Chapter 96 Wild Boars Join the Fun
After breakfast, Sheng Xiping ignored his sixth brother's expectant little eyes and took away all the things that Sun Yunpeng and the others had brought.
When he arrived at the collective household area, most people had already arrived. Sheng Xiping put the things on the wooden stump in the yard.
"Um, these were bought by Sun Yunpeng and Du Jiabin for everyone."
If anyone gets hungry later, they can take something to eat.
We're all from the same educated youth team; we'll have to live and study together, and progress together in the future.
Sheng Xiping's words surprised Gao Haining, Wang Jianshe, and other former educated youth from Qianchuan.
The two groups have been at odds for a long time, so what's going on today?
Have those people changed their ways, or has the captain let the weasel demon go crazy? Why are they starting to talk nonsense?
Just as Wang Jianshe was about to ask a question, he saw Sheng Xiping wink at him.
Wang Jianshe understood somewhat, so he reached out and tugged at the hands of the people around him.
“We’ve always listened to the captain, so since the captain has said so, we naturally have no objections.”
From now on, we'll be brothers in the same trench; let bygones be bygones for those trivial matters of the past.
Starting today, let's get along well and grow together.
Once one person takes the lead, the others follow suit and all echo his sentiments.
Then, the two groups of educated youth from Qianchuan Forest Farm and Songjianghe shook hands and chatted and laughed, as if they had never had any conflict before.
It's getting late, time to get to work. The sooner we get the collective household ready, the sooner they can move in.
So everyone was quite proactive, and everything was arranged in an orderly manner, keeping things busy but not chaotic.
During the midday break, they would all gather together to chat, laugh, and joke around. Some people even asked Sheng Xiping to tell them about hunting.
Sheng Xiping didn't hide anything and told everyone all the hunting tips his master had taught him.
For example, the habits of wild animals, how to track prey in mud and snow, how to hunt, and how to set traps.
He spoke frankly and without reservation, leaving the group of people dumbfounded.
"Let's hurry up and finish cleaning the house, then take over the land. Let me tell you, autumn is the best season for hunting."
At this time, both wild boars and black bears are fattening up, reaching their fattest state.
"Hunting a decent wild boar is enough for us to have a good meal."
As the lunch break was about to end, Sheng Xiping stood up, dusted himself off, and said with a smile.
Everyone was really itching to get their hands on a wild boar and stew it right away, thanks to Sheng Xiping's words.
In the afternoon, everyone was full of energy and worked quickly.
In the evening, it was Sun Yunpeng's group's turn to keep watch.
I originally thought that since the badgers had all been caught, they would be quieter at night, and they could just come out for a stroll and find a place to rest.
Unexpectedly, a group of wild boars came into the field in the middle of the night.
Fortunately, someone went out to relieve themselves that night and heard something was wrong from the cornfield, so they quickly ran back to call for help.
Sun Yunpeng and his men rushed over with their guns and fired a few shots into the field, scaring the wild boar away.
When I got up in the morning, I saw that the cornfield had been damaged and a small patch of the sweet potato field had been uprooted.
"Captain, a wild boar got into the fields last night. What should we do?"
During the morning shift change, those who had been on night watch all looked dejected.
This is never-ending. If the badgers don't come to cause trouble, then wild boars will come. Will things never get any better?
"Look at you all, heads down and drooping, is it really necessary?"
Didn't we just say yesterday that we'd go hunting in the mountains in a few days and bring back a whole wild boar to eat?
The wild boar has practically delivered itself to our doorstep, so let's just shoot it down. If we catch it, we'll have some meat.
Upon seeing this, Sheng Xiping laughed and comforted everyone.
Upon hearing this, everyone exclaimed, "Oh, that makes sense!" and immediately perked up again.
"It's a pity we don't know how to hunt, so the captain has to take the lead."
"Okay, don't rush. Here's what we'll do: you guys get to work, and I'll take a few people over to take a look. Then we'll make a plan and see how to deal with these pigs."
Sheng Xiping just arrived and hasn't even gone to the fields yet; he needs to figure out the situation first.
And so, Sheng Xiping, along with Wang Jianshe, Sun Yunpeng, and a few others, went to the site where the wild boar had entered the previous night to check on the situation.
Wild boars are omnivorous animals with a wide range of diets.
In spring and summer, they eat wild fruits, grass roots, grass seeds, tender shoots, wild vegetables, mushrooms, insects such as earthworms, and small animals such as squirrels.
In autumn and winter, people eat nuts such as red pine nuts, hazelnuts, walnuts, and hickory nuts.
Sometimes when they are extremely hungry, they will eat dead animals. When they cannot find food in winter, they will also gnaw on tree bark and rotten wood.
Wild boars root and destroy large areas of farmland while searching for earthworms, rodents, plant roots, and fallen nuts.
In autumn, wild boars sneak into farmland and steal crops.
They like to steal corn, potatoes, sweet potatoes, etc., which can cause great damage to farmers.
The land behind the forest is close to the earth, and this year a lot of corn, sweet potatoes, and potatoes were planted, which attracted wild boars.
Fortunately, it was discovered in time last night; a large area of corn and sweet potatoes were damaged.
Sheng Xiping led his men to investigate the field and found many wild boar hoof prints of various sizes.
Sheng Xiping looked at the hoof prints and roughly measured their size with his hand.
Generally speaking, hoof prints that are about an inch long usually indicate a year-old animal weighing over 100 pounds.
Those with hoof prints about an inch and a half in size are mostly yellow-haired foals weighing over 100 pounds.
If the hoof prints are two inches or more, the animal must weigh over 200 pounds.
Those that can reach three inches in length usually weigh three or four hundred pounds or more.
A similar approach can be used to determine the size of a wild boar by observing the size of its stride.
You can also distinguish between male and female animals by their hoof prints.
The front of a sow's foot is relatively narrow and long, with one hoof in front of the other, while a boar's foot is round with a square shape and thick hooves.
“There are quite a few pigs. Judging from the hoof prints, there are at least two or three sows with seven or eight piglets.”
After examining the situation, Sheng Xiping had a general idea of what was going on.
There were no boars, only sows and piglets; this litter should be easy to hunt.
If there were a large running basket weighing three or four hundred pounds or more, that would be quite troublesome.
“Let’s go to the small repair shop, get some clamps, and then go to the factory to get some wire rope to make a loop.”
Wild boars have a habit of following familiar routes. Generally speaking, wild boars follow fixed routes when they come out to forage.
They come from the same road and will usually return by the same road.
If there were many hunters and hunting dogs, they would simply surround and kill them with a barrage of shots.
However, apart from Sheng Xiping, who was a proper hunter, the rest of the educated youth team were all mediocre hunters.
Yes, they all learned shooting and such when they were in school, and every spring, the training ground would organize target practice.
Knowing how to shoot doesn't mean you can hit the target, especially at night when facing a fierce wild boar. What if someone misses and hits their own companion instead of the boar?
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
