Hawaii turkey hunting

[d_marc]

Has anyone been to the Big Island for the spring turkey hunt? Watched some videos and was thinking about a trip next year.

 

[TurkeyReaper69]

Yes, I visited last Spring in 2021. I went into it thinking I would be covered up in turkeys as some videos had suggested. I hunted public ground and that was not the case. I ended up killing one the first morning, only ever found one other gobbling tom and he was a bastard. Couldn't manage to kill him due to a geographical feature in which I won't name to keep the integrity of the spot as it'd be a dead giveaway to where I was. If you are set on going I'd take a look into the Parker Ranch. Place is loaded with birds.

 

[chase4545]

Yes, I visited last Spring in 2021. I went into it thinking I would be covered up in turkeys as some videos had suggested. I hunted public ground and that was not the case. I ended up killing one the first morning, only ever found one other gobbling tom and he was a bastard. Couldn't manage to kill him due to a geographical feature in which I won't name to keep the integrity of the spot as it'd be a dead giveaway to where I was. If you are set on going I'd take a look into the Parker Ranch. Place is loaded with birds.

Has anyone been to the Big Island for the spring turkey hunt? Watched some videos and was thinking about a trip next year.

Yeah, family lives in Kona area. Turkey all over the place there. Just need a season and land. Sounds like they gobble year round out there. No weather to tell them it's spring and all.

 

[TurkeyReaper69]

"No weather to tell them it's spring and all."
That wasn't exactly the thoughts running through my head when it was 27 degrees and snowing while I was turkey hunting in Hawaii lol

 

[chase4545]

"No weather to tell them it's spring and all."
That wasn't exactly the thoughts running through my head when it was 27 degrees and snowing while I was turkey hunting in Hawaii lol

I'll commit to this. I'll be out there next week so I'll look into when hunting seasons happen and what friends say. Have a few landowner friends that might understand logistics. Knowing what I do about HI is there are seasons for public lands and not so much related to seasons or limits for private. Not sure what all that means but it seems like HI doesn't have as much control over hunting as we do on the main land (or care). Main difference is wild game are all feral and fish are pelagic. Listening to a podcast it was odd the only two states don't have involvement in potching stuff, Massachusetts and Hawaii. Afterall if the animals are all/most ferral why worry. If you've driven the islands much you would see there are goats everywhere and from what it sounds like they taste terrible. Locals do not eat them. I'll try them out next week. I have a morel compass that has me eating 100% of what I eat. So, ill let u know how that goes as well. They actually look like house goat, crazy. I've purchased two goat tags and one sheep tag for next week. Fishing wise please don't kill me but HI doesn't have a concept of fishing licances. I'm 100% legal and am crazy excited about learning HI. All this its crazy different in HI. Fall isn't fall in HI as is in the US. Something fun I've learned is lots of HI folk are stuck on hunting either AK and CO. My favorite two states.

 

[TurkeyReaper69]

you got that right as far as the no concept of limits/seasons go. I met a fella out there who told me he killed something around 20+ birds the spring previous. Mentioned once you leave the management area or get home to just slip the tag off the leg and just keep on hunting. Makes southerners look like rookies

 

[Thecrickethunter]

There is a lack of Interest in turkey on hawaii. People eat fewer turkey than anything else, it's lack of importance to the culture compared to a pig for instance is night and day. Because of this I have been most impressed with the amount of birds..but also because of this there is a lack of opportunity for them, terrible opportunity for shotgun, which I approve of though. As hawaii embraces archery. For a non resident, go to Parker Ranch unless you have an in with a local. If you lived here it would be worth your while.

 

[Thecrickethunter]

I'll commit to this. I'll be out there next week so I'll look into when hunting seasons happen and what friends say. Have a few landowner friends that might understand logistics. Knowing what I do about HI is there are seasons for public lands and not so much related to seasons or limits for private. Not sure what all that means but it seems like HI doesn't have as much control over hunting as we do on the main land (or care). Main difference is wild game are all feral and fish are pelagic. Listening to a podcast it was odd the only two states don't have involvement in potching stuff, Massachusetts and Hawaii. Afterall if the animals are all/most ferral why worry. If you've driven the islands much you would see there are goats everywhere and from what it sounds like they taste terrible. Locals do not eat them. I'll try them out next week. I have a morel compass that has me eating 100% of what I eat. So, ill let u know how that goes as well. They actually look like house goat, crazy. I've purchased two goat tags and one sheep tag for next week. Fishing wise please don't kill me but HI doesn't have a concept of fishing licances. I'm 100% legal and am crazy excited about learning HI. All this its crazy different in HI. Fall isn't fall in HI as is in the US. Something fun I've learned is lots of HI folk are stuck on hunting either AK and CO. My favorite two states.

We eat the goats. Nannies are particularly good to eat but most people will shoot old Billy's..my least favorite meat on the island but still often on the table. They are not on the entire wet side of the island as they will get hoof rot. They have also been eradicated from the southern half of the island for volcano np. Where they are abundant is where tourists step out of the airport ironically. Which is private.. this means a mature billy on public (+21) might be one of the harder trophies to be had. On private that's entirely different story. These goats were dropped off by captain Cook in 1778, solid black with alpine markings. What you mostly see is what has happened over the many years inter breeding with feral goats. This makes for a wide variety of colors in these goats but there are goats with less inter breeding in certain areas. You can probably tell I'm very fascinated by these animals. I like hunting them. Heck I like just being around them in the landscape. They need management but done respectfully, not to be confused for eradicating a feral speacies such as the mongoose.

