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

"There's no need for a black falcon; a regular white fledgling will suffice!"

"The offspring of the Black Eagle and the White Spear must have no problems with their physical attributes, right?" Ye Jianjun asked.

Yue Feng nodded after listening: "The hardware is definitely not a problem, but if we want to do breeding, we still need to work on the software!"

"Making a fuss about software? What does that mean?"

Ye Jianjun frowned slightly upon hearing this. Could there be some threshold he was unaware of?

Yue Feng explained, "I can definitely leave you a pair of eaglets, but you can't expect them to be used as breeding birds!"

The first-generation eaglets here are all offspring of the mating of the big black eagle and the little white spear!

If they are used to reproduce the next generation, it would be a classic case of inbreeding!
Black-colored gyrfalcons are acceptable for breeding through inbreeding due to their plumage color.

Even if there are fewer healthy individuals among the offspring, they are still rare enough that if a knowledgeable buyer wants to breed them, one can sell for the price of ten or even a hundred of the same species! This is enough to make up for the loss in production due to inbreeding.

However, it would be inappropriate for white eaglets to engage in inbreeding!

The best solution is to find someone who also has artificially imprinted gyrfalcons of other breeds and exchange their hawks for new pairs. This way, there's no risk of inbreeding between different bloodlines!

After listening to Yue Feng's detailed answer, Ye Jianjun scratched his head: "Uh! There's so much to it? Can't we just use inbreeding?"
Those who keep pigeons don't seem to care as much! Is the probability of problems arising from inbreeding really that high?

"Inbreeding pigeons isn't without its problems! If you encounter a strain with genetic defects, inbreeding can easily lead to various issues!"
The reason why pigeons from well-established lofts that have undergone inbreeding are less likely to have problems is that, on the one hand, they have undergone decades or even longer of continuous selection, eliminating problematic individuals until the new offspring are stable enough and have relatively clean genes.

On the other hand, pigeons can breed a brood every month, far exceeding the generational efficiency of birds of prey like gyrfals. Gyrfals only go into heat once or twice a year, laying a maximum of four to eight eggs! We can't afford the time cost!

"Alright! I'll think of a way. If all else fails, I'll ask a friend to help me get a breeding bird from outside at a high price!" Ye Jianjun sighed and said.

Yue Feng comforted him, "Don't get too worked up! If gyrfalcon chicks are hard to get, we can always get saker falcon chicks!"
There are habitats and breeding grounds for falcons in China, and if you find the right place, the quality is quite high!
Then we can use the falcon to hybridize with the gyrfalcon and get a brand new hybrid falcon!
The Altai falcon in my hand is just an intermediate species between these two types of falcons!

As he spoke, Yue Feng reached out and touched the gray falcon perched on his arm. The little guy blinked its irises slightly, remained motionless on his arm, and let Yue Feng touch it.

"Oh yeah! I forgot about that! Are you sure a gyrfalcon and a saker falcon can interbreed? And can the offspring from such a hybrid reproduce?"

"Yes!" Yue Feng said decisively.

"As long as we can breed them domestically, that's great! When the season comes, just tell me the general situation, and I'll arrange for someone to help me! Since we're going to do this, we need to get all the preliminary preparations done in advance!"

"no problem!"

……

Having received a reasonably satisfactory answer from Yue Feng, Ye Jianjun's tense nerves relaxed.

In the kitchen, the aunt had prepared breakfast. Yue Feng and Ye Jianjun ate breakfast together. Then Yue Feng brewed tea, lit the stove, and the two brothers sat in the room drinking tea and warming themselves by the fire.

Originally, Yue Feng had no intention of getting his hands on this Altaic falcon. In terms of both size and potential, this Altaic falcon was not as good as his own gyrfalcon. He kept it for a few days to enjoy it, and when a suitable buyer came along, he let Jianjun sell it.

As for whether to sell to those white-robed men or through some other channel, Yue Feng didn't care.

However, after these few days of contact and care, Yue Feng keenly discovered the gray falcon's personality, which was the kind that was one in a thousand, so he developed a desire to take a liking to this talent.

Just now, Yue Feng had mentioned the breeding of birds of prey to Ye Jianjun, so he took the opportunity to ask, "Brother Jun, there's something I want to discuss with you!"

"Say it, there's no need for us to be so polite between us brothers!"

"Have you promised this Altai falcon to anyone? If not, I'd like to keep it!"

