frightfiction Chapter 36 A Deadly Nest, Hunting Silly Roe Deer in Sow Gully
Chapter 36 A Deadly Nest, Hunting Silly Roe Deer in Sow Gully
The blizzard has completely stopped; there are no more snowflakes, only a light northwest wind.
Old Qin, the old man, led a large group of 21 hunters and 43 hunting dogs against the wind toward Muzhugou. The mountain road, which was more than 20 miles long, was still covered with snow from the previous two days. Everyone waded through the "crotch snow" and trudged for half a day before finally arriving at the foot of Muzhugou in the afternoon.
After Old Qin led Li Guaizi, Old Zhang, and others to start a fire, roast some dry rations, drink some water, and rest briefly, they got busy again.
Sun Weimin's big yellow dog, being the alpha dog, was very proud and wanted to show off in front of Li Ju'an, so he took the initiative to bring it up.
"There are roe deer footprints here. Let's hunt a few roe deer and have some barbecue for dinner. The smell is so delicious."
Roe deer are common wild herbivores in the Xingan Mountains.
Roe deer are not aggressive, are naturally timid, and live in small groups of three to five. Most importantly, roe deer are rather dim-witted; when faced with danger, they will only run away. Even if a roe deer runs far away, it will still curiously run back to see what was chasing it.
Siberian roe deer are easy to hunt, and their meat is plentiful and economically valuable. Anyone would be tempted to shoot one.
Old Qin, the gunner, nodded, indicating that it was okay.
As a stalker, Li Ju'an had to use the "Taitouxiang" (a type of stalker) to track and mark the prey's whereabouts.
He yelled at Big Tiger, and Big Tiger glanced at him, immediately understanding. It raised its wet nose to sniff the air, and then trotted quickly in one direction.
Fearing something might happen to Da Hu, Qin Pao called out to Da Hua and Er Hei, who were with him, and had the two dogs follow Da Hu's footsteps.
After he finished whistling, he glared fiercely at Li Ju'an, his expression showing great dissatisfaction with him.
"If your dog goes out alone and gets into trouble, like being ripped out of the belly by a wild boar's tusks, with its intestines hanging out of the pine forest, it will be in so much pain that it won't bark anymore, and you won't be able to call it back. It'll freeze to death in this cold weather. You don't even cherish your own dog, yet you lead it into the mountains to burn incense?"
Li Guaizi, his eyes glazed with drunkenness, laughed and said, "Young man, Old Qin is feeling sorry for Da Hu again. Oh my, these past few years he's treated Da Hu better than his wife, like a precious treasure."
"Don't blame me for being nosy, but you should take a few more dogs with you when you go out. It's really not safe for a dog to go out alone. Having a couple more will keep it company."
The Xingan Mountains are teeming with wildlife. If you go out alone with a dog to track and follow wild boars, you'll be in trouble if you encounter a large herd of wild boars. You'll have to retreat quietly, or you'll face retaliation from a large group of wild boars.
If they encounter a black bear, the dog must tuck its tail between its legs and run back, fearing that if the bear catches it, grabs its crotch, and sits on it, it's a one-way trip. No matter how agile the dog is, if it gets straddled and pinned down by a black bear, it's a one-way trip.
Li Ju'an looked directly into Lao Qin's eyes and said, "If Da Hu is in trouble, he will run away in advance. If he doesn't come back, I will go up the mountain to look for him."
Hunters usually bring hunting dogs; how could they not know how long their own dogs have been gone?
The hunter and his hunting dogs naturally had an understanding of each other's abilities; otherwise, he wouldn't have allowed the hunting dogs to go on patrol alone. Of course, the most important reason was that he only had one dog, Big Tiger, and there were indeed no other hunting dogs suitable to be hunting dogs.
Old Qin, the gunner, was speechless after being rebuked. He could only let out a heavy snort and then ignore him.
Sun Weimin watched as Li Ju'an and Pao Tou'er got along, and he chuckled to himself, feeling quite smug.
Although Qin Pao always had a sour face and acted aloof and arrogant towards everyone, he had never seen Qin Pao dislike anyone else as much as he disliked Li Ju'an.
