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

The first time he was caught in the net.

Yue Feng looked at his masterpiece with satisfaction, patted the dust off his hands, and said, "How is it? Can't you tell how well this net was set up?"

Xiao Ying Liu and Li Fulin exchanged a glance and gave Yue Feng a thumbs-up in perfect unison.

"Not bad, you must have studied how to set traps properly, right? There's not a trace left, you completely covered the net with dust and snow!" Grandpa Liu exclaimed.

"Hehe, these are just trivial skills!"

My master taught me hunting skills such as setting traps and snares. Let alone this simple net, my master and I have even caught a Siberian leopard with deer sinew ropes!
"Let's go, don't stand here and delay the eagles from coming to eat!" Yue Feng turned around with great confidence.

Li Fulin agreed, "Let's go, put bait in the other spots where the fish have fallen into the nets too! Then let's continue ice fishing, shall we? I wonder if there will be any big crucian carp biting today!"

"Haha, let's go! Uncle Li's still really into fishing! The weather's nice today, the fishing shouldn't be too bad!"

……

The group chatted and laughed as they made their way to the other locations where the pigeons had been caught. When they reached the places where the nets were set up, they tied the pigeons back up.

At the flat area at the river fork chosen by Yue Feng, there were obvious footprints on the snow next to where the net had been placed.

"Brother Dong, look at these footprints, what kind of animal left them? They weren't here when we came to collect the bait yesterday evening!" Xiao Dong asked curiously after discovering the traces.

Yue Feng glanced down and said with a smile, "These are the footprints of a mountain weasel! The scent of pigeon feathers attracted its attention!"

"This thing must have come looking for the pigeon last night, but the pigeon was gone, and it came up empty-handed!"

"Now that they've been caught, do they still dare to release bait? Won't they just give our pigeons a free ride in broad daylight?" Xiao Dong continued to ask.

Yue Feng turned to look at Little Eagle Liu: "Uncle Liu, you brought a few pigeons, do you have any spares?"

"There's one spare!"

"Then let's use bait! Mountain raccoons have a wide range of activity, and they're not necessarily active during the day; they might be lurking in some corner, grooming themselves and sleeping!"

Grandpa Liu nodded: "Alright! Even if it kills one, it's no big deal. I can just go back today and get more from my friend who raises pigeons! There's always some risk involved in using nets to catch hawks!"

Didn't I get a pigeon crushed yesterday? Just take it easy!

With Grandpa Liu's instructions, Yue Feng quickly baited the self-trapping nets he had chosen in the mountain area. He then followed the same procedure to replenish the bait at the other two self-trapping net locations.

After the four people placed the last bait and restored the trap to operation, Yue Feng glanced at the time.

It's only a little past seven o'clock, at least half an hour earlier than yesterday.

Yue Feng silently noted the time in his heart, and then followed the other three along the old road out of the hawthorn forest and arrived at the place where he had been ice fishing the day before.

After a night of freezing, the ice hole had frozen again, but the ice layer wasn't too thick. Xiao Dong used the ice pick he carried with him to tap it and quickly opened the ice hole again.

At this moment, Yue Feng suggested, "Grandpa, Uncle Li, how about we skip fishing at that ice cave in the distance?"
"Let's dig two more ice holes on my side, so we can all sit closer together, chat, and warm ourselves by the fire, saving on firewood!"

“Okay, the fishing spot you chose is much better than the one inside! At least half of the crucian carp we caught yesterday came from this ice cave!” Grandpa Liu readily agreed.

Then a few people got busy with something.

Xiao Dong was in charge of opening the other two ice caves, while Yue Feng and the other two worked together to move the snowballs from yesterday to their current location.

After a flurry of activity, the low snow wall was moved, and several people added rice and wine to the ice cave to create a feeding area. Then they huddled inside the snow wall, warming themselves by the fire and chatting while waiting for the fish to bite.

The subsequent fishing conditions were basically consistent with Yue Feng's prediction. Fish were caught yesterday, and the fishing conditions here are still good today.

The fish started biting less than half an hour after we baited the area, and the bites were intermittent, which helped pass the time while we waited.

Just as Yue Feng and his friends were breaking the ice, fishing, warming themselves by the fire, and chatting, the same eagle with the broken flower pattern from yesterday reappeared on the big tree next to the first spot where it had fallen into the net.

This guy was rather cautious, standing on a horizontal branch, tilting his head and discreetly observing the prey that had fallen into the net.

The trap net in front of me is a tool used by hunters to catch eagles. When the eagle was still a yellow eagle, it had experience escaping from such a net, which is why it fell vertically into the middle of the net yesterday and killed the pigeon without hitting the net.

