Moved from Big Island of Hawaii to So Cal---What a shocker!!

[HATCHET1]

I hate fords

 

[PewPew252]

"Then there were the arguments over what brand of truck is best, what cartridge is best, etc., and the discussions got nasty. Many were removed

Doc,

You're at the right place....Everyone agrees that Benelli shotguns are the finest money can buy....

Yes. Benelli is widely regarded as one of the top 3 Italian manufacturers of shotguns on these forums.

 

[ilovesprig]

Yes. Benelli is widely regarded as one of the top 3 Italian manufacturers of shotguns on these forums.

I agree...Benelli SBE, Benelli M-2, and Benelli Ethos...Oh, I’m sorry...I thought you said models...

 

[Deleted member 31469]

"Then there were the arguments over what brand of truck is best, what cartridge is best, etc., and the discussions got nasty. Many were removed

Doc,

You're at the right place....Everyone agrees that Benelli shotguns are the finest money can buy....

 

[Deleted member 31469]

You guys have too much time on your hands. Went fishing at Henshaw today. Don't know nuthin' about fishing there. Windy. Only two other fisherpersons on the pier. Asked them if they had any luck. The younger one said, "Oh, really?" Was a bit confused. They were Asian so I asked where they were from. In Hawaii, half of everybody comes from Asia. "China." Oh, cool. "What are you catching?" The younger guy replied, "Crap." I assumed they meant crappie. "You mean crappie? " I replied. They looked confused and then said, "Oh, really?" I looked in their floating fish holder and it was full of carp. "You mean carp," I said, pointing to the fish. "Oh, really?" was the reply.

Where else but So Cal does this stuff happen?

 

[SurfNHuntSD]

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.

Rad! I lived in Hilo for 10 years and actually just got back on Monday after a 2 week trip there. Didn't get to hunt this time around but did set some pig traps with no luck. Heard the hogs came around after I left of course. Miss the hunter-friendly lifestyle there everyday. Used to be a teacher at a country school and had kids droppef off on horseback, on ATVs with rifles in the rack, and always had kids miss school to help clean pigs and sheep if their dad got a big one. Lots of free meat for me though lol.

 

[ilovesprig]

Doc,

Fishing for carp at Henshaw is a blast on light gear.....

ps...The crappie & bass bite died with the algae bloom.

.

 

[Deleted member 31469]

Rad! I lived in Hilo for 10 years and actually just got back on Monday after a 2 week trip there. Didn't get to hunt this time around but did set some pig traps with no luck. Heard the hogs came around after I left of course. Miss the hunter-friendly lifestyle there everyday. Used to be a teacher at a country school and had kids droppef off on horseback, on ATVs with rifles in the rack, and always had kids miss school to help clean pigs and sheep if their dad got a big one. Lots of free meat for me though lol.

On the Big Island, hunting is still a huge part of the Hawaiian lifestyle. Never had a single Hawaiian look down their nose at me when I mentioned that I hunt or when I was wearing camo. The only anti-hunters were the haoles, the white people who brought their anti-hunting attitudes with them from the mainland. Also, food is REALLY expensive there [wife just returned from visit to Kona---totally shocked when she went to Safeway] but food is free in the country if you know how to get it. For example, I'd go hunting and get a nice pig. Then I'd go on a hike, maybe a mile, with an empty backpack. Within 30 minutes it was full of avocados, mango, papaya, lilikoi [passionfruit], coconuts, bananas, etc. Life is so simple there. No traffic, very little crime, BUT, and this is a huge but, it is REALLY expensive to buy a house based upon the average income, much worse than So Cal. Medical care is really lousy. It's very hard to see a licensed physician. I was lucky to have a nurse see me. You're also out in the middle of nowhere. Nearest land to the west is China. To the north are the Aleutian Islands. To the south is New Zealand. To the east is Acapulco. To get to CA is a 5 1/2 hour flight. My wife and I, combined, over 14 years, made the roundtrip to the mainland about 140 times. That's a lot of flying, mostly overnight flights heading east.

 

[Deleted member 31469]

Doc,

Fishing for carp at Henshaw is a blast on light gear.....

ps...The crappie & bass bite died with the algae bloom.

.View attachment 49091

Steve:

What did you catch those carp on? They were everywhere at the end of the pier. Also, I hooked a very nice bass on a tiny jig right at the end of the pier but I was using light line and had no net so it broke off when I tried to lift it out of the water.

