The Department of Land and Natural Resources began installing signs at trailheads around Oahu this week to inform hikers that hunting might be in progress on or near parts of the trails, and that they should keep their dogs leashed at all times.
Most, but not all, trails on Oahu cut through open hunting grounds, Aaron Lowe, DLNR trails and access specialist, said Wednesday during a news conference at the Kuliouou Valley Trail. While the law does not require hunting dogs to be leashed, it does mandate that pet dogs be tethered to their owners.
"We want to make sure that people help us and abide by the rules and basically do the right thing," Lowe said.
Lowe said DLNR is also working with hunting groups to teach them the importance of controlling their dogs in public hiking and hunting areas.
The signs are going up less than a month after an off-leash dog was attacked by hunting dogs on a Manana Falls trail in Aiea, but DLNR officials said the issue has been under discussion since 2010, when a House bill called for a working group of stakeholders to be established to find a way to mitigate the issue and maintain the multi-use aspect of the trails.
"Recreation is becoming more and more popular, and we have a lot more people and visitors on our island than we did a few years ago," Lowe said. "We all pretty much have to get along. Let’s all do it together and safely."
Some groups involved in the discussion include Citizens for Safe Hiking, the Hawaiian Trail and Mountain Club, the Hawaiian Humane Society and the Oahu Pig Hunters Association. Along with putting up the signs, the group suggested DLNR print educational brochures and establish a new online incident reporting system.
"Although we don’t like what’s happened (regarding the group’s proposals), we kind of agreed that something had to be done," said Ollie Lunasco, president of the Oahu Pig Hunters Association. "I would rather see pet dogs kept away from trails that go through hunting areas … but then I also understand the fairness to everybody."
Reports of hunting dogs attacking pet dogs are not received often by DLNR, Lowe said, but they are still a concern for the department, along with preserving hunting as a "management tool" because it helps keep the wild hog population under control.
Hawaii Kai resident and hiker Jennifer Hee arrived at the trailhead during the news conference to hike with a group of friends and her dog, Mati. Mati was on a leash but another dog in the group was not.
"I didn’t even know this was actually a hunting area," she said of the Kuliouou Valley Trail. "Definitely, I think more awareness is necessary."
Hee said she keeps Mati on a leash when she hikes not just because she frequently sees hunting dogs, but also to protect her from other aggressive pet dogs.
"I see dogs off leash more than I see dogs on leash, for sure," she said. "It’s rare that I see other dogs on a leash."
Even though Lunasco lives near the Puu Pia Trail, he said he never brings his hunting dogs there because it’s so heavily traveled by hikers with their dogs off-leash.
"All my encounters with hikers in the mountains with pet dogs, they haven’t had it on a leash," Lunasco said. "When a confrontation happens with a dog, it’s always the hunter that gets blamed."
While Hee’s friend left to get a leash for her golden retriever, Hee said she isn’t worried about the safety of her friend’s dog because it stays by her side.
Lowe cautioned against that mentality, saying that when dogs look like they are having innocent fun sniffing around and roaming free, they are tapping into their natural hunting instincts. "Most dogs have that gene inside them, that instinct," Lowe said.
Lunasco said problems can arise when pet dogs, which are social with people but not with other dogs, encounter and bark or growl at hunting dogs.
"Because our dogs hunt in packs, the whole pack gonna come there and answer that bark," Lunasco said. "Whichever dog is on the ground, and usually it’s the pet dog, they’re gonna pull them apart."
DLNR also hopes its new reporting system will help with following up on and investigating pet dog attacks or other incidents witnessed by hikers on Oahu’s trails. It can be found at www.hawaiitrails.org.
"The (working) group was not able to bring any formal documentation (of incidents) to the table," Lowe said. "This (reporting system) is more of a management tool for us on a bigger picture — help us be the eyes and ears on trails for anything that might be out of the ordinary."
