It's been a couple years since I have done one of these and posting pics has changed a bit but lets give 'er a go!
I convinced my often time partner Benny that he needed to go hunting on Kauai with me since he had just finally finished dental school and needed a break. I love hunting on Kauai and can do it affordably so this is my third trip in about two years.
Benny now lives in Juneau and I just moved from Juneau to the Kenai Peninsula so we met up in Anchorage and left on January 1.
We spent a night in a decent yet affordable hotel when we got to Lihue' and prepared our packs for the Napali Coast trail the following day.
It was good to get back on the trail and stretch my legs a bit!
(http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a137/SteveHohensee/Steve_Scenery.jpg)
This is a target rich environment so notice I'm not shy about how many arrows I carry....
Notice how BLUE the water is from the trail. Some parts along the trail are tropical/jungle-like and some parts are very arid.
(http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a137/SteveHohensee/Steve_Water_Plants.jpg)
Game sightings really kick in about four miles or so and Benny quickly bagged his first goat of the trip. I didn't realize he had hit the nanny as it stood above me on a knob and all of sudden tumbled head over heals and landed where I was standing seconds before! A perfect heart shot for Benny!
(http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a137/SteveHohensee/Benny_Nanny1_D.jpg)
Looking forward to reading more of this one.
Great shot!!!!!
ttt I'll be watching this one close!
Lots of goats like always and fresh pig rooting too. Benny added a second nanny to the bag and I mmmmmmissed at couple shots--boo-hiss.
Most kids are dropped around March but we found a couple early like this cute little feller.
(http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a137/SteveHohensee/Kid2.jpg)
The entire trail is over 11 miles long and takes a hard day but usually I stay were the hunting is good and had never gone to the end. Benny and I decided on day two that we would continue on and see the beach at the end of the trail. Sure enough there is an incredible beach but the hunting wasn't better so we headed back into the heart of the critters lair.
Here is Benny crossing over some of Kauai's infamous red dirt. Slightly scenic ehhh!!!!
(http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a137/SteveHohensee/RedDirt_Benny2.jpg)
Any body read this stuff besides Chris and g-145?
So, you think we will see any more game or get any additional shots?
When this one is done I have two more trips to share. Arctic muskox and coastal brown bear if any one is interested.
Oh, we're reading!! And there is no doubt in my mind that more shots were taken!
The Na Pali coast is one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. Would love to go back again someday with a bow in my hand.....
Yep, we're reading....
Yup this is a good start so far!! And I am definatly interested in the Musk Ox and Brown Bear hunts as well!!
Man those are some great pictures. Hopefully I can make it out there someday.
Yep!! :thumbsup: thanks can't wait for the Brown bear hunt. :pray:
Yea! Keep writing and posting!!!
Ha Ha reading and drooling
I have family and friends in Kapaa, and hope to get back with bow in hand soon.
Wanna surf lesson while your there?
Kurt
I'm here, got my coffee in hand and chompping at the bit to read more.
So far it looks and sounds like a great trip.
Definitely reading. I've only seen taht coast from the water. Does the trail go all the way to that beach where the whitetail bucks and does hang out? :D
Come on Steve, ya know we are reading, get on with it,LOL.
Danny
Well, all right then.....
JS: That beach would be at 11-12 miles.
We headed back and I told Benny about one little valley where there is ALWAYS goats in the afternoon. I spotted a band with a bunch of nice billys and as we got closer a big billy was right ahead of me. I worked in a bit closer and drew to the barbs and released. The shot was a long one for me, probably 30-35 yards. The orange fletchings formed a little ball as it arched thru the air and even thou Benny was behind me I knew his mouth dropped when the little orange ball contacted the billy's shoulder!
We went down where the billy was standing and soon found this sight:
(http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a137/SteveHohensee/B-trail6.jpg)
Dang 2-blades just don't leave a good blood trail, lol.......
But no matter, we saw the billy go down. This is my best billy from Kauai' and is the same spot as the billy pictured in the TBM story I did on Kauai' last year.
(http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a137/SteveHohensee/Steve_BillyH.jpg)
We met some other Alaskans on the trail and they asked if we would bring some goat meat by their camp that night since we would be staying close by and so we did and had goat pasta primavera.....BUT I probably have at least one more bowhunting story before dinner time!
Hey Steve, don't stop now! Great seeing/hearing about you and Ben running around again. :smileystooges:
Great story and pics!!! Bring on the rest, if it was not for you taking the time to share, some of may never see parts and animals from other parts of the country. Thanks alot!
Jake
The group my billy came from had a second billy about the same size and they weren't too spooked so Benny went after them.
