GTA
General Discussion To Gateway To Airguns => Hunting Gate => : tedshred August 26, 2008, 06:27:23 AM
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I just got back from a long vacation in Kauai, and the island is suffering from an overpopulation of wild chickens that were bred for food long ago by the Polynesians, and after a series of typhoons which released many domesticated chickens, have cross-bred with the wild ones to create a real ecological issue. Many love the chickens that roam everywhere, but they are dying from overpopulation and disease. I did not have any of my air rifles with me, but if I was a local there, I'd have chicken on the table and in the freezer pretty much constantly, and with the price of food there, it would be a relief to the food bill. The roosters crow at all times of the day or night, and the hens run around with chicks everywhere. Not sure why the feral cats on the island have not done a better job of keeping the chicken population in check, but locals are legally allowed to hunt the chickens on their land.
At least once every few hours, I had a chicken in my mental sights, thinking about which gun would be right for the particular situation. Long range, close range, quiet, loud, .22 or .177 etc.
Anybody else here been to the island and have the same experience?
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Love tha Kauai chickens! I honeymooned there few years back, what a beautiful place!
Chris
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Well now doesn't THAT sound inviting! Hmmm... BBQ chicken, roasted chicken, broasted chicken, sautee'd chicken, chicken noodle soup...
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ZenMatt - 8/26/2008 2:19 PM
Well now doesn't THAT sound inviting! Hmmm... BBQ chicken, roasted chicken, broasted chicken, sautee'd chicken, chicken noodle soup...
Chicken Ala plink,
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Airgun hunting and BBQ yardbird everyday.:) Ed
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Ted, I recently went to Maui, kona and Kauai. The chickens in Kauai were beautiful. The natives hate them and say they are disgusting dirty birds that are a menace. They were everywhere, even in the KFC parking lot. Not to smart of them...lol
I would love to live there and hunt the chickens/roosters. I met a guy who is a guide in Kauai, he said they hunt wild pig, goat and black tail deer. He told me, he thinks the roosters were from illegal cock fighting birds that escaped during a storm many years ago and started reproducing and populating the island.
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Yes, the roosters were pretty, and yet I almost took a few down with my rented car, but the wife said "cool-it" and the kids didn't seem to share my desire either. I was in Kauai in '83 and they had wild chickens then, so those cock-fighting birds might be a new spin on the genetic variety.
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Ted, here is some info about the history of the chickens/roosters of Kauai, that I found on the internet. Seems they are not sure if they were cock fighting birds from the 18/1900's or from a hurricane in 1992. Here is the info I found......1992's Hurricane Iniki may have caused an indirect change in Kaua?i's ecosystem. Some say a chicken farm was destroyed, causing all of the chickens to roam free that one may see today. Others say that sugarcane plantation laborers in the late 1800s and early 1900s brought and raised chickens (for eating and cockfighting) and many got loose over the years and multiplied.