Chapter 339 Hunting
Hunting rabbits or setting traps with just two people would not be very effective, and the two of them could not take care of the rabbits in such a large meadow.
To control the number of rabbits, it is better to have some carnivores to balance the ecology. At present, the carnivores that prey on rabbits on the meadow include foxes, lynxes, eagles, etc. in addition to the jackals and wolves we have seen before.
One or two foxes can still be seen from time to time, but the lynx that appeared last year and then disappeared has not been seen again. The eagle has not appeared since the weather warmed up this year. I don’t know if it is because it has not returned from migration or for some other reason.
The two couldn't think of any other solution for the moment, so they could only try to set more traps.
Nearly twenty days had passed from sowing wheat, corn and rapeseed to transplanting rice seedlings. The corn in the cornfield had already sprouted. Mu Xi stayed at home to thin out the corn seedlings, while Zhao Yeqing took a spear and bow and arrow and prepared to go out hunting.
She thought that now that there were so many rabbits it was a good opportunity to practice. She could use the infestation of rabbits as targets to practice her archery skills.
In fact, ever since the wolves came in the winter, she had been thinking about practicing her martial arts skills. After getting the spear, she had no space to practice, so she could only do some exercises from time to time to improve her physical fitness.
Now that spring has arrived and the first wave of crops have been planted, she can use this free time to practice hunting.
Hunting on the meadow is not like what is shown in TV dramas, where a group of people ride horses into a woods and draw their bows and shoot arrows when they see animals. In fact, animals living in the wild are very alert. The sound of horse hooves is so loud that they may have pricked up their ears and become alert when they hear the movement from a distance.
When Zhao Yeqing arrived at the place where she had previously discovered many traces of rabbit activity, she dismounted her horse a long distance in advance, letting Xiaohong find food nearby while she quietly walked over.
He walked to the top of the hill with ease and lay down in the grass, using the grass as cover, waiting for the target rabbit to appear.
Zhao Yeqing has gained a lot of experience in the mountains and has come to a conclusion: in addition to excellent hunting skills, the most important thing for a good hunter is patience.
She just lay on the top of the hill, resting her head on her hands, staring at the grass at the foot of the hill with boredom.
The rabbits are quite noticeable. The rabbits in these mountains are either white, gray or yellow. Except for the yellow ones which may be easily overlooked on the grass, the other two colors are very conspicuous as soon as they appear.
After thirty or forty minutes, Zhao Yeqing finally saw the first rabbit. She slowly stood up, pulled the bowstring in her hand to its full extent, aimed at the rabbit and shot it out.
As expected, the arrow missed the target. When the rabbits heard the sound of the arrow, they stood up straight and looked around with their ears perked up.
At this moment, Zhao Zhao Yeqing didn't know whether she should be relieved or sad. The arrow she shot was too accurate and it hit the ground five or six meters away from the rabbit.
If she had been more accurate, the arrow would have been closer to the rabbit and it might have been scared away. It was precisely because the arrow was too inaccurate that the rabbit did not notice the existence of the bow and arrow when it raised its head.
Zhao Yeqing breathed a sigh of relief and put another arrow on the bow. This time he had the parabola of the last arrow as a standard. With a little idea in his mind, he shot another arrow at the rabbit.
This one was an improvement over the previous one, and it went straight into the mud next to the rabbit. The rabbit was startled and ran forward. Zhao Yiqing didn't want to let go of this prey that he had finally found, so he immediately ran down the hill.
While running, he did not forget to put his fingers in his mouth and whistled. Xiaohong, who was not far away, heard the whistle and quickly caught up with Zhao Yeqing.
The rabbits on the meadow couldn't dig holes by themselves. Zhao Yeqing grabbed the saddle and climbed onto the horse. He squeezed his legs together and Xiaohong caught up with the rabbit in a short while.
But her shooting skills were so poor that she could hardly hit a stationary target, let alone shoot on horseback. The rabbit she chased disappeared into the woods, and Zhao Yeqing's arrows were all in vain.
He could only pull Xiaohong back and pick up the arrows he had shot along the way.
Although he didn't catch any prey, Zhao Yeqing thought it was still quite fun. He didn't get discouraged and returned to the same hill where he had been before and continued to lie down and wait.
It was not until the evening when Zhao Yeqing returned home that he finally got his first catch.
The rabbit was very close to her at the time, with its back to her and not moving. It was very fat and she shot it with one arrow. Zhao Yeqing was so happy that she grabbed the rabbit's ear and carried it home with a great sense of accomplishment.
Many people start a hobby because it makes them feel very fulfilled or they find that they have a talent that exceeds that of others in this hobby.
So from that day on, Zhao Yeqing developed a strong interest in archery and hunting.
He had to go out and try every day. From almost no gains in the beginning to bringing home two or three rabbits every day, Zhao Yeqing later began to increase the difficulty for himself. He would chase the rabbits he found on horseback and shoot them on horseback.
The difficulty increased dramatically, and she started to get nothing all day long again.
After a whole day of chasing on Xiaohong, Zhao Yeqing didn't catch any fish, but he never got tired of it. By the time the vegetable seedlings at home were almost ready to be moved to the fields for planting, Zhao Yeqing's hit rate when chasing on horseback had reached 50%.
After Mu Xi finished his housework, he would occasionally come to the meadow to watch the game. Whenever he saw Zhao Yeqing's progress, he would respond immediately and cook delicious food at home every day to encourage her.
He also made her a beautiful red riding suit. In his spare time, Mu Xi liked to watch her galloping and hunting on the meadow. Her long black hair was tied into a high ponytail, which was blown by the wind when she galloped, making her look rare and bright.
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