 

[Nimrod]

Very cool! Thanks for sharing your story! Good luck this year. IMO, your mentor Steve is the finest hunting ambassador around!

 

[Deleted member 31469]

Here are a few more photos. 1. Looking down on Parker Ranch. I once saw over 100 hogs roaming around in the brush below. 2. My truck [God bless Henry Ford] up at 9000 feet. Excellent hog and turkey hunting there. I have seen Rio Grande turkeys up as high as 9500 feet. 3. Two mouflon ewes taken at 10,500 feet. Excellent eating. Still have the 2005 Ranger, but, like me, has a lot of hard miles on it. 4. Good day's turkey hunting. I took a group of totally deaf hunters from Honolulu out to my favorite spot. Called in 3 toms. Quite interesting calling turkeys when your hunting partners can't hear a thing. 5. Neighbor's front yard. Mine often looked the same. Had to put up chain link all around to keep hogs out. Shot several in my back yard.

 

[Muledeerhunter]

You guys have too much time on your hands. Went fishing at Henshaw today. Don't know nuthin' about fishing there. Windy. Only two other fisherpersons on the pier. Asked them if they had any luck. The younger one said, "Oh, really?" Was a bit confused. They were Asian so I asked where they were from. In Hawaii, half of everybody comes from Asia. "China." Oh, cool. "What are you catching?" The younger guy replied, "Crap." I assumed they meant crappie. "You mean crappie? " I replied. They looked confused and then said, "Oh, really?" I looked in their floating fish holder and it was full of carp. "You mean carp," I said, pointing to the fish. "Oh, really?" was the reply.

Where else but So Cal does this stuff happen?

Oh, really?

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

 

[ilovesprig]

Steve:

What did you catch those carp on? They were everywhere at the end of the pier. Also, I hooked a very nice bass on a tiny jig right at the end of the pier but I was using light line and had no net so it broke off when I tried to lift it out of the water.

Bruce,

I use a can of corn...Just thread a few pieces on a #4 bait holder & hang on....

Bass & crappie from about a month ago...Senkos

.

 

[Lungpopper]

Steve,,,
Personally, I think stuffing Henshaw carp with fiberglass is a better system than the corn.

 

[ilovesprig]

Steve,,,
Personally, I think stuffing Henshaw View attachment 49099carp with fiberglass is a better system than the corn.

Yes, Darryl...Great fun at the 'Shaw.

.

 

[180ls1]

Great stuff OP. Thanks for sharing.

Sounds like you have some catching up to do on predator hunting? Coyotes are everywhere. If you head north we have great bear hunting.

 

[Ramshackle]

Hunting axis deer and mouflon on public land on Lanai will forver be one of my favorite hunt memories. ATV riding into a pretty alien terrain and figuring it out in 2 days was a challenge, but hauling that axis deer out, up and down the undulations of volcanic rock, was a triumph.

 

[Deleted member 31469]

Great stuff OP. Thanks for sharing.

Sounds like you have some catching up to do on predator hunting? Coyotes are everywhere. If you head north we have great bear hunting.

In what general areas is the good bear hunting? Never hunted bears in CA. Thanks.

 

[Papadeuce]

In what general areas is the good bear hunting? Never hunted bears in CA. Thanks.

Up north of us. X zones and such.

 

[Deleted member 31469]

Just to make some of you drool, a hunting friend and I went on a Big Island hunting rampage over a 3 day weekend. We went after wild cattle first, bagging 2 [or 3---can't remember] the first afternoon. That took the rest of the day just to butcher our share and then lead the coffee workers to the bodies. The next AM we went up the Skyline Road on Mauna Kea and after a lot of hiking at 10,000 + feet, took a nice mouflon ram and a couple of ewes. We then shot a Spanish goat the next day then went back to the cattle carcasses and, sure enough, a dozen pigs were feeding. Got a few of those. Then we went into Captain Cook and got a huge pizza and two pitchers of beer. That was the best part.

If it weren't for the woeful lack of medical care and the remoteness of the Big Island, I'd still be there. But, as with everything, everything comes to an end.

Met some really cool hunters and anglers thru MCC and they are helping me get thru my homesickness.

By the way, the hunting I just described has pretty much come to an end. If you want, I'll tell you about Earth Justice and what they did to sheep hunting on Mauna Kea. Totally emotional and contrary to all the science. And then, it you want, I'll tell you what happened to the cattle hunting. Let me know.