This year I was fortunate enough to be able to vacation for a week in Maui. Having been there before, and missing out on a hog hunt with dogs, I decided to try to get a hunt in this time. As I was researching different guides, I learned that Maui is home to not only feral pigs, but feral goats, as well as Axis deer and a few other species. Researching a bit more, I became quite enamored with the idea of a deer or goat hunt. Axis deer hunts are quite expensive, so I ended up choosing a goat hunt through Patrick Fisher at Hawaii Safaris. Aside from the price, the idea of a spot and stalk hunt through the Hawaiian lava flows seemed incredibly appealing, so I booked the hunt and applied for my Hawaiian hunting licence.
To hunt in Hawaii, you need to have a Hawaiian hunter safety card. If you have recognized hunter education, you can apply for an exemption, which is quite easy to do online. I had my exemption within a day, and my licence soon after that. For hunting goats in Maui, only the licence is needed, so I was good to go. I applied for my Form 6NIA to bring my firearm, however in the end, decided to rent my guides gun. Travelling with 2 children under 3 years old brings with it enough luggage, let alone needing to bring an additional locked case for a rifle!
We arrived in Maui on Sunday, and set about doing typical tourist things. And by that I mean trying to keep our kids from turning their pasty white skin to lobster red. *Side note, with enough sunscreen, this IS possible!*
Wednesday morning finally rolled around, and I left the hotel in my beautiful white Dodge minivan at 5 am sharp, to meet my guide at his house at 5:45. My guide was Jeremy, an Islander who has hunted and guided on Maui for years, and who handles most of Hawaii Safaris Maui goat hunts. Pulling into his yard you knew he was a hunter, as there were skull mounts EVERYWHERE. Pigs, axis, and goat skulls hung from his garage and fence. My kind of guy. We left his house right after 6, and were at the hunt spot just before 7. We were hunting on a private ranch among the ranches cows, and thankfully were the only ones hunting Wednesday.
The first area we hunted did not disappoint. Within 10 minutes of leaving the vehicle, we heard our first bleat. Around the nearby hill, about 100 yards away, a herd of at least 50 goats came walking. Now, personal history time. I am a farmer on the prairies. Opening day for whitetail season is a stat holiday on our farm. In saying that, November is usually wildly busy for me, so for the last few years opening day has been my ONLY day of hunting. Therefore, the first whitetail deer that crosses my ground blind with antlers is going down. Usually I am home by lunch time, as I want my venison farmer sausage, not a big rack for the wall. So when I see 50 goats with horns come 'round the corner, all bleating obliviously to my presence, I immediately thought "SHOOT ONE"!
Thankfully, Jeremy is a good guide. He could see the excitement in my eyes. He calmly told me to wait, you're here more for the hunt, not the trophy. And this is where I learned to appreciate the art of a spot and stalk hunt. We spent 15 minutes or so glassing the entire herd. As we were doing this, Jeremy would call out the goats with nice horns, teaching me what to look for. His goal was to get my quite close for a shot, so once we had 2 goats picked out, we stalked them. Around and around the hill we went, trying to catch the herd stopped. However, after an hour or so of these billy goats cruising around, we decided to move on, as we would not be able to get in real close any time soon.
We glassed another herd of 30 or so goats a few hundred yards away. So off we went to sneak up on them. As it turns out, it must have been about 100 kids and quite a few nannys. So while it was a bust in terms of horns, it was very neat stalking in on the nursery and walking among them. They really did not care that we were 10 yards away, they just kept eating and bleating. Cool experience or not, it was now time to find some horns.
We got in the truck and moved to a different location at the other side of the ranch, near some of the youngest lava flows on Maui, and where every step was on loose lava rock gravel. We were able to glass a nice little herd of maybe 20 or so goats, with one quite nice billy with a nice set of horns. It wasn't as big as the other two goats from the first herd, however it was still quite nice, and presented a very interesting challenge to get to. We were upwind of the goat, so sound was a problem. In particular, the tall, lumbering oaf that is me struggled to not make noise on the lava gravel. Jeremy had to tell me to walk quieter a few times before giving me some walking lessons. Ridiculous to think about, a grown man being given tip toe walking lessons, but by the end I was basically a silent ninja on that gravel.
We stalked a few hundred yards to the lava flow across from where the goats were located as silently as possible. We were getting set up to have a good look from slightly above the target goat, however by the time we arrived, the herd was starting to move, and my goat was the first to leave! As the herd traveled down a gulch (gully? lava valley?), having a guide proved to be invaluable. He had a very intimate knowledge of the land we were on, and knew exactly where the herd was heading. He took me in a fairly different direction from where the goats were traveling. We walked for a half mile or so, eventually walking to a bushy area, and heard the bleating of our goats. Excellent, we had beat them. We set up on a tree, with a nice 100 yard shot through a small clearing of the lava flow that Jeremy predicted they would come out on. We could hear them rustling through the trees, and watched as the entire herd walked through the clearing. Had the big goat passed already?
