Threat of Axis Deer on the Big Island

[pahoated]

It's not just the deer, the sheep and goats are way out of control and with the drought, eating the bark off native trees. When hunters go after them, the sheep and goats just go up a few thousand feet and there aren't many hunters that will go after them on foot. These large mammals are destroying native ecosystems that are leading towards extinctions. They have no predators so that predator has to be us. DLNR is doing some eradication with helicopter hunting but its not that effective and the hunters complain the carcass then just goes to waste since it's usually too high up in altitude to go after. It seems a more effective method might be some cooperative effort with the DLNR helicopters and the hunters. Have the helicopter drive the goats and sheep down to lower elevations and have hunters waiting there to pick them off. Seems like it would be a lot more effective plus the carcasses are available for rending.