Through my eyes

Kaena Point Sunset

2010-09-10T22:03:00.000-07:00

Lunch Break Photo Shoot

2010-07-05T20:34:00.000-07:00

No catches this day but we had good weather and amazing company.

Aurora & Penocha taking a breather.

Buster Boy eying me out.

He caught a whiff of something.

And a new addition to the crew, Girl.

I haven't decided if she was smiling or snarling!

New arrivals!

2010-07-03T22:40:00.000-07:00

A new (and unexpected) batch of puppies were born July 1! Congratulations to 1st time mom Gidget. Here's one of the new little nuggets at 3 days old.

Sunday archery practice & first video with my new GoPro!

2010-06-27T20:48:00.000-07:00

Went to the range this afternoon to play with my newest toy, the HD GoPro! I needed to get some practice in with the bow too. I upped the poundage to 50# today so I am still getting used to pulling 10 more pounds than I had been, but the arrows were flying straight. The video below is unedited & has no sound cause it was in its waterproof housing but now that i know what to expect out of this little thing I can't wait to get in the mountains, ocean, everywhere!

6/27/2010 Archery practice from Nalanz on Vimeo.

Look what I did for Earth Day!

2010-04-23T00:30:00.000-07:00

My first solo kill & first ever kill with my bow!

Practice

2010-02-09T20:05:00.000-08:00

I got my bow in early September, and haven't played around with it much outside of the range or past 20 yards. I've only drawn on 2 animals, a deer that just looked up & laughed at me before it walked away and a chicken that lost a few tail feathers. Needless to say I'm still trying to find a honey hole with some hogs & I do get a bit excited and jittery when the animal is in my sights, but I head to the range whenever possible to practice.

I haven't made it into the mountains in the past few weeks but I did have a chance to swing by the Koko Head archery range this evening between work and a meeting. I was happy to have the place to myself 'cause I desperately needed to blow off some steam. I started practicing at the 20 yard target, I was shooting good & all my shots were grouped within a pie tin sized area so I spent about 30 minutes there before I started to get bored.

I decided to move over to the 30 yard target even though I had only shot that distance once before and I knew I wasn't sighted in for that distance. I let some arrows fly and they were all high by about 1 foot. I tweaked the sights a bit and let a few more arrows fly and this is what I got....

I was excited enough to run to the truck and grab the camera!

If I didn't document, it would be like 'the one that got away'!

It's no Robin Hood, but it is the best shooting I've done so far!

Now I just gotta find dem hogs!

Wa'ahila Ridge to Puu Awa'awaloa

2009-11-22T22:31:00.000-08:00

I get to explore alot of trails and off-trail areas while hunting but I never seem to complete any of these trail, I mean summit and back etc. So I decided that 2010 would be the "Year of Exploration". Im going to complete as many hikes as possible and especially do hikes that I have never done before.

I got an early start on this 2010 goal today! I got together with a few new friends to explore the Wa'ahila Ridge trail to the Ko'olau Summit and back. I had done part of the trail a few month earlier, actually the day we lost Bongo Boy, and I really felt the need to complete that trail in his memory.

We got an 7:30am start and had some great views early on.

Waikiki through the Koa tree.

That's where we are heading... Pu'u Awa'awaloa.

If you don't know me, I'm a native plant fanatic. So as we got colser and closer to the summit the vegitation started to transition into more natives which really got me excited. I think I slowed our crew down a bit with all my "Oh, this is a..... & Oh look at this one.... & This one's scientific name is...."!

There is some of the crew making the last push to the summit.

There was just the slightest cover of clouds that cleared right as we looked over on to the windward side.

Looking at the treck back down...

Round trip took ~ 5 hours. We stopped alot to take breaks and pictures at all of the open puu's along the trail and talked plenty with our new friends. It was a really amazing day & I was happy to finish the trail with Bongo on my mind. I'm looking forward to doing alot of hikes in 2010. My mid-year/birthday goal is going to be an over night trip up Poamoha and down Laie. And if I haven't blown my knees out by the end of the year I'll top off 2010 with Konahuanui!

