Kauai late October public hand hunt?

[slatty]

Hi guys,
I appreciate all the info on here. Have gone through a number of Kauai threads. Headed there in late october and like a lot of family men vacationers, I will likely have one day to hunt. Looking for advice on what would be a good place to hunt. I'm not fussed about actually killing something (although that's always a bonus), but getting into habitat on public land with goats or pigs would be great. If the advice is to get a guide and stay away from public land on Kauai, then i'll probably leave my bow at home. Anyways any advice you can offer, or if any locals are willing and able to be a contact that would be more than what I expect. Thanks for any help!
Mike

[montana]

Hey! I am also going to be in Kauai late October and am curious about the same questions Slatty. I will have 2-3 days to hunt and am curious if it is worth camping back there or walking in each day?

[slatty]

CROSS-POSTED FROM GENERAL KAUAI THREAD

I just returned from a week in Kauai, which was great. I didn't have my bow as I wasn't anticipating hunting opportunities but I wish I had it. I think Kauai has some interesting hunting opportunities. I'll write below what I found on my "scouting" trip. Keep in mind the caveat that i'm a Canadian and I have not hunted Hawaii. There likely are some legal or logistical things that i'm not aware of.

On the west of the island, heading up into Waimea canyon, there are numerous "hunter ridge roads" that seem to be only open to hunters. I believe hunting on the island takes place on fri, sat, sun and holidays. These ridge roads seem to run west off the highway up to waimea canyon. I spoke to some hunters and there seem to be huntable populations of pigs, goats, and blacktail deer. I was surprised about the blacktails. I don't know any details of whether this hunting is open to nonresidents or seasons. I saw feral goats on the side of the road on the way up to the canyon. I didn't have optics with me so didn't get a good sense of what's in the hills. On the way up to waimea canyon there is a mandatory hunter check-in station where hunters note their time in, time out, and harvest details. There is an archery log and I noted at least one archer was successful on a goat on the weekend prior to me being there. The landscape is steep, rugged, and thick, and would be dangerous when wet as it is quite cliffy. For myself, I would love the opportunity to spot and stalk hunt for goats and wish I would have done that.

Another reason I would bring a bow is to shoot some chickens. Man those things are absolutely everywhere. I've eaten old laying hens at home and can make a great pulled chicken and I would certainly harvest some there. They are also feral and from what I read, you can shoot as many as you want.

Hope someone finds this useful. I'll post this as well on another thread I started prior to my trip, looking for public land hunting info.
Mike

[Otto]

Anyone hunting on Kauai needs to shoot the damn rooster who crows outside my hotel window at 4:00 am each morning.....

[wolfhawaii]

The chickens are protected there, that is why there are so many

[Otto]

Yeah man that's crazy.  Kauai has more chickens than Tyson.....