Chapter 207 Ambush with the Musk Deer

"No, can you stop talking so fast? Good grief, you've really steered us into a ditch."

Sheng Xiping had just said that musk deer were hard to catch, which made everyone a little discouraged, but then he said that they could hunt them.

This left Wang Jianshe and the others both amused and exasperated, so they grabbed Sheng Xiping by the neck. "Quick, tell me, how are we going to fight?"

"Then how else can we fight? We'll just use guns." Sheng Xiping deliberately provoked them by refusing to explain how they would fight.

"Isn't that obvious? Do you think we don't know to use guns? What else could we use but stones?"

Those few were so angry at Sheng Xiping that they rolled their eyes.

"Speak up quickly, or don't blame us for being rude to you."

You know, we've been wanting to get our hands on you for ages. Seeing how smug you are every day makes us so envious.

Wang Jianshe put his arm around Sheng Xiping's neck and threatened him.

"Keep your voice down, don't disturb the musk deer. These things have very sensitive hearing, you might scare it away."

Sheng Xiping wasn't afraid of these pretentious kids. He didn't care at all and even tried to intimidate them.

Sure enough, Wang Jianshe fell for the traps several times and immediately became cautious. "Quickly, tell me, how do we fight?"

Sheng Xiping smiled and said, "Let's go, let's take a walk around here first."

To hunt, you must have a thorough understanding of the habits of your prey.

Musk deer are ruminants; they get up to forage before dark each day.

They generally feed on the tender branches, leaves, lichens, mosses, twigs, buds, and wild fruits of pine, fir, and cedar trees.

After foraging for food, the musk deer finds a place it deems safe, lies down, and chews its food.

The musk deer belongs to the deer family. When it lies down, it regurgitates the food it has eaten into its mouth to chew it a second time before swallowing it.

They eat before dark, then get up before midnight to take a walk around their territory, then come back to forage for food, and then chew it up again.

Before dawn, they continue to forage for food. After eating their fill, they find a water source to drink. After drinking, they find a safe place to chew their food and rest all day.

To hunt musk deer, you need to find their routes, then find a suitable place to ambush them, and shoot them dead when they pass by.

That's why Sheng Xiping said he wanted to take a walk around the area.

Everyone always looked up to Sheng Xiping, and they would follow whatever Sheng Xiping said.

So everyone followed the mountain path in front of them and wandered around the mountains for quite a while.

Finally, Sheng Xiping identified two ambush locations.

"Let's ambush near this rocky cliff. This should be the route that the musk deer always take when they come out to forage."

If we don't find anything here, let's go to that warm spring we just saw.

Sheng Xiping pointed to the rocky cliff not far away and determined the ambush location.

There was a small platform on the rocky cliff, about a foot wide. Sheng Xiping saw it earlier; there was a lot of musk deer droppings on it.

This proves that musk deer frequently walk on that area.

If they lie in ambush and hide in this area, they're sure to get something when the musk deer come out and pass by.

They entered the mountains at almost ten o'clock in the morning, and after wandering around for dozens of miles, it was already afternoon.

Perfect timing! We'll lie in ambush nearby, waiting for the musk deer to come out and hunt after dark, then find an opportunity to shoot them.

Once the location was decided, everyone got busy.

First, they went to the distant woods to cut some wood, and then built a hut in the grass near the rocky cliff.

The hut was covered with tree bark and dry grass, and some branches were placed haphazardly on top to camouflage it as much as possible so that the musk deer would not notice anything amiss.

After that, the group squatted in the shack, no one spoke, just waited quietly.

Sheng Xiping and Chen Weiguo stuck their gun barrels out of the makeshift shack, keeping a close watch on the outside movements.

As darkness fell, the wind howled and whistled through the woods.

This kind of weather is perfect for ambushes, because the noise will affect the animals' judgment.

"Be careful, I reckon the musk deer will be out soon."

Sheng Xiping glanced at the situation outside and reminded Chen Weiguo, as well as the others behind him, to be careful and not make any noise.

Just as Sheng Xiping finished speaking, he suddenly saw something jump up onto the rocky cliff not far away.

Sheng Xiping had a keen eye and recognized it at a glance as a musk deer.

The musk deer looks somewhat like a deer, with a small head, large eyes, long, erect ears, a short tail, and slender limbs, with its hind limbs longer than its forelimbs.

Compared to deer, it is smaller and has no antlers, and its whole body is dark brown.

At this time of year, male and female musk deer live together.

Therefore, there were not just one musk deer on that rocky cliff, but five or six.

"Pick the bigger ones to fight," Sheng Xiping instructed.

Male musk deer are slightly larger and have a scent sac, while females are slightly smaller and do not have a scent sac.

The hunter's rule is to try to shoot the male rather than the female; besides, shooting the female is pointless and a waste of time.

As he spoke, Sheng Xiping aimed at the front shoulder of one of the musk deer, pulled the trigger, and fired a shot.

At the same time, Chen Weiguo also fired his gun, the sound echoing through the forest and carrying far.

Two deer were shot; one of them rolled off the rocky cliff and landed in the bushes below.

The other one struck its hind leg, and the roe deer leaped forward, attempting to run along the rocky cliff.

The other musk deer were stunned for a moment when the gun went off, then jumped around in all directions and scattered in panic.

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