Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Hawaii. How bad is it?

My sweetie is looking at a very nice job on Oahu. Doing some reading, it seems like it's a gun-owner's nightmare. And of course some of mine are black, with big mags, etc. Any first hand experience out there? Thanks

I've seen that Judman hunts there. You might PM him for info.

Oahu sucks. Even for Liberal Paradise. Almost half the people speak English. The rest are Japanese tourists. O was our first Hawaii trip - never gone back other than passing throug the airport to/from other islands..

All the other islands are so much better. (Been to most of them several times.)

No experience over there with guns or hunting, but I'm sure they make it complicated. Still- they are bound by Bill of Rights. How bad can it be?

Do some research.

I can take about 4 -5 days there myself, before I get claustraphobic. Those are SMALL islands. Nearly all in private ownership or Federal parks.

Alaska may have ruint me for anything other than warming my bones there, midwinter. Sometimes twice......

Take the job.

Spear guns are an option.

I've been there a few times, wife's family is from there. You won't get a straight answer here do the leg work.

I was only in Hawaii once, on a business trip several years ago, but have known many people either from Hawaii or who lived on Oahu for many years. The latter were people who initially vacationed there, fell in love with the place, and eventually relocated to Hawaii permanently. Without exception, everyone I know who's lived in Hawaii tell me they suffered from cabin fever and were glad when they were finally able to put the place in their rear view mirror. The novelty of being trapped on a tiny "tropical paradise" apparently wears off pretty quickly. Mind you, I don't speak from personal experience and am merely passing on what I've repeatedly been told by people who've been there/done that.

I would enjoy it because I love scuba diving and would probably log a couple hundred dives in a year. But all the transients suck and everything is super expensive.

I’ve visited a few times, mags are limited to 10 rounds, no CCW permits, you have to register all firearms with the state. It’s crowded and really expensive. The locals don’t like outsiders much, except the $$ . Ouahu is really crowded, most of Hawaii’s population lives on that island. Traffic can suck, power is .35 a kwh, so ac costs a fortune to run.

Had a good friend, from Southern Oregon, him and his wife went over there for big underground fiber optic job...came home before the job was over, hated it.

Nice place to visit.........

I lived on Oahu for 5 months and I really enjoyed it. I lived on the opposite side from Honolulu and it was more rural. There is some decent hog hunting near Kahuku. Caught some crop for being white but most people were really nice if you made an effort to get to know them.

Bb

Each island has a different flavor. Oahu is by far the busiest. There are still nice places there, but I have no desire to visit again, too crowded. Kauai and Hawaii are both pretty quiet. Maui is kind a blend of Oahu and Hawaii. Maui is my favorite island.

Seafood can be spectacular.

There is more hunting on the Hawaiian islands than one would think. I think it is expensive, if you hire a guide.

If you are a resident, you can own firearms, at least long guns. From what I understand, it isn't worth the paperwork to bring your own if you are visiting and hunting. I know the outfitter I considered for goat/sheep ($1500 USD for a feral animal and one day!) had a Kimber Hunter in 7mm-08 for clients to use.

I have considered if I could live there. The islands are lovely. As one helicopter pilot on Maui said, the average temp is 82F, and the average humidity is 82%. I have decided that I like seasonal changes too much. That way I can complain about the weather when it is -20C or +30C (86F). Our Canadian dollar sucks, the cost of real estate with the exchange would be harsh.

One thing about Oahu, it has (or had) a pretty good transit system. We never rented a car, yet we went to Pearl Harbour, Hanauma Bay (very crowded), and circumnavigated the island on the transit bus. If you lived and worked downtown Honolulu, you may not need a car.

I would explore the opportunity and check the islands out yourself.

My only experience with Oahu was the airport to get a connecting flight to the Big Island. My wife was adamant about us not staying on Oahu for our vacation, she knows me and my not nice feelings for crowds.

Having said that, are you going to be working too, or will you be able to play all day? Other then being a house-husband like Travis .

If you're going to be free to do stuff, I might take a chance on the move. Does your wife tolerate crowds and traffic and such? As others have mentioned, there are some fantastic recreational opportunities, snorkeling, diving, fishing, hunting on most all of the Islands.

I explored a couple of jobs on the island of Hawai'i. Our vacation was wonderful, I love the ocean having grown up in SoCal, I love the idea of doing business in shorts, sandals, and a Hawaiian shirt, no friggen suit & tie necessary. Then again, it's a much much bigger island. I also liked the idea of no need for heat or A/C (for me). When friends asked me about "getting away for the day" I asked them back, "When was the last time you got away for a 6 hour drive? Once a year? " The highway on the Big Island takes about that long to circumnavigate and the two sides of the Island are completely different climates. You'd not have that luxury on Oahu though, but you can always take a day or weekend trip to that one, or the other islands.

Like others have said, some of (all??) the firearm regs suck. Maybe worse than Cali. At least I can own and carry a pistol here.

Good luck with your decision making process.

I have never left middle Tn

I call BS.

I'm still miffed you didn't look me up when you were out this way.

I'd have asked you to bring me a jar of maters from that garden you work so hard on for the missus.

My folks spent 28 years over there, after my step dad retired out of the Air Force over there...in 1974 after 26 yrs...

If you go over there, I'd leave your firearms back in West Va....you'll be back home faster than you think....

Wife and I were there once, in Kauai and Maui. Nice beaches, great coffee and sea salt but we've have had better times in Mexico. Much less expensive but probably not a good place to be now. Wouldn't want to live in either place, think I'll stay in Alaska!

Attended U of Hawaii before transferring to TCU. (From Most liberal to most conservative school shocker). Avoid Waikiki. It's strictly for tourist and you'll be charged as such. Instead, go to the North Shore for beach activities. Evenings can be fun there also. Watch for beach parties with coconuts, sugar cane, and pineapple. (All locally grown)

Way back in the day, you could actually swim in the "toilet bowl", but I understand it's closed now. It's still interesting to see. "Poly Lookout" is interesting. Back in the 70's there were sugar cane flumes build above ground to float the cane from the mountains to the coast. You could take an inflatable and float in them for miles and miles. (But that may have been on the big Island. Back then we could island hop as students for $5.00 one way. Stateside, McDonald's hamburgers were $.65 cents, in Hawaii they were $2.65. Expect to pay lots more for everything. You'll see tons of Asians, as it's a vacation destination for them also. My roommate was Filipino.

Sacred Falls was an awesome hike and gorgeous place to swim.

Enjoy your trip!!!!

I wouldn't go there on a bet. It can sink into the Pacific.

Lived on Oahu for a little over 3 years.

If you have school age children, don't do it.