A few hundred yards up Benny got a shot and the billy made it into some thick and hairy cliffs far below the trail. Benny has been on two mountian goat hunts in Alaska with me and does good on the cliffs and he eventually was able to pick his way down to the billy. It wasn't the other big billy but a respectable one none-the-less.
(http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a137/SteveHohensee/Benny_Billy1.jpg)
Ok, I'll add a bit more.....
The next day Benny goes back and relocates the other big billy and arrows him too and once again the goat gets in the really nasty steep stuff. Benny picks his way out into a REALLY steep section. The photo shows a bench but above and below, I assure you is cliffs!
(http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a137/SteveHohensee/Benny_Billy2_Boat.jpg)
Benny was by himself for that last billy. Hmmm, I wonder what Steve was up to during that time?
Maybe sitting in camp?
Taking a nap under a tree?
Hmmmmm?
Hey Saltwater Tom. The folks I refered to above were from Homer. Tall skinny guy in his 30's and his wife and her brother. The tall guy is a bird tour guide. Don't recall their names. Sound familiar?
There also exist Polynesian pigs on most of the Hawaiian islands including Kauai'. These pigs are probably a mix of pigs brought over from Europe by explorers and some asian varieties. I had seen pigs on about two occassions per trip and had muffed a shot on my last trip when my bowstring caught a sleeve. There was a lot of rooting in the jungle areas so I wanted to make sure I was in one of these areas during late afternoon. I bumbled around a bit and eventually bumped what sounded like a big pig in a thick area.
A lot of fruit exists along the trail and what is ripe depends on what time of year. During January not much fruit is ripe but we did find a few guava, a few liliqui (can't spell today) which is the passion fruit. No avocados, mangos, or mountain apples were ripe. The pigs had to probably work a bith harder this time of year to keep themsleves fed.
Just before last light I heard pigs routing and worked in as quietly as I could. Dang it if I didn't pull back and proceed to miss a pig!
Crap.
But, I had another arrow. I ALWAYS have another arrow when I am on Kauai', lol!
...and this time I didn't miss!
(http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a137/SteveHohensee/Steve_Pig.jpg)
I backed off and tracked by flashlight about an hour later and found my sow under a big boulder about 75 yards uphill after a good blood trail.
The next day Benny and I hiked out and late that night caught a plane back to Alaska.
*** Next Up: Alaska Muskox ***
Thanks for sharing,great pics.Can't wait to hear about the Muskox and Bear story.Hope there will be lots of pics to see.
Terry
A great story!! Thanks
Great Steve! Saw the other hunt somewhere else :D Looking forward to the stories. Thanks!
Oh man do I miss Kauai. Na Pali coast is the most beautiful place I have ever seen, and to hike the trail with bow in hand would be a dream come true. I live through you, brother... POST ON!!!!
man that is a bruiser of a pig! thanks for sharing now i'm really looking forward to a return trip, only this time with a bow.
Steve i'm sure this pic looks familiar:
(http://burnhamphotography.com/galleries/nature/photos/landscapes/napalicoastkauai.jpg)
Awesome Thread....We've gotta start saving $$$$$
RB, I am sure I passed there many times, maybe even slipped on the mud and fell down there too!
She was big framed but real lean.
O' got some good mud pics. we started the day clean and ended red. that is one beautiful place and to hunt there has just got to be awesome. a must do! Skyler let me know when your ready to go.
You guys have to run to the nearest ABC store and get some Tabi's!!! Go to Hanalei quick cuz!
They are rubber impregnated socks with felt soles, ninja style with the big toe separate from the others. You can RUN with those on, seriously! When I backpacked the island years ago I wore those and even with a full pack I would run full speed through even the snottiest red dirt Na Pali has to offer, past unprepared tourists slipping hither and yon. I learned from a Hawai'ian named Otashi who had two permanent camps on the trail and lived there. Otashi showed me many one trick. I still get 'chicken skin' thinking about them days, and please tell me you've found the wild sweet potato plants, they are bushes, living near the rivers, blueish green ting to the leaves, which are round in nature... look for rounded features where the vines meet the earth. These are the tops of wild, purple, unbelievable potatoes. Wrap them in Ti leaves (ask a local, it's what they wrap the rocks in as offerings at trail heads and what they make the leis out of...) and then put them into the coals of a dieing fire for 1/2 hour or better. Unbelievable.
Also living in the rivers are fresh water lobsters (their eyes glow in flashlights at night) capture them with a stick of bamboo splayed open at the end... really good boiled alongside the potatoes, also, look for fresh water limpits (spelling) stuck on rocks. Hawai'ians call the I'Ivai, or something like that. If you like oysters, you'll LOVE these guys. DANG! If I was there, brothers, I'd show you some magic.