Goodbye Bongo Boy

2009-10-07T23:14:00.000-07:00

Bongo Boy,

Thank you Bongo for being the hustler that you were. You pushed yourself to the limit on every hunt, going above and beyond my expectations, stopping even the biggest pigs by yourself, and teaching the puppies what it really meant to work.

You were a beast in the mountains...

but a sweetheart through and through.

The pride of your catch was easy to see....

and I am proud to have had you on my team.

Bongo, may you rest in peace under your beautiful young kukui tree.

I'm in love...

2009-09-26T13:56:00.000-07:00

with Lana'i!

I don't know any Oahu resident that doesn't love a weekend getaway to an outterisland to relax the soul & I have always been a fan of Moloka'i, loving the fact that I could get away from the hustle & bustle of Oahu, have a beach to myself and a monk seal and have people wave instead of honk as they drove by. So I was expecting the same when I landed on Lana'i for the first time on September 23, 2009.

My knees buckled and my heart melted when this is the first sight I had of the landscape.

The road home...

I assume the "pass with care' sign is more to warn of deer herds crossing than oncoming cars.

We set up home for the week at the campgrounds at Manele Bay.

We spent the days leading up to our hunt scouting and touring the island.

"The tri-fecta" Looking fromLana'i through the channel between Moloka'i & Maui

"Rain Blob"

"Remnants"

And the shipwreck at Shipwreck Beach (actual shipwreck is around the corner)

The Final Destination

This was the chosen location for our hunt the following day. A breathtaking landscape dotted with herds & herds of Mouflon!

Cory made his early morning kill on one that I had missed.

We spent some time following some other herds so I could fill my tag.

This ewe took 45 minutes of stealthy belly crawling through the grass, and slowly inching Cory closer & closer to the cliff so I could make the shot over the rocks. She was watching us the whole time but I steadied my breathing, popped up on my elbows and took one shot to drop her where she stood!

We took our kills back to camp and had an amazing dinner of ewe stew. We spent the rest of our trip bow hunting for deer with some of the locals but weren't able to harvest any more animals.

First mouflon & first Lana'i hunt! Im addicted and can't wait to get back.

The new toy

2009-08-30T11:10:00.000-07:00

Diamond: Razor Edge by Bowtech

Mean!

Waiting for Zorro

2009-06-21T23:41:00.000-07:00

Six months ago today, Cory, the dogs and I set off on a rainy winter morning hunt in upper Poamoho. It had been raining for days and we could hear the rumble of the river below us as we collared the dogs. As we started on the trail the rain came down even harder and it wasn't long before we encountered the first of the three landslides we would see that day. Each slide totally blocked the trail. The worst took out trees and 'uluhe 30 feet wide downslope until it hit the cliff edge and fell like a waterfall. The loose dirt, heavy rain and inexperienced puppies made for slow going. And there wasn't much in the way of pigs either. The nasty weather must have made tracking a real trick for the dogs.

It wasn't until a few hours in to the hunt that the dogs were finally on to something. They took off down hill towards the river but circled back after a few minutes. I remember seeing Zorro hustle past me on the trail but a few seconds later Penocha was off towards the river again and we heard a big boar blow...a little scuffle...but that was the end of that. Penocha must have been no match for whatever he bumped into. As we regrouped we realized Zorro was still out. As hard as we tried, there was just no way we would have heard him bark through the rain, wind, and the steadily rising river.

Cory and I spent hours pacing that stretch of trail tracking Z and calling for him. Never once did the rain let up. Soaked to the bone and starting to shiver I headed back towards the truck while Cory kept looking. Just after dusk we decided to head home and return the next day expecting Z to be waiting for us at the usual parking spot.

For the next 2 weeks Cory journeyed up Poamoho almost daily and I joined when I could. We left Z's favorite treats on the trail, but they remained untouched. Every time, we tracked him in virtually the same spot but the signal would fade and then come back strong within minutes making us think that he was on the move, but day after day there was no sign of Z.

After talking with friends, Cory confirmed that the area we were tracking Z was a notorious gulch with ledges and a mean waterfall. Certain that Z was stuck on a ledge Cory decided to hike in the next day, but the weather hadn't changed an ounce from the first day of this ordeal.