 

[mcr-85]

......... I have a morel compass that has me eating 100% of what I eat. .........

I eat 100% of what I eat as well.

Sorry... Couldn't resist.

Sent from my SM-G981V using Tapatalk

 

[sjohns4]

Has anyone been to the Big Island for the spring turkey hunt? Watched some videos and was thinking about a trip next year.

Are you planning on making the trip? It's looking like I'll be in Hawaii in March thanks to my job. Looking into taking an extra 4-5 days and hunting.

 

[sjohns4]

I was able to make the DIY Hawaii turkey hunt this year. Here's my advice for the next guy:

The overall season runs from March 1 through April 15. I don’t think those change but don’t take my word for it. Public hunting units open to spring turkey season can vary year to year. In 2023 there were 3 open to firearms and one open to archery only but just through March.

You have to check in and out of the public hunting areas. You can sign the notebook at the check in station or use the Outer Spatial app.

Judging by the book the public land got hammered the first couple weeks of the season. I was there the last few days of March & first days of April. I’m not sure I ever saw another turkey hunter. On the public I saw a few obvious joy riders and hog hunters with dog boxes in the back of their trucks. The public areas were supposed to be closed to dog hunting but from a couple conversations with locals the regs are taken as suggestions vs law. Anyway, they weren’t running where I was at. All of my encounters with other people were in the truck.

The Big Island of Hawaii overall is polluted with turkeys. You’ll see a bunch on private land and areas where you can’t hunt. I was hunting near a fence line and heard more gobblers than I’ve ever heard sounding off. At least I saw turkeys every day so there was always hope one would stumble onto public land. On the first day I cold called a small flock of hens and a Jake in. By day 3 I was wishing I’d have shot the Jake. On day 6, my last evening, I killed what I think was a 2 year old Tom. That was the only turkey I heard gobble on public land. Even then I saw him first and got fairly close behind some cover before I called. 2 short series of yelps was all it took. So for me finding turkeys was the hard part. Also, for context, I’m a turkey hunter. I know a few turkey killers. I’m not one of them although not for lack of trying.

Looking back, I’d say get out of the truck so you can see tracks on the road and pay attention to habitat. There’s a lot you can’t tell from OnX. Bring good binos and good boots. It really felt more like hunting elk than Appalachian Easterns that I'm used to.

I read an article about lava rock really tearing up boots. I brought an old pair of work boots I thought was still water proof. Fortunately the motel let me use an extra hair dryer to dry them out nightly. I stayed at the Waimea Country Lodge. Exactly what I needed. Very clean, inside was updated, and had a basic kitchenette. There was an Ace hardware in town which was great since I forgot gun oil. I also tried shoe goo on the boots which helped but didn’t solve the problem.

I rented a lifted Tacoma from Turo. I didn’t need the lift but you absolutely want a 4x4. Don’t go full size. Vegetation on most dirt roads isn’t trimmed that far back. I couldn’t find any spray wand car washes. The hotel let me use their water hose to spray the heavier mud off the truck. Unfortunately the automatic wash still left a dirty truck. After 3 gallons of water, a small container of Dawn, and a roll of paper towels from Walmart I had it clean enough to run through the auto car wash again. Glad I had a late flight & didn’t hunt the last day.


Access:

Not always what I’m used to. One area that was open had a 6’ locked gate. I could and did climb over it (DNR OK’d it). A few more years or pounds and I probably couldn’t have. One area the access is through private land but it’s not obvious from OnX or the Highway. The DNR told me an area that was accessible which was outside of what OnX was showing too. One area was closed for an afternoon due to recovering unexploded ordinance. The PTA military training area issues hunting permits too but was closed while I was there. Get them online ahead of time. Talk to the local DNR agents about where you think you’re going and ask about other areas!


Tags:

I bought my license online from Ohau but couldn’t buy tags. I showed up at the DNR office in Hilo and bought them. When I stopped by the Waimea DNR office for advice but no one was in. Try to get tags ahead of time.


Gun:

You have to register your gun within 7 or 10 (can’t remember) days of getting to Hawaii. It’s in person at the police dept. Before leaving I called the Waimea office, left a message about procedure but never got a call back.

I registered mine in Honolulu before heading to the big island. The officer said that gun is good for life in HI now, so I can bring it back without having to Re register.

Get TSA locks for your gun case. It’s not an FAA requirement or one of any of the airlines I’ve flown on with firearms, but 1) I heard a guy on a podcast say the airline employees required them and he almost missed his flight while out buying them, and 2) the Hawaiian airlines employee checking me in at the Honolulu airport said something to make me think they had to be TSA (fortunately they were). If you have a firearm you have to check in at the customer service counter flying Hawaiian out of Honolulu. The couple of people in front of me were trying to find bags & reschedule flights. It was a very slow line. No problem’s flying United out of Kona or any other major airline in the past though.


In summary:

If you want to grind it out and value the chase more than the beard, mid season DIY will fit the bill.

If you’ve only got a couple days or won’t be happy without a Hawaii bird (tastes like a WV turkey) pay a guide on private property. Google said prices were between $800-$1000 per day/bird.

If I'm ever in the neighborhood I'll do it again.

Happy Hunting,

Mike