029 Jon Sabati - Turkey Hunting Hawaii

Jon Sabati, a native of Hawaii,  never thought that spring turkey hunting would be such a big part of his life, considering that boar hunting was the premier hunt of the pacific.  Jon was introduced to fall turkey hunting by Deane Gonzalez who moved to Hawaii from Pennsylvania. At that time Hawaii didn’t have a spring season.  After guiding Dick Kirby on a big game hunt, Dick took Jon to Missouri and taught him the basics of spring turkey hunting.  Through the efforts of Deane Gonzalez, Hawaii opened spring turkey hunting and soon after Jon was hired by Kealia Ranch to guide turkey hunts.     Deane Gonzalez also started a NWTF chapter on Oahu and with the help of Dick Kirby a small group of dedicated Big Island hunters started a NWTF Chapter on the Big Island. With the help of the NWTF the chapter was able to make contributions to the state department to buy equipment, guzzlers, build hunter check stations, plant hundreds of native trees to improve habitat conditions and trap and transfer nuisance turkeys.    Jon then attended an NWTF convention in Nashville and held a seminar on hunting in Hawaii, where he met Ray Eye and invited him to hunt Hawaii.  After guiding turkey hunts for more than 15 years Jon says that each turkey hunt is just as exciting as the first one.