I was lucky enough to be invited to tag along on an Axis Deer hunt on one of the Hawaiian Islands. For those of you not familiar with this species, these deer were introduced into the area in the 1860s as a gift from Hong Kong to King Kamehameha V. Because the deer have no natural predators on the Hawaiian islands, their population is growing 20 to 30% each year. We saw quite a bit all over the place. I had to stop and let them cross the road in front of me daily and were plentiful in the residential areas (due to no hunting of course). These animals are a very important resource for local Hawaiians and we manage our tone to not spoil this opportunity. My hunt was on private land, with locals and local land owners. Most if not all of the meat was given to locals each day. I did secure a safety exemption letter and paid for an annual hunting license.
This was my first Deer Hunt ever. I have planned for hunt since last December. This hunt is part of a series of hunts I am training on to prepare for a Fall 2016 Bull Elk Hunt so I view every day as a training day. We hunted many areas and I got to see some pretty cool stuff. Fresh fruit on wild trees, birds, etc. I was caught many times either sight seeing or checking out a butterfly when I was supposed to be glassing…LOL
This area was a LONG hike. I am glad I prepared and hiked every day. This area was 4 to 6 miles in duration of very steep terrain with loose lava stones hidden under grass. Of course I found every dry stick to “crack” and got some dirty looks…ha. I soon learned to walk like a Ninja. My gun was too shiny so I had to tape the poor girl all up. That included my water bottle. I guess I need to go see John and get a new gun for next year.
Our destination was waaaay up…and at first my mind was my biggest challenge. We are catching them on their way back up to the forest after an evening at the lower grounds. Our area is at the peak in this photo.
On they way up each day we were pinned down by quite a few Doe’s. They bark at each other constantly (as do the Bucks)…but our concern was always to not be seen. Once they bark they clearly run up and over which means more hiking! After my buddy dispatched one, we continued up (that one was tagged for later processing). We got up to the top, I crawled to “my spot” and was rewarded with a nice first Buck.
My first ever deer...this is where I was shooting from and to (red dot) 225 yards.
Man Down! After hiking to it and dragging it down into a Canyon I did not pose for a PIC...I posed a few times with other people’s deer to share their victory.
While cleaning you can see the distance..
The days were all blending together. We got up each day at 3:30 AM. I got prepared and did not know where we were going. Got in the Jeep and found out then. Some days I was the shooter, some days I was the Sherpa. This day I was shocked at the distance. Looked further, nice Buck shot 340 yards. Red Dot is the location, standing where the shot was taken from. Looked intimidating but really not that bad to hike down and back up to get it. They were smack in some solid Guava Fruit groves.
Self serving Picture with that buck (someone else’s). I thought I was smiling but it was a crazy hike!
Nice Bonus of Guavas for some victory Margaritas later.
After each day breakfast consisted of some “Hawaiian Burritos” or Musibies. Spam, Sweet Rice, and Scrambled Egg wrapped in Seaweed. Sounds funky…SUPER TASTY. Going to figure out how to make some here.
Turkeys were running all over the condo complex I rented. Probably 40 or 50. They would answer your calls. Big Toms with 8” beards…Trophy sized here, pets there…
Saw a few Tracks up in the Mountains.
Lots of Piggies mixed in also. Stopped hunting them after a while but you can hear them grunting…throw a rock and bam…they run, stop, run, stop. Thinner hair. This was a nice 200lb boar that made the mistake of peaking out from a rock. I was standing with my buddy, he was glassing. He said, “right there, right there…”. After he said it three times I handed him my rifle as I just could not see it. Guess the rifle and scope are dialed in, can’t use that as an excuse.
Over all it was extremely fun and some serious work. I actually lost weight on this trip. We hunted 75% of the trip and only skipped a few days. I got to the point real fast to only hunt bigger bucks and passed on many. We only hunted the AM and headed to the beach each PM. We had good friends come and go each day so it was all mixed up. I was able to realize what I was capable of and where my improvement areas were on this trip and had a fantastic time.
Lessons Learned:
- Don’t shoot just because someone says “shoot”. Only take the shot if you can. I shot a few times when I was told to but realized that THEY could make that shot, not me. Also, by the time I saw them and raised my rifle they were moving targets. Did not shoot at any moving targets after I saw how fast they bolted. Waste of ammo and it only makes unnecessary noise.
- Stay in shape. Was still huffing and puffing but kept up. Recovery was easy after a few minutes and I was not sore the next day. I learned a lot about my gear.
- Packed way too much junk. I don’t need to prepare for a survival exercise.
- Need to practice shooting off sticks more.
