Trad Gang
Main Boards => PowWow => Topic started by: RK808 on July 17, 2012, 09:51:00 AM
-
Aloha Gang!
Just thought I'd share a recent hunt I took last weekend. For some time now, I've been reading much on the shooters forum and powwow while taking ideas from all the trad ganger's writings and incorporating them into my practice. It's just been super encouraging to finally experience progress on my weak areas and this hunt was a nice culmination of that. Thanks TRAD GANG!
Coming from a beginning with compound bows, I've had to humbly learn that traditional bowhunting is really something that engages more than just the body and mind. At 28 years old, maybe I'm too young to understand it all, but there is really something "spiritual" about the whole thing. Aside from carrying a handmade work of art to hunt with, I notice and sense more and different things than ever before. You guys know what it is and know that words alone can't do it justice. We just have to experience it.
All the miles, the hard work, the highs, and the lows give value to the hunt that no amount of inches on a horn or pound of weight could compare to.
If you've ever had an opportunity to pursue old billies, on the Big Island of Hawaii, over the miles and miles of black volcanic lava fields they call home, you know there's nothing easy about it. And anyone that has hunted these guys long enough will learn that even a well placed double lung shot may surprise you hundreds of yards later as you watch your billy just stand there like nothing happened. All that, with efforts to eradicate all game mammals in the islands, make finding and sneaking up on an old billy a low odds proposition.
On the most physically taxing and mentally intense goat hunt I've ever done, I was fortunate enough to catch a break and intercept a bachelor herd of billies within 20 yards for a great shot. In the pandemonium after the shot, the billy ran around me stopping under a ledge. Not leaving anything to chance, I quickly took a second shot on a steep downhill angle for good measure. After a pack back in the dark and pouring rain, I returned home at midnight on a journey that started at 3am.
(http://www.kaizenelement.com/photos/Billy.jpg)
To give credit where credit is certainly due. I have to thank the Trad Gang website for providing an awesome forum for the traditional community and providing insight that helps young trad hunters like myself. Also, South Cox for building a bow that works amazingly well with my shooting style and shortening my learning curve through his experience.
-
Nice right up and goat. Congrats!
-
:clapper:
-
So all game mammals were introduced to the islands?
-
Nice one....... :thumbsup:
-
:thumbsup:
-
Right on that is a nice goat for sure.
-
Way to go sir! :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
-
That a beautiful goat, and a trophy on many levels for sure.
-
Fantastic Ryan, you are way beyond your years my friend. Congrats great Billy!
Is everyone in Hawaii named Ryan?
-
Awesome...great billy. :notworthy:
-
I wasn't sure if Hawaii Billy was the handle for a redneck that moved to the Island or a great animal that was harvested :thumbsup: :clapper:
-
Nice goat... :thumbsup:
Good shooting Sir! :notworthy:
-
A most-excellent Hawaiian adventure right there!
Thank you for sharing!
Shoot straight, Shinken
:archer2:
-
:thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
Congrats !!! Nice goat :)
-
Nice hunt and billy!
-
Nice story!! Excellent goat!! Congrats!! :thumbsup:
-
Congrats!
-
WOW, WHAT A GOAT! Congrats sir!
-
Way to go!!! Good job
-
Maybe some day I'll make it there. Congrats on the fine billy.
-
Great Billy,congrats.
Perseverante and dedication pay off.
-
Awesome! :thumbsup:
-
Great Job!!! Congrats :clapper: :clapper: :clapper:
-
Originally posted by KOOK68:
So all game mammals were introduced to the islands?
Not hogs and dogs. The Hawaiians brought them with them when they migrated.
Nice Billy! Where did you go? Puu anahulu?
-
Congrats!
-
Congrats! I hope you got it on film! :bigsmyl:
Martin
-
:clapper:
Well said sir & well shot!!!
-
Very good write up and a great looking goat.
You have to be proud of that one. :thumbsup:
Chort
-
:clapper: :clapper: :clapper: :clapper:
-
Thanks gang! In the last few months, I've changed the way in which I train and it has been paying off huge! It's almost near impossible to find old billies like this guy on the Big Island anymore due to poor game management and environmental groups calling a war on almost all ungulates and mandating, through federal law, the eradication of the animals we hunt out here. I feel super blessed to have crossed paths with some great folks who would kindly allow me access. Didn't want to bore you guys with a novel, but I do have a blog where I try to write in more detail. Message if you'd be interested in that.
KentuckyTJ : Thanks! I guess when my folks had the idea to use the name Ryan, everyone else had the same idea at the time.
Kook68: Mongo is right. Polynesians brought over hogs and dogs, but our sheep, goats, and deer were introduced and in some cases where gifts to the king at the time.
Mongo : Not Puuanahulu. South side.
mmisciag : Unfortunately I do not have this hunt on film. I have others for this year though. The folks there requested I not bring my video camera but fortunately it was ok for me to preserve my memories in a picture. To be honest, any more weight in my pack with a vid camera might have been my undoing over that hike.
Traditional is such a trip! I'll be stoked for months! Not to mention some jerky and smoked meat in a few months from this guy!
Much Aloha - Ryan :archer:
-
I got to run around PTA when I was in the Army. We tried to put the sneak on some goats and never got closer than 300 yards!!! Those dudes are slick! Awesome hunt! Thanks for sharing
-
Beautiful!
