Hawaii hunting laws require every hunter to hold a valid state hunting license, complete hunter education before applying, and follow season, equipment, and land-access rules that vary by island. Violations are prosecuted under a mandatory-minimum fine structure, trigger license forfeiture, and, since 2021, can suspend your hunting privileges in other states.
License and Hunter Education
No one may hunt any game bird or game mammal in Hawaii without a valid hunting license. The only statutory exception is for people the Board of Land and Natural Resources authorizes in writing to remove animals threatening forests, agriculture, or public health.1Justia. Hawaii Code 183D-21 – Hunting Licenses Required
Before you can buy a license, you need a hunter education certificate. The requirement applies to anyone born after December 31, 1971, and to anyone born earlier who has never held a Hawaii hunting license. The certificate is valid for life, and Hawaii accepts hunter education completed in another state or country if the course was approved by the International Hunter Education Association.
Visitors to a licensed private shooting preserve can skip the certificate by buying a three-day or seven-day license and hunting under the direct supervision of a Hawaii-certified guide, who must deliver an on-site safety class and supervise no more than two clients at a time.
Fees
The base license is $10 for residents and $95 for non-residents. A mandatory $10 Wildlife Conservation Stamp brings the totals to $20 and $105.2Hawai`i Department of Forestry and Wildlife. Purchase a Hunting License Hunting game birds requires an additional $10 Game Bird Stamp regardless of residency. All licenses expire June 30 following issuance, so timing your purchase matters.3Justia. Hawaii Code 183D-23 – Licenses Expire When
Carrying Your License
You must carry the license in the field. Any officer enforcing game laws can demand to see it and can inspect your game bag, hunting jacket, or vehicle for concealed game.4Justia. Hawaii Code 183D-25 – Licenses Display Thereof Lending your license to anyone else is prohibited.
Licenses, hunter education records, lottery applications, and tag purchases are handled through the Go Hunt Hawaii portal. Lottery hunts carry a $10 application fee per hunter per hunt.
What You Can Hunt, and Where
Game animals in Hawaii arrived through centuries of introductions, and legal species depend on the island. The Division of Forestry and Wildlife maintains Game Management Areas on six islands, and some hunts require tags or lottery permits.5Department of Land and Natural Resources. Game Mammal Hunting
- Feral pig and feral goat: Hawaiʻi Island, Maui, Molokaʻi, Oʻahu, and Kauaʻi during open seasons.
- Axis deer: Maui, Molokaʻi, and Lānaʻi. Lānaʻi hunts are lottery only.
- Mouflon sheep: Hawaiʻi Island (open season) and Lānaʻi (lottery and open season).
- Feral sheep and mouflon-feral hybrids: Hawaiʻi Island only.
- Black-tailed deer: Kauaʻi only, by lottery drawing.
Brush-tailed wallabies and wild cattle are protected and cannot be hunted unless the Division of Forestry and Wildlife authorizes removal.5Department of Land and Natural Resources. Game Mammal Hunting
Hawaiʻi Island has six Game Management Areas, including units on Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa. Maui has two, Kauaʻi has two, and Oʻahu and Lānaʻi have one each.6Department of Land and Natural Resources. Game Management Areas Forest Reserves and some Natural Area Reserves also allow hunting under their management guidelines.
Seasons
Bird and mammal seasons run on separate calendars, and both vary by island and unit. The 2025–2026 game bird season opened November 1, 2025, and runs through January 25, 2026. Mourning dove season closes earlier, on January 11, 2026, to comply with the federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act.7Office of the Governor. 2025-2026 Game Bird Hunting Season Opens November 1
Game mammal seasons are set through administrative rules. Some areas allow year-round hunting for feral pigs and goats; lottery hunts for deer and sheep operate on tighter schedules with limited tags. Check the DLNR announcements for your island before you go.
In-the-Field Rules
Blaze Orange
In any public hunting area where firearms are permitted, you must wear a solid blaze-orange outer garment: a commercially manufactured shirt, vest, jacket, or coat in blaze orange. Camouflage-pattern orange does not count. If you are wearing a backpack or carrying game on your back, the blaze orange must still be visible from the front and the back. Non-hunters and assistants who accompany a hunter must also wear blaze orange and cannot carry loaded weapons or ammunition.
