Hawaii Hunting

[aftriathlete]

Howdy all, I'm going to explore the Makua Kea'au hunting area to prep for goat season and wanted someone to go with in case I twist my ankle and cartwheel over a cliff face and vice versa. Anyone interested in doing some vertical scouting? I'm targeting the weekend of July 22-23.

I might be, but I’ll have you let you know as it gets closer, hard to deconflict two weeks out with all my kids activities.

 

[kdsulliv]

I might be, but I’ll have you let you know as it gets closer, hard to deconflict two weeks out with all my kids activities.

Yup, let me know, I can slide right if needed.

 

[blue62]

If you spearfish please make sure you dive with a partner (Google shallow water blackout). It is a very dangerouse activity even for experienced divers.
Regarding hunting its pretty poor in Hawaii unless you have access to a ranch or large parcel of private which is usually reserved for close family friends or ranch workers. Since you can hunt year-round in HI the public areas get heavily pressured non stop 365 days a year, there's no secrets. droughts been brutal too last couple years pretty much statewide. The public land on Oahu gets pounded by pig hunters running dogs all night and the goats on the westside get shot at by helicopters due to eradication efforts. A lot of the public Maui areas are still closed from the huge storm last December, are locked in by private or don't even have game. None have deer too it's kind of funny how there's a huge deer problem yet none of the hunting areas are in deer habitat. Kauai has some areas for goats but it's steep and wet and hot. Big island has more expansive areas but they've done aerial eradication and shot a lot of sheep. what public areas that do have game get pounded from presuure. On Lanai and Molokai they have been hit hard by drought and same thing, shot at and pressured yearround. On the lanai state hunt the logistics are a huge hassle and the animals have been pounded from the weather and liberal tag numbers (each hunter can get 7 tags total) last two years where they've been hunted non stop from may-october. The doe ewe meats hunts preceding that also haven't helped and there's a decent amount of poaching going on too with guys shooting more bucks rams than they should. They know where the safe areas are and don't come back once they start getting pressured hearing gunshots. The drought also had the deer and sheep malnourished and when we had that giant storm last December they had no fat and they found a lot of animals dead on the public side. Seen a lot of really good hunters on social media grumbling about the states mismanagement and just how poor the state hunt has gotten. state isn't even giving them a break they are going back to seperate feb -june deer hunt and July - oct sheep hunt starting in 2023 with the same liberal tag numbers. There was a window last year where they decreased number of hunters per hunter which drastically cut draw odds after they gave it a year off do to COVID but if you didn't get a trophy buck or ram then it's probably going to be a long time before the herd health improves. They went back the same high quantity of hunters per hunt pre covid this year and now we're paying the price for it.
Lanai private areas you can pay an access fee are still hunted yearround by the locals so you might have an area to yourself for the day but finding anything decent is a huge ask. I wouldn't even bother trying to "check them out" as the deer here aren't really patternable it's more of a hoping to be in the right place at the right time type of hunt. Driving around and scouting the areas when someone else has paid a fee to be in there is poor form imo you might not even be allowed so check on that.
So yea I get that it sounds exciting but the reality is unless you are going guided with a reputable outfitter or become best friends with a ranch owner you are probably wasting your time and money. I find myself saving up and accumulating points to hunt the mainland as i find it not worth it here anymore. Hopefully it changes in the future but I'm not expecting it. Good luck.

Great info, thanks!

Any more input or updates on lanai deer/sheep herds since you posted this comment almost a year ago? Any thoughts on next year? I was there for the state hunt in February for archery. I managed a ewe but the overall attitude of everyone I spoke with is that the state archery hunt was a tougher hunt hunt this year.

 

[bojangles808]

I managed a ewe but the overall attitude of everyone I spoke with is that the state archery hunt was a tougher hunt hunt this year.

yea they are spot on, numbers of deer and rams still way down from the drought and the ridiculous amount of tags given out the last couple of years. I didn't bother with deer archery bc of little deer i saw on my fall hunt went but got tricked into going rifle only bc I drew the first weekend and it was poor. I didn't bother with the sheep hunt, (rams have been hammered) but everyone I talked to that lives there or has gone said the same thing so it's not just me haha. but yea drought + lots of tags/pressure + mismanagement = not getting better any time soon