Chapter 268 Deer Calling
After the rain, the mountain forest was filled with mist. The midday sun was warm and hot, quickly evaporating the moisture in the forest.
Lin Heng walked in the soft woods and found that the bark of many small trees had been worn off. For a moment he couldn't figure out what was going on.
After all, he hadn't hunted much in his previous life, so he wasn't omniscient and omnipotent.
It was not until Xiongba's roar in the distance that he saw the thing.
A huge deer antler that has fallen to the ground.
Lin Heng finally understood what the mark was. It was caused by the deer wrestling.
The Qinling Mountains are vast and home to all kinds of animals, including sika deer, but there are not as many of them as in the Greater Khingan Range. Lin Heng didn't expect to encounter one here.
I walked over and picked up the antler. It was a light brown four-slit antler, about fifty centimeters long, extremely huge, and looked full of beauty.
"Okay, you've done a great job today, find another one."
Lin Heng rubbed Xiongba's head with the deer antler and said with a smile.
The most famous thing about sika deer is of course the velvet antler, but this hardened old antler still has medicinal value. Even if it doesn't have it, Lin Heng still likes it very much. This thing itself is very beautiful and can be used as a decoration.
“Ouch!”
After Lin Heng rubbed his head twice, Xiongba worked even harder.
Lin Heng also became cautious. Judging from the situation, the sika deer might still be nearby. Generally speaking, male sika deer have a sense of territory and will not leave their territory.
There were gusts of white mist in the woods, the air was fresh with a hint of the sweetness of flowers, and the mountains in the distance were lush and green. Everything was so beautiful.
“Ouch~”
After a while, Xiongba made a sound again, obviously he had made another discovery.
Lin Heng walked over and took a look. He thought it was another deer antler, but he found it was a pile of very fresh feces, which looked like it had definitely been excreted this morning.
This was also good news for Lin Heng. He continued searching forward following some footprints on the ground.
As we walked forward, we did not find any remaining antlers, because these antlers were not just shed, but must have been there for some time.
Lin Heng thought about it and went back to look for his other half, but there was only one person who made him feel a little obsessive-compulsive.
After searching for half an hour with Xiongba, they finally found the other half of the antler under a tree. Lin Heng was finally relieved after getting both antlers.
"Let's go and look for the deer."
Lin Heng put the deer antlers into his backpack and then rubbed Xiongba's head.
It has just stopped raining and the ground is still very soft. It is easier to find animal tracks than usual because we can see footprints.
Relying on Xiongba's sensitive nose, Lin Heng continued to move forward.
"Brother, did you find anything?"
Lin Yue originally went up the other side of the hill, but when he found nothing, he came over to meet up with Lin Heng.
"Sika deer, I picked up two antlers."
Lin Heng boasted in a low voice.
"Let me see!"
Lin Yue became excited and quickly ran over, took it out of Lin Heng's backpack and looked at it again and again.
"Wow, these antlers are so cool. How did you discover them?" Lin Yue asked enviously.
Lin Heng smiled and pointed at Xiong Ba: "It's all thanks to it, I didn't discover it."
He walked along with Xiongba, whose nose was extremely sensitive and eyes were extremely sharp, and he could always discover something.
Lin Yue looked at Xiong Ba and said, "Xiong Ba is really extraordinary. He feels much more powerful than ordinary dogs."
Lin Heng smiled and said, "Yes, he is much better than ordinary dogs. I will give you one when you have puppies."
“That’s a good feeling.”
Lin Yue chuckled. Recently, he also discovered some differences between Xiongba and ordinary dogs, that is, he was too psychic, just like a human.
"Since you are here, let's track this sika deer together. It's noon now and this guy usually hides in dense bushes or grass. Be careful when you encounter grass and bushes."
Lin Heng looked at his elder brother and said.
"Okay."
Lin Yue nodded, put some distance between himself and Lin Heng, and followed Xiong Ba.
Following Xiongba's footsteps, the two soon arrived at a kudzu vine rack halfway up the mountain.
Looking down, there are more than ten acres of kudzu vines. They have entangled and covered the trees, and from the outside you can only see the green kudzu vine leaves.
The traces of footprints also clearly pointed towards the vine racks.
Lin Yue was at a loss when he saw this situation: "This is the end, it's impossible to find a deer in here."
The kudzu vines are too tangled, and there are many thorns growing inside. It would be a real torture for people to get into them, and it would definitely make a lot of noise, so they would definitely be discovered by the prey first.