Sun Weimin wanted to show off the big yellow dog he had borrowed from the Lu family, so he whistled at it.
"Big Yellow, you go and sniff around too. It's still early to catch the cane."
He wanted Li Ju'an to know that the big yellow dog he borrowed was the leader among the hunting dogs, the main force in the hunt. What were those mountain-chasing dogs, what were those strongest Qingchuan dogs? They were all bastards, nothing but a fart in front of the leader, Big Yellow.
Big Yellow flicked its tail twice, responded, and darted off in another direction to search for the roe deer.
In fact, Da Huang wasn't going in the wrong direction. As a timid animal, Da Huang liked to spread out and search for roe deer hoof prints on the ground. About three miles from the summit, on a ridge, Da Huang was pleasantly surprised to find that the snowy mountain was covered with the footprints of wild animals, including fresh paw prints left by several roe deer. Snow particles scattered in the paw prints gathered in the palms, forming a footprint line.
Big Yellow discovered a roe deer trail.
At this moment, Da Hu, as the one who raises his head to offer incense, also sensed the route of the Roe Deer Path.
Under Qin Pao's command, Li Ju'an, along with Lao Zhang from the security department, Li Guaizi, and others, dug six "snow cellars" more than two and a half meters deep, crisscrossing around the roe deer trail and spaced two to three meters apart. More than twenty hunters came to help, and then covered the cellar entrances with large amounts of hard snow.
Li Ju'an and his two older brothers led several hunting dogs and followed the "animal trails" with many roe deer footprints into the mountains to search for the silly roe deer.
Just then, there was a rustling sound from the woods to the east. Three or four brown roe deer, their white fur on their rumps bristling, ran out down the mountain.
Sun Weimin finally got his job driving the roe deer. Ignoring the fact that Dahuang hadn't returned yet, he and several other roe deer hunters lay in ambush near the snow cellar, keeping a close watch on the roe deer from a distance. Just as they were about to reach the snow cellar, the roe deer's dog suddenly jumped up and barked loudly, and the people lying in ambush on both sides also jumped out and shouted.
Li Ju'an heard the dogs barking fiercely in the woods to the east, and the hunters were also shouting loudly.
The people near the snow cellar split into two groups and quickly ducked into the shallow ditches on either side to avoid being caught in the crossfire.
The roe deer was startled and tried to run away.
Seeing that he was about to risk his life, Sun Weimin hurriedly roared at the frightened roe deer. The roe deer was silly; startled by the roar, it actually stopped moving.
He felt a surge of heat rush to his head and roared, "Qin Pao! The roe deer is doomed!"
During a hunt, if the hunting dogs can force the wild boar to stop, this is called "setting up a nest." If the prey runs away after the nest has been set up, the nest that was set up is called a "flower nest."
Now, like this roe deer, if it's stuck in its nest and doesn't move, then that nest is called a dead nest.
Next, the hunter who is about to raise his gun makes his appearance.
Old Qin, the gunner, owns a double-barreled shotgun, which is also the most commonly used shotgun among hunters.
People in those days were incredibly resourceful; they even made their own shotgun bullets. A double-barreled shotgun is a type of shotgun with cylindrical bullets that are loaded with gunpowder and shot pellets.
Qin Pao steadily raised his gun to the face, aimed at the heart of the roe deer that was doomed, and pulled the trigger.
boom!
One shot, and it's in; the small eye goes in, the big eye comes out.
Qin Pao's marksmanship was extremely steady. At close range, he fired a shot that killed the roe deer instantly, leaving it lying stiffly on the snow, motionless.
The other three terrified roe deer were scared out of their wits by the sudden appearance of shouts and barking dogs. They desperately tried to escape along the "foot line," only to fall one by one into the snow pits set by the hunters.
The snow cellar was so deep that the roe deer could sink its entire body inside.
A group of silly roe deer struggled to the edge of the snow cellar with their little hooves, but all their efforts were in vain. They struggled desperately, but could only pant heavily from exhaustion.
Sun Weimin shouted with delight, as if showing off.
"See that? I've secured the spot and taken down four roe deer!"