- Aim at Fur unless you are told otherwise…Sigh….(see above).
Gear
Boots – Went to A16 off of Mission Gorge Road and picked up a pair of lighter boots for this trip. Used them to hike Cowles for 25 miles and complimented them with upgraded insoles and smart wool socks. No blisters, no foot problems.
Clothes – Need to get some better pants. Those cotton pants were too heavy, got soaked every day, too many pockets to put crap into. I am used to cold weather so need some light think breathable stuff. Hard to pay big $$ for clothes until you wear the cheap stuff out in the field for a while.
Pack – My Eberlstock is great for cold weather, shorter hike hunts, but might be too heavy for longer hikes. Think I might have to get a lighter, nylon type pack for this type of hunt. I hunted with two professional guides from Canada on this trip so I had some great mentors to critique my gear, pack placement, just about every thing I did…LOL
Knife – Still searching for that practically priced knife that sharpens easily.
Game Bags – Those TEK Bags sure wash in the sink pretty easily and air dry fast. I had both those and the canvas ones and the cloth bags get nasty with blood smell. The TEK ones I had were pretty large, need smaller ones but I did not really look at the full assortment. I will certainly use the TEK bags on larger game, they were light, easy to clean, and worked perfect.
In closing I really had fun and had a great learning experience. One thing I learned are that there are no second shots. You go through a ton of work to get that one shot. Well, I guess I blew mine! On my last day we got radioed in by a friend who was a few miles lower than us. He had been watching a buck for an hour in some bushes way off in the distance. We all sat for a bit in the tall grass and watched a buck and a few does off in the distance. At some point they looked like they had walked off the other side so he put his rifle away. I was still glassing and noticed they had come half circle, come back into view, and were exposed. Both of the other two guys set me up on a pack. I sat there and watched what was the biggest buck of the entire trip walk out, show me his side, then look at me in the scope. 440 yards away. For some reason I intentionally put the cross hairs too high and shot over him. I can’t explain why as we had all discussed this earlier and I was specifically told to not shoot high unless it was 500 plus or they told me to. But for some reason I was not as disappointed as my buddies. They busted my chops for hours, my ears were burning the next day and they probably will mention it again next time they see me. Only thing I can think of is at that point in time I had all the meat I wanted, I had my first buck and just flat out got caught admiring the target in the scope…LOL
The largest length of our group on this trip was 32” and these guys were saying this one was Wide and Long. In my view sometimes the deer have to win and I have to have some level of a baseline to want to go back for. I can still sit in this chair and review that entire episode in my mind and still see that thing in my scope looking at me. If you want to go back and do it again then its something cool and I can’t wait to go back next year.
Thanks
mike
This was my first Deer Hunt ever. I have planned for hunt since last December. This hunt is part of a series of hunts I am training on to prepare for a Fall 2016 Bull Elk Hunt so I view every day as a training day. We hunted many areas and I got to see some pretty cool stuff. Fresh fruit on wild trees, birds, etc. I was caught many times either sight seeing or checking out a butterfly when I was supposed to be glassing…LOL
This area was a LONG hike. I am glad I prepared and hiked every day. This area was 4 to 6 miles in duration of very steep terrain with loose lava stones hidden under grass. Of course I found every dry stick to “crack” and got some dirty looks…ha. I soon learned to walk like a Ninja. My gun was too shiny so I had to tape the poor girl all up. That included my water bottle. I guess I need to go see John and get a new gun for next year.
Our destination was waaaay up…and at first my mind was my biggest challenge. We are catching them on their way back up to the forest after an evening at the lower grounds. Our area is at the peak in this photo.
On they way up each day we were pinned down by quite a few Doe’s. They bark at each other constantly (as do the Bucks)…but our concern was always to not be seen. Once they bark they clearly run up and over which means more hiking! After my buddy dispatched one, we continued up (that one was tagged for later processing). We got up to the top, I crawled to “my spot” and was rewarded with a nice first Buck.
My first ever deer...this is where I was shooting from and to (red dot) 225 yards.
Man Down! After hiking to it and dragging it down into a Canyon I did not pose for a PIC...I posed a few times with other people’s deer to share their victory.
While cleaning you can see the distance..
The days were all blending together. We got up each day at 3:30 AM. I got prepared and did not know where we were going. Got in the Jeep and found out then. Some days I was the shooter, some days I was the Sherpa. This day I was shocked at the distance. Looked further, nice Buck shot 340 yards. Red Dot is the location, standing where the shot was taken from. Looked intimidating but really not that bad to hike down and back up to get it. They were smack in some solid Guava Fruit groves.
