Head to Hawaii

OutdoorWriter · May 25, 2021

It's a long read, but for all you guys who like to shoot lots of stuff, this might just be the ticket! I can't post the complete artcile here because of the MM character limits. But I put in a couple of snippets from the main article.

The Struggle to Contain, and Eat, the Invasive Deer Taking over Hawaii

"But the most important invasive species for a few islands, especially Maui and Molokai, is the axis deer. On Molokai, an island of only around 7,000 people, there are somewhere around 70,000 axis deer. On Maui, there are around 50,000."
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""The Department of Forestry is engaged in an awkward dance regarding the deer. It can’t eradicate the deer, even if that makes ecological sense. But it’s also the agency that hands out hunting permits, and boy, is it ever handing them out. “On Maui and Molokai, there is no bag limit and there is no season,” says Bagshaw. “You can hunt ’em like a videogame from sunrise to sunset, if you want.” The permits cost $20 for the year and require no more than a gun license and an easy online application. Frankly, the Department of Forestry would love it if hunting was even more common than it is."

goforbroke · May 25, 2021

Went on a family trip to Maui and scouted to see if I could find some for a future hunt. Lots of private land. I found feral goats, but never an axis deer on land I scouted.

OutdoorWriter · May 25, 2021

goforbroke said:
Went on a family trip to Maui and scouted to see if I could find some for a future hunt. Lots of private land. I found feral goats, but never an axis deer on land I scouted.

Weird, since there's supposed to be 50,000 there. How long ago was your trip there?

deerslayer88 · May 26, 2021

OutdoorWriter said:
Weird, since there's supposed to be 50,000 there. How long ago was your trip there?

The article states they are on private land. Part of the issue is the requirement for a gun permit just to hunt. The left never can see cause and effect tho.

lundellhunting7 · May 26, 2021

goforbroke said:
Went on a family trip to Maui and scouted to see if I could find some for a future hunt. Lots of private land. I found feral goats, but never an axis deer on land I scouted.

I was on Maui about a month ago and saw Axis deer all over from Keokea south until we hit the lava fields.

eelgrass · May 26, 2021

What Hawaii needs is mountain lions, wolves, grizzly bears, and Jaguars. They seem pretty progressive politically.

OutdoorWriter · May 26, 2021

deerslayer88 said:
The article states they are on private land. Part of the issue is the requirement for a gun permit just to hunt. The left never can see cause and effect tho.

I'm sure lots of them are on private land, but I can't imagine all of that private land being fenced where they don't immigrate to public land.

For several years about a decade back, I did weekly updates for the National Shooting Sports Foundation website on shooting & hunting opportunties in the far western states, including Hawaii & Alaska. Nearly everything I did about Hawaii involved the hunting of the various feral critters on all the islands. Even back then hunting the axis involved very liberal seasons & bag limits. I don't have access to those reports right now because the computer is down at the moment.

I seem to recall that getting a gun permit there was about like getting one for Mexico except a lot cheaper. Also, I believe several outfitters sell hunts and have rifles to lend, but that doesn't help with the shoot a bunch theme.

eelgrass · May 26, 2021

I wonder,...how much public huntable land Hawaii has. Most of us just grab a BLM map or FS map and get after it. Does that opportunity exist in Hawaii?

I'd hate to shoot a deer or goat on the beach in the middle of all those surfers....

OutdoorWriter · May 26, 2021

eelgrass said:
I wonder,...how much public huntable land Hawaii has. Most of us just grab a BLM map or FS map and get after it. Does that opportunity exist in Hawaii?

I'd hate to shoot a deer or goat on the beach in the middle of all those surfers....

Reaching back in my foggy memory, I recall several quite large swaths of land where hunting took place, but I can't recall which islands they were located on.

So..I let my mouse do the walking..these are the public forest preserves on Maui,

And these are all the ones on Oahu.

And this page will provide lots of info about hunting anywhere in that state.

Edited: I also recall some are archery only & some are birds only.