Anxious for an update, my stomach turned all day. When the phone finally rang there was no good news. Cory said he had reached a wall in the pocket and was tracking Zorro as if they were side by side but yelling and shooting gun made no difference. That weekend some friends hunted through the same gulch and reported back to us a mean smell from above the waterfall. We resigned to the fact that Zorro was gone for good.

I asked Cory to drive me up to the end of the road for one last look out onto the valley so I could say my goodbye to Z (all the while up that bumpy road praying I would see him around the next corner). As I looked out over upper Poamoho silently begging Zorro to come home the clouds lifted, the sun peeked through and a rainbow appeared, its pot of gold near where Zorro had left us.

I guess that was the sign I needed. I sighed, got in the truck and we drove off down the mountain.

A week later, while at the grocery store, I got a picture sent to my phone that made me nearly drop to my knees.

Zorro was alive! Skinny and beat to all hell, but alive.

Cory said that he was compelled to head up the trail one more time in search of Z because as he laid in bed the previous night he could hear Zorro bark as if he was outside in the kennels. And when Cory finally did sleep that night, he dreamt of Zorro. Cory knew that he had to go looking for him again. As Cory rounded a corner of that dirt road and near our usual parking spot, there was Zorro, standing in the middle of the road!

After a case of Vienna Sausage and a month of rest and recovery Zorro joined us for one more hunt before he went into retirement!

Wednesday

2009-04-15T20:36:00.000-07:00

Just another simply ordinary Wednesday in spring except for the not so ordinary event that I had a weekday off. So anyways...a simply ordinary Wednesday. I was still trying to pry open my sleepy eyes as the sun was trying to peek through the grey clouds above the Ko'olau. I took these dual struggles as an omen for the coming day but I was soon to be proven wrong, very soon to be proven wrong.

We dropped the tailgate shortly after sunrise and decided to check a side pocket before heading into the main valley, backwards from the usual routine. There were a few sizable tracks a little way beyond the truck and a few small diggings along the stream but nothing out of the ordinary . We rounded the corner and the dogs headed up to check out the pocket. They were back in a few minutes and as we turned to hele on outta there, 1, 2, 3, 4.... "hey we missing Kamani". Five minutes pass, no sight or sound of her, tracking her far...on top the ridge, maybe even over. Ten minutes...still nothing, so I sat my still sleepy butt down and no sooner had I gotten comfortable there was a rustle in the 'uluhe fern upridge. "Kamani's back" I announced and took one step to leave when all the other mutts rushed past me back into the valley stopping an extraordinarily fat sow 15 feet from where my butt had been resting!

This 122lbs. (without guts) sow was the largest I have ever caught and it was by far the easiest hunt I've ever been on.

6am- cut dogs loose
610- in the valley
630-pig dead
7am-back at the truck

Kamani Girl is always working extra hard for us and she gets all the credit for this sow cause all the other mutts were taking my bad example and resting their lazy butts right next to mine!

Quite an extraordinary catch (by my standards) for just a simply ordinary Wednesday.

Big Island Tournament

2009-03-11T10:19:00.000-07:00

Just got back from a weekend trip to the Big Isle to check out the March 7th Kona hunting tournament...It blew my mind!

We left Oahu fully loaded...

...with home-made smoked sausage to give to friends ;)
I think we really tripped out the airport security!

The first day was spent visiting friends, playing tourist and checking out the location for the next day's tournament. Cory and Chris host an Oahu tournament every year and they were interested to see how outter islands ran theirs and hoped to bring back new ideas to help evolve their tourney.

On B.I. they start 'em young...

And breed 'em big!

I thought this porker was gonna jump off the truck and try to eat me. I spent the entire day amazed at the size and constant flow of pigs being brought to the scales. The winning pig was over 200 lbs and the smallest pig scaled that day could have easily scored a top place in a tourney on Oahu.

Really now... look at the size of those things compared to me, compared to the guy at the scale!

As much as I was jealous of the size and quantity of the beastly pigs these hunters were bringing in I am happy any day we catch a pig on Oahu. I happy just to spend a day in the mountains with my hunting partner and the dogs, even if we don't catch a pig.

