The Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources is issuing permits for control of feral goats in the makai portion — and feral goat and feral sheep in the mauka portion — of the Puu Waawaa Forest Reserve. ADVERTISING The
The Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources is issuing permits for control of feral goats in the makai portion — and feral goat and feral sheep in the mauka portion — of the Puu Waawaa Forest Reserve.
These programs will be conducted on weekends only, in two phases. Phase one is Sept. 20 to Oct. 19. Phase two is Feb. 7 to March 15.
For the reserve makai, below Mamalahoa Highway, the program will be limited to archery for the first three weekends of phase one, from Sept. 20 to Oct. 5, and the first four weekends of phase two, from Feb. 7 to March 1. The program will be limited to muzzleloader for the last two weekends of phase one, from Oct. 11 to 19, and the last two weekends of phase two, from March 7 to 15. The bag limit on goats for reserve makai will be two per hunter per day of the program. Deboning is not allowed, but quartering feral goats is permissible with skin attached for identification purposes. For safety purposes, a maximum of 50 permittees will be allowed in the reserve makai section per day.
For the reserve makai archery program, permits will be assigned for the first day of the first weekend only for both phases by telephone call-ins to the DLNR Division of Forestry and Wildlife office in Waimea at 887-6063 from 9 a.m. Aug. 27 to 10 a.m. Sept. 3. A valid hunting license is required to apply for a permit. A maximum of five permittees will be allowed per call and only one slot per hunter is allowed. Participation for the remaining portion of the makai archery program will be on a first-come, first-served basis at the hunter check station on the day of program.
For permit assignments for both phases of the reserve makai muzzleloader program, hunters will be selected through a random lottery drawing to be held Sept. 3 at the DLNR Hunter Education Building in Waimea. A valid hunting license is required to apply for a permit. The application deadline is Aug. 27. Get applications at DOFAW offices or dlnr.hawaii.gov/dofaw.
For reserve mauka, above Mamalahoa Highway, there will be two control programs in the safety zone. The first program will be a non-typical ram/ewe hunt to take place during phase one. The bag limit for the non-typical ram/ewe hunt will be two non-typical rams and one ewe per hunter per weekend. The second program will be a typical ram incentive hunt, to take place during phase two. The bag limit for typical rams will be one only after one non-typical ram has been harvested and checked out by the same permittee. There is no bag limit on feral goats for reserve mauka during either program. Whole carcasses — entrails can be cleaned but with attached genitalia on carcass — must be inspected at checkout. For safety purposes, a maximum of 30 permittees will be allowed per day.
For permit assignments for both the reserve mauka non-typical ram/ewe hunt and the typical ram incentive hunt, hunters will be selected through a random lottery drawing to be held Sept. 3 at the DLNR Hunter Education Building in Waimea. A valid hunting license is required to apply for a permit. The application deadline is Aug. 27. Get applications at DOFAW offices or dlnr.hawaii.gov/dofaw.
Applications must consist of a minimum of one and maximum of five licensed hunters. Applicants interested in participating in the makai muzzleloader, mauka non-typical ram/ewe, or the mauka typical incentive programs must apply for each program separately. Applicants may only submit their name once for each program. Duplicate entries, after the first entry, will be discarded. Results of the random lottery drawings will be made available at the West Hawaii DOFAW office and at dlnr.hawaii.gov/dofaw. The lottery drawing for the makai muzzleloader program will assign a maximum of 50 permits per weekend from applications received by the deadline. The lottery drawings for the mauka archery programs will assign a maximum of 30 permits per weekend drawn from all applications received by the deadline.
Permittees are to check in at the Puu Waawaa check station between 5 a.m. and 2 p.m. and must be checked out by 6 p.m. Vehicle passes will be given at the hunter check station. Standbys will be allowed after 10 a.m. as slots become available. Non-permittees and ATVs are not allowed. Further information, call DOFAW in Hilo at 974-4221 or in Waimea at 887-6063.
