Big Island hunters will have more opportunities to bag feral pigs, goats and sheep under a package of changes to hunting rules set to go before the state Board of Land and Natural Resources on Friday.
The rules, which increase hunting days and bag limits, also require identification tags for hunting dogs, and allow the board to temporarily close hunting areas, among other changes. The proposals are based on input from hunters and other citizens back in 2010, and have been years in the making.
Hunters who can take only one pig per season in the Mauna Kea Game Management Area and Forest Reserve would be able to bag an animal a day with no season limit. Rather than being governed by special seasons, the area would be open year-round except on game bird hunting days. Changes are proposed for numerous other hunting areas around the island and state.
In the Puuanahulu Game Management Area, the season limit would be upped from one goat to two, and at Kipuka Ainahou, archery hunters may take as many pigs, goats and sheep as they can kill. In the Kaohe GMA north of Saddle Road, muzzleloaders and shotguns would be added for use on feral pig hunts in July and August.
The changes are in response to hunters requesting less restriction in areas where the state is trying to control feral animals, according to the Department of Land and Natural Resources.
New rules for hunting dogs require identification tags for each animal. Dogs also have to be physically restrained in public areas, except when pursuing game inside legal hunting areas. The proposal follows some 60 comment letters, most of which called for restriction or elimination of dogs for hunting for public safety reasons, according to DLNR.
The proposal brings the state in line with county regulations regarding dogs, said Dan Dennison, DLNR spokesman.
“With regard to banning the use of dogs for hunting, the department notes that this is a traditional activity in Hawaii and does not recommend that it be banned,” according to DLNR.
The new rules also allow the BLNR to close hunting areas for up to six months to address threats to natural resources or public safety, or to comply with agreements with private landowners or lessees.
Hilo hunter Dick Hoeflinger said the rules package, seven years in the making, remains over-regulatory, arbitrary and without an articulated purpose. That said, the proposal benefits the hunting community overall and should be implemented without further delay, Hoeflinger wrote in testimony.
“Seven years is long enough,” he wrote. “It is time to move on.”
Hoeflinger suggested that DLNR form a working group to continue to hammer out issues of hunter access to land and animals.
DLNR’s Division of Forestry and Wildlife held public hearings on the rules in November 2010 and is taking additional testimony leading up to the BLNR meeting Friday in Honolulu when the changes will be considered. Testimony can be faxed to 587-0390, attn: board members, or emailed to kuulei.n.moses@hawaii.gov.
View the proposed rules at dlnr.hawaii.gov/dofaw/rules/draft-rules.