DLNR Announces 2018 Lāna‘i Deer Hunting Season

Axis deer at Makawao, file photo courtesy The Nature Conservancy.

The Department of Land and Natural Resources, Division of Forestry and Wildlife (DOFAW) will have application forms for the 2018 Lana‘i axis deer hunting season available at all DOFAW offices statewide beginning Monday, Oct. 2, 2017. Applications will also be available online.

A $10 fee will be assessed per application and it must accompany the application at the time of filing. Applications received without the required application fee will not be processed and will be returned to the applicant.

A tag fee will be assessed at the time of hunter check in. Hawai‘i residents will be assessed $20.00 and non-Hawaii residents will be assessed $125.00 for each deer tag. It is imperative that hunter applicants obtain and pay particular attention to the hunt instruction sheet and addendum for additional changes in the application process.

The 2018 Lana‘i axis deer season will consist of four hunts:

The Archery Hunt, which will be held over eight consecutive days from Feb. 17, to Feb. 24, 2018.

The Youth Hunt, which will be conducted for one weekend on March 3 and 4, 2018.

The Muzzleloader Hunt, which will be conducted for one weekend on March 10 and 11, 2018.

The General Rifle Hunt, which will be held over nine consecutive weekends from March 17 to May 13, 2018.

Hunter assistants will only be allowed to accompany hunters who are senior citizens (age 65 or older) or disabled. Proper documentation is required at time of hunter check in.

The bag limit for the 2018 Lana‘i axis deer season will be three axis deer (two does and one either sex) per hunter for the archery season, three axis deer (two does and one either sex) per hunter for the youth hunt and three axis deer (two does and one either sex) per hunter for the muzzleloader and general rifle hunts.

All hunters will be required to purchase a doe tag and have the option of purchasing an either sex tag and/or another doe tag. Tags are not transferable and are valid only for the specific hunt for which it was issued.

There will be no lottery drawing for the Archery Hunt and no limit on the number of archers who will be allowed to participate. However, interested archers must submit an application to participate in the hunt. Hunters participating in the Archery Hunt will be allowed to apply for and participate in either the Muzzleloader Hunt or the General Rifle Hunt.

Archery hunters may check in on the Friday preceding the first day of the Archery Hunt between the hours of 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. or daily during the hunt between the hours of 8 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. to validate permits and acquire their tags.

All tags will be issued at the time of hunter check in. Archery hunters must check out of the hunting area daily and report their take or their intent to hunt the next day providing their tags remain unfilled.

Youth hunters must be 15 years of age or younger up to the hunt date, possess a valid 2017-18 State of Hawai‘i hunting license and be accompanied by a non-hunting adult (18 years of age or older) who also possesses a valid 2017-18 State of Hawai‘i hunting license. Youth hunters must submit an application to participate in this hunt.

Youth hunters will be issued tags at the time of hunter check in. Tags are valid only for the specific hunt applied for. A total of 165 youth hunters will be drawn for the weekend. If applications exceed 165, a lottery will be conducted to establish going and standby positions.

Youth hunters will be limited to carry one type of hunting equipment while in the hunting area. Blaze orange is required for all youths and accompanying adults.

One adult may accompany one youth for this hunt. Youth hunters will be allowed to apply for and participate in the archery hunt and either the muzzleloader hunt or general rifle hunt. Youths must submit a separate application for each hunt.

Participation in the Muzzleloader Hunt may be assigned by lottery if application levels exceed the allotted number of hunters allowed in the hunting area. The General Rifle Hunt will be assigned by lottery drawing. Interested hunters may apply for either the Muzzleloader Hunt lottery or the General Rifle Hunt lottery, but may not apply for both.

Applications for all hunts may be submitted in-person or mailed, to the Maui Division of Forestry and Wildlife Office, 1955 Main St., # 301, Wailuku, HI 96793.

Lana‘i residents only are to mail or deliver their applications to the Lana‘i Division of Forestry and Wildlife Office at 917 Fraser Ave., P.O. Box 630661, Lana‘i City, HI 96763.

Hunters are encouraged to apply online. The deadline for submitting applications will be 4 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 3, 2017. Interested hunters are encouraged to submit applications well before the application deadline to insure proper processing.

If necessary, a public drawing for the Youth and Muzzleloader Hunts will be held on Friday, Jan. 5, 2018 at 11 a.m. at the J. Walter Cameron Center in Wailuku. Following this drawing, the public drawing for the General Rifle Hunt lottery will be held at 12 p.m.

The Lana‘i resident public drawing will be held at 9 a.m. at the same above location. Hunters who have been assigned a stand-by number will be allowed to replace no-show hunters that do not check in on their assigned hunting date.

All eligible Youth, Muzzleloader and General Rifle participants must check in either on the Friday preceding their assigned hunting date between 12 p.m. and 8 p.m. or on Saturday between 7 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. at the Forestry and Wildlife Office in Lana‘i City to acquire their tags.

Stand-by hunters must be present at the Lana‘i City, Division of Forestry and Wildlife office at 6 p.m. on the Friday prior to their assigned hunting date to be eligible to replace no-show hunters.

Once each hunter fills their bag limit for each hunt applied, they will not be eligible to participate for the remainder of the 2018 Lana‘i axis deer season. Hunting Units 1, 2 and 3 will be open for the Archery Hunt. Hunting Units 1 and 2 will be opened for the Youth, Muzzleloader, and General Rifle Hunts.

Additional details for this season are available at the Division of Forestry and Wildlife offices at the following telephone numbers:

O‘ahu: (808) 587-0166                        Maui: (808) 984-8100

Hawai‘i: (808) 974-4221                      Moloka‘i: (808) 553-1745

Kaua‘i: (808) 274-3433                        Lāna‘i: (808) 565-7916