Jeremy was confident. "He will come, bah. Just wait" he assured me in his island accent. Ok. Just have patience. After what seemed like 10 minutes (likely one minute, or less), we heard a single goat walking to the clearing. We could see through the trees that is was him. He climbed up the lava flow, and out into the opening. He took a few steps, stopping before a fairly large rock. Maybe he had a feeling of impending doom and sensed our ambush, maybe he just needed a breather. Either way, with the cross hair on his chest, I squeezed the trigger. With a bang and a thud, I watched him drop, dying on the spot. 4 hours after the hunt began, it was over.
Being a guided hunt, Jeremy quickly went to work skinning the goat. After an hour or so, we headed back to the truck, which is where the next adventure attempting to stalk a herd of 30 or so Axis deer began. However, as that is an entire other story, which was unsuccessful, I will leave that out. However it was an equally tiring, yet enjoyable stalk.
On the way home, Jeremy picked me up a "classic Hawaiian breakfast" of Spam, rice, and eggs. Surprisingly tasty, and deliciously salty. After that we parted ways, and he set to work cleaning up the skull for a euro skull mount. 4 days later, we picked up the skull, thanked him, and headed for home. I FedEx'd the mount to a location in North Dakota near home, and will hopefully be bringing it home tonight.
I have hunted a reasonable amount, however I am by no means a hardcore hunter. I have spent a lot of time in a ground or tree blind, and have spent a bit of time pushing bush. Every successful hunt brings a great feeling of accomplishment. None of my whitetail adventures have ever felt quite like this, though. Drenched in sweat from a rather long, difficult hike under the hot Maui sun, stalking a target picked from a large group, and then taking it cleanly with a well planned ambush and shot. All with the back drop of 10,000 foot Mt Haleakala to the north, and the expanse of the Pacific ocean to the south, east, and west. It was amazing.
I hope this essay has been an enjoyable read. It was a lot of fun hunting in Hawaii, and if you are planning on vacationing there, I would really recommend looking up Hawaii Safaris. They have hunt packages on most of the islands, for all sorts of game. There's not much that beats a good morning hunt, followed by beer and fish tacos on the beach! He is not a trophy goat by any means, measuring 22", however rather that spend 2 days looking for a huge goat, I was quite content with this fellow, and spending the extra time on the beach with my family.
Now for some pics:
Early morning view of Maui
Driving into the hunt
Scouting for goats
The view. Much nicer when my mug isn't in the picture, ha!
Look carefully, and you'll see a nursery full of goat kids.
Another view from the hunt. Gorgeous scenery.
Can you spot the dead goat?
Success.
To hunt in Hawaii, you need to have a Hawaiian hunter safety card. If you have recognized hunter education, you can apply for an exemption, which is quite easy to do online. I had my exemption within a day, and my licence soon after that. For hunting goats in Maui, only the licence is needed, so I was good to go. I applied for my Form 6NIA to bring my firearm, however in the end, decided to rent my guides gun. Travelling with 2 children under 3 years old brings with it enough luggage, let alone needing to bring an additional locked case for a rifle!
We arrived in Maui on Sunday, and set about doing typical tourist things. And by that I mean trying to keep our kids from turning their pasty white skin to lobster red. *Side note, with enough sunscreen, this IS possible!*
Wednesday morning finally rolled around, and I left the hotel in my beautiful white Dodge minivan at 5 am sharp, to meet my guide at his house at 5:45. My guide was Jeremy, an Islander who has hunted and guided on Maui for years, and who handles most of Hawaii Safaris Maui goat hunts. Pulling into his yard you knew he was a hunter, as there were skull mounts EVERYWHERE. Pigs, axis, and goat skulls hung from his garage and fence. My kind of guy. We left his house right after 6, and were at the hunt spot just before 7. We were hunting on a private ranch among the ranches cows, and thankfully were the only ones hunting Wednesday.
The first area we hunted did not disappoint. Within 10 minutes of leaving the vehicle, we heard our first bleat. Around the nearby hill, about 100 yards away, a herd of at least 50 goats came walking. Now, personal history time. I am a farmer on the prairies. Opening day for whitetail season is a stat holiday on our farm. In saying that, November is usually wildly busy for me, so for the last few years opening day has been my ONLY day of hunting. Therefore, the first whitetail deer that crosses my ground blind with antlers is going down. Usually I am home by lunch time, as I want my venison farmer sausage, not a big rack for the wall. So when I see 50 goats with horns come 'round the corner, all bleating obliviously to my presence, I immediately thought "SHOOT ONE"!
