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

Hearing Ye Xiaojun say that, Yue Feng felt much more at ease.

When he first proposed establishing the Raptor Club, a large part of his initial motivation was to change the situation where the country's laws in the previous generation tended to be one-size-fits-all regarding the domestication of raptors and the inheritance of falconry culture.

Now, this has been indirectly confirmed by Ye Xiaojun, an insider, suggesting that when the time is right, there is a high probability that there will indeed be some opportunities.

In developed countries, the capture of these special animals, such as birds of prey and wild beasts, is subject to extremely strict restrictions. To legally and legitimately domesticate and own them, most of them must be bred in captivity.

Animals bred in captivity, once the breeding and raising procedures are completed, will no longer enjoy the same legal protection as their wild counterparts.

This form of animal protection, which relies purely on commercial development, is actually more effective when driven by profit than when led by the state.

Putting aside other examples, take the giant salamander. After the restrictions on artificial breeding were lifted, it has now become an almost rampant species, which shows the effect of commercializing wild animals.

Yue Feng clicked his tongue: "When the law is actually enacted, I estimate that the situation of harming birds of prey in these areas will improve. Right now, I can only appeal in my personal capacity!"

Xiao Weimin then chimed in, "Brother, don't get worked up! We control the media, don't we? Xiao Ma even filmed the whole thing today!"

When I'm editing the film, I'll include a few shots! Let's take this opportunity to spread positive energy through the documentary!

"Okay, Brother Xiao, that's very kind of you!" Yue Feng nodded repeatedly, feeling his agitated emotions ease a little.

Everyone was exhausted after a long day of work on the mountain.

After eating and drinking their fill, they chatted and talked for a while in the suite's small living room, when Jinlong couldn't help but yawn first.

"Everyone has been busy all day. After eating and drinking your fill, let's go back to our rooms and rest. We'll be going up the mountain again tomorrow!" Yue Feng suggested, getting up first.

"Don't rush off. That old man's eagle-fighting stall has been requisitioned for tomorrow. Secretary Li definitely won't let him show his face on the mountain anymore. What will happen to the site?" Xiao Weimin continued to ask.

Yue Feng replied, "Your film crew should just send one person to be the main hawk handler in the shack! We opened a new shop on the back mountain, so we can keep watch over there!"

Anyway, we have spare pigeons; a novice will only hurt a few bait birds at most! I mentioned watching the sparrows to Secretary Li while we were eating, and he'll arrange for someone to catch them for us tomorrow!

When he heard Yue Feng directly hand over the sunny eagle enclosure to Xiao Weimin's film crew, Lao Xiao suddenly felt a little uneasy.

Being an assistant or an observer is one thing, but actually stepping up to the key position to execute is another. Lao Xiao was a little unsure of himself, fearing that another problem might arise.

"Why don't you come and stay on the sunny side? You're skilled, and it's bound to be much worse if I assign someone who's not an expert!" Xiao Weimin suggested.

Yue Feng shook his head: "Don't worry, tomorrow will be a day of learning and practice. Once we catch the sparrow, I'll teach you the details in detail so that it won't affect the final product!"

Seeing Yue Feng take full responsibility, Xiao Weimin nodded: "Alright then, we're on the same mountain anyway. If anything goes wrong, I'll send someone to call you! You'd better be there whenever I call!"

"no problem!"

……

Having finalized the arrangements for the eagle shop on the sunny slope, the four of them got up and dispersed, each returning to their rooms to rest.

Yue Feng returned to his room, soaked his feet in hot water from the thermos, and before going to bed, checked the tiny little chicken eagle and the top-quality large Puya that he had left behind. He made sure that the eagles' hats were fastened securely and that their tripods and five-foot ropes were tied properly before taking off his clothes and getting into bed, where he quickly fell asleep.

After a night of dreamless sleep, Yue Feng woke up feeling refreshed and invigorated, all his fatigue completely gone.

I got up at six o'clock sharp in the morning and checked on the two eagles. The chick eagle and the big Puya eagle were both wearing thickened, angled caps with feather shafts showing. Their overall condition was very good.

Newly caught eagles are large and have high energy reserves, so they can go without food for two or three days without any problems.

Yue Feng used a cotton handkerchief soaked in cooled boiled water to feed each of the two eagles with their caps on.

The tiny pheasant-like bird reacted relatively well, smacking its beak and drinking some water.

The giant Puya tiger duck next to it, with its excellent appearance, has a much more aggressive temperament.

It was wearing its hat, and when it felt Yue Feng's hand approaching, it opened its mouth wide and made a hissing sound, like a cat scaring someone.