Firearm Registration
Hawaii requires every firearm to be registered. Residents and visitors who bring a firearm into the state must register it and submit it for physical inspection by the county chief of police within five days of arrival. The same five-day window applies to firearms acquired inside the state.8Justia. Hawaii Code 134-3 – Registration, Mandatory, Exceptions Antique firearms made before 1899 and certain decommissioned weapons are exempt. Out-of-state hunters should plan time for this step before the hunt.
Night Hunting
Hawaii prohibits hunting game birds, game mammals, wild birds, and wild mammals during the nighttime period, which runs from one-half hour after sunset to one-half hour before sunrise. The ban applies on private land by statute, with an exception only when DLNR authorizes night activity for wildlife damage control.9Justia. Hawaii Code 183D-27 – Night Hunting on Private Lands Prohibition Public hunting areas set their own access hours by rule, and most restrict entry to daylight.
Youth
A youth hunter is 15 or younger. Youth hunters must hold a valid license and be accompanied by a non-hunting adult who also holds a valid license. No one under 18 may hunt game mammals with a handgun.
Hunting on Private Land
You need the landowner’s permission, written or verbal, to hunt on private property. Entering without permission is a separate violation with its own penalties.
Landowners who open their land to hunters without charging a fee receive liability protections under Hawaii’s recreational use statute, Chapter 520. The statute defines “recreational purpose” to include hunting and defines a “recreational user” as someone permitted onto property without charge for such purposes.10Justia. Hawaii Code 520-2 – Definitions Once a landowner charges an access fee, the standard liability protections may no longer apply.
Penalties
Most hunting violations are petty misdemeanors under HRS 183D-5, and the fines are mandatory minimums rather than caps. A judge cannot sentence below them.11Justia. Hawaii Code 183D-5 – Penalties
- First conviction: at least $100, up to 30 days in jail, or both.
- Second conviction within five years: at least $500, up to 30 days in jail, or both. All firearms used in the violation are forfeited.
- Third or later conviction within five years: at least $1,000, up to 30 days in jail, or both, plus firearm forfeiture.
A per-animal fine stacks on top: $100 for every bird and $500 for every mammal illegally taken.11Justia. Hawaii Code 183D-5 – Penalties Three illegally taken feral pigs produce $1,500 in per-animal fines before the base penalty is calculated.
Any conviction forfeits your hunting license immediately. A second conviction bars you from obtaining a new license for three years from the date of that conviction.11Justia. Hawaii Code 183D-5 – Penalties Given how many sought-after hunts are lottery-only, a three-year suspension effectively closes the system to you for that period.
Certain violations are full misdemeanors rather than petty misdemeanors. A first conviction carries a mandatory fine of at least $200 and up to one year in jail. The second-offense minimum is $1,000, and the third is $2,000, with all animal parts and contraband forfeited.11Justia. Hawaii Code 183D-5 – Penalties Illegally possessing or transporting deer is treated more harshly still: a first-offense mandatory fine of $10,000 plus the cost of eradicating the deer and any offspring.
Hawaii joined the Interstate Wildlife Violator Compact in 2021. A conviction here can suspend your hunting privileges in every other member state, and a conviction in another member state can cost you access in Hawaii.
Hunter Harassment
It is illegal to intentionally prevent or try to prevent a licensed hunter from lawfully taking game. Prohibited conduct includes positioning yourself to disrupt the hunt, creating noise or visual disturbances to scare game, tampering with equipment, and blocking access to lawful hunting areas. Entering public or private land without permission to harass a hunter is also prohibited. The maximum penalty is a $500 fine, 30 days in jail, or both.12Justia. Hawaii Code 183D-27.5 – Harassment of Hunters Prohibition
Native Hawaiian Traditional and Customary Rights
Standard hunting regulations apply to everyone, but Article XII, Section 7 of the Hawaii Constitution, ratified at the 1978 Constitutional Convention, commits the state to protecting traditional and customary practices exercised by Native Hawaiians for subsistence, cultural, and religious purposes.
In the 2015 case State v. Palama, the Hawaii Intermediate Court of Appeals addressed a cultural practitioner hunting pig with a knife and dogs on private land. The court held that the landowner-permission requirement under HRS 183D-26 must be weighed against constitutional protections for traditional and customary practices based on the specific facts and interests at stake. A Native Hawaiian practitioner may raise this defense, but whether it succeeds depends on the circumstances of the individual case.