One of our favorite hikes near Princeville is the Powerline Trail. It’s 13 miles long from Princeville to the Arboretum. Here’s a tripadvisor link with reviews: https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g29218-d208648-Reviews-Powerline_Trail-Kauai_Hawaii.html
From Princeville it’s largely an old rutted road that is a horrible mess after a rain, so you want to go after a long dry spell in the weather. We enter it in Princeville and typically only go 2-3 miles before turning back. It’s 9am on January 26, and we’re on the trail. That’s Eric and David ahead.
About a mile in you come across this view of Hanalei Valley with a waterfall:
Do you see it? It’s just a trickle coming down alongside that sunlit fern on the left.
Suddenly we’re approached from behind by three men with, uh, how many dogs?
They stop and visit with us (David and Stephanie). The dogs are just as curious as we are.
This fellow explains that they are participating in a wild hog hunt tournament. (Uh-oh. Is that dog smelling the bacon we had for breakfast? If they mistake us for hogs we are done for.) The rules of the tournament are that you can only hunt and kill the hog using a knife and you have to carry the hog out (on your back, I assume!) whole. I Googled it, but couldn’t find anything about these tournaments per se, but you can certainly sign up for a hog hunt adventure through various companies, if that’s your thing. Here’s a link:
https://outdoors-international.com/hog-hunting-hawaii
Hog hunting in Kauai is a tradition that has been passed down for generations. Traditional hog hunting is with dogs using only a knife or spear. You can also hunt with a bow or rifle.
“A boar hunt is a great add-on to your Hawaiian vacation.” Okay …
They were on their way again – how many dogs?
We counted eight. But that’s not all they needed for this hunt. Because a few minutes later we ran into the brother of the guy in black (and obviously the one in charge)
Rushing up behind us. He told David and Victor that he was with the same hunting party, but he had overslept and was trying to catch up with his brother. With, how many dogs??
All tallied, 4 males, 13 dogs on the hunt for a wild boar. In the photo above, you can see the length of the knife from the sheath hanging from his belt. About 12″ long. According to the above link, the dogs will chase the pig until it “bays up.” The humans listen for the barking and try to keep up. Once you get to the pig you finish him off with a large knife. “It isn’t for everybody.” Duh. How much of a rush are you looking for on your Kauai vacation adventures?
Just a brief history of pigs on Kauai, researchers believe pigs were brought to the islands by the Polynesians at least 800 years ago. They were kept as pets and food sources and relied heavily on their families for survival. Pigs were beloved and embedded in the Hawaiian culture and traditions. But then large bearing fruit trees were introduced in Hawaii, such as guava and mangos and pigs were then able to survive in the wild. Other visitors to the Island, like Captain Cook in 1778, brought their own larger pigs who interbred with the more native pigs. Then hurricanes Iwa (1982) and Iniki (1992) set a whole lot more pigs loose and now feral pigs have become a significant problem in Kauai, destroying crops and native plants. Hunting is the only thing keeping wild boar populations in check.
There’s no way of knowing how many feral pigs are on Kauai. Here’s a link to the “Pig Man Of The Garden Isle” Nic Barca https://www.civilbeat.org/2019/03/kauai-the-pig-man-of-the-garden-isle/ who has been studying (and hunting) pigs on Kauai for a while, and he estimates the number at about 11,000. There’s a wildlife refuge near Kilauea we’ve driven past numerous times where we’ve seen a large herd of feral pigs, although we didn’t see the pigs this past January. Here is a photo of the herd (taken from the link above) that captures what we typically see while driving past the refuge.
Photo by Alan Parachuni/Civil Beat – wild pigs gather at a wildlife refuge near Kilauea.
Well I dunno. If after reading this blog you think you want to book an archery hunt for wild boar in Kauai – here’s another link for you. https://www.huntfishkauai.com/wild-boar/ For $1050 per shooter you get a crossbow and ‘all equipment necessary’ and camouflage attire. Plus a “100% shot opportunity guarantee.” Yikes. I’m all over that camouflage attire. I just don’t want any confrontation with a wild boar. On a vacation to Paradise? Well, on the other hand, if you’re looking for a rush …
“Wild boar hunting, not boring.”
Yeah, how about a boat ride?
The Decompression of a Boomer 