Lin Heng also understood the situation. He thought for a while, looked around, and came under a huge beech tree.
Lin Heng looked at his eldest brother and said, "Brother, you hide under the tree. I'll climb up the tree to check the situation. Maybe I can find any traces."
Even if the sika deer was hiding in the kudzu vines, as long as it was plucking leaves to eat, there would definitely be noise, and he might be able to find it in the tree.
It just so happens that there is only a light breeze today, so it should not be difficult to find.
"Okay." Lin Yue nodded, thinking that this was indeed a solution.
Lin Heng took a look at the tall tree that he could just hug, put down his backpack, took out the rope and started climbing.
This rope is not for climbing trees, but only for use after reaching the top of the tree. Although tying the rope to your feet can help you climb a tree, it is inconvenient when there are too many branches.
Lin Heng held the tree trunk tightly with his hands and legs, climbing up little by little. The most difficult part was the first six or seven meters, because there was nothing to lean on, so he could only rely on his own strength.
Fortunately, Lin Heng often climbed trees when he was a child, so he was very proficient in this skill. He skillfully used the strength of his legs to climb up quickly.
It was much easier to climb to the part with branches, and I quickly climbed to the top of the tree with leverage. However, there were too many branches and I kept getting hung up on them, leaving some red marks on my arms.
The wind was quite strong at the top. I was shivering at the height of more than ten or twelve meters below. I quickly took out the rope and tied it to the main pole, and tied the other side to my waist, so that it would be okay even if I made a mistake.
After taking the safety measures, Lin Heng sat on a branch to check the condition of the kudzu rack below. The lush branches of the beech tree provided cover for Lin Heng, so he did not have to worry about being exposed.
The problem is that the field of vision is slightly limited, and when looking down it always feels like there is movement everywhere, making it much harder to distinguish than I imagined.
After sitting there for more than half an hour, Lin Heng still couldn't confirm whether there were any sika deer in there.
"What's going on?"
Seeing no movement for a long time, Lin Yue asked.
"Wait a little longer."
Lin Heng shook his head. His butt was sore from sitting. He had already changed his posture twice. His method was feasible in theory, but it was extremely difficult to implement in practice.
But he knew that hunting was like this, the game with prey was full of pain, and required patience and carefulness. So he was not in a hurry, and sat for more than two hours, searching from above little by little, over and over again.
"Isn't it in here?" Lin Yue asked in a low voice under the tree.
It was already afternoon, and he felt that there was no need to continue holding on. It would be better to go to the river valley that they had agreed on yesterday, perhaps he could find other prey.
"Wait a little longer!"
Lin Heng shook his head. If it were any other time, he would have given up, but this was a clue found after the rain, and Xiongba also confirmed it, with a high degree of accuracy.
So he was willing to wait. He could see clearly from the top of the tree that there was a bush to the southwest, and these two places were suitable for hiding. He felt that the probability of hiding here was higher.
It is already 2:30 in the afternoon. Lin Heng feels that even if it takes a nap at noon, it should get up and eat now.
Just when Lin Heng was a little sleepy, he suddenly discovered a new trace. There was a new movement at the lower left side of the kudzu rack, which was louder than any previous one and continued.
This was obviously caused by some kind of herbivore plucking leaves and eating them. Lin Heng took a few deep breaths to calm himself down, and then continued to observe carefully.
After confirming this, Lin Heng started to get down the tree without hesitation. However, his legs were a little cramped due to sitting for too long. He moved around a few times before he could barely recover.
"What's wrong? Still no harvest?" Lin Yue asked when he saw Lin Heng climbing down.
He rubbed his thigh and said excitedly, "I found it again. I know where it is."
"real?"
Lin Yue opened his eyes wide and asked excitedly.
Lin Heng made a shushing gesture and whispered, "Of course it's true. I haven't waited for so long in vain."
After taking a breath, Lin Heng continued, "I'm not sure if this thing is a sika deer or something else, but it is definitely a large animal. It is now at the lower left of the kudzu vine rack and is preparing to go out from there and enter the area at the foot of the mountain near the river."
Lin Yue said excitedly: "It's good to have it. No matter what it is, just kill it first."
Lin Heng had the same idea, and then he decided on a hunting plan. His eldest brother would wait above the prey, and Xiongba would follow him on a long route around to the lower left, waiting for the prey to come out of the kudzu vine rack before taking action.
