His hunting license still crisp and new, 10-year-old Chad Dias
is already an old pro when it comes to the great outdoors. The 20
pound turkey sitting in his mother’s freezer is evidence of
that.
His hunting license still crisp and new, 10-year-old Chad Dias is already an old pro when it comes to the great outdoors. The 20 pound turkey sitting in his mother’s freezer is evidence of that.
But for Dias, the youngest of five youths who spent Saturday morning with their fathers and other outdoorsmen on a Junior Turkey Hunt at the Cañada De Los Osos Ecological Preserve in the eastern hills of Gilroy, hunting isn’t about killing animals – it’s about tradition, learning lessons that books can’t teach and spending time together.
During the down time – and there’s a lot of down time during hunting – Dias and his father, who made the two hour drive from Brentwood near Antioch to spend the day hunting with his son, whiled away the hours getting to know their section of the preserve. Decked out in camouflage coats and sweatshirts and toting 12 gauge shotguns, the guides and parents pointed out the local flora and fauna to the children, who ranged in age from 10 to 16.
“It might be slow in the beginning but it’s just cool to go out in nature,” said Dias, a precocious child who just got his hunting license in November. “If it’s really slow, you can just look around and see what the other animals are doing. When the turkeys came, they were just strutting around. They always look before they go anywhere. But it is kinda cool to shoot something.”
With fewer and fewer wild habitats in California due to development, both wildlife and hunters are on the decline. The number of licensed hunters plunged 50 percent in the last 10 to 15 years to the current population of about 400,000, said Henry Coletto, a retired game warden who spent nearly four decades patrolling Santa Clara County’s preserves. Yet, hunting advocates are reaching out to youth to promote the fading pastime. The number of animals harvested per year also dropped precipitously with the decline in hunters. In the ’50s and ’60s, about 2,000 deer were harvested in the county per year. These days, the number of deer harvested per year is closer to 350, Coletto said.
“When I was a kid, there were deer all over,” Coletto said. “But when you go out hunting, a lot of times you’re not successful and that’s even more true today.”
One of Coletto’s favorite memories of a pig hunt he ran was the look on the children’s faces when a bobcat stalking its prey near the group’s Jeep snatched a dove out of midair.
“Everybody thinks hunting is about going out and killing an animal,” said Rob Dias, Chad’s father. “But it’s a bonding experience. This weekend is something we’ll remember forever.”
As part of an unspoken hunter’s code, Rob Dias felt it was his duty to pass on his love for the sport to younger generations. After 39 years as a hunter, Rob Dias still remembers his childhood spent fishing with his grandfather.
“You can’t learn everything in a book,” he said. “Outdoors, you learn about nature, biology and making ethical decisions.”
Ron Lara, president of Western Wildlife Adventures, an adventure and wildlife tour operator out of Chico, said that while hunting is thriving in other states, the sport gets bad publicity in California. But a small group of hunting enthusiasts keeps the tradition alive.
“It’s part of the heritage of this country,” he said.
Hunters are just doing the dirty work that meat-eating humans who condemn hunting won’t do, he said.
“I’ve never taken a vegetarian on a hunt,” he said with a laugh.
But hunters aren’t all takers, Rob Dias said. The hunting community is an enthusiastic supporter of biological research and setting aside land for nature preserves, he said.
Not only will the Dias family enjoy 20 pounds of meat from the succulent turkey Chad Dias brought home and proudly presented to his mother – who wasn’t a “big fan,” he said – they also plan to mount the bird as a gift for Chad on his upcoming birthday. Even after the meat is long gone, Chad will remember this past weekend for the experience he shared with his father.
“I got a chance to hang out with my dad,” he said. “That was one of the best parts.”
