Tom’s Tips – Maui Hunting Tour

For a number of years we lived on a sloping property in upcountry Maui with some very beautiful gardens and places to roam. It was here that I had my first in person introduction to the wild boar of Maui as they rampaged through the gardens and dug up everything in site. They have an incredible tusk that allows them to simply till the top two or three inches of soil with one fell swoop and unearth the ground beneath. In this way they can tear apart vast stretches of garden areas in a very short period of time looking for whatever they think might be the treats they are searching for below the surface in the roots. I spent hours trying to trap them in huge steal traps we constructed but all to no avail. Had I been wiser I should have probably hooked up with one of the hunting experts we send our clients out with to go out and hunt for the boar. After all, on their hunts their success rate is almost 100% successful.

On Maui when they hunt for boar they use dogs. They set the dogs loose in the remote valleys and they will charge through the ravines in search of the wild boar. Soon they will come upon the scent and follow it to the source, barking all the while. The hunter guide will take you on foot following the dogs to a place where the larger dogs will usually have the pig trapped often attempting to hold on to its ears while another dog will dominate its attention in from the front. When you arrive at the scene the idea is to straddle the pig from behind and take it through the should blades with a knife to the heart. Almost always a successful hunt the guide will strip the meat from the carcass and carry it back to be refrigerated and provide meals for a whole lot of people for a long time. If you want you can make arrangements with the guide to pack up the meat and send it off so you can enjoy it at home.