Kauaʻi Reopens Five Game Bird and 10 Game Mammal Hunting Units After Hurricane Lowell

Five public game bird hunting units on Kauaʻi reopened for the start of the 2026-2027 game bird season on Saturday, November 7, 2026, and 10 game mammal units are open after storm closures, the Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources said in a release from Līhuʻe on November 9. Game bird units B, E1, E2, H and I are open, and game mammal units B, C, D, E1, E2, F, G, H, J and K are open or cleared to reopen, with E1 and E2 open for both.

Units A and L stay closed until further notice. Unit A has hazardous trees and ongoing road access concerns, and Unit L is subject to ongoing negotiations over authorizing public hunting access, the department’s Division of Forestry and Wildlife said in its unit notice. Its statewide season announcement, posted in October, had listed only Units B and I as open for the whole season on Kauaʻi, with Units A, E, H and J closed for Hurricane Lowell recovery and Unit L closed pending a cooperative management agreement, so the November 9 notice adds Units E1, E2 and H for game bird hunters.

Hurricane Lowell struck Kauaʻi on September 7, blocking roads, snapping power poles and knocking out the water system in Kōkeʻe and Waimea Canyon state parks, the department said in a separate release on November 8 that announced those parks’ reopening on November 7 with an estimated 50 percent of the historic recreational cabins damaged. Hunters heading into Unit G should check with the Division of State Parks on closures affecting the Kalalau Trail and park areas. Recent weather may have left hanging or damaged trees, fallen branches and unstable vegetation in the open units, and the division asks hunters to check current area information before going out and to report significant hazards to its staff.

Kauaʻi’s game bird season runs through Sunday, January 31, 2027, with mourning dove hunting ending January 10, and the island’s public units are open to bird hunters on Saturdays, Sundays, Mondays and state holidays. A hunting license and a game bird stamp are required. Hunters bound for Unit I, the Wailua Game Management Area, should call the Līhuʻe office at 808-274-3433 to confirm access through the Rice Gate or Kondo Gate check stations, and female pheasants may be taken only at Kekaha Game Management Area. The department manages about 100,000 acres of public hunting area on Kauaʻi, about a third of the island, for roughly 2,000 licensed hunters, according to its Kauaʻi hunting page.

The Kauaʻi reopening follows the department’s October 28 notice that three Maui areas would reopen to game bird hunting on the same November 7 opener. Units A and L have no reopening date, and the statewide game bird season closes January 31, 2027.