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

When they saw Yue Feng carrying a small bird on a thin stick, Xiao Weimin and the other two all stared at him intently.

"What's this? Why is there a little bird tied to it?" Xiao Weimin asked.

Yue Feng grinned, bent down and placed the basin of water at his feet, then explained, "These are the birdwatchers that I asked Secretary Li to help me catch! I'll take advantage of the time tonight to quickly prepare them, bring them up the mountain during the day, and they should be ready by tomorrow at the latest!"

"Watching sparrows? This doesn't look like the previous tiger-like thing. Can this thing even be used?" Jinlong asked curiously.

Yue Feng nodded: "This is also a type of tiger-like creature, colloquially called a mountain monkey, and scientifically known as a bull-headed shrike."

In terms of ferocity, the mountain monkey is much more aggressive than the brown shrike! Despite its small size, it can hunt birds the size of sparrows!

As he spoke, Yue Feng extended his index finger and teased the newly tethered mountain monkey from a distance.

This guy sensed that the person in front of him was provoking him, so he stretched out his neck and assumed an attack posture, meaning that if you dare to reach out again, he will definitely bite you.

Of course, he couldn't reach out; otherwise, he wouldn't have needed to use a stick to prop him up. Yue Feng wasn't stupid.

"Look, this guy hasn't even gotten used to the stance yet, but he's already eyeing people and preparing to counterattack!" Yue Feng muttered, then deliberately lowered the height of the standing stick, making the mountain monkey closer to the water basin.

The closer the stick got to the water, the more nervous the mountain monkey became. Just as the stick was about to touch the water's surface, the mountain monkey raised its tail and remained motionless in a highly vigilant position with its rear end sticking up.

Seeing how amusing the newly tied-up bird was, the group burst into laughter.

"Tsk tsk, this little thing is quite clever!" Jinlong couldn't help but exclaim.

Yue Feng continued, "Let's set it up for half the night, and then clean it up for another day tomorrow, and that should be about it!"
Being small is great in every way, except the food has to be good; if they go hungry for a few meals and lose weight, they'll easily die!

Ye Xiaojun also stared at the mountain monkey, and said in a calm tone, "You know all this, you can definitely handle it! We've caught several in the cage, and if it doesn't work, we can get others to help us deal with them during the day! Let's focus on the important things!"

"I'll do it myself. It's a minor issue. We should be able to eat soon, and some meat will make things even more secure!"

……

The group chatted around the mountain monkey for a while, but their discussion only began to shift after they saw Yue Feng feed the monkey with fresh meat slices.

Xiao Weimin picked up his teacup, took a sip, and asked curiously, "Xiaofeng, do you think that falcon will still go to the mountain area tomorrow? I didn't think much of it, I should have gone up to wake you up this morning!"

"There's a high chance they'll come again! But I feel the window of opportunity is from dawn until sunrise!"

"why?"

"Falcons are birds of prey with a wide hunting range. The place where we catch eagles is basically the highest mountain around Eagle Village! As long as it is still active in this area, it will most likely appear on the mountain again!"

For falcons like these, hunting is not actually that difficult; they can handle prey that is slightly larger!
If they catch prey in the morning and fill their bellies, they might not fly around during the day and might choose to stay somewhere and rest!

When a stronger airflow arrives and the wind starts to blow, it will use the power of the wind to continue wandering to other places!
In Northeast China, the gyrfalcon is considered a vagrant on the edge of its distribution!

"Lost bird? What does that mean? A bird that's lost?"

"That's one way to understand it, but it's not entirely accurate to say that."

Vagrants are birds that don't have a clear destination for migrating and overwintering! They're like the vagabonds of the raptor world!
They might have been unexpectedly drawn to an unplanned area by a gust of wind, where they encountered other migrating flocks and ended up mooching off them!

Jinlong put his feet on the small table, a cigarette dangling from his mouth, and said, "If we could get another gyrfalcon, that would be great! That way, our club wouldn't have to rely on importing from abroad! And Xiaofeng's breeding farm would have another option!"

Yue Feng nodded: "Indeed, a new gene pool is very important for reproduction!"
In addition, at the upcoming eagle show, wild gyrfalcons will better showcase the club's strength than our own bred gyrfalcon chicks!
"By the way, Jin Shao, didn't you say you were going to inquire about importing breeding birds? Any progress?"

Jinlong nodded: "The process is already underway! There are quite a few eagles in those overseas breeding farms, but many of them are either culled or leftovers by other breeders!"

We started a bit late; we should have done this earlier during the spring breeding season!

