Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Bowhunting Bowhunting Hawaii for wild bulls and pigs (pics and video)

As we made our way, we would spot bulls but only because they were fleeing the area having seen us before we saw them. We slowed our pace and glassed and waited and watched. At one point we sat in the shade of a tree to drink and rest. Kevin and Dave ate. They offered me food but I was not feeling up to it. It may have been the elevation as I am not prone to refusing food. Suddenly, above us appeared the most massive bull I had ever seen. He was with two smaller bulls. The smallest of the three was black and without horns the next larger was red with a white face and small horns. The largest bull was double their size and sported no horns at all. Other large bulls we spotted, also were without horns.

This gigantic bull had no neck. His head seemed to protrude directly from his massive shoulders. He was dark brown with a dirty white face and a dark patch around one eye and an obvious hump on his shoulders. His ears hung low as the three stood 168 yards from our spot in the shade. I know because I ranged them on more than one occasion. I had brought along with me a digital camera with fantastic zoom capability and at that distance all I could do was take photos and video of this monster. Had I been using a rifle, my day's hunt would have likely concluded then, even though he sported no horns. This bull appeared to be the grand daddy of them all. Again, my bow seemed inadequate for such an animal. I doubt a single rifle shot would have brought him down either.

Aside from taking a few bites of grass, these bulls never stopped watching us. Of the three bulls, at least one of them was in a starring contest with us at all times. There was no way to make a move on them as they were above us with little cover between. With 3 sets of eyes on us they would have either fled or rolled down on us like a freight train. Eventually they ran off and got on the other side of a deep ravine. We saw them again briefly as they ran out of the area.





At one point, after coming out of a ravine, I spotted black movement over 100 yards away and then another black bull came into view. I signaled to Dave and Kevin but Dave had already spotted them. The rolling terrain, large fallen trees, vegetation and the wind in our face made this a likely opportunity for a stalk. The two black bulls with white faces were busy grazing as we closed the distance. The footing was lush and green and very spongy due to the recent rains with the added bonus of no crunchy, November leaves underfoot that I am so accustomed to in Wisconsin, it made the stalk very quiet.

The bulls were in a rather open area with only mature standing or large dead trees between us. The branches hanging with a sort of Spanish moss. The bulls were slightly above us but feeding just over the crest so when their heads were down to feed, only their backs and shoulders were visible . The larger of the bulls had a wide and heavy set of horns and he seemed at ease as he feeding in my direction. To avoid the commotion of three people trying to close the distance, Kevin and Dave stayed back with guns ready. They would advance with me but from further behind.

When I sighted in my bow for 700 grain arrows, I was unable to make use of all five sight pins. Had I known then what I know now, I would not have set my pins at 20, 30, 40 and 50 yards but those distance filled the entire range of the sight ring and its what I had to work with. I would have been better served setting the pins from 30 to 60. Despite my pin limitations I had sighted my bow knowing the bottom edge of the sight ring was equivalent to 60 yards.

When the bulls lowered their heads to feed I would advance as quickly as the footing would allow, making sure to keep one or more large trees between us as cover. I would range with each advance. When I reached the last tree between myself and the largest and closest bull I ranged him at 46 yards. After spending a lifetime bowhunting deer and estimating yardage based on that body size, its easy to misjudge the distance of an animal that is eight times larger and they appear far closer than they are simply due to their large frame so in this case the range finder was something I relied upon heavily. The wind was perfect, the bull unaware of my presence.