"What do you need this thing for? I haven't found a suitable person for it yet, but you already have a big black eagle at home, so you don't need this thing, do you?"

Yue Feng explained, "This guy's personality is even better than the big black eagle! It's almost as good as the baby eagle my dad raised!"
After feeding and interacting with it for the past two days, I've discovered that its intelligence may not be inferior to that of a typical gyrfalcon, and might even be superior!

"What's with the high IQ? It's a size smaller than a gyrfalcon, it can't do the work that the gyrfalcon does!" Ye Jianjun asked curiously.

"We were just talking about raptor breeding, weren't we? The big black eagle and the little white spear I have are breeding birds that I obtained from the wild!"

For wild birds of prey to naturally mate and reproduce in human hands, the conditions are extremely demanding!
There are very high requirements for the intelligence, personality, and behavior of eagles!

I feel this grey falcon has some potential, and I'd like to keep it and give it a try!

This is a female falcon. If she can take a liking to my first-generation male gyrfalcon, we might be able to produce a new generation of hybrid offspring!

If successful, the newborn will have more than half of the gyrfalcon bloodline.

The first litter of pups from last year are already a year and a half old, and they'll be almost fully grown next year!
Even if the experiment fails, you can still find another buyer for it!

My family's eagle farm has so many eagles, one more won't make a difference! I'll definitely raise it to be beautiful!"

"Okay then, this Altaic falcon is yours!"

Ye Jianjun was a sensible man. After listening to Yue Feng's request, he decisively waved his hand and gave the eagle directly to Yue Feng.

"Great! I'll take this eagle back to the Northeast when I get back!"

"I'd trade an Altai falcon for a pair of white spears; I wouldn't be losing out!"

"Haha, okay!"

……

The two brothers chatted for a while while drinking tea. Ye Jianjun asked Yue Feng about and discussed many details regarding the new project of the falconry arena.

Regarding the details of the rules and framework, Yue Feng felt that Jin Long had thought of them quite well yesterday, so he repeated almost exactly what he had said yesterday to Ye Jianjun, and added some things about the future outlook.

Issues such as establishing an association for the inheritance of falconry culture and enacting legislation for commercial raptor breeding organizations were briefly mentioned to Ye Jianjun.

Human cognition determines behavior, and the things Yue Feng mentioned are all very forward-thinking.

After all, in the baseline timeline, falconry culture did not receive genuine promotion and development due to the existence of wildlife protection laws.

The Wildlife Protection Law has not yet been promulgated. If we achieve some notable results in advance, it will certainly be taken into consideration when the corresponding legislation is enacted.

It's quite possible that we can truly make up for the shortcomings of the baseline timeline and promote the healthy development of falconry culture. Before we knew it, it was past eight o'clock, and Jinlong arrived at Yuefeng's house in his car.

This guy saw Ye Jianjun's car at the gate when he parked, and he entered the gate very steadily.

Jinlong grinned and asked, "Brother Jun, you're here early! Um, have you guys had breakfast yet? Why don't we grab some together? I just woke up!"

Yue Feng grinned: "We've both eaten. There's still food in the kitchen. I'll ask the auntie to heat it up for you. Just have something to eat. I bought some meat buns, some pickled vegetables, and some porridge!"

"also!"

"How's it going with the arrangements for getting people to kill the eagle?" Yue Feng continued to ask.

"The news was released, but there was a slight change in circumstances. I wasn't sure, so I didn't push forward blindly!" Jinlong's tone turned serious.

"What happened? What's going on?" Ye Jianjun asked curiously.

"When I told a few of my close friends that Xiaofeng and Xiaoying Liu were also involved in this, they were all deflated!"

Little Eagle Liu is considered one of the top experts in the falconry circles of Yanjing City.

Not to mention Yue Feng, CCTV even aired a documentary about him hunting with eagles. His signature black spear can even take down red dogs and deer, so catching ordinary rabbits is a piece of cake for him.

For those young masters, catching eagles is just a game if the two sides are evenly matched; they don't care about winning or losing, they don't care about the prize money.

However, if it's a match against a master whose name you know you're doomed to lose, most people with a sound mind wouldn't want to risk it.

In this age of limited information, reputation still carries considerable weight.

After hearing Jinlong's words, Ye Jianjun grinned and said, "I thought it was something serious!"

When arranging these things, just don't mention Xiaofeng!