Now, another pigeon has been released from the net, but otherwise, things seem to be basically unchanged.

The broken-flower eagle quietly observed for at least ten minutes. There was no sign of any hunters hiding nearby. The closest one was a car parked on the roadside a few hundred meters away, but there was no one hiding in the car.

After confirming there were no ambushes, the eagle leaped from the branch it had landed on and flew towards the nearest large tree to the trap, landing almost just above the trap by the roadside.

It still didn't believe that good things would fall from the sky, its sharp eyes fixed on the pigeons on the ground.

The newly tied-up substitute pigeon noticed the eagle's presence when it changed its landing spot, and then rested uneasily, remaining motionless.

Even when a pigeon is still, the eagle can clearly see its eyes, the subtle breathing movements of its neck, and so on.

About five minutes later, the eagle, having confirmed there was no danger, folded its wings and descended from above the net.

Once it decided to take action, the eagle acted decisively. Like a top diver, it leaped vertically and plunged straight down, its strong talons grabbing the pigeon's body with pinpoint accuracy.

The poor pigeon, which had only been on duty for less than an hour, was caught by the harbinger eagle before it could even put up a proper fight.

Having succeeded in its attack, the eagle gripped its prey tightly in its talons, preparing to take flight a second time. The hunter's sudden arrival yesterday had made it somewhat wary, and this time it wanted to hide away and eat its food.

Unfortunately, the pigeon was tied by the leg and couldn't be taken away at all. It stumbled and landed helplessly, forcing the eagle to fold its wings.

At that very moment, the eagle's entire weight was transferred to the weight-bearing pedal of the swatting net.

With a snap, the net frame buried under the dust quickly retracted, trapping both the eagle and the pigeon inside.

Chirp chirp chirp!

The sudden turn of events startled the eagle, which promptly released the pigeon it had been clutching and darted about in the net.

The nets are specifically designed for catching eagles. Their heads can squeeze through, but their bodies and wings cannot. After several attempts, instead of escaping, their entire torso was completely wrapped in the net because their heads kept trying to squeeze through.

……

At 11:00 a.m. sharp, Yue Feng glanced down at the time on his wrist.

"Grandpa, it's eleven o'clock, shall we go check the nets? My left eyelid is twitching, does that mean we've caught a big fish?" Yue Feng called out to the three people still fishing. Little Eagle Liu had also had a good fishing day. He glanced at the time, put down his fishing rig, and stood up: "Let's go, let's take a look! A twitching left eyelid means good fortune, is that a premonition?"

Yue Feng nodded: "How about we go check out the first spot where the eagle was caught? It's been three or four hours! That spot has the best chance of catching a big eagle!"

"Let's go! I want to see if the net manager I worked on overnight is any good!" Little Eagle Liu agreed immediately.

The two reached a consensus and decided not to rush to check the other three locations where the fish had fallen into the ice. They stepped onto land and headed straight for the first location of the fish that had fallen into the ice.

From a distance, Yue Feng shaded his eyes with his hand and peered into the woods, but his eyesight was too poor to see clearly.

Seeing Yue Feng's actions, Little Eagle Liu chuckled and said, "Don't panic, the net of my swatting net is very small. As long as it catches you, you definitely can't escape!"

"Hmm! Maybe the eagle will set its net right after we leave!"

While speaking, Yue Feng's attention was still focused on the trap that had fallen into the distance.

At this moment, the tattered eagle, trapped and unable to move in the net, heard the sound of people talking, fluttered its wings again, and let out a series of urgent chirping cries.

The captured eagle was motionless and Yue Feng couldn't see it. Now it moved and even made a sound. Yue Feng's ears twitched slightly, and he immediately quickened his pace.

"Got it! Got it! I heard it bark!"

As Yue Feng called out, he strode towards the direction from which the net had been captured.

When the distance was reduced to within fifty meters, Yue Feng could clearly see the prey caught in the net.

They really caught them.

Judging by its fur, it's jet black, like an old roc!
For a moment, Yue Feng felt a little disappointed.

If a wild-caught falcon is a goshawk, it's only good for playing with a young golden eagle or a two-year-old hawk.

Once a goshawk is over two years old, it is almost impossible for it to work for a hunter. It's not that it can't be trained, but the daily maintenance is too difficult.

Adult goshawks over two years old are extremely wild and unruly.

Even if you spend a lot of effort training them, once they become eagles and are held in the arms of the eagle handler for twenty hours a day, they will still show obvious signs of rebellion after sleeping at night and waking up in the morning.