Mele's First Attempt

2009-02-26T19:12:00.000-08:00

February 22, 2009

Today was Mele's first attempt at hunting.

I say attempt because we were unsuccessful at bringing any meat out of the mountains, but hey, we tried and we had fun doing it!

I have to give the girl props! A 3am wake up call isn't easy for anyone and if she was anything like me before my first hunt, it was all butterflies and no sleep.

It was such a beautiful morning, crisp and cloudless.

We checked pockets and the river on both sides of the main ridge all day. The dogs were out for a good amount of time at 2 spots with a few quick barks but only piglets screaming. No food for us today but it looks like the dogs had some little snacks...ahh those mutts!

All in all it was a nice walk in the mountains. The cool winter air and overcast skies kept us just cool enough all day. I got to check out parts of the mountain I had never seen before and showed Mele a bunch or native plants growing on the upper part of the main ridge.

The post-hunt photos are some of my favorites, literal dog piles, K9 bodies contorted in the bed of the truck...

and then there is the snoring...

We were sitting on top of the dog cage after the hunt, talking story, eating ,drinking and listening to the dogs snore and whimper in their dreams. A few beers later I began to find the snoring quite hilarious, it seemed louder than it ever had before, so I peeked in to find the culprit and this is what I saw...

The snoring seemed to be coming from Buster's ass (he's the brindle color dog) but upon closer inspection we realized the snoring was actually Bongo (the brown dog) who's breathing was perhaps labored by the fact that Buster's ass was firmly planted on Bongo's face!

* For my favorite pic of the day I'll have to refer you back to the first pic of this entry... no, that dog is not just sitting nicely to pose for a picture ;)

Hunt: February 8th

2009-02-16T21:13:00.000-08:00

February 8

It was a cold windy morning, dark clouds hanging just above the ridge lines promised to dump some rain on us later in the day but there was no stopping us. (haha, this is starting to sound like the beginning of a horror novel!)

Cory and I had a guest for the day Jacob, it wasn't his first hunt but his first with us. Cory is always down to take new people into the mountains, he loves to share in his passion of hunting with anyone who is willing to learn. That's how I got hooked up with him and I couldn't imagine having the passion I have for hunting now if it wasn't for Cory and his amazing pack of dogs.

So we cut the dogs loose just after sunrise and headed down hill to the river. After a few muddy slips and trips later Jacob made it down to the river with Cory and I and we were off hopping rocks and letting the dogs air. Rock hopping was slow going thanks to one of our newest mutts...meet Diesel...

Diesel don't like water! He's just a pup, not even a year old, so hes still learning how how to get around the mountains with ease. It took a lot of encouragement and a bit of pushing and pulling to get him to cross but when the pig started to scream he flew past us like he was an old pro.

Here is the sow the dogs found for us .

Ozzy had her all by himself for almost twenty minutes with no bark, the pig never even made noise. I guess he was sick of waiting for back up so he let out a small bark and the rest of the pack went out to answer. When they all reached the pig screamed once and that was it.
Thanks to Jacob for packing!

The dogs did some damage in those quiet twenty minutes...

Nice size, socks on the front and almost a full blond belt.

And my favorite picture from the day...

That's Diesel again. He seems to have a thing for taking a nap on the pig! Yep that's the catch of the day that he is all snuggled up with and he does it every time.

Thank you Maggie

2009-02-13T21:14:00.000-08:00

R.I.P Maggie Girl

12/17/2008

Meet the crew

2009-02-13T20:32:00.001-08:00

They are always ready to rumble ...

After a long hard day in the mountains...

a nap is well deserved.

Some of my firsts

2009-02-04T15:34:00.000-08:00

My first birthday...

adorable right?... so who would have guessed I would have ended up like this!

My first goat (Summer '05)

My first pig... (fall '05)

My first buck... (summer '06)

My first tournament... (spring '07)

My brother on his first hunt...(November '08)

which was probably his last too!

hold your horses...

2009-02-03T13:35:00.000-08:00

...or your mules

Im working on this so give me a few days but come back to check it out soon.

Aloha