Hunting with Nic Barca

[EvBouret]

I think Vancouver is the breed of bull? I could be wrong

The DLNR and Fish and Game Officials would never get on your case for not getting every cut. The hog problem here is really bad and there is no shortage at all. Im not sure about the bulls but like Nic said they'll probably be trying to eradicate them soon so go get your fill!

 

[beastslayer]

Doc and Nic,

Again -- thank you for sharing your adventure with great storytelling and lots of pictures.

Looking forward to seeing the video clip. Right on the action, just like Nic's previous video of his hog hunt.

 

[Wild1]

SDHNTR and EvBouret, I could be wrong, but if I'm not mistaken the bull gets it's name from George Vancouver. Vancouver was with James Cook in 1778 when they landed in the islands. On Vancouver's second trip back he brought some longhorns with him - hence the name. They do a lot of damage in the islands and they can be mean as hell (they've been known to attack a lone cowboy) which makes for a exciting hunt, especially given the dense vegetation. Well done boyz.

 

[forkehornreggie]

Doc, & Nic, great job!!!! Way to work hard for your prize!!!! Doc, is this an area that I could do a day hunt? I'm coming in April and hunting in Maui first and then going to Kona to hunt with Jon Sabati. I would like to do one DIY hunt. Is this near Kona?

 

[Nic Barca]

They are called Vancouver Bulls I believe because they were introduced by Captain George Vancouver, the same person who likely named Canada's Vancouvers.

I used to think they would eradicate them soon after the season, but now I know the fence is still down and there would be no sense in doing so until the fence is repaired, which I don't see happening soon. Therefore, we might have feral Cattle hunting for some time to come. But no, we don't have any laws requiring the taking of all the meat. It's frowned upon by most hunters if you don't take it all but if we took any more than we did, I don't think we could have made it out. I also realize now that I might have been underestimating the weight of the meat from pigs I have been catching.

Got to go back to class now.

 

[beastslayer]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Wild1 @ Jan 29 2007, 11:44 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

On Vancouver's second trip back he brought some longhorns with him - hence the name.[/b]

The picture sure does that appear they are "longhorn".

 

[7mm RM]

Great pics and read!! Thanks for sharing with us...

 

[Nic Barca]

Here are a few of the pics from my camera. I'm still working on the video and need to shorten it for the internet but so far it's looking really good. The scenery is great and you can tell what's going on without much naration. I had to doctor it slightly to make things more understandable. Doc, I'll email you the full sized versions of the pictures.

One thing that really surprized me was that the 45-70 never even passed through the bull despite having missed all major bones. It made me a little uneasy about trying to get one with my shotgun but doc told me I could use his gun if I wanted.

 

[EvBouret]

Good to see you getting some use out of that camera case. How'd those Alice packs go Nic?

 

[beastslayer]

Doc and Nic,

Tell us also how the meat of the wild cow taste like. That is comparing with Coalinga-raised steers.

The one you harvested appeared really fat and healthy with a nice sheen on its coat.

 

[scott0san]

Wow!!! What an adventure, You guys are so lucky to have such great hunting and all on public land.

Have you ever heard of anyone taking a bull with a bow. I think that would rate right up there with a Grizzly as far a North American Big game hunting is concerned. I hope I am not giving you any ideas. Keep it safe so we can all enjoy your stories.
If either of you need any help packing out meat on your next hunt let me know. I would love to tag along and see some of this Island hunting first hand.

 

[jindydiver]

What a great story

 

[slickhntr]

WOW! great story, and great hunt. I hope to get out there and experience it with you guys one day. Thanks for taking the time to write it out for us.

 

[Nic Barca]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (forkehornreggie @ Jan 29 2007, 09:59 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

Doc, & Nic, great job!!!! Way to work hard for your prize!!!! Doc, is this an area that I could do a day hunt? I'm coming in April and hunting in Maui first and then going to Kona to hunt with Jon Sabati. I would like to do one DIY hunt. Is this near Kona?[/b]

Yep, you could do a day hunt yourself and I could provide you with maps. That is if your not beat up already from the two other hunts. It's not far from Kona, within a few hours, tops. Your best bet would probably be to walk in on the Morita camp trail which is about 2.5 miles over hilly, slippery, often muddy, rocky terrain before you get to the stream and older substrates of Mauna Kea. Once you get to the stream, it's hunters paradise, despite the grim scenery on the way in, which is by no means grim.

