Reborn in the 1980s: I made my fortune hunting wild game in Changbai Mountain

"The eagle's here! It's about 30 or 40 meters directly overhead! They've already set up a decoy!" Yue Feng whispered a warning.

Upon hearing the reminder, Xiao Weimin subconsciously looked up.

The outline of the dark shape in the sky was very clear, and the six wingtips on the edge of its wings were clearly visible.

"What kind of eagle is that?"

Yue Feng did not answer, but stared intently at the eagle in the sky, ready to pull in the net at any moment.

The standoff lasted for three seconds. Instead of swooping down to attack the tethered pigeon, the eagle took advantage of the air currents and climbed higher.

Seeing this, Yue Feng immediately pulled the rope of the eagle's crutch, trying to make the pigeon struggle and lure the eagle down again.

Unfortunately, the eagles in the sky were too vigilant. Seeing that the eagle's crutch was being pulled, it turned around and flew away without hesitation.

"Phew...it got away!" Yue Feng exhaled a breath of stale air, saying with some resentment.

"Didn't it already spot the pigeon? Why didn't it come down to catch it?" Xiao Weimin asked curiously.

Yue Feng shook his head: "Most eagles won't understand the traps we set, and they won't be wary of them. But there are a few eagles that are smarter and can detect the anomalies!"

"That eagle just now was a rabbit eagle. I suspect it was an old eagle; it was very wary. When I pulled its crutch, it immediately flew away, knowing it was a trap!"

"How can you be sure it's a rabbit hawk? I looked up just now, and with the backlighting, I could only see a dark silhouette; I couldn't make out any details like the color of its feathers!"

"Because of the number of wingtips! Both hawks and goshawks have six wingtips, but its wingspan is definitely much larger than that of a sparrowhawk. By process of elimination, it can only be a goshawk, and a female goshawk at that!" Yue Feng explained rationally.

"Oh! Will it come back?"

Yue Feng shook his head: "It's uncertain. Some still have a chance, while others will never come back!"

As Yue Feng said this, he thought of his prized falcon, the Black Hawk.

Back when we were catching eagles on Tiger Head Mountain, the big black eagle really caused a lot of trouble for Yue Feng's bait pigeons.

"Were those two gyrfalcons you caught at this falconry ground too?" Xiao Weimin suddenly asked a new question, unexpectedly coinciding with Yue Feng's thoughts.

Yue Feng shook his head: "That big black eagle is not easy to catch!"
The autumn before last, I was catching hawks here. This guy came to my hawk shop at least several times. Every time, he ate the bait that I put in the net and then escaped unharmed!

To catch it, I spent more than a week squatting on the mountain. The closest I got was less than 20 meters away from it, and I saw it take off vertically from the self-trapping net that was more than a meter high and escape!

Then it vanished without a trace, never to be seen again!

"Disappeared? How did it end up in your hands?"

"I bought the gun and found it by chance while hunting in the mountains!"

When we hunters hunt, we hang the entrails of our prey on trees to worship the mountain god. This big black eagle discovered this pattern, and whenever it hears a gunshot, it flies over to eat the entrails!
Later, I discovered this detail: they used fresh entrails to set up a snare and caught it!

When Yue Feng mentioned his Black Hawk, the corners of his mouth involuntarily turned up. This legendary falcon has played a significant role in Yue Feng's personal and career development.

"What about the white spear? Was it caught using the same method?"

Yue Feng shook his head: "No! That white spear was something we encountered by chance while catching a sable in the mountains hundreds of kilometers away!"
It was chased away by the big black eagle at the time, but some days later, I don't know how, it chased after me back home!
The big black eagle was circling above my yard when this one appeared. During a fight with the big black eagle, it was kicked and knocked down. I picked it up, carefully tended to its wounds, and trained it to be a hunting falcon!

"This...this is too dramatic!"

After hearing the story of the two gyrfalcons, Xiao Weimin's eyes lit up, filled with many unexpected emotions.

Yue Feng grinned: "Hehe, who says otherwise!"
An ordinary falconer may never see a wild gyrfalcon in his entire life.

And I, in just a few short years, have encountered two! God has given us a chance!

……

The two of them chatted for a long time in the hut about the technical details of gyrfalcon domestication, and before they knew it, more than half an hour had passed.

Just a second ago, Yue Feng was calmly speaking, but the next second, he quickly pulled down the drawstring.

brush!
An eagle swooped down quickly, but before it could even touch the pigeon bait on the ground, it was caught in the net and trapped on the ground.

jijiji!

Yue Feng pursed his lips: "Caught a kite! Did the camera miss it?"

"A hawk?"

"Its scientific name is Sparrowhawk! You can tell from its call; it's a bit softer than a goshawk's!"