Self serving Picture with that buck (someone else’s). I thought I was smiling but it was a crazy hike!
Nice Bonus of Guavas for some victory Margaritas later.
After each day breakfast consisted of some “Hawaiian Burritos” or Musibies. Spam, Sweet Rice, and Scrambled Egg wrapped in Seaweed. Sounds funky…SUPER TASTY. Going to figure out how to make some here.
Turkeys were running all over the condo complex I rented. Probably 40 or 50. They would answer your calls. Big Toms with 8” beards…Trophy sized here, pets there…
Saw a few Tracks up in the Mountains.
Lots of Piggies mixed in also. Stopped hunting them after a while but you can hear them grunting…throw a rock and bam…they run, stop, run, stop. Thinner hair. This was a nice 200lb boar that made the mistake of peaking out from a rock. I was standing with my buddy, he was glassing. He said, “right there, right there…”. After he said it three times I handed him my rifle as I just could not see it. Guess the rifle and scope are dialed in, can’t use that as an excuse.
Over all it was extremely fun and some serious work. I actually lost weight on this trip. We hunted 75% of the trip and only skipped a few days. I got to the point real fast to only hunt bigger bucks and passed on many. We only hunted the AM and headed to the beach each PM. We had good friends come and go each day so it was all mixed up. I was able to realize what I was capable of and where my improvement areas were on this trip and had a fantastic time.
Lessons Learned:
- Don’t shoot just because someone says “shoot”. Only take the shot if you can. I shot a few times when I was told to but realized that THEY could make that shot, not me. Also, by the time I saw them and raised my rifle they were moving targets. Did not shoot at any moving targets after I saw how fast they bolted. Waste of ammo and it only makes unnecessary noise.
- Stay in shape. Was still huffing and puffing but kept up. Recovery was easy after a few minutes and I was not sore the next day. I learned a lot about my gear.
- Packed way too much junk. I don’t need to prepare for a survival exercise.
- Need to practice shooting off sticks more.
- Aim at Fur unless you are told otherwise…Sigh….(see above).
Gear
Boots – Went to A16 off of Mission Gorge Road and picked up a pair of lighter boots for this trip. Used them to hike Cowles for 25 miles and complimented them with upgraded insoles and smart wool socks. No blisters, no foot problems.
Clothes – Need to get some better pants. Those cotton pants were too heavy, got soaked every day, too many pockets to put crap into. I am used to cold weather so need some light think breathable stuff. Hard to pay big $$ for clothes until you wear the cheap stuff out in the field for a while.
Pack – My Eberlstock is great for cold weather, shorter hike hunts, but might be too heavy for longer hikes. Think I might have to get a lighter, nylon type pack for this type of hunt. I hunted with two professional guides from Canada on this trip so I had some great mentors to critique my gear, pack placement, just about every thing I did…LOL
Knife – Still searching for that practically priced knife that sharpens easily.
Game Bags – Those TEK Bags sure wash in the sink pretty easily and air dry fast. I had both those and the canvas ones and the cloth bags get nasty with blood smell. The TEK ones I had were pretty large, need smaller ones but I did not really look at the full assortment. I will certainly use the TEK bags on larger game, they were light, easy to clean, and worked perfect.
In closing I really had fun and had a great learning experience. One thing I learned are that there are no second shots. You go through a ton of work to get that one shot. Well, I guess I blew mine! On my last day we got radioed in by a friend who was a few miles lower than us. He had been watching a buck for an hour in some bushes way off in the distance. We all sat for a bit in the tall grass and watched a buck and a few does off in the distance. At some point they looked like they had walked off the other side so he put his rifle away. I was still glassing and noticed they had come half circle, come back into view, and were exposed. Both of the other two guys set me up on a pack. I sat there and watched what was the biggest buck of the entire trip walk out, show me his side, then look at me in the scope. 440 yards away. For some reason I intentionally put the cross hairs too high and shot over him. I can’t explain why as we had all discussed this earlier and I was specifically told to not shoot high unless it was 500 plus or they told me to. But for some reason I was not as disappointed as my buddies. They busted my chops for hours, my ears were burning the next day and they probably will mention it again next time they see me. Only thing I can think of is at that point in time I had all the meat I wanted, I had my first buck and just flat out got caught admiring the target in the scope…LOL
The largest length of our group on this trip was 32” and these guys were saying this one was Wide and Long. In my view sometimes the deer have to win and I have to have some level of a baseline to want to go back for. I can still sit in this chair and review that entire episode in my mind and still see that thing in my scope looking at me. If you want to go back and do it again then its something cool and I can’t wait to go back next year.
Thanks
mike