LET'S DEFINITELY SAVE UP OUR $$$
Kaua'i will lift your soul, it is a very spiritual place and regardless of your beliefs will have you paying due reverence to your creator. :pray:
Man, Steve!
What happened to the little pencil-necked kid you brought to Cloverdale who said he hoped to be a dentist some day?!?!?
Glad to hear he's "made the grade", and to see how well he has grown up!
Congrats on a fine hunt, and thanks for the story. :thumbsup:
Daryl
Awsome thread!!! Makes me miss the island. I lived there for six years, best time of my life. some freinds of mine would go up on the cliffs by Polihale and take goats with a bow. Funny thing was they would jump off the cliffs when hit and we would get them with a boat from the river. Can't wait to go back!! I miss kalua pig, best stuff on earth!!
:bigsmyl:
Lovely goats, and a cracker of a pig! Well-done Steve and Benny!
Very cool thread, congrats and thank you for a great story
Great pics! More please on Musk Ox and Bear.
Those hero pics on the cliff with the tropical ocean in the background are just amazing. Such a contrast of experience and country. Awesome!
Steve, after talking to Benny about Kauai, this is definitely on my "to do" list...
Kev:
Get in shape and we'll go! If not I guess we can use one of them game carts to get you to the game, lol!
Hey Steve and Bennie,
Thanks for the stories. I gave up the chance for 2 weeks back in the Islands (taking my bow this time) so we could move to Denver. Hopefully I'll be back to the islands in '10.
homebru aka nathan in parker, co
Good Hunt Steve and great story of it. I must say that is a mighty purty place.The pic with Bennie on the ledge with the goat with a boat in the background is special.RC
I will never make it there, enjoyed the pics and story. Thanks for sharing a great hunt.
HA! I'm working on it, Steve.
Great story Steve! Nice not having to worry about frostbite I bet. :)
awesome thanks for taking the time to share it with us
love these threads !
beautiful place!
That was a great read and looksy Steve. You guys rock!! I dont know when I'd ever get out there but Kaui is the place I'd love to go in HI.
I'm saving my pennies but with little kids...etc etc...someday maybe.
How was your camping set-up? How many days in the bush...etc.
What do you do with all the meat in such a target rich environment and warm climate when your packed in?
Thanks for sharing.. :thumbsup: :notworthy:
My 20th wedding aniversary is coming up in 2011 and Hawaii may be our destination. If so, Kauai may be just the place to go. Looks like plenty of critters for me and my son to chase, and other things to keep my wife and girls happy/distracted....
Thanks for another well documented adventure, Steve H.
Just got done reading this one .... just wanted to say again thank God for Trad Gang!!! Where we can come and read about folks that actually hunt and kill stuff, and folks are more interested in sharing stories with others than 'telling stories' about others, and no 8th grade male drama queens.
Hammer down Steve!!!!!
Fantasy Island only real. Hawaiians really know luau. How was the goat?
There are often really cheap plane tickets from west coast cities. I often try and arrange a trip when I am passing thru Seattle for other reasons to lower costs.
Can really do these cheap if you don't just go stay in a hotel the whole time. I probably get away with $600 plus airfare when I am splitting costs with another person. I suspect Holchin could do it for half that ; ^ ).
Bringing a wife/girlfriend where they need a hotel the whole time will add a LOT to the total however.
Goat meat is unique compared to any other meat I have ever eaten. I like it just fine but I could forsee some not liking it. If you can find a way to get it froze (may be a challenge) it is easy to bring home in a cooler. I have brought as much as 40# or more home from HI trips. It is better with green papaya leaves added as they work as a natural tenderizer.
paleFace, that spot looks familar. My son last March.
(http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h300/Quackup/100_2250.jpg)
Steve H. was a great help for info. Thanks again Steve
We just returned from Kauai last Sunday. Man I love that island. No hunting this trip, I'm still recovering from knee surgery, but a little shore fishing and some hiking at Koke'e was just the ticket.
TTT in case anyone else wants to see this and missed it.
BTW, Alaska Airline is having a sale so broke down and bought tickets for my wife and I to Maui from Anchorage for October. Intend to get hopper flights and do a two island trip, just which two islands, hmmm? Kauai is likely and Waimea Canyon should also be open at that time!
TTT as requested.
These photos bring back great memories...I hiked the Kalalau Trail about four years ago, saw a lot of goats, but was not hunting at the time. Unreal landscape. Thanks for posting!
Thank you Steve We are in the middle of harvest so I didn't have time to read this until this morning. Great stuff!
Lucas
TTT for NateDog.