Ye Xiaojun waved his hand: "No matter what, being cheated or taken advantage of is only a one-time thing. We'll have experience next time!"

Zhang Chaochao's experience in introducing the species is a good thing for us! At least we won't have to face difficulties due to rules and regulations anymore!

Xiao Feng probably doesn't realize that the relevant leaders are held responsible for making these decisions!

How could Yue Feng not know these things? The development direction of our country at this stage was determined by a meeting at the higher level. If we rashly set some precedents that have never been set before, we will indeed have to bear a lot of risks.

Introducing birds of prey is a risky endeavor; if done well, it's unlikely to yield significant results and is difficult to publicize. However, if done poorly, it carries substantial risks.

Any leader with even a modicum of caution would handle this kind of problem conservatively.

Yue Feng nodded: "Alright, there's a first time for everything! Even if Zhang Chaochao and the others have the upper hand, we're not afraid! At worst, they'll just take a few falcons from my mountain to the club! In terms of breeding progress, we haven't fallen behind!"

……

The four of them drank tea, smoked, and chatted in the suite's small living room until after nine o'clock in the evening before they went back to their rooms to rest.

After several hours of continuous holding, Yue Feng's bull shrike was noticeably more stable than when it was first put on the stand.

Just before lights out, Yue Feng fed it a small piece of fresh meat. After tearing it apart and eating it, the creature actually tucked its head under its wing and fell asleep.

"Hey, you've got a pretty big heart!"

Yue Feng muttered something to himself, then fixed the monkey stand next to the bedside, turned off the light, and went to rest.

Nothing happened that night, and Yue Feng woke up early at 5:30 the next morning.

The sky outside was just beginning to lighten; it wasn't fully bright yet.

We made an appointment half an hour early last night, just before we were about to leave, with the goal of going up the mountain to catch that big falcon.

When the mountain monkey saw its new owner get up, it also became active from its sleeping state. It tried to struggle a few times, but after realizing that there was no chance of escape, it quickly adapted to the change of role and squatted obediently on the stick.

After getting up, Yue Feng quickly washed up, then fed all the eagles in the house water. After finishing his daily chores, he called everyone else to get up and have breakfast together.

After breakfast, Yue Feng, carrying the mountain monkey, drove up the mountain. The group hid on the sunny slope of Eagle's Nest halfway up the mountain.

The morning is the window of opportunity for birds of prey to hunt, and there are quite a few eagles of all sizes around here.

Before 7:30, several eagles were roaming and moving around in the air above the eagle enclosure. Yue Feng seized the opportunity and caught two of them with a hand net.

One was an old hawk, and the other was an ordinary bird; neither was suitable for training, so they were released back into the wild.

"Damn it! Did that falcon fly away?" Ye Xiaojun pulled out a cigarette from his pocket, lit it, and sounded a little impatient. Jinlong also reached out, took a cigarette, lit it, and took a puff: "Xiaofeng, what do you think?"

Yue Feng shook his head: "It's hard to say! We just need to stay hidden and do our own thing."

If it's meant to come, it will definitely come! If it's not meant to come, there's no use in worrying!

If it had no interest in the eagle enclosure here, it wouldn't have wandered around several times yesterday morning! From this perspective, we still have a chance!

As they were talking, the mountain monkey, which had been lazily sitting on the pole without moving a second ago, suddenly drooped its tail, turned its head slightly, and all the fur on its body clung tightly to its body.

Yue Feng noticed the mountain monkey's reaction and immediately fell silent, looking up at the sky through the observation hole in the eagle shed.

This was quite a surprise; the dark silhouette of a large falcon had unknowingly appeared some distance to the east above their heads.

Judging by its appearance, it was flying at an altitude of about 70 meters. Its size is indeed very large, at least on par with the wingspan of the Black Hawk.

"Don't speak, the great falcon is coming!"

Yue Feng whispered a reminder, then gently tugged at the rope holding the eagle's crutch.

To prevent the elite eagle from seeing through the netting mechanism of this area, Yue Feng had simply disguised the rope with grass leaves in the morning. Unless it was dragged vigorously, it was almost impossible to see any obvious flaws.

The pigeon on the eagle's crutch was tugged, its wings fluttered a few times, and it lay on the ground, too afraid to move.

This is how it also discovered predators in the sky.

Yue Feng wasn't in a hurry to release the owl; he wanted to try the normal method of pulling the owl first.

After waiting and observing quietly for more than ten seconds, the falcon in the sky showed no sign of swooping down to attack.

