Questions Regarding Hunting Goat and Pigs on Kauai

[bojangles808]

Thanks for the heads up, I'll check for sure!

hanalei bay surf report is what you would want to check for north swells. i wouldnt fret over weather forecasts before you go because the weather is constantly changing in hawaii. wind should be out of the northeast (tradewinds) only time weather can get really weird is if wind is variable or light and out of the south. id just make sure you have a solid breathable rain shell with pit zips (a must for hawaii). i use either a frog toggs poncho that is big enough to fit over my pack or i use a marmot precip shell.

 

[2ski]

hanalei bay surf report is what you would want to check for north swells. i wouldnt fret over weather forecasts before you go because the weather is constantly changing in hawaii. wind should be out of the northeast (tradewinds) only time weather can get really weird is if wind is variable or light and out of the south. id just make sure you have a solid breathable rain shell with pit zips (a must for hawaii). i use either a frog toggs poncho that is big enough to fit over my pack or i use a marmot precip shell.

+1 for the Marmot Precip in Hawaii. Rain coat and wind shell. I was up on Haleakela in July for the sunrise and it was in a cloud and misting. Everyone was out in blankets or still in their cars miserable. I was having a great time exploring in the dark up the trail in my Precip. I even got to hear a bird in the dark that the ranger told me is kind of a rare one to hear because I was out on the top of the cone and not huddled in the car. Imagine being in a think cloud that your headlamp won't shine but 3 feet in front of you through. It's pitch black and you hear a cackle and something akin to a fog horn out in the darkness. No one else is within a half mile of you and they're all on the other side of a rock cone so you feel all alone. It was awesome!

I don't know if sunrise is something you can do on the volcano on Kaua'i but if you and your wife are interested, I would plan it for the first morning when your body is still on the time zone you came from. I know this was a thread about hunting, but I thought I would throw that out there too.

 

[Dukslayer26]

Can't remember the name but there is a family that owns the island just off the coast of Kauai. I remember looking into it a few hrs ago. They take you over by helicopter and can shoot a pig and an exotic sheep for around $1700.00 I think.

 

[2ski]

Can't remember the name but there is a family that owns the island just off the coast of Kauai. I remember looking into it a few hrs ago. They take you over by helicopter and can shoot a pig and an exotic sheep for around $1700.00 I think.

Niihau?

 

[Kawabunga]

I believe it's the Robinsons that own Niihau. The place was supposedly over run with pigs and sheep that were pretty much untouched for years so lots' of old trophy animals. That hunt started a pretty long time ago so not sure what impact it has had on the herds. I just moved back to the Big Island from NV, if anyone needs help here let me know, I can try to answer questions.

To stay on topic, i've always wanted to do that hike but never have, just heard a lot about it. My moms side of the family is from Kauai, beautiful island but getting crowded.

 

[SLDMTN]

Following up on this thread now that I'm back home. I'm not going to post up exact details or locations of animals out of respect for any locals I talked to.

If you're considering taking your bow, do it!!

What an amazing trip we had! I love Kauai just as much now as I did the last time I was there. Definitely more people this time but we were able to get away from people without too much strain. Going into this trip my hunt time was going to be very limited, I had one day to do the Kalalau Trail which I knew was going to be tough to pull off.

With the required permits in hand, I left the parking lot while it was still dark. Hiking in, the frogs were thick on the trail, I actually had to watch where I stepped. It had poured rain the night before but the creek levels were still easily crossed without dipping a toe. As the sun began to rise I already had two hours of hiking behind me. Several times along the trail, I could smell goats/pigs and found obvious sign of animal activity.

I had passed a few hikers headed out but near as I could tell, there wasn't anyone even close to my heels. Early in the morning while the sun was still on it's way up, I rounded a corner and came face to face with 6-8 goats. One of the goats was a shooter (in my opinion), a brown billy that was probably close to 20". They bounced off the trail as I tucked back around the corner and pulled my bow off my pack. Stepping back around the corner, the billy had stopped about 20 yards away downhill on a rock. He gave me a perfect broadside angle as I drew back. As I squeezed the release, the shot felt a little high but still lethal. With the sound of the shot, the goats scurried away further downhill towards the cliffs.

I gave it about five minutes and listened to the goats as they began to feed again. The brown billy was out of my sight so I knocked another arrow and took off down the hill after him. Being from Alaska, I hadn't put much thought into crawlies since we don't really have any bad ones to speak of. Well I'm no fan of big spiders (little ones don't bother me a bit) and I came face to face with a big ugly mofo.

There is no better kung fu instructor than a spider web with a big one attached to it in your personal space. Comical no doubt but I'd rather deal with a bear honestly. With that ordeal behind me, I made sure to check my path of travel better.

Finding my arrow was depressing, it was dry as a bone, no blood. I had been more than a little bit high, I missed him. Staying there awhile, I watched a few smaller goats hoping that the brown billy or the other smaller black billy would step into view. No luck after a half hour so I decided to press on.