"I didn't anticipate what was happening, and the sparrow didn't react in time, so I didn't turn it on!"

"It's alright, I'll go and pick the sparrowhawk down first!"

Yue Feng crawled out of the tent and ran to the net.

It was an old hawk, at least three years old, with the feathers on either side of its eyes turned a dark red with a metallic sheen. It was not large, but its wings were extremely thin, making it a fast hawk with a single feather and hard bones.

Yue Feng took the hawk down, then put the net back in place, and returned to his hut clutching the kite.

"Look, this is a sparrowhawk that's at least three years old! This guy is incredibly fast; it must have swooped down from the angle of the sun to launch a sneak attack! That's why even the little sparrow didn't have time to react!"

Yue Feng showed the eagle to Xiao Weimin, who then turned on the camera.

"Swooping down from the direction of the sun to launch a sneak attack? Is that a hunting technique?"

"Yes! And it's a hunting technique that only a seasoned eagle would have!"
Humans and animals sometimes share the same principles!

Eagles catch their prey not only by relying on instinct, but also by using clever and efficient methods!

Most small animals dare not look directly at the sun, and this hawk took advantage of this characteristic.

The angle at which the sun is located is a blind spot for small animals. Diving down from here to launch a sneak attack can greatly increase the success rate!

Not only hawks know this trick, but also flying masters like peregrine falcons, saker falcons, and even golden eagles use this technique when hunting!
Look at this eagle. Although it's an old one, its skeletal structure and physical characteristics are different from the ordinary eagles in front of it!
Look how thin its wings are, and how excellent its feathers are—each feather has a strong bone! This hawk may not be large, but if it were a young hawk from back then, it would be worth keeping for training!

Without comparison, there is no harm. Xiao Weimin had seen the details of the wings of the tattered pheasant he caught yesterday up close, and compared to the old hawk in front of him, the difference was indeed very obvious.

"Tsk tsk tsk, it's all the same principle! Some people can only be ordinary people, while others can be athletes!" Xiao Weimin nodded repeatedly after reading Yue Feng's explanation.

"Let him go, the old man is useless!" Yue Feng asked.

"Yeah, if you stay, I'll have to provide meals!"

Yue Feng didn't even leave the hut. He held the hawk tightly, stretched his hand out through the observation window, and then immediately let go, letting the old hawk fly away as if it were fleeing. After catching this hawk, the rest of the morning seemed to be spent stirring up trouble in the hawk's nest.

By 11:30 a.m., they had caught three sparrowhawks, including a two-year-old golden hawk of good quality.

However, none of these eagles were Yue Feng's target. After briefly examining and commenting on them, he casually released them.

When it was time for lunch, Xiao Weimin's stomach started growling.

Hearing this, Yue Feng smiled and asked, "Brother Xiao, shall we have lunch? I'm hungry!"

Xiao Weimin nodded: "Okay, I'm hungry too, my stomach is growling! Damn it, we caught a lot of hawks this morning, but we didn't catch our target species!"

"Don't rush, the wind didn't let up at noon, it'll definitely keep blowing this afternoon! There'll definitely be another chance! There's hot water in the thermos, let's eat the buns with the hot water and warm our stomachs up!"

"it is good!"

……

Soon, the crew, including Yue Feng, had hot water and lunch. They had filmed a very clear scene of catching a hawk that morning, which meant they had basically completed the footage shooting for that scene.

After lunch, Yue Feng took out a slice of meat wrapped in cabbage leaves from his bag and handed a slice to the pheasant-watching tiger tied to the shelf.

The little guy was terrified all morning, spending most of the time standing on the pole, extremely nervous.

Seeing that its owner had given it a piece of meat, it immediately grabbed the meat and moved to the spot where the nails were being hammered, quickly hanging the meat on the tip of the nail.

"Hey! You watch sparrows, and you even hang up the meat to tear it apart and eat it! I didn't notice that detail yesterday!"

Xiao Weimin adjusted his camera lens and captured a close-up shot of someone eating meat hanging on a plate.

"The shrike, also known as the butcher bird! This thing is very fierce in the wild. It is nicknamed the hawk among sparrows. It can eat anything it can subdue, such as mice, toads, lizards, small birds, insects, and small snakes!"
This little guy has a hooked beak like an eagle, and its bite force is amazing!

However, the only drawback is that its claws are not very strong, so it cannot step on its prey to eat like a bird of prey!

So they evolved this habit: hanging the meat on thorns or tree branches, and then tearing it apart to eat little by little!