Moreover, fluctuations in an eagle's weight have an extremely significant impact on its performance in actual combat after landing.

This might manifest in daily feeding. If the baby eats a little too much meat one day, the baby won't work properly the next day. If the baby isn't properly cared for, the baby will just look helplessly at the sky.

Of course, the old eagles over three years old mentioned here are wild eagles, not the kind of old eagles that people raise in cages from yellow eagles.

Eagles caged by humans will become increasingly timid and will be completely different from wild adult goshawks.

With a hint of disappointment, Yue Feng quickened his pace and soon arrived at the spot next to the net.

As soon as someone approached, the eagle in the net became even more nervous, its beak wide open, chirping incessantly in fear.

Yue Feng glanced at the tongue in the eagle's mouth, paused for a moment, then immediately pulled off the net from which it had fallen, squatted down, and examined the eagle he had previously underestimated up close.

Upon closer inspection, Yue Feng was taken aback, his mood instantly shifting from disappointment to excitement.

No wonder the eagle's beak doesn't look old; I was mistaken.

This is not an old eagle that is more than three years old, but a broken-down eagle that is only one and a half years old (eagles breed in May and June, and the chicks hatch in May and June of the following year, so they are considered one year old. By the winter of the following year, their actual age is about one and a half years old!).

"Grandpa! We caught it! It's that big eagle from yesterday!! A little rascal, not even two years old, but a real gem!!"

Yue Feng had already made a judgment before even taking the eagle out of the net.

Its back feathers are as black as ink, resembling those of an eagle; its chest is adorned with distinct black and white horizontal stripes; it has enormous eagle claws; and its head and face are remarkably sculpted, like those of an eagle.

Based on these details alone, if this eagle was a fledgling back then, it would be a top-tier specimen worthy of being listed in the eagle register.

"Broken flower? Let me see! Don't move yet, you're not familiar with that net mechanism, don't let the eagle fly away!" Upon hearing this, Little Eagle Liu rushed over quickly.

When Grandpa Liu came over, he took out an eagle-patterned vest from his bag and covered the eyes of the tattered eagle. Then the two of them worked together to take the eagle down from the net.

As soon as the eagle removed the net cable from its body, Little Eagle Liu immediately found a suitable hat in his hunting bag and put it on the tattered eagle.

Without further ado, the old man took out a set of eagle gear he had prepared beforehand and dressed the tattered eagle in it.

The handmade toy car is complete, complete with a matching toad, white brass swivel, and a handmade five-foot handle. Only the bell plate and bell on the tail are missing.

After the eagle was fully armed, Little Eagle Liu, disregarding the fact that he wasn't wearing a cage sleeve, directly wrapped the five-foot-long eagle in his hand several times through his cotton gloves, and then lifted the tattered, large eagle up.

"Tsk tsk tsk, what a fine eagle! I've been catching eagles for half my life, and this is the first time I've ever caught one of this quality. Among the good eagles that others have seen, there aren't many that can match this quality!" Little Eagle Liu exclaimed excitedly.

Yue Feng noticed that Grandpa Liu's beard was trembling. He could empathize with the excitement of someone who loves eagles seeing a top-quality hunting falcon, just like when he caught the big black eagle back then.

While the maximum potential of a Great Eagle is far less than that of a Gyrfalcon, a Great Eagle with perfect coordination in all aspects is still very rare! Most Great Eagles are good in most aspects, but lack something in one part, affecting the overall appearance.

Yue Feng smiled and nodded: "This eagle is indeed quite good! It's the offspring of a large blue eagle!"

Look at the eagle claw-shaped roof tiles on these short, exposed poles. They are rough, thick, and densely and neatly arranged, just like dragon scales!
The eagle has short wings, a short and thick body, and short, large talons with large claws, yet it has a long, four-sectioned tail!

After saying this, Yue Feng suddenly thought of something, immediately went behind the eagle, spread out the eagle's tail with both hands, and glanced at it.

With just one glance, Yue Feng's breathing became rapid.

The top two tail hairs of a typical eagle are retracted, while the remaining ten hairs are stacked in two rows below the tail hairs and evenly distributed.

And the topmost cap on this tattered eagle's tail is only one piece.

Yue Feng's fingers trembled slightly as he carefully unfolded the eagle's tail and counted the feathers; there were 13 feathers in total.

This is no ordinary rooftop eagle.

This is the Great Azure Dragon, a eagle listed on the Eagle Register that is on par with the Iron-Backed Red! (End of Chapter)