Department of Land and Natural Resources

DEPARTMENT OF LAND AND NATURAL RESOURCES
News Release

DAVID Y. IGE GOVERNOR

SUZANNE D. CASE CHAIRPERSON

For Immediate News Release March 20, 2017

DLNR ANNOUNCES GOAT HUNTING TO OPEN ON KAUAI

LIHUE —  The Department of Land and Natural Resources is pleased to announce the opening of archery, muzzleloader, and regular rifle hunting seasons for feral goats on the island of Kauai.  Pursuant to Title 13, Chapter 123 “Rules Regulating Game Mammal Hunting,” the following rules and conditions will be in effect for the hunt:

2017 KAUAI GOAT HUNTING SEASON
Hunting Season	Fees		Unit(s) Open to Hunting	Season Duration	Bag Limits
	Resident	Non-Res.
Archery Season	$5.00	$25.00	Units F	July 1st through August 28, 2017; Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday & State Holidays	Two goat and one pig per archer per hunting day
			Unit K	July 1 through August 27, 2017; Saturday, Sunday & State Holidays
			Unit A	June 3-4, 2017 (One Weekend Only)	Two goats per tag issued and one pig per archer per hunting day
			Units G	Year-round; Daily	No limit; goat and pig Permit Required
Youth, Senior Citizens, and disabled hunters Muzzleloaders Only season	$5.00	$25.00	Unit A	June 10-11, 2017 (One Weekend Only)	One goat per tag issued and one pig per hunter per hunting day
Regular Rifle and Muzzleloader Season	$15.00	$30.00	Units A Muzzleloader Only	June 17th to August 27, 2017;  Saturday and Sunday only (Two weekends/hunter)	Two (2) goats per permit-tag; Two permits issued/ hunter
			Units B	May 5th to August 28, 2017: Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday (Two slots/hunter)	Two (2) goats per permit-tag; Two permits issued/hunter

Payments via mail must be in the form of a personal check or a money order. No cash will be accepted through the mail.  All qualified applicants will be issued permits and all application fees and tag fees are non-refundable.

ARCHERY ONLY SEASON:  Kauai archers must present their 2017-18 Hawaii Hunting License in order to obtain their permits starting Monday, June 26, 2017 in the Lihue DOFAW office at 3060 Eiwa St., Room 306.  Another person may pick up your permit, but must present your license.  Neighbor island archers may pick up an application form now at the DOFAW office on their island and mail the address on the application.  Specific instructions are on the application form.  Validated archery permits will be mailed to each hunter after application has been received.  Unit F and K bow hunters must sign-in and sign-out at either the Waimea Heights, Mango Tree or the Kokee Hunter Checking Station.  Unit G bow hunters must obtain a Unit G-Archery Pass from the Lihue DOFAW office.  Each pass is good for three (3) consecutive days and is free of charge.

Unit A Archery Season: Kauai archers must present their valid Hawaii Hunting License in order to obtain their permits starting Monday, May 1, 2017 in the Lihue DOFAW office at 3060 Eiwa St., Room 306.  Another person may pick up your permit, but must present your license.  Neighbor island archers may pick up an application form now at the DOFAW office on their island and mail it to the Lihue DOFAW office.  The Unit A archery hunt is one weekend only, on June 3-4, 2017.

Unit A Youth, Senior Citizen and disabled hunter muzzleload only season: Hunters must present their valid Hawaii Hunting License in order to obtain their permits starting Monday, May 1, 2017 in the Lihue DOFAW office at 3060 Eiwa St., Room 306.  Another person may pick up your permit, but must present your license.  Neighbor island hunters may pick up an application form now at the DOFAW office on their island and mail it to the Lihue DOFAW office.  The Unit A Youth, Senior Citizen and disabled hunter muzzleload only season is one weekend only, June 10-11, 2017.

Unit A Muzzleloader Season:  Muzzleload hunters will be assigned two weekends in the Unit A hunting area through public lottery. Applications for the Muzzleload season are in conjunction with the rifle season applications. The season duration is June 17^th to August 27^th on Saturday and Sunday only. The deadline for submitting applications for the muzzleloader hunt is 4:00 p.m., Friday, April 14, 2017. Specific information may be obtained on the application form.

Hunters are allowed limited access through the corn fields to access Hunting Unit A using the “water tank valley” access road or the Polihale road junction below Mana Ridge.  Hunters must first sign-in at the Polihale Beach, Polihale road junction or Mana Tunnels hunter checking station and sign-out after hunting.  Hunters are required to keep their firearms cased and unloaded while driving through the corn fields.  Unit A is open to muzzleload firearms only.  For more information on the access, please call the Kauai Division of Forestry and Wildlife (DOFAW) office at 274-3433.

REGULAR RIFLE SEASON: Applications for the 2017 Kauai Goat Rifle season in Unit B are now available at all participating hunting license vendors on Kauai and all DOFAW offices.  Each Hawaii resident hunter will be charged $15.00 which includes processing the lottery application and rifle tag ($30.00 for non-resident hunter).  A maximum of eight (8) hunters may apply together as a hunting group (no exceptions).  Rifle hunters will be assigned two weeks.  The season duration is May 5^th to August 28^th on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday. Specific information may be obtained on the application form.  Hunters will have the option of using a conventional rifle, muzzleloader rifle, shotgun, handgun or archery equipment on their assigned hunting week, but may carry only one means of take while actually hunting.   The deadline for submitting applications for the regular rifle hunt is 4:00 p.m., Friday, April 14, 2017.  The public drawing to assign hunting dates will be held in the Lihue State Office Building Conference Room at 4:00 p.m. on Wednesday, April 19, 2017.

All hunters who participate in the rifle, muzzleload or archery seasons must have a valid 2016-17 Hawaii State hunting license on their person while they are hunting during the period from May 5, 2017 to June 30, 2017 and their 2017-18 hunting license if hunting after June 30, 2017.  Hunters will also be allowed to take pigs on their assigned hunting weekend and the bag limit will be one pig per hunter per day.  Permit-tags are non-transferable between hunters.  Hunters must immediately tag their animal upon taking it.  Boning of game will be permitted, but the unskinned tail must be left attached to the carcass.  Each firearm hunter is required to wear a blaze-orange shirt or vest, sign-in and out at a hunter checking station, observe legal hunting hours and safety zones and the lawful carriage of firearms during the goat hunting season  Hunters are reminded to review Title 13, Chapter 123 “Rules Regulating Game Mammal Hunting,” prior to hunting.

Kauai               274-3433         Oahu               587-0166         Kamuela          887-6063

Maui                984-8100         Molokai            553-4515         Lanai               565-7916           

Hilo                  974-4221

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Media Contacts:
Deborah Ward
Communications Specialist
Hawaii Dept. of Land & Natural Resources
(808) 587-0320