Got up at the sound of reveille, which was 3:30 AM, and stumbled into the kitchen. The rest of the sane world was still asleep and I started to fall back to sleep myself while I packed some snacks to get me through the morning hunt. Did my duty in the bathroom and took a shower. Tossed the gear into the truck and headed out in the inky blackness. [That's a really silly use of imagery, something from a dime store detective novel, so how about "headed out into the sable stillness." No, that's even worse. Let's stick with "inky blackness."]
Anyway, drove up to Mauna Kea in the darkness, signed in, and took off along the Hunter's Road. I could see dawn peeking over the southern slopes of Mauna Kea. Got to the rifle hunting area and rigged up my gear, rifle easily accessible and ammo in my pocket. Drove along at 3mph looking for moving black shapes in the tall grass. All the pigs up there are jet black but the grass is high this time of year, up to a tall hunter's gonads and a tad beyond. Saw seveal dozen lava pigs but nothing with a pulse. Took off up the Skyline Trail and climbed 3000 feet onto the surface of Mars, up where the Mouflon sheep hang out at first light, 1500 feet above where they hang out an hour after sunrise and 2500 feet above where they hang out two hours after sunrise. The higher peaks were crusted in brilliant, sparkling snow and I could see Mauna Loa off to the south, and it, too, was coated with snow up at the higher elevations. By the way, both Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa are about 13,700 feet in elevation and are often covered in snow during the winter months.
Drove to the end of the trail, loaded up my ALICE pack, loaded the Win Model 70 7/08, and headed downhill from the 10,300 foot altitude where I parked my truck. Really tough going with baseball-sized lava rocks underfoot and rocky ridges to cross every 200 yards. Made my way down to about 8800 and began finding more fresh tracks and droppings than you could imagine. It looked like a freakin' sheep manger. Worked into the wind and dropped another 300 feet and then worked that contour, moving eastward. 2 hours later jumped a band of sheep and clobbered a ewe at 90 yards. The rest of the band took off and I had a good shot at a good ram, but the instantaneous realization that I'd be carrying 25 pounds of boned meat with the ewe alone and 65 pounds with both the ewe and ram sank in and I lowered my rifle. The sheep bounded off across a ridge and disappeared. "See you guys soon," I said.
I boned out the ewe and shouldered my pack. It weighed about 40 pounds, due to all the water and survival gear that I carry, particularly up at that dry altitude where anything can happen, since I was alone [as I almost always am]. 2 hours later I made it back to the truck, climbing from 8500 feet elevation to 10,300. All the pizza and wine over the past several months made the hike a bit of a grind and I swore on my great-aunt's grave to clean up my act in that respect and I held to my solemn promise for almost 6 hours.
The cabernet I'm drinking right now is really good but the pizza is a bit cold. Oh, well, can't have everything.
No photos this time. The ewe was angled toward me and the shot entered the left shoulder and exited the right ham. It looked like I killed her with a chainsaw. Most trophy photos show a few drops of blood but I'd need a fire hose to make this ewe photogenic.
Meat is out in the cooler in an ice bath of salt and baking soda. We're having people over for dinner Sat night and teriyaki sheep-kabobs are on the menu as is the pig I took at Laupahoehoe a couple weeks ago. The pork will be cooked in ti leaves the way Evan Bouret taught me. These Hawaiians REALLY know how to cook wild pork.
Aloha for now. I am scheduled to hunt Laupahoehoe on Saturday but I'm just too pooped out. Think instead I'll take a double dose of Metamucil and fill out my application papers for AARP.
Anyway, drove up to Mauna Kea in the darkness, signed in, and took off along the Hunter's Road. I could see dawn peeking over the southern slopes of Mauna Kea. Got to the rifle hunting area and rigged up my gear, rifle easily accessible and ammo in my pocket. Drove along at 3mph looking for moving black shapes in the tall grass. All the pigs up there are jet black but the grass is high this time of year, up to a tall hunter's gonads and a tad beyond. Saw seveal dozen lava pigs but nothing with a pulse. Took off up the Skyline Trail and climbed 3000 feet onto the surface of Mars, up where the Mouflon sheep hang out at first light, 1500 feet above where they hang out an hour after sunrise and 2500 feet above where they hang out two hours after sunrise. The higher peaks were crusted in brilliant, sparkling snow and I could see Mauna Loa off to the south, and it, too, was coated with snow up at the higher elevations. By the way, both Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa are about 13,700 feet in elevation and are often covered in snow during the winter months.
Drove to the end of the trail, loaded up my ALICE pack, loaded the Win Model 70 7/08, and headed downhill from the 10,300 foot altitude where I parked my truck. Really tough going with baseball-sized lava rocks underfoot and rocky ridges to cross every 200 yards. Made my way down to about 8800 and began finding more fresh tracks and droppings than you could imagine. It looked like a freakin' sheep manger. Worked into the wind and dropped another 300 feet and then worked that contour, moving eastward. 2 hours later jumped a band of sheep and clobbered a ewe at 90 yards. The rest of the band took off and I had a good shot at a good ram, but the instantaneous realization that I'd be carrying 25 pounds of boned meat with the ewe alone and 65 pounds with both the ewe and ram sank in and I lowered my rifle. The sheep bounded off across a ridge and disappeared. "See you guys soon," I said.
I boned out the ewe and shouldered my pack. It weighed about 40 pounds, due to all the water and survival gear that I carry, particularly up at that dry altitude where anything can happen, since I was alone [as I almost always am]. 2 hours later I made it back to the truck, climbing from 8500 feet elevation to 10,300. All the pizza and wine over the past several months made the hike a bit of a grind and I swore on my great-aunt's grave to clean up my act in that respect and I held to my solemn promise for almost 6 hours.
The cabernet I'm drinking right now is really good but the pizza is a bit cold. Oh, well, can't have everything.
No photos this time. The ewe was angled toward me and the shot entered the left shoulder and exited the right ham. It looked like I killed her with a chainsaw. Most trophy photos show a few drops of blood but I'd need a fire hose to make this ewe photogenic.
Meat is out in the cooler in an ice bath of salt and baking soda. We're having people over for dinner Sat night and teriyaki sheep-kabobs are on the menu as is the pig I took at Laupahoehoe a couple weeks ago. The pork will be cooked in ti leaves the way Evan Bouret taught me. These Hawaiians REALLY know how to cook wild pork.
Aloha for now. I am scheduled to hunt Laupahoehoe on Saturday but I'm just too pooped out. Think instead I'll take a double dose of Metamucil and fill out my application papers for AARP.