Yue Feng knew that conventional tactics wouldn't work, and it was time to unleash his ultimate move.

"Young Master Jin, help me untie the owl's eagle coat! Be careful with your hands!"

"Yes!" Jinlong responded, immediately took out the owl, and untied the owl coat.

After freeing the owl from its restraints, Yue Feng held the owl by its wings in both hands and released the bait through the observation port.

The owl, now free, didn't care whether it was day or night. It used the branches on the roof of the shed for leverage and flew away into the distance.

The owl flies almost silently. From the moment it leaves your hand, Yue Feng remains vigilant, constantly observing it, afraid of losing sight of it and wasting the opportunity.

At this moment, Yue Feng's heart also became tense.

The decoy has taken off high, and its flight attitude is fine!

Chase after them?

The owl has already come out, so the falcon shouldn't be so polite!
As mentioned more than once before, nocturnal birds of prey and diurnal birds of prey are absolutely hostile to each other. When they meet, they will inevitably fight; it's either you die or I live.

This pattern applies to owls and eagles, and also to falcons.

Sure enough, the fully armed owl hadn't flown more than a hundred meters when it was spotted by a falcon circling overhead that hadn't gone far.

The falcon, which had seemed aimless, suddenly began to climb rapidly, then swooped down with its wings tucked in, chasing after the fleeing owl.

Even if the Ulln owl is carrying a heavy load and has been bound by an eagle's coat for a day or two, or even if it is at its peak physical condition, once it leaves the shelter of the forest and enters an open area, it will be nothing more than a piece of cake for the falcons, a one-sided slaughter.

Sure enough, the Ulln Owl had no chance to dodge the swooping attack from the great falcon overhead.

After a feint attack, the owl narrowly missed the target and desperately flapped its wings to descend. Before it could even land and disappear into the bushes, the falcon's second kick came!
With a sharp crack, the Ulln owl lost a lot of its feathers and spun as it fell from the sky.

Having succeeded in its attack, the falcon turned and continued its pursuit, quickly seizing its prey.

"Damn! It's done!" Yue Feng shouted as he witnessed the scene and immediately crawled out of the shack.

The others also came out and looked at Yue Feng, asking, "What do we do next?"

Yue Feng said, "What else can we do? Watch your step, keep an eye on the direction of that falcon, and shout as you go down the mountain!"
Once it catches it, it's definitely trapped! It won't fly very far before it has to land!

Upon hearing this, everyone immediately started shouting, and the Eagle Shop on the mountainside became quite lively.

Then look at the falcon that had successfully attacked. It was quickly startled by the shouts of the crowd and flew towards the foot of the mountain to the southeast with its talons still clutching its prey.

Flying down from a high place is relatively less strenuous, but the weight of the prey exceeds its maximum carrying capacity, making it more and more tired as it flies. With so many people behind it constantly shouting and urging it on, the falcon had no choice but to loosen its claws and leave temporarily.

It's easy to grab when it's ready, but once it lets go, it's not up to it anymore!

Even though it had already released its claws, its right claw was still locked in the noose, and no matter how hard it tried to break free, it couldn't untie the slipknot.

Looking at this falcon from halfway up the mountain, you can clearly see that its gliding speed is increasing. It tries to flap its wings and climb higher, but it can't fly very high at all. It climbs a few meters and then quickly glides back down.

Yue Feng felt his heart pounding wildly. He barely paid attention to the details of the mountain path as he descended, relying entirely on his body's instincts to run.

Along the way, Yue Feng fell at least three times, but he gritted his teeth and didn't say a word. The first thing he did after getting up was to check the location of the falcon to make sure he didn't lose sight of his target.

When Yue Feng scrambled down the mountain, the large falcon, with the two-pound owl still in its talons and secured by ropes, had already landed on the ground.

Even from at least a mile away, Yue Feng could vaguely see the other creature flapping its wings and struggling on the ground, trying to get rid of its prey.

Upon seeing where the falcon had landed, Yue Feng rushed over at almost the speed of a 100-meter sprint.

Seeing someone approaching, the falcon struggled to take off again. It flew about a hundred meters away from the ground, tumbling and crawling, until it was too exhausted and was caught up by Yue Feng.

Gaa gaa gaa!

The large creature was suddenly covered by Yue Feng's coat and immediately let out a loud cry.

It's a gyrfalcon!
A grey-toned gyrfalcon!

A subadult female grey gyrfalcon from back then!

He couldn't forget it, and his buddy actually caught him! (End of Chapter)