The stronger the eagle, the bigger its temper usually is. Yue Feng knew that it wasn't time yet, so he didn't indulge its bad temper. If it could drink, let it drink; if not, let it be thirsty for a day. He could give it water when he came back in the evening.

After quickly taking care of the two eagles that remained, Yue Feng called the others to go to the canteen for lunch. Then they gathered early and went out to continue their mission on the mountain.

As expected, Grandpa Wang did not show up again today. After arriving at the mountain, Yue Feng, together with Xiao Weimin, tied up the eagle bait on the sunny slope. He then personally demonstrated to Xiao Ma how to pull the bait and the rope of the net to flip the eagle net. He briefly taught the basic techniques before saying goodbye and continuing uphill.

When we finished work last night, we collected the pigeons from the net, but the three sets of bait that fell into the net spent the night on the mountain.

According to Yue Feng's understanding of birds of prey, the time just before dawn is the peak time for birds of prey to hunt, and checking the nets in the morning has a very high chance of yielding a catch.

Sure enough, as I walked from the sunny slope to the first spot where the net had fallen, I could see two nets falling from a distance.

"Damn, Xiaofeng, it looks like two nets have fallen down! One on the west side and one on the east side!" Jinlong patted Yuefeng on the shoulder and reminded him.

Upon hearing this, Yue Feng was slightly taken aback. He looked up and took a closer look, and it was indeed true. He immediately quickened his pace.

When they got about ten meters away, they saw two nets on the ground, each containing something. When the prey in the nets saw someone coming, they made chirping noises.

A hawk from years ago, and a molted, battered young pheasant (a two-year-old male goshawk).

Seeing this, Yue Feng couldn't help but frown slightly and complain, "Damn! This little chicken eagle was caught in a net we set yesterday evening after we came down the mountain, before it got dark, and it was tied up in the net all night!"

"Huh? How do you know it was last night? Couldn't it have been this morning?" Ye Xiaojun asked curiously, hearing the nonsensical question.

Yue Feng waved his hand and didn't rush to answer. Instead, he took a few steps forward and first picked the tattered little pheasant eagle off the net on the west side.

As Yue Feng selected the eagle, he secretly prayed that it wouldn't injure its arm. If the eagle's arm was injured, it would be a terrible sin!
The advantage of self-trapping is that it doesn't require human supervision, but it also carries certain risks. If the eagle stays in the net for too long, there is a chance of it getting injured.

After a thorough examination, Yue Feng breathed a sigh of relief.

The handmade self-trapping net made by Yue Feng proved invaluable at this moment, with its mesh size perfectly positioned to trap the eagle without constricting the prey's wing.

The eagle was trapped in the net, but there were no obvious marks on its wings. Apart from expending some of the eagle's energy reserves, it wouldn't have a significant negative impact on its release. After Yue Feng removed the eagle from the net, he checked it several times to make sure it wasn't injured before holding it above his head and releasing it.

The poor, broken pheasant finally broke free of its restraints, flapped its wings and soared into the sky the moment it left the hand, quickly disappearing from sight.

After releasing the first useless hawk, Yue Feng went to choose another hawk. At this moment, Xiao Jun couldn't help but ask again.

"You still haven't answered my question! How did you know that the pheasant was caught last night?!"

Yue Feng was very happy that the pheasant was not injured. While busy with his work, he explained, "The reason is very simple: the nets used for hitting the pheasant are different!"

The sun rises in the east in the morning and sets in the west in the evening!
When birds of prey launch a surprise attack, they prefer to strike with their backs to the sun. This way, the prey, which is accustomed to avoiding direct sunlight, has a much higher success rate in hunting them!

Furthermore, since one is a pheasant-hawk and the other a female sparrowhawk, the pheasant-hawk must have set the net first!

"Uh! What kind of logic is that? Can't it be the other way around? What if the sparrowhawk set the net first?" Xiao Jun asked, somewhat argumentatively.

Yue Feng grinned and continued to explain: "If it's the other way around, then let me ask you, a sparrowhawk only weighs a little over half a pound, while a chicken hawk weighs a pound and three or four ounces! Birds of prey in the wild are all competitors, and given the opportunity, they can be said to fight to the death!"
When eagles meet, who would attack a pigeon? The pheasant-hawk would take down the kite right away!

Therefore, considering the eagle's hunting habits and the order in which they hunt, the only reasonable conclusion is the situation I just described! This isn't a guess based on luck, but on logical reasoning!

After listening to Yue Feng's explanation, Jin Long said, "That's not right either. The pheasant was caught last night, and the kite was only caught this morning. Isn't it afraid of the pheasant? Would it dare to compete with the pheasant for food?"