Since I left my filter at home in AK, water was my limiting factor on this day hunt. I made it to the 8 mile marker and pushed another half mile or so in where a water check told me that I had reached my limit. I know the best populations of goats are further in but I had to be realistic with myself.

Hiking back out, I didn't see another goat in an area that I could reasonably access. The heat of the day began to take it's toll and my reservoir went dry with about 4 miles left to go. Bad deal since I pound water on my hunts, 100 oz at that point to be exact. Those last 4 miles brought the suck for sure but I made it back out around 4:30 in the afternoon. I was tired and hungry but man I had a blast!

Drove back to the condo in Princeville, took a shower, grabbed the girls and headed into Kapaa for a burger and shake at Bubba's. Awesome way to end 17 miles and 10.5k elevation change according to my Suunto!

I'll throw up some video when I have more time.

 

[Beendare]

Stud move... in and out in the same day.

Trail report? Is there still a bunch of garbage in there?

 

[SLDMTN]

Stud move... in and out in the same day.

Trail report? Is there still a bunch of garbage in there?

You know I saw some garbage but nothing too crazy. The outhouses smelled bad for a long ways. There was a fair bit of deadfall across the trail around the 4 mile mark. A few dirty hippies here and there. A few haters but no one outright rude. Mostly people were just very curious.

 

[bojangles808]

That's gnarly with no water filter in and out one day. Glad u had a good time that was smart to hit the trail early. Would love to see some video

 

[Beendare]

You know I saw some garbage but nothing too crazy. The outhouses smelled bad for a long ways. There was a fair bit of deadfall across the trail around the 4 mile mark. A few dirty hippies here and there. A few haters but no one outright rude. Mostly people were just very curious.

Gotcha, thx. The last couple times I did that trail we had to add a couple days of Post trail liquid carbo loading on Maui afterwards -grin...it was a workout.

 

[white.paul]

SLDMTN,
I tried PM'ing you, but it says your account is full and won't accept new messages. Apparently you are a popular guy. Here is the PM I sent. PM me and I'll give you my contact info.
I am taking my 11 year-old son to go hunt the Kalalua Trail in mid-May. We will both be hunting. We are both fairly experienced hunters. The thread here regarding your hunt is the best info I can find anywhere. I tried talking to the people in the state park office and the hunting office place in Kauai and they were idiots and couldn't answer my questions. (They couldn't understand why I would want to hike in early, and hike out after dark LOL) I would love to speak with you in person about your experience and some practical questions I have (tent -vs- hammock, glassing, shooting on trail, etc.) If I could speak to you on the phone one evening that would be awesome. Or if it's better to you to email, thats great too. I don't want to be a bother in any way.
I live in northern Utah.

 

[realunlucky]

Paul thanks for bringing this back up. Welcome to rokslide. Doing this trip myself in January 2019 would love to hear how your trip goes.

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[white.paul]

Paul thanks for bringing this back up. Welcome to rokslide. Doing this trip myself in January 2019 would love to hear how your trip goes.

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

I will share everything I can. I'm new here obviously but not new to internet forums. I will for sure share what I learn. I am already counting down the days to this hunt! Years ago my 2nd oldest son shot a pig when we were in Maui. But it was a simple guided hunt, not a DIY like this one will be.

 

[mtnkid85]

Tagging this thread. Wife and I have talked about a similar trip, myself having similar ambitions of sneaking off for a day or two to hunt. Love seeing your guys little trip reports sounds like a blast.

 

[Ndbowhunter]

Leave Sunday for a month.. probably mostly surfing.

Will try to get to lanai and stick some animals but if not just borrow my buddies rifle and drop a few stinky goats on Kauai.

I'll try to get some photo's and report back about hunting and all that jazz.

 

[Beendare]

I wouldn't count on seeing goats right on the trail, both times I was in there we didn't get that lucky, they were way up in the cliffs.

Once you get to the cliffs about 9 miles in you might see some closer to the trail.

 

[SLDMTN]

Kalalau is still closed, there’s other areas for public DIY though.

 

[kpdes]

The trail is open and I'm heading out there with my bow. I'm a relatively new hunter and I'm a little mystified about post-hunt processing and packing for the napali coast.

If you are near Kalalau beach, with the new mandatory shuttle system you are 15 hours away from refrigeration. They don't allow fires there so cooking very much meat would be tricky. What do you guys do?

 

[Beendare]

Please elaborate on the Mandatory shuttle.


There has always been outfits that will run you in to the beach in a Zodiac...but certain times of year the beach goes away and that's not possible from what they tell me.

..

 

[SLDMTN]

Please elaborate on the Mandatory shuttle.


There has always been outfits that will run you in to the beach in a Zodiac...but certain times of year the beach goes away and that's not possible from what they tell me.

..

You can’t drive to the end of the road anymore. You’ll have to park and take a shuttle in to Ke’e. They’re going to actually be checking camping permits now as well. It’s an effort to limit overuse of the trail.