HuntingNet.com Forums - Kauai Backcountry

Went out to cut a trail to a remote area in the Kauai wilderness yesterday and came home with two nice size hogs down.

We started out at about 7:30 walking to the area where we could start cutting trail. I had my rifle slung over my back with no ammo in it because I wasn't counting on even hunting yet. About 20 minutes from the truck my friend dropped to the ground and I quickly followed. There was a herd of about 10 hogs rooting in a large clearing. We were about 125 yards from them. We sat there and decided whether or not we were going to take the hogs. I put 3 rounds in the gun after we decided that we would shoot it and leave it until we came back in the afternoon. I snuck to about 50 yards from them and got up on my knees. I took aim on the shoulder of the largest hog and pulled my trigger. The herd all scattered every which way as I chambered another round. A little smaller pig but one of the bigger in the group came running along the tree line straight at us. As it got about 30 yards from us I aimed at its neck/head connector and pulled the trigger. The pig dropped right there in it's tracks with a bullet right below the ear. I put another 2 rounds in the gun and chambered another one as we came up on the downed pig. The pig was dead but we cut its throat to bleed it. It was about a 130lb boar with small 1" tusks and a nice layer of fat on it. We went to where I shot the first much larger pig and followed its trail into the thick. We could hear it roaring in the bushes so decided to wait a little while until we tracked it in case it was wounded. We went back and field dressed the other pig and then went back and searched for about 45 minutes for the pig. We couldn't find a drop of blood, a hair or a fresh hoofprint. So we admitted defeat as we still had a whole day of trail clearing ahead. We dragged the pig to a nearby river and threw it in a nice shady pool. We weighted it to the bottom and kept on our journey.

We hiked up a river for another hour or so and spooked a 150lb or so black and white spotted sow. I couldn't get the gun off my shoulder in time, and actually didn't need much more pork. We got to the spot that we could start cutting trail and charged up a small drain onto the top. We spent the next 6 hours or so going over downed trees, under vines, through pig tunnels and around cliff sections. We cut about 1/4 or so of our trail and finally got to the nice grassy hills on the other side of the mountain. We didn't see any goat sign or hear any goat calls but we were close to their territory. That is the target of our trail.

We got back to the truck right before dark and got to my friends house. He went for a spin on the atv and came back saying he saw a herd of pigs by his goat pen. We drove over there with no shoes or shirt. Only wearing my bathing suit and holding my 30-30 with 3 shells in my pocket. I army crawled within about 75 yards from the herd, picked the biggest out, aimed for the vitals and pulled the trigger. The herd scattered and I saw the pig I shot run by me into the bushes, I could see the bullet hole right behind the shoulder so I knew it was a good shot. I ran down a hill to cut the pig off again hoping to block the road it had to cross. I could hear my friend yell in the bushes so I knew we had it. It was a sow about 110lbs with about 1" of fat on her. The meat looked as good as any supermarket pork I've ever seen. I can't wait to have a taste. The bullet hit about 2" behind the shoulder about dead center heightwise. It roasted both her lungs and knicked her heart.

We had our work cut out for us and spent most the night cleaning the pigs. At my friends house where we were doing it there is a pen with 2 wild hogs in it that have been tamed. Shes been having a white and black boar with a spot over its eye about 120lbs come up and harass the dogs and pigs. It will make mock charges at the dogs through the fence and has worn down a huge trail outside the pen. The outside of the pen looks as trampled as the inside. She wanted me to shoot the hog that night if we heard it. Sure enough it came out but we already had two nice sized pigs down and I didn't need any more pork.

I have about 20lbs of pork in the dutch ovens right now at about 210 degrees. It's been in there for about 5 hours now with some smoke flavoring and salt. I'll take it out in another 4 or 5 hours after I turn it up to 350 degrees for about 45 minutes or an hour. I can't wait.