Yue Feng's lips curled up again: "Don't forget, the pheasant was trapped in the net all night, its strength must have been greatly depleted! Entangled in the net and lying on the ground unable to move, the hawk might not even be able to see its full form! By the time it flew close enough to find it, it would be caught in the net itself!"

After listening to Yue Feng's analysis, Jin Long couldn't help but give him a thumbs up.

"Damn! There aren't many people I, Jinlong, truly respect in my life! When it comes to understanding the behavior and nature of eagles, you're the only one!"

"Haha, you flatter me! I was just lucky!" Yue Feng was quite pleased to receive his companion's approval.

"I wonder if the other two nets yielded any results!" Ye Xiaojun continued.

"Let's go, we'll see! This kite has a good build, but it's too ordinary-looking, useless. Let it go!" Yue Feng appraised the little hawk in his hand, then released it again.

After arriving at the locations of the second and third nets, Yue Feng finally gained a firsthand understanding of the density of raptors in Yingtun.

Both nets yielded catches: one net caught a small owl weighing about two pounds, while the other net contained an adult male common kestrel with a blue head and blue tail.

The Ulln owl is a medium-sized, nocturnal bird of prey. It's understandable that it got caught after sneaking into a net while attacking pigeons, but the sight of the red owl in another net left Yue Feng both amused and exasperated.

"Damn it, all this weird stuff so early in the morning! This old man is even catching pigeons, he's completely defying the natural order!"

Yue Feng deftly tied up the black owl with his eagle-fist coat, then casually released the kestrel that had been caught in the net.

"This kestrel is quite bold. It's not even as big as a pigeon, yet it dares to catch pigeons!" Ye Xiaojun couldn't help but exclaim.

Yue Feng nodded: "A camel paired with an elephant, incredibly audacious! This thing is useless. Judging from the color of its head and tail, it should be three or four years old!"

However, let's not release this owl yet! Let's keep it; it might be useful for something big!

When the owl that was left behind was mentioned, Jinlong and Ye Xiaojun exchanged a glance and said together, "You're planning to use it as bait to catch an eagle!"

Last time, when Jinlong and Ye Xiaojun went to Northeast China to find Yuefeng to train golden eagles, Yuefeng demonstrated to them how to use owls as bait to catch golden eagles.

The two brothers were both involved at the time, so they must have remembered it. Now, when they see the same species of owl again, they immediately recognize it.

Yue Feng smiled and nodded: "That's right! In a few days, if we have the chance to see a decent-sized eagle, let's try using it as bait!"
This thing is quite interesting when you think about it closely. If a night owl is spotted by an eagle, falcon, or hawk during the day, it will most likely be a fight to the death!
It's fair to say that larger eagles harbor far more hatred towards it than towards ordinary pigeons or other small animals!

Jinlong nodded. He had been unconvinced before, but Yue Feng had already demonstrated it himself last time.

"Sigh, three birds were caught in the net, four eagles were caught, but in the end, not a single one was usable! Our plan is a bit mediocre!" Jinlong couldn't help but sigh.

"Haha, one sparrowhawk and one chicken hawk, that's not bad! You think catching hawks in the mountains is so easy? You think you can get whatever you want and not get any of the ones you don't want?"

There are at least a dozen species of eagles in the sky, but we only need two or three. I don't have the ability to get whatever I want!

Jinlong scratched his head: "The logic is there, but I'm not convinced!"

"Alright, pack up and let's go to the shack! Maybe we'll still have a chance before sunrise this morning!"

"Oh!"

The three Yue brothers chatted quietly, and soon returned to their hut on the shady side of the slope with the owl they had just caught.

After tying up the pigeons and checking the net to make sure it was working properly, the three brothers went back to their usual guard mode in the eagle coop.

Early this morning, Yue Feng's prediction actually came true.

Less than fifteen minutes after the net was set up, the pigeon seemed to have noticed something. It cautiously peeked its head slightly to the east, then obediently lay still in place.

Yue Feng knew from Youzi's reaction that the eagle had definitely arrived, and it was on the east side.

He quietly tugged at the eagle's crutch twice without making a sound, then squinted and looked out through the observation window above his head.

As the sun rose in the east, it was almost impossible to see anything against the light, so Yue Feng simply gave up looking up to observe and focused his attention on the pigeons in front of him.

With a whoosh, a whooshing sound came from afar, and a bluish shadow flew at great speed from the high ground on the east side.

The next second, Shadow grabbed the pigeon bait it was tied to, flapped its wings, and prepared to take off with its prey.

Yue Feng deliberately delayed his reaction by a fraction of a second, then decisively pulled down the net, trapping the visitor underneath.

We won! (End of Chapter)