Thankfully, Jeremy is a good guide. He could see the excitement in my eyes. He calmly told me to wait, you're here more for the hunt, not the trophy. And this is where I learned to appreciate the art of a spot and stalk hunt. We spent 15 minutes or so glassing the entire herd. As we were doing this, Jeremy would call out the goats with nice horns, teaching me what to look for. His goal was to get my quite close for a shot, so once we had 2 goats picked out, we stalked them. Around and around the hill we went, trying to catch the herd stopped. However, after an hour or so of these billy goats cruising around, we decided to move on, as we would not be able to get in real close any time soon.
We glassed another herd of 30 or so goats a few hundred yards away. So off we went to sneak up on them. As it turns out, it must have been about 100 kids and quite a few nannys. So while it was a bust in terms of horns, it was very neat stalking in on the nursery and walking among them. They really did not care that we were 10 yards away, they just kept eating and bleating. Cool experience or not, it was now time to find some horns.
We got in the truck and moved to a different location at the other side of the ranch, near some of the youngest lava flows on Maui, and where every step was on loose lava rock gravel. We were able to glass a nice little herd of maybe 20 or so goats, with one quite nice billy with a nice set of horns. It wasn't as big as the other two goats from the first herd, however it was still quite nice, and presented a very interesting challenge to get to. We were upwind of the goat, so sound was a problem. In particular, the tall, lumbering oaf that is me struggled to not make noise on the lava gravel. Jeremy had to tell me to walk quieter a few times before giving me some walking lessons. Ridiculous to think about, a grown man being given tip toe walking lessons, but by the end I was basically a silent ninja on that gravel.
We stalked a few hundred yards to the lava flow across from where the goats were located as silently as possible. We were getting set up to have a good look from slightly above the target goat, however by the time we arrived, the herd was starting to move, and my goat was the first to leave! As the herd traveled down a gulch (gully? lava valley?), having a guide proved to be invaluable. He had a very intimate knowledge of the land we were on, and knew exactly where the herd was heading. He took me in a fairly different direction from where the goats were traveling. We walked for a half mile or so, eventually walking to a bushy area, and heard the bleating of our goats. Excellent, we had beat them. We set up on a tree, with a nice 100 yard shot through a small clearing of the lava flow that Jeremy predicted they would come out on. We could hear them rustling through the trees, and watched as the entire herd walked through the clearing. Had the big goat passed already?
Jeremy was confident. "He will come, bah. Just wait" he assured me in his island accent. Ok. Just have patience. After what seemed like 10 minutes (likely one minute, or less), we heard a single goat walking to the clearing. We could see through the trees that is was him. He climbed up the lava flow, and out into the opening. He took a few steps, stopping before a fairly large rock. Maybe he had a feeling of impending doom and sensed our ambush, maybe he just needed a breather. Either way, with the cross hair on his chest, I squeezed the trigger. With a bang and a thud, I watched him drop, dying on the spot. 4 hours after the hunt began, it was over.
Being a guided hunt, Jeremy quickly went to work skinning the goat. After an hour or so, we headed back to the truck, which is where the next adventure attempting to stalk a herd of 30 or so Axis deer began. However, as that is an entire other story, which was unsuccessful, I will leave that out. However it was an equally tiring, yet enjoyable stalk.
On the way home, Jeremy picked me up a "classic Hawaiian breakfast" of Spam, rice, and eggs. Surprisingly tasty, and deliciously salty. After that we parted ways, and he set to work cleaning up the skull for a euro skull mount. 4 days later, we picked up the skull, thanked him, and headed for home. I FedEx'd the mount to a location in North Dakota near home, and will hopefully be bringing it home tonight.
I have hunted a reasonable amount, however I am by no means a hardcore hunter. I have spent a lot of time in a ground or tree blind, and have spent a bit of time pushing bush. Every successful hunt brings a great feeling of accomplishment. None of my whitetail adventures have ever felt quite like this, though. Drenched in sweat from a rather long, difficult hike under the hot Maui sun, stalking a target picked from a large group, and then taking it cleanly with a well planned ambush and shot. All with the back drop of 10,000 foot Mt Haleakala to the north, and the expanse of the Pacific ocean to the south, east, and west. It was amazing.
I hope this essay has been an enjoyable read. It was a lot of fun hunting in Hawaii, and if you are planning on vacationing there, I would really recommend looking up Hawaii Safaris. They have hunt packages on most of the islands, for all sorts of game. There's not much that beats a good morning hunt, followed by beer and fish tacos on the beach! He is not a trophy goat by any means, measuring 22", however rather that spend 2 days looking for a huge goat, I was quite content with this fellow, and spending the extra time on the beach with my family.
Now for some pics:
Early morning view of Maui
Driving into the hunt
Scouting for goats
The view. Much nicer when my mug isn't in the picture, ha!
Look carefully, and you'll see a nursery full of goat kids.
Another view from the hunt. Gorgeous scenery.
Can you spot the dead goat?
Success.
