Moved from So Cal to Big Island 15 years ago but due to lack of medical care there and the fact that I am now in my 70's, my wife and I moved to Fallbrook, CA, about 20 months ago. Quite a change in terms of hunting and shooting and not for the better. I still have access to private farms and ranches on the Big Island to hunt wild boar, mouflon sheep, turkeys, and wild cattle [Vancouver bulls] but due to covid, can't get back there without major hassle. Really miss the hunting there.
So, in those 14 years on the Big Island, here is the score: 175 wild pigs, 12 mouflon sheep, dozens of turkeys, and 35 wild cattle. The hunting season is 365 days per year, no limit on invasive species [pigs, sheep, cattle] and during the bird season, the limit on turkeys is 1 per day and they are everywhere. The resident license cost for all that is $10 per year. When I turned 65 [7 years ago] my license was free. I would hunt about 1 time per week and when hunting pigs, I would get a pig about every other time on a 5 hour hunt, stillhunting in beautiful jungle wilderness. Never, ever saw another human. Sheep a bit tougher to get. The wild cattle were easy. I would get a call from a coffee farmer telling me that a particularly aggressive bull was harassing coffee workers and I'd take off with my 375 Ruger and track them up into the jungle. They are very wild and easily spooked, sort of like hunting elk in heavy timber. A long shot in the jungle is about 40 yards. I'd take about 30 pounds of the best meat and then lead the coffee workers up to the carcass. Most of the workers are Mexicans with large families and they have a lot of little mouths to feed and they know how to butcher cattle. They would get about 300 pounds of meat and that would feed their families for several weeks. Figure I got about 1200 pounds of beef for myself and over 10,000 pounds for the workers. Some of the bulls were extremely aggressive and charged and had to be stopped at really close range in tight quarters. In terms of the pigs, there are so many of them that I never gutted a single one, just boned out the best cuts and walked away with 25 pounds of meat from a 175 pound boar. This is not wasteful. Pigs are like rats there, doing a huge amount of damage to the native vegetation and spreading diseases like leptospirosis. A neat trick was to shoot a bull and then come back to the carcass 3 days later. Quite a stink but that stink would attract pigs by the dozens. One dead bull would result in 2 or 3 dead pigs. My wife and I didn't buy one single ounce of beef or pork for the last several years we were on the Big Island.
What is a shocker is the idea of paying $500 for a pig hunt here in CA. Some of the ranchers on the Big Island paid ME to hunt the pigs there. I feel very lucky---blessed---to have had the opportunity to hunt on the Big Island. It's the closest thing to Africa on this side of the planet.
Joined MCC, which is a lifesaver for me. If I can't hunt, as far as I'm concerned, my life is over. Steve [ilovesprig] very generously took me on a turkey hunt here and due to his expertise in calling, we took a nice jake. Will learn calling and strategy and then hit turkeys hard next spring. Plan to fish for crappies [new to me---I'm used to marlin, mahimahi, ahi, ono], gig frogs, hunt rabbits, bandtail pigeons, waterfowl, deer, quail, etc., with MCC. When HI loosens its covid restrictions, I plan to make a few trips back to the Big Island to chase the bulls and the boars and the sheep before I'm too old.
Look forward to seeing some of you out in the field.
So, in those 14 years on the Big Island, here is the score: 175 wild pigs, 12 mouflon sheep, dozens of turkeys, and 35 wild cattle. The hunting season is 365 days per year, no limit on invasive species [pigs, sheep, cattle] and during the bird season, the limit on turkeys is 1 per day and they are everywhere. The resident license cost for all that is $10 per year. When I turned 65 [7 years ago] my license was free. I would hunt about 1 time per week and when hunting pigs, I would get a pig about every other time on a 5 hour hunt, stillhunting in beautiful jungle wilderness. Never, ever saw another human. Sheep a bit tougher to get. The wild cattle were easy. I would get a call from a coffee farmer telling me that a particularly aggressive bull was harassing coffee workers and I'd take off with my 375 Ruger and track them up into the jungle. They are very wild and easily spooked, sort of like hunting elk in heavy timber. A long shot in the jungle is about 40 yards. I'd take about 30 pounds of the best meat and then lead the coffee workers up to the carcass. Most of the workers are Mexicans with large families and they have a lot of little mouths to feed and they know how to butcher cattle. They would get about 300 pounds of meat and that would feed their families for several weeks. Figure I got about 1200 pounds of beef for myself and over 10,000 pounds for the workers. Some of the bulls were extremely aggressive and charged and had to be stopped at really close range in tight quarters. In terms of the pigs, there are so many of them that I never gutted a single one, just boned out the best cuts and walked away with 25 pounds of meat from a 175 pound boar. This is not wasteful. Pigs are like rats there, doing a huge amount of damage to the native vegetation and spreading diseases like leptospirosis. A neat trick was to shoot a bull and then come back to the carcass 3 days later. Quite a stink but that stink would attract pigs by the dozens. One dead bull would result in 2 or 3 dead pigs. My wife and I didn't buy one single ounce of beef or pork for the last several years we were on the Big Island.
What is a shocker is the idea of paying $500 for a pig hunt here in CA. Some of the ranchers on the Big Island paid ME to hunt the pigs there. I feel very lucky---blessed---to have had the opportunity to hunt on the Big Island. It's the closest thing to Africa on this side of the planet.
Joined MCC, which is a lifesaver for me. If I can't hunt, as far as I'm concerned, my life is over. Steve [ilovesprig] very generously took me on a turkey hunt here and due to his expertise in calling, we took a nice jake. Will learn calling and strategy and then hit turkeys hard next spring. Plan to fish for crappies [new to me---I'm used to marlin, mahimahi, ahi, ono], gig frogs, hunt rabbits, bandtail pigeons, waterfowl, deer, quail, etc., with MCC. When HI loosens its covid restrictions, I plan to make a few trips back to the Big Island to chase the bulls and the boars and the sheep before I'm too old.
Look forward to seeing some of you out in the field.