 

[bodega]

What an awesome, well-written story. Thanks. It made my day.

To make up for the last six months of hunting every weekend, I promised my girlfriend I'd take her to Hawaii. This story is giving me ideas...

Bodega

 

[Nic Barca]

Okay, I got the video uploaded to YouTube.
It'll take a little while for it to process but if you use this link, it should eventually be there:

http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=nbarca

 

[doccherry]

Update:

Now that almost 48 hours have passed since we completed our hunt, let me tell you a few things that I didn't tell you in the story. Toward the end of the hunt, I was really pooped, far beyond my ability to express in words, almost to the point of digging a grave and then crawling in. Half delusional, I began to play a little game, and Nic, good-naturedly, played along. You know how kids are on a trip. "Are we there yet? How much farther?" Well, I began to ask Nic questions such as, "Tell me how much farther we need to hike down the river. Then tell me how much farther along the slippery hillside." Nic would patiently reply, telling me things like "Oh, maybe 300 yards." 300 yards then became the distance from Salt Lake City to Miami, over terrain designed by Satan in the Bowels of Hell. Piece by piece we made our way, Nic struggling with a moral dilemma, whether to keep encouraging me along and playing my silly little "Are we almost there yet?" game or to simply send a 20 gauge slug up my wazoo and put me out of my misery and shut me up. He was a good sport and I was able to see his headlamp way, way out in the distance, like a lighthouse giving hope to a sailor clinging to a log out at sea. And---well, this is kind of embarrassing---when I finally saw the truck and knew the hike was over, I burst into tears and kissed the earth and made Nic promise never to tell all the JHO-er's what a wuss I am.

When I was a kid, I used to read about the Mountain Men and the African white hunters who lived during an era that we modern hunters almost can't comprehend, moving silently throught the forest and bush, stepping where no humans had stepped before and seeing huge, potentially lethal animals that viewed humans as just another chunk of readily available protein. I sincerely wished that I had been born a century or two before and always felt inprisoned living in Southern California. Well, let me tell you, Dear Reader, that this hunt was more of a primeval, wilderness experience than any hunt I have ever been on, including Alaska, Montana, Colorado---you name it. I now know that I can hike for 2 1/2 hours over really tough terrain and set up a little spike camp [probably not legal here in Hawaii], sleep beneath the stars, and hunt boars and wild bulls until the, umm, uhh, cows come home, with the only sounds being the gurgling Wailuku River sliding over the smooth rocks on its leisurely march to the sea and the wind singing through the koa trees, and not a trace of humans anywhere.

I'm on the road to recovery, now. I went down to the mortuary and told them to bury me, but the guy on duty spent a few minutes checking me out and found evidence of some vital signs, so they sent me home and told me to come back later when I'm deader, like right after Nic takes me out on another hunt.

Steak for dinner tonight, guys. How sweet it is!!

And Nic, seriously, thanks for putting up with me and my aging carcass and thanks for guiding me and thanks for showing me such a fascinating part of Hawaii. You are a true gentleman and a world-class hunter.

 

[MikenSoCo]

Doc, that is by far the funniest post I have ever read. My wife had to come and see what the hell I was laughing at. Whatever you do for a living, you're in the wrong business. You should have your own column in Field and Stream. Thanks for the belly laugh

 

[Nic Barca]

Thanks for the kind words doc. This was by far the funniest story I have ever heard and I've been laughing out loud at the school computer, with my fellow classmates probably wondering what I'm reading.

The video is said to be too long even though ten minutes is the Maximum length and mine is 9:35 or about that, so I'll try to simply upload it again and see what happens.

 

[Nic Barca]

Now I see what happened. I converted the longer version to a smaller file size. Got to redo it all. I'll put it up tomarrow around noon.