What options are available for hunting feral boar on Hawaii?

Question

I posted this on travel.stackexchange.com originally, but it was recommended that I post here as well. Let me know if the question is off-topic and I'll remove it.

I am visiting Kauai shortly and am interested in boar hunting while there. So far I have applied for my Hunter's Education Exemption and have mapped several locations that allow for bow hunting.

While researching, I came across a blog post that mentioned the writer simply asked an employee of the hotel he was staying at and was put in touch with a group who invited him to go with them. Is something like this a common occurrence? I do not wish to hunt alone as I am unfamiliar with the territory, but I also do not wish to spend a great deal of money on the hunting "tours" that are provided by local businesses.

Also, I have had little luck finding a place to process the animal should I be successful while hunting on the island. I would prefer to have the animal processed there as it will cut down on the cost of shipping back to my home state. Does anyone have any experience with game processing on the island of Kauai?

Are there any other cultural/logistic considerations I should be aware of? Thanks!

Answer 1

Here is what I've learned from living and vacationing in Hawaii on several of the islands.

Looking through the Hawaiian Yellow Pages, it seems that there are several different local food processing places that would process a wild boar for you. As far as locals helping you out either with hunting or processing, I'd recommend not interfacing with them directly if at all possible. I've been hiking all over the islands in back trails and typically run into groups of pig hunters. They're very nice once I explain that I'm just hiking around and state that I'll let them know if I see any pigs. But, the first question they asked, was "Why are you out here" while looking to see what kind of gear I was carrying.

To many of the locals, vacationers and non-native people, have stolen so much of their resources already, that they are very protective of the resources they have. I've had a fair number of negative run-ins with locals even just hanging out on certain beaches during certain times. That being said, not all locals are like that and you might want to connect with a hunting club that has connections in Hawaii. If wild boar in Hawaii is what you're truly after, it might take some additional planning, forethought, and potentially money. You might want to see if there are any paid excursions you might be able to take, where most things will be taken care of.

If a boar is what you're after, regardless of location, I'd suggest looking in the continental US.

If you're just looking for a hunt/kill of circumstance, it might turn into more trouble than it's worth, both logistically and culturally.