Written by Paulo Frank

Hunting is not a very commonly practiced sport in the bay area, and with gun control and environmental issues, large topics of debate, hunting can be seen as quite controversial. For Quinn Treadway, hunting is important for multiple reasons. “It’s been a family tradition for many generations,” Treadway said. “I’ve been hunting with my dad ever since I can remember.”

Treadway hunts doves on a farmland just outside of Colusa California, he enjoys going out to hunt because he finds that it’s a way for him to connect with the important people in his life, as well as with himself. “It’s enjoyable as a family time, being able to communicate with my parents and local hunters, and it’s also a relaxing thing to do.” Treadway said. “It’s a way to connect back to the olden days, when it [hunting] was how people had to do things, which I think is cool to be in tune with.”

With all the restrictions and rules placed on hunting, it’s not as wild and dangerous of an activity as thought by some. Hunting is highly regulated and administered by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. “You have to go through a hunter’s education class and a weapon safety class in order to get the proper permits for the ability to hunt a certain animal,” Treadway said. “There are people that didn’t pass the class. You had to pay attention to what they were teaching you.”

Treadway took a weekend-long compact class rather than online classes or weekly lessons. “The class that I took was eight hours for three days, it was a compact class,” Treadway said. “On the last day we practiced shooting, gun safety, shot at targets, and took a big test that was around 100 questions.”

When sharing on his participation in hunting, Treadway has been met with many differing opinions and reactions. “They’re not exactly out of proportion reactions, it’s more of ‘I don’t want to hear anything about it, I don’t like that type of activity that you do,’” Treadway said. “Usually people are just like ‘cool, awesome.’”

For those against hunting, the killing of animals is generally a main concern. Treadway believes it is justified however, because of proper regulations and practices. “There are certain populations of birds that are overpopulated, and hunting actually allows the birds to stick within their proper numbers,” Treadway said. “Estimations are taken every year on how much overpopulation there is, so they can tell us how many birds we’re allowed to kill.”

For example, the California Department of Fishing and wildlife allows a daily bag limit of 15 Mourning Doves in the September 1-15 and November 14- December 28 seasons. These numbers are come up with based on estimations of bird populations, and are created to prevent over hunting.

For Treadway, hunting isn’t just for the joys and thrills of killing, the birds don’t die for nothing, and no part of them go to waste. “We use just about every part of the bird,” Treadway said. “We eat it, and we use the bones for our dogs.”

In the Treadway family, hunting has been more upheld as a tradition than as a sport to participate in. “For some people it’s more of a sport,” Treadway said. “I don’t think it’s a sport for me or for us, it’s a tradition.”

Hunting has always been an important familial part of Treadways life, and he plans to continue it this way far into the future, into his adulthood, and future family. “I definitely plan to continue the tradition,” Treadway said.