Hunting is quite common here. Wild pig is the game if choice. Wild pigs have spread rapidly through the thick Hawaiian jungle and every once in a while they will tear up property.
Fishing is a job for many people in Hilo but the weekend fisherman come out in force at the break of dawn. Ice, snacks, bait, gear, it all gets piled in the boats and they are launched for the better half of the day to roam the pacific swells. It's almost as if the open sea becomes a temporary remedy for island fever.
We put on some jahwaiian music as its called and puttered out of the bay just as the sun really started to break through. Five miles later we were at a big buoy in the even bigger sea. No boats in sight. We chummed the water to see if anything came to bite but the water remained still.
En route to the second buoy a school if dolphins came to the boat for a race. We entertained them for a while then dove in to see how playful they were really feeling. A bit standoffish, but they teased us for a bit and swam around each other doing flips and twirls. Nothing but blue water and dolphins. Simple, but amazing.
No luck at buoy two so we headed inland to a secluded reef where I was told there would be guaranteed catch. I put my snorkel, mask and fins on and plunged in with a 6 foot spear in hand. "go for the black fish with yellow eyes," I heard just before I hit the water. The first fish I saw was a small reef fish all black with yellow around its eyes. I take aim with the cocked spear gun and release. "Pop!" you can hear it underwater, the gill plate cracks and a three prong metal skewer goes clean through a "Kali" fish. One shot, one fish.
I surfaced with my catch waived high in the air and asked my local guides if this was the fish thy were talking about. A bit confused as to how I nabbed a fish on the same breathe I jumped in with, my guide Keola (Kay-O-La) replied, "Ono bradda, good shot!"
I guess beginners luck exists because the next 100 shots that I took underwater were futile. I inadvertently ingested a few cups of sea water, my ears are still popped from diving too deep and my finger got impaled by a flailing dorsal fin. But for the first time probably ever, my meal was going to be caught, gutted and cooked at my own hand. Now that is local!
As I got dropped off with my catch and started walking to my quarters, my roommate Pat came around the corner covered in blood holding a sharp skinning knife. "Hey" I said calmly. "Hey, what's up man?" as if nothing was happening. "Uh, nothing. What's up with you?" I replied. "Oh I shot a sow up the road and I was just skinning it out back" he answered. "Oh, ok. Well I got dinner" I said as I held up my catch and peered over towards the dead pig hanging in front of my washing machine. "But I guess you did too."
Just then we heard a squawk in the back yard and our roommate Britton was calling off the dogs. Haupa and Diesel, the pittbull puppies have been chasing dog toys around for the past month, waiting for their chance to hunt with the rest of the yard. Diesel came trotting out of the brush with feathers stuck in his drool. We knew what it was as soon as we saw the guilty look on the pups face. He got one of the ducks. The ducks were uninvited inhabitants of the farm and they would often dedicate on my doorsteps. Good riddance.
"How was your day Brit?" I asked. "Good, we took down a 150 pound boar" he said modestly. "Oh, right on" I said. Before I could ask him where the boar was I saw Haupa chewing on what looked like a big harry coconut. "What's Haupa eating over there?" I asked slightly concerned. "Oh that's the pigs head." No more words were spoken.
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