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

Kevin hoped to reach ranch hand Dave to see if it was possible to get the side by side to our location but didn’t have the battery power so Kona Dave and his GPS headed to the truck. Kona Dave was able to reach Ranch hand Dave by phones and the two met up before Dave could make it back to the truck. Soon after, both Daves and the dogs were back at the bull with the side by side which would save us hours of back breaking hauling. No sooner had they arrived when the dogs disappeared down the slope and all hell broke lose. Both Daves ran out after the dogs. Kevin was skinning the bull and said the dogs were onto hogs and that I should grab my bow and catch up. As soon as a bull hunt ended, a Polynesian pig hunt began.

I grabbed what few arrows I had left, including some that I had extracted from my bull and was putting them into the hip quiver as I made my way down the slope as fast as I could. While trying to navigate the terrain and attaching my release strap to my wrist, I went down hard, rolling my ankle. The dogs and the hogs were in one of the many deep depressions that were basically large holes filled with lush ferns and fallen trees so thick you could not tell dog from hog. Ranch hand Dave did his best to call them off yelling at me, "don’t shot my dogs."



I loaded an arrow and waited until the dogs were out of the pit. Dave said, if you promise you wont hit my dogs, to shot. I could not see well. I could not tell if the hogs were facing me or facing away from me but I could see two black forms moving in the ferns. The distance was about fifteen yards and steep downwards. I was straddling a fallen log as I drew and aimed at center mass of the closest hog and released. It was a direct hit.

I drew another arrow from the quiver which turned out to be one I had pulled from my bull, I took aim at the other hog and released. The impact caused a great deal of oinks and grunts and suddenly three hogs busted out of the ferns with the dogs hot on their tails. I noticed the largest hogs ear was barley hanging on by a thread. Dave, shouted that I had shot the (La-ho-lay) Kona Dave confirmed that I had shot the (La-ho-lay) and with that they were both off in search of the dogs and hogs.

I made my way down into the pit hoping there were no more hogs hiding in the ferns because I could see both lighted nocks in the shadows. One arrow was badly bent but the other was only blood soaked. I collected them and limped my way towards the sound of hounds. Ranch Hand Dave was urging me to get there faster but my ankle limited my speed. The dogs had the boar backed into another pit. I got to within ten yards and delivered another arrow into the hog and once again it busted out of the pit with the dogs on its tail and the Daves behind.

When I made my way to the barking dogs I was down to one remaining arrow which was a good thing because the hog was already dead. Ranch hand Dave again said that I had killed the (La-ho-lay). I asked and he explained that he had caught this wild boar when it was young and he cut off his “batteries” (his term for testicles) and then let it go. That makes them lazy and they get bigger and fatter than a hog that has not been castrated. In the process, he marks the hogs buy cutting the ear so it hangs making it easier to identify them from a distance should he encounter the grown, wild hog at a later date.

He was very excited about about getting this hog and was high fiving me and celebrating and congratulating the dogs for their good work. when he told me that two of the hounds were pups that had never been on the mountain and had never encountered a hog he was even more proud of how well they performed. He asked “You takin da meat?”. I said no, that I was flying home and would not be able to take the meat. This made him celebrate even more with another high five explaining how good this meat would be. The Daves dressed the hog while commenting on how much fat he carried.







Here you can see the best darn drop away rest around. I spent the last year designing and prototyping it. In fact this hunt was done with 3D printed prototype parts I made in my shop since the production parts were not available when I departed.



No sooner had they finished and the dogs were of and barking as they ran. With only one remaining arrow, I was happy to learn the dogs had found the other hog I shot and it two was dead. The second hog was a sow. They estimated the weight of the boar at around one hundred, forty pounds which is big for a Polynesian boar but its size was due to Dave removing the “Batteries”. The sow was about 90 pounds.