We stopped the car and got out to take a look at it. He was coming right down towards the road and headed towards the hunting area, but was on private property so all we could do was watch. It spotted us from about 100-125 yards and made its way back up the hill with the quickness.

We geared up and doccherry let me try out his 300 win mag. He was using a Remington 7600 30-06. We pushed for a while and didn't see much sign. Down the ridges and across the tangled valley bottoms we went in search of some pork. We came across a nice clearing with a real steep hill on one side. There was a weird screaching we were listening to ('Io, or Hawaiian Hawk) when all of a sudden a herd of pigs must have smelled us or saw us from about 80-90 yards away and went bolting across the steep hill. After a few shots we downed a jet black sow, one of the smaller in the group. She was real nice and healthy and had a thick layer of fat. Should be excellent meat with no gamey smell what so ever.

We packed the meat back up to the truck and got it on ice and rested a bit. Then we tried again for a few hours in the afternoon, we covered some promising looking grounds and saw some good sign, but didn't come across any pigs. We did find this stone pyramid monument dedicated to Dr. Douglas (namesake of the Douglas Fir). Them bulls are scary!

I must have seen at least 60 turkeys, it seemed like every valley we went into we would flush another group of 5-6 turkeys. Also saw 5-6 Kalij pheasant.

Hope you guys enjoy! :hog chewing:

 

[Kincho]

cool nice pig...

 

[THE ROMAN ARCHER]

Ev, congrats on the wild pig, always look forward too your's and Doc's hunting adventures storie's and this one included some history,very cool! thank's for sharing!.........tra

 

[Farmerdoug]

Really Cool! Sounds like an awesome place for an outdoorsman!

 

[HOGHUNTER714]

Nice hog..Thx for sharing the pics an story...

 

[doccherry]

A few more words about the hunt

This was one of the most beautiful hunts I've ever been on, in terms of scenery, weather, and general "pigginess" of the habitat. First, to rub salt into the wounds of you California guys---the ones who pay 500 bucks for a once-a-year chance at a pig and who spend years ground pounding public land and wet your pants when you find a track that is less than 3 years old [I was one of these guys for 20 years]---let me say that this was on public land and that we saw nobody all day because we were the only humans in a 5000 acre piece of pig heaven. Then let me say that I've been there 12 times and have taken at least one pig [often two] on 10 of those times. And that's for a quickie morning hunt. The other two times I screwed up and blew easy opportunities. Then let me tell you that the pigs are all fat and have no gaminess at all, living their porker lives eating the billion tons of various fruits that hang from vines and grow on trees and ripen down in the verdant canyons. The grass is thick, green, and sweet and the hogs don't have to take 3 steps in any direction without stumbling onto a smorgasbord of goodies. Best tasting wild pigs on earth. Then let me tell you that there are no natural predators at all and the sows have 2 litters a year and when the rains come, the place is crawling with hogs and when the rains don't come, the place has as many hogs as the private ranches of California only you're the only one there and it's free. Then let me tell you that the upper part of this oinker paradise looks exactly like northwest Washington or the Alaska panhandle, stately conifers [look like cedars of some sort] that block out the sun and ferns grow wherever light penetrates the canopy. It's like being in a European cathedral, only a lot more impressive. The lower areas are hardwoods, ohia and koa, and consist of hills with long spines to walk along separated by small canyons, maybe 75 feet deep, thick with vegetation and berry patches. This time of year the lower parts are open and not at all like the Hawaii you might envision. It looks more like the whitetail hardwoods of Pennsylvania or Upstate New York.

OK, enough of this or you guys will hire a hit man to shut me up for good.

Evan was really great, walking slowly and pausing from time to time so that my geriatric body didn't fall completely to pieces along the trail. For that, Evan, I thank you. There was surprisingly little pig sign, perhaps due to the lack of rain and standing water. When we did get the pig, she was covered in a thick layer of snow-white fat and the meat, as Evan pointed out, had no gaminess at all, smelling just like the finest pork you could ever get at a butcher's shop.

I told Evan that 3 years ago, the first time I came to this place and wandered around aimlessly because I was lost the entire time, I stumbled upon a water hole down in a small depression in the pines. I have looked for it but have never found it since. We hiked to the general area and Evan eyeballed the topography and said, "It's probably over there." He pointed and then hiked about 200 yards to the exact spot where the water hole was. There was still quite a bit of standing water and the hole was maybe 30 feet across. Pig wallows were everywhere, tracks everywhere, rocks and tree trunks were coated with thick layers of mud, and everything was fresh. No human tracks anywhere and Evan doubted if more than a handful of people on the entire earth knew about this place.

To get to this place requires a hike of about 400 yards from where I would park my truck.

Anybody know where I'm going to be next Saturday at first light?

Great hunt. Now I'm going to stir things up by posting something on pig eyesight. I did that before and got blasted. Should be interesting.

Aloha for now from the Big Island. And again, Evan, thanks for taking it easy on me.

 

[larrysogla]

Doc and Evan,
Thanks guys for the exciting, exciting write ups on your hog heaven Hawaiian hunt. Geeeez............what an oinker oooohlala!! outstanding piece of paradise right there in your island. With your Vancouver blue bulls hunts and your hog hunts and sheep hunts and goats too!!! I am always looking forward to the Hawaiian updates. They are always eagerly awaited and appreciated. Makes my day whenever any of you post on your Hawaiian paradise.
'Nuff said
larrysogla
P.S. Doc, shoot straight and keep posting.