Yue Feng was explaining the habits of shrikes to Xiao Weimin when he suddenly saw the shrike, which had been tearing apart its own flesh and eating food just a moment ago, stop eating and, as if it had suddenly lost control of its body, plunge vertically from its perch into the 'air-raid shelter' on the ground.

Seeing this, Yue Feng glanced at the bait location in front of him.

Suddenly, a huge eagle swooped down from the sky without warning and grabbed the gray pigeon on the ground.

"Grass!"

Yue Feng couldn't help but swear, and pulled the net half a beat too late.

After successfully catching the pigeon, the eagle tried to take flight and escape, but the pigeon was carrying a small vest on its back, and the rope on the vest was used to tie the eagle's crutch.

The eagle wanted to escape with its prey, but it was tied by the rope and couldn't run away immediately, pausing for a mere half-second.

In that half-second, a lot could be done; Yue Feng's net came tucked down with a whoosh of wind.

The eagle tried to dodge, but its angle and force were calculated, and it only managed to escape to the edge of the net, about four or five loops away, before being trapped on the ground.

Chi Chi Chi!
A series of screams rang out, and Yue Feng handed the rope to Xiao Zhang, who was next to Xiao Weimin.

"Xiao Zhang, hold on tight to the rope! The eagle is on the edge of the net; if the net loosens, it will escape!"

Upon hearing this, Xiao Zhang immediately tightened his grip on the rope, and Yue Feng quickly crawled out of the shack and darted towards the location of the net.

When Yue Feng arrived in front of this unruly eagle, he only glanced at it before his face lit up with joy.

Yesterday I was explaining the second-tier eagles to Xiao Weimin, and today he actually encountered one.

Yue Feng quickly squatted down, using the eagle cage sleeve on his hand to attract attention, and then pressed down on the large eagle at the bottom of the net. He then signaled Xiao Zhang to release the rope pulling the net.

Xiao Zhang loosened the rope, and Yue Feng carefully removed the net cable, holding the beautiful exotic white eagle in his hands.

The eagle in my hand was at least a size larger than an ordinary goshawk, and its feathers were a much lighter color than those of an ordinary hawk.

The feathers on its back are a rare diamond pattern, with a clear distinction between black and white. The pattern on its breast is even more unusual, with pure black dots the size of a fingertip on a white background.

After examining the plumage, look at the head, face, and other features.

Although it is clearly the feathers of a young eagle, the eagle's eyes are not the common light yellow or the rare watery white, but a deep yellow with a slight persimmon red tinge, just like a three-year-old eagle.

It's quite rare for an eagle to have young, bright eyes, and even rarer for a young eagle to have old eyes. This is only the second time Yue Feng has seen one in his two lifetimes, including this one.

After looking at the eyes, look at the head shape.

The head features high brow bones and two beautiful white eyebrows. The top of the head is relatively flat, but it's not the short, thick, flat frog-like shape. Paired with a perfectly sized eagle beak, the overall outline of the head is quite three-dimensional.

Looking at the eagle's wings again, the wing bars are very thin when folded up, and they make a very textured rustling sound when touched.

It's the same type as the old hawk we caught this morning—single-feathered, hard-boned, and obviously extremely fast.

Finally, there's the eagle's talons, with a pale yellow shaft that, while considerable in length, is also remarkably thick.

Yue Feng carefully measured the size of the eagle's outstretched claws. These two large claws were comparable to the invincible steel claws of the big black eagle at Yue Feng's house, and were at least one size larger than the claws of an ordinary rabbit eagle.

In terms of subspecies, this eagle belongs to the goshawk species that breeds and lives in the Far East of Siberia. In the industry, it is called a grass eagle.

However, in terms of appearance, this eagle's shape and feather color are significantly different from those of a common white eagle.

In his past life, Yue Feng had personally witnessed at least dozens of grass eagles that migrated a little later, but none of them had the appearance of this eagle.

Eagles that exhibit unusual signs must possess extraordinary abilities; this is an experience summarized by generations of eagle handlers.

This rare, top-quality white eagle in front of me is definitely a formidable opponent.

"Haha, Brother Xiao, we've exceeded our mission goals this time!!" Yue Feng looked around at the newly caught eagles and couldn't help but excitedly greet them.

Xiao Weimin, a beat slower, also came out of the shack. Seeing Yue Feng's delighted expression, he asked curiously, "How's this eagle? Is it top-quality?"

Yue Feng nodded: "This is the Grass White Eagle I mentioned to you yesterday! But it's not an ordinary Grass White Eagle, it's a rare and top-quality one!"

Look at those claws! Compared to the pheasant we caught yesterday, the difference is obvious!

Following the warning, Xiao Weimin's gaze swept over the exceptionally large talons of the top-grade grass-white eagle, and he gasped. (End of Chapter)