Awoke groggily at 3:00 AM on Sat and stumbled out to the truck and drove off at 3:45 AM. Arrived at Laupahoehoe Reserve at 6:30 AM, just as it was getting light enough to walk around without stumbling on lava rocks hidden in the 2-foot high green grass that was underfoot in the open areas. Beautiful morning, not a cloud in the sky and temp about 65, nice and cool up at 5000 feet elevation. I was carrying my Winchester 94 in 7X30 Waters with a 1x scope on top. Never used it before on any type of hunt but from the way it handled and performed, it's now my Numero Uno for hunts where the shots are fast and under 100 yards. Worked my way slowly down through the conifers, noting that the soil was rototilled everywhere. When I got to the hardwoods, where rocky ridges are separated by small valleys full of vines, poka banana, and raspberry brambles, the place was loaded with pig sign. Began hearing gobblers from all directions and spooked several flocks of turkeys as I eased my way down toward the flats, perhaps a mile from my truck.
5 young hogs, 30 pounds or so and jet-black, were feeding uphill on the ridge I was walking along, 30 yards away and unaware of my presence. I waited until one was only 8 feet from me and then said, "Good morning, pigs!" They all looked up, began scrambling in all directions, ran down into the banana poka, regrouped and scooted downhill. A few minutes later I saw a solitary hog, maybe 70 or 80 pounds, but it was 400 yards away and on the far side of a huge bramble patch. Forget it.
At around 9:00, I heard a hog squeal and another hog squeal and some racket in the bushes. I checked it out but the little valley where the noise came from was too thick to see anything. At 10:00, I saw a medium-sized pig scoot into the trees and stand there. It "woofed" a couple of times and then continued into the trees and disappeared. A large boar grunted and zipped past. Then a few more medium hogs took off, too fast for me to get a shot. I eased ahead toward the trees. 75 yards away, standing still and looking like a lava rock, was a medium hog. I pushed the safety, brought the little 94 to my shoulder, centered the crosshairs, and let fly. The pig dropped in its tracks. It was a 140 pound [rough estimate] sow and the 7x30 slug zipped through both lungs, passing out the far side.
At the shot, the brush and trees erupted with hogs. The limit is two, but I didn't want the hunt to end so early so I just watched the action. One of the boars became aggressive, snorting and making little false charges about 3 feet forward, but it was rangy and grey-backed and would probably taste like a boxing glove, so I just watched him puff his chest until he got boared [pardon the pun] and left. I boned out the hams and the shoulders and took the backstraps.
By noon I had seen some more hogs, a sow with small ones and a couple of medium pigs walking along far ridges, but nothing I felt like going after. More hiking and now it's 2:00 PM and I'm pooped. I found a meadow with thick, tall green grass, lay my poncho on it, and took a nap. The grass formed a soft mattress beneath my poncho and I slept until 4:00. When I awoke, it was fogged in and I couldn't see more than 100 feet in any direction. I took out my GPS and it told me the truck was in a different direction than I thought it was. Used my compass and navigated back to the truck, arriving at 5:00 totally pooped.
But what a day in Pig Hunter's Paradise!
That little 94 in 7X30 Waters is a dream. It has slightly better ballistics than the 30/30 but the nice thing is that it shoots a 120 grain bullet, which reduces the recoil dramatically when compared with a 30-30. There is virtually no recoil at all. The 1X scope is as fast as Ghost Ring sights but is more precise for my old eyes. That's my new jungle rifle.
Here are a couple of photos. Notice the hardwood trees and how open the area is. There are lots of places like this in Laupahoehoe, sort of like the whitetail forests in Pennsylvania or New York. It's all spot and stalk, by far my favorite form of hunting.
Aloha for now.
5 young hogs, 30 pounds or so and jet-black, were feeding uphill on the ridge I was walking along, 30 yards away and unaware of my presence. I waited until one was only 8 feet from me and then said, "Good morning, pigs!" They all looked up, began scrambling in all directions, ran down into the banana poka, regrouped and scooted downhill. A few minutes later I saw a solitary hog, maybe 70 or 80 pounds, but it was 400 yards away and on the far side of a huge bramble patch. Forget it.
At around 9:00, I heard a hog squeal and another hog squeal and some racket in the bushes. I checked it out but the little valley where the noise came from was too thick to see anything. At 10:00, I saw a medium-sized pig scoot into the trees and stand there. It "woofed" a couple of times and then continued into the trees and disappeared. A large boar grunted and zipped past. Then a few more medium hogs took off, too fast for me to get a shot. I eased ahead toward the trees. 75 yards away, standing still and looking like a lava rock, was a medium hog. I pushed the safety, brought the little 94 to my shoulder, centered the crosshairs, and let fly. The pig dropped in its tracks. It was a 140 pound [rough estimate] sow and the 7x30 slug zipped through both lungs, passing out the far side.
At the shot, the brush and trees erupted with hogs. The limit is two, but I didn't want the hunt to end so early so I just watched the action. One of the boars became aggressive, snorting and making little false charges about 3 feet forward, but it was rangy and grey-backed and would probably taste like a boxing glove, so I just watched him puff his chest until he got boared [pardon the pun] and left. I boned out the hams and the shoulders and took the backstraps.
By noon I had seen some more hogs, a sow with small ones and a couple of medium pigs walking along far ridges, but nothing I felt like going after. More hiking and now it's 2:00 PM and I'm pooped. I found a meadow with thick, tall green grass, lay my poncho on it, and took a nap. The grass formed a soft mattress beneath my poncho and I slept until 4:00. When I awoke, it was fogged in and I couldn't see more than 100 feet in any direction. I took out my GPS and it told me the truck was in a different direction than I thought it was. Used my compass and navigated back to the truck, arriving at 5:00 totally pooped.
But what a day in Pig Hunter's Paradise!
That little 94 in 7X30 Waters is a dream. It has slightly better ballistics than the 30/30 but the nice thing is that it shoots a 120 grain bullet, which reduces the recoil dramatically when compared with a 30-30. There is virtually no recoil at all. The 1X scope is as fast as Ghost Ring sights but is more precise for my old eyes. That's my new jungle rifle.
Here are a couple of photos. Notice the hardwood trees and how open the area is. There are lots of places like this in Laupahoehoe, sort of like the whitetail forests in Pennsylvania or New York. It's all spot and stalk, by far my favorite form of hunting.
Aloha for now.