After the discussion, the two of them quickly separated. Lin Heng took Xiongba and walked around a long distance before quickly heading down. On the way, they encountered two pheasants that were very close to them, but they didn't have time to take care of them.
After reaching the approximate location, he chose a position downwind and crouched down, while beginning to adjust the bow and arrow.
After waiting for about half an hour, there was finally some movement in the kudzu trellis. Lin Heng saw the figure of this creature through the gaps in the leaves. It had a yellowish-brown body with white spots on it. It was a sika deer.
This guy is quite cautious. After eating a few bites, he will look around and is not in a hurry to come out.
Lin Heng was about a hundred meters away from it, a little bit above him. From this distance and position he could shoot, but he was not in a hurry.
While patiently waiting for the best opportunity, I drank two sips of water to calm myself down. The more nervous I was at this moment, the more likely I was to make mistakes.
About half an hour later, when Lin Hengda's legs were numb from squatting, the huge male sika deer finally came out from the edge of the kudzu rack.
Lin Heng felt that this was the best time, as there was almost nothing obstructing his vision.
“Yoyo!!”
The sika deer made a sharp call, as thin as a whistle and extremely crisp.
call out!!
Lin Heng seized the opportunity and shot an arrow. With a whoosh, the sharp black arrow pierced through a few leaves and pierced the sika deer's chest very accurately, passing through it.
“Yoyo!!”
With a tragic roar and the sound of flesh being pierced, the sika deer rolled down the hillside, got up and ran wildly into the distance.
"Woof woof~" After enduring for a long time, Xiongba was finally able to run wildly and caught up quickly.
"Failed?" Lin Yue's voice came from above.
Lin Heng shook his head: "No, the arrow went right through it, it won't live long."
For hunters, the most difficult part of hunting is finding prey, and accuracy is a hunter's basic skill.
After saying that, he walked over and picked up the arrow. He had just pulled the bow at full force of fifty pounds, and the power was so great that the arrowhead was damaged when it hit the stone.
"Let's go and chase him."
Lin Yue had also rushed down at this time and said excitedly.
Lin Heng nodded, and the two of them quickly chased in the direction of Xiongba's shouting.
About five minutes later they saw Xiongba and the huge sika deer. It was lying on the ground with blood gushing out, its chest heaving, but it was not yet dead.
Lin Yue came over and stroked the sika deer, saying excitedly: "It's so beautiful. This guy must weigh two or three hundred pounds."
"At least two hundred kilograms." Lin Heng also smiled with satisfaction. There were two sections of antlers more than ten centimeters long on the top of the sika deer's head. These pure wild antlers were good things.
In addition, deer skin, deer penis, and deer tendons are also very valuable, and even sika deer meat is very special.
Of course, it is still far behind the black bear.
After taking a look at Xiongba who was licking the blood, Lin Heng took out an intact plastic bag and gave it to his elder brother, then took out a dagger and stabbed it into the carotid artery in his neck to let the blood out, quickly ending his life.
Some of the blood flowed out, and the amount collected was about seven or eight kilograms, filling a large bag, which required two bags to hold. Xiongba drank the rest, finishing it off completely.
Looking at the dead sika deer, Lin Yue asked, "What should we do now, brother? Should we go back or continue exploring?"
Although the weather is not as hot as in summer, the venison can't last more than three days. Lin Heng said directly: "Go back directly. It may be difficult to find a black bear. Let's look for it next time."
"Okay, then let's get ready to go back." Lin Yue nodded in agreement.
The two men first made a fire on the spot and made the deer's blood into blood clots. They then found kudzu vines and sticks to lift up the sika deer, and then carried it back.
The road back was difficult and tortuous, and it was even more difficult to walk while carrying a deer weighing more than 200 kilograms, especially since there was no tight road and we had to open up our own roads.
They had to take a rest after walking a few steps. It took more than two hours to reach the top of the mountain. When they stopped to rest, half of the sun had already hidden under the towering mountains in the west, and the sky above the mountains was blood red, very gorgeous.
The two of them looked at the mountains and valleys dotted with flowers and greenery, and were intoxicated by the beautiful scenery under the setting sun. For a moment, they felt extremely happy and picked up the water bag to drink a sip facing the setting sun.
While admiring the beautiful scenery, Lin Yue said: "Hunting is really interesting. This mountain is really full of charm."
Lin Heng patted his eldest brother's shoulder, and the shadows of the two were stretched infinitely far away: "Of course, there may be a chance to fight again tonight."
(End of this chapter)
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