Although Xiaofeng provided the idea, the eagle isn't his, and neither is the dog! We can completely put this matter aside for now!
Why do you have to drag him into endorsing the project before it even starts?
"Once we've put on a few shows and made some noise, then let Xiaofeng show up. In everyone's eyes, he'll become a guest invited by the authorities. Whatever we want to do after that will fall into place naturally!"

Jinlong scratched his head after hearing this: "Uh... I didn't think that far ahead!"

Ye Jianjun continued, "Just do as I say. Tell those few acquaintances who know the situation not to say anything out of line, and arrange the rest as you see fit!"

"We're starting to see some progress. I'll call in more people and launch another attack. Let's try to establish our influence in one round!"

"it is good!"

……

The following day, Jinlong continued to busy himself with preparations for the Falcon Racing event, while Yuefeng had some rare free time.

First, he took some local specialties from his hometown and visited Grandpa Wang Hu's place. He stayed for a simple meal. Grandpa Wang was busy with official business and received several phone calls during the meal. Yue Feng was also sensible and made an excuse to leave after finishing the meal.

After leaving the Wang family's house, Yue Feng strolled over to Grandpa Liu's house on foot.

Little Eagle Liu is busy at home right now.

Following Yue Feng's advice, he borrowed two specimens of common birds of prey from Xuan's friend. At the moment, he was at home, repeatedly pounding and grinding clay to make a last for a hat.

"Grandpa, Uncle Li, busy?" Yue Feng greeted them with a smile as he pushed open the door and entered the house.

"Xiaofeng's here! Come in and warm up! There's tea on the table, help yourself! My hands are dirty!" Little Eagle Liu greeted him, holding a clay pottery blank in his hand.

"No rush! How's the last making progress?" Yue Feng took a stool and sat down, then glanced at the last in the old man's hand.

"We've just started working on it, and we don't have any suitable rulers or other tools yet. This clay last is just a rough shape! Take a look, is it what you're looking for?" The old man placed the rough clay last in front of Yue Feng.

In his previous life, Yue Feng had owned various styles of lasts from both China and abroad, and he had personally repaired lasts and blueprints, so he was an expert on this stuff.

To be fair, Xiao Ying Liu's approach to making the last was correct, but the details were lacking.

The eyes and the "opening" (the area around the mouth and nose) on the eagle hat are reflected in the last, especially the eyes, which are round and protruding quite a bit, clearly indicating that extra room has been left.

"Sir, the idea is fine, but the details need adjustment! You can't just focus on the eyes and the prominent mountain opening; you also need to consider the overall structure!"

"overall?"

"Yes, the whole thing! After the eagle hat blank is sewn up, the back of the head needs to be tightened with a drawstring! The whole circumference of the head will be tightened to make it more compact!"
You've only left extra space for the eyes and the opening position, but not for the head circumference, and the curvature needs slight adjustment!
"A hat last that's straight up and down—if you use it to make a hat last, the hat will easily fall off when you bend over!" Yue Feng pointed out the problem with an expert's eye.

"Um, now that you mention it, it does seem like we're missing something! We not only need to consider the distance between the eyes, the height of the nose, and the width of the jawline, but also the curvature of the head circumference, right?"

"Yes, you can make another blank, and I'll work on it with you!"

"Okay, let's make another one. I have plenty of this ground and dried clay on hand! Feel free to experiment with it!"

While they were talking, Little Eagle Liu took out another piece of spare clay.

Yue Feng didn't stand on ceremony. He reached out and tore off a large piece, then, following his memory, carefully shaped it little by little. By adding clay balls, he first roughly shaped it, then looked around and frowned slightly.

What are you looking for?

"Do you have any small tools like wooden planks? The basic shape is out, and the rest will have to be refined little by little!"

"I don't have any wood chips. What should they look like? If not, I'll make one right now!"

At this moment, Li Fulin pulled out the small hunting knife from his pocket: "Hey, buddy, will this knife do?"

For shaping, wood shavings are best; if you don't have suitable wood shavings, the spine of a knife will do.

"Okay, this will do! The clay is still a little soft right now, let it dry a bit, then polish it little by little! Let's roughly shape it with a knife first!"

Yue Feng took the knife and then used the tip to measure the different parts of the raptor's head on the specimen, adjusting the details of the last little by little.

In his hands, without him even realizing it, the basic shape of a clay mold had emerged. (End of Chapter)