-
:thumbsup: :thumbsup: Beautiful goat.Congrats
-
Congrats. Great Journey!
-
Tough hunt, tough won trophy. Congrats
-
Nice! Goats can be a lot harder to sneak up on than people realise... especially if they are hunted regularly!
Well done :)
-
Well done Ryan,
He's a good billy alright, top stuff. I feel the same way about hunting traditional as you mentioned, look forward to reading more of your adventures,
Memo.
-
Cavalry Scout : PTA was pretty much my training grounds as a child all the way through my high school years. Unfortunately, most of the best areas to hunt there in the past are now gone with fencing and eradication of all mammals. It is saddening that will just be a memory and not something our next generation could experience.
Dogboy900 : Yes. Our goats here are hunted pretty much everyday of their lives. Wish I could have taken video of this trip, but part of the reason why I couldn't was because of the heavy hunting pressure we have locally and out of respect for the others that hunt there.
In years previous, I probably would have "choked" and "folded" up like a cheap lounge chair with my heart racing, sweating bullets, short drawing, and wiffing the shot over the back :banghead: . It's really cool to be able to learn from a forum like this and others that have already been there and done that.
-
CONGRATS!!!! :jumper: :jumper: :jumper: :jumper: :jumper:
-
Well Done! :clapper:
-
That is a very nice ram. Hoping to be in Oahu around June of next year to visit my son. Hope to get in some hunting while I'm there. Thanks for the encouragement.
-
That's a great story and beautiful animal!!!! Congrats on what sounds like a really great accomplishment!
-
Extremely nice goat...good show!
I just returned from a trip to Molokai, where I killed a nice billy last year. Love those goats in the rocks/cliffs and higher elevations. This year we ignored the goats and hunted axis deer. No deer taken, but love hunting in aloha land. All the best...mahalo.
-
That is awesome. Thanks for sharing. I missed one just like that once (no missed him twice! :thumbsup:
-
Awsome animal - thanks for sharing :thumbsup:
-
Pretty darn cool, congrats! :thumbsup:
-
Congrats to a young buck that clearly "gets it"
-
Thanks gang! It is really is nice and I hope a milestone for myself since switching to shooting left-handed last August. Accuracy has never been better since the switch and now slowly building confidence with hunts like these. He is a big billy, but nevermind that, I'm still stoked I didn't miss!!
Kevin Dill : I love Molokai too! Got my first axis there and my grandmother grew up there. I think lots of folks might have the idea axis are high fenced exotics ... but the wild ones here are nothing like that. Hunter success rates are in the single digits of a percent! Hope you get one on the next trip!!
KSdan : Oh we've probably all missed those that we can't get out of our heads!
Todd Alexander : Thanks man! Never learned more about anything than with a stickbow in my hands. Wish I got into it earlier ... but I guess it is a progression and we all have to "pay our dues."
-
Great pic and great thread. Cngrats.
-
:thumbsup: :archer:
-
Congrats on a job well done.
-
Cheeehooo! (http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c285/808grapplemonkey/sp_msgr_tour_1.gif)
Some serious calding action! Good job bro!!!! (http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c285/808grapplemonkey/shakasmile.gif)
-
Nice work. I lived out there for a while and still have family out there (central Oahu) that I visit, but I've never bowhunted Hawaii . . . may have to change that.
-
Ryan,
Great goat! In the years I lived and hunted Hawai'i, I never killed a goat - pigs, sheep, Mouflon, Axis, etc. - but they always eluded me. Congrats and Aloha
Todd
Also your DVD is exceptional. Another in the making?
-
:clapper:
-
Great story,nice goat,and a fine bow,congrats. :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
-
Thanks Gang! We recently wrapped up an 8 day hunt on the island of Lanai for the State Mouflon Sheep Hunt. It was a pretty tough one but we did manage to fill a few tags. Been trying to work on a small teaser vid of what we did out there.
Ranger75 : Certainly give it a go! Hard to beat an all year hunting season. Not the greatest management out here, but there's still great opportunities to be had.
Birdbow : Thanks on the DVD! Considered making another. Just super time consuming and I'm more of a public land guy which can get touchy filming hunts on public land. I'd have to film more on private land, but that's harder to come by and even harder to get myself excited for. Maybe I'll use YouTube more for our public land pursuits.
-
chee pono!! congrats
-
WOW,,,Nice harvest...Congrats,
-
Good to hear that you found information here that help. IMO that is one of the benefits of TG.
The goat looks great, do you plan to mount the horns, or head? Definitely looks worthy as a trophy. I know they had similar goats on some of the off-shore island in California.
You said, they are eradicating the goats, did you mean all non-native species, on all the islands?
-
Very nice billy goat.
-
Hud : Thanks. Trad gang has been huge in shortening the learning curve. I haven't posted a lot, but certainly read a lot. Kind of points me in a direction of what to try and maybe what not to try through others' experiences. I typically don't taxidermy. Instead, I opt to make euro mounts which I keep as memory. I may do a recent mouflon I just got since I never worked so hard for one. Yes, Hawaii, similar to Catalina Island ... has folks influencing the eradication of all non-native species. This includes, sheep, goats, deer, pigs, wild cattle, as well as other misc plants and stuff. Looks like it moves lots of gov't money over to this island state. Whether it is actually worth it or "beneficial" is another story. Certainly kills our local hunting.
-
Awesome, Ryan!
-
nice goat! great story to boot.
-
Very cool, congrats!