I went on my first bird hunting trip last Friday Nov 11th at Kuaokala in Waianae with thanks to my guide Teichi and KKHawaii. I took my hunters ed course a few months ago (great class even if you don't hunt), paid my $30 hunting license fee online, and brought along my Mossburg 590 20" with #8 birdshot. I learned that #8 will only get small birds and that I should also have #4 and #6 for larger birds like pheasant. My "man killer" open cylinder shotgun is also less than ideal, but I plan on swapping out for a longer barrel with a different choke next time.
We checked in at the military gate at about 6am, showed our permits, and drove up the ridge. We followed the ridge to the satellite station on top. On the way we could hear the erckels around us and tracked one to a tree. Teichi flushed it out and took a single shot (only shot for the day) that missed too low. We didn't see any birds after that except for some doves and gobos flying around and hearing a few Erckels far off in the distance. We got a good workout hiking for about 2 or 3 hours and taking in the nice scenery. There were about 3 other hunters we ran across there. It was a good experience even though I didn't get to shoot anything. It was the 4th day of the hunting season so I guess all the previous hunters shot all the dumb birds, so only the smart ones are left. Saw some turkeys around, but they're not open to hunting yet as they need to make more babies.
I was still able to make my first kill after we left the hunting area. I shot a chicken with an air rifle.