DIY hunt in Hawaii
Hawaii
Does anyone have any information on a do it yourself hunt on one of the islands. Looking to get out and enjoy a new experience. My brother just got out of the army after 10 years of service..He had a friend tell him about the hunting on the Islands so we thought we would give it a try. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Two questions:
What islands will you be on?
How good of shape are you in? 1 being couch potato, 10 being an iron man.
We will be on Ohau..However we will fly to another place if we need to. We have 10 days. I would say a seven as far as condition. My wife plans to shop. We plan to hunt.
Oahu pretty much only has pigs, and I'm not too familiar with it.
I'm on Kauai. There's really goods hunting right now over here in the canyon (unit F). It was overpopulated with goats and the population has since been brought back into check with some muzzle loader seasons. There's an archery hunt going on right now and you would need to stop into the DOFAW building to get a "control permit". Lots of goats and lots of trophies, so I hear. There might be pigs too.
The other good spot on Kauai is Na'pali coast (unit G) which used to have a lot of goats but went through a period where the herds were greatly reduced for several years. Now the herds are growing again and there's a good amount of trophy billies, since few people have been hunting out there lately. The habitat is about as good as I've ever seen and many goats even have a layer of fat, which is almost unheard of. Unit G is open 365 days a year to archery but you need to get a permit from DOFAW for up to three consecutive days. Na'pali also has good pig hunting.
Both places are very steep. Be safe.
Nic, sounds good. I'll be in Kauai the month of May. Going to give it a try with a recurve.
Big island has really good public hunting. You can hunt in kipuka aina hou and go for mouflon, feral sheep, and pigs and there are lots of animals in there. It's only open weekends
Give Dexter or Jon a call on the Big Island. They manage 10,000 acres above Kona that is loaded with feral sheep. Great bow hunting as you can stalk up on the herds. The terrain is incredible. Dexter 808-557-4186 / Jon 808-333-1476.
www.hawaiigamemgmt.com
My Best advice would be to contact the Lanai game management. They have good hunting in bow and arrow hunting only areas on private land close to Lanai city. You can get a DIY hunt for a yearly rate + your hunting license. The Axis deer are not pushovers by any means though and if you plan your trip correctly you can even hunt Muflon sheep in the state hunting area on the state archery hunt and hunt Axis deer in the private area at the same time. Your biggest hurdle will be getting your hunting license. Hawaii's hunter safety requires Letters of Exemption. The letter is issued free to those who have an out-of-state hunter education card or a Hawai‘i Hunting License issued prior to July 1, 1990. If you’re a nonresident without a hunter education card, contact your local hunter education office and find out how, when, and where to enroll in a hunter education course in your home state/province. Once you get your hunter education certificate, you need to fill out and mail in a completed Letter of Exemption form. Once your form is processed and validated you will be able to purchase a Hawai‘i hunting license. Unfortunately, many hunters don’t plan or research their hunting trips before traveling to Hawai‘i and are turned away at the license sales counter because they were unaware of this license requirement.
