Return to 1983 Hunting Xing'an Mountains

Chapter 666: Tracing a bear's tracks and picking up a leopard? Encountering a tiger!

The wind was cold and the temperature dropped sharply.

When I went out in the morning, I felt that the temperature was cooler than yesterday. After entering the mountains, the mountain wind was howling, so strong that people could not open their eyes at all.

The snow all over the mountain was not blown away by the wind because the surface of the snow had hardened and when you stepped on it, it formed a snow pit of neither deep nor shallow.

Xu Ning was walking in Liushugou with the 56 on his back. The wind in the gully was not very strong. The gully ran from northeast to southwest, and there were mountains on both sides that blocked the northwest wind. Moreover, it was a tailwind, so the journey to Laoniugou was smooth.

They reached the southeast corner of Laoniugou with almost no effort. They came here for a walk yesterday and found two tracks of roe deer. Since the dog gang was resting at home today, they could only rely on Xu Ning to track them down.

"Let's go northwest along the southeast corner. This group of roe deer should be heading towards the big reservoir."

Walking northwest was against the wind, so the four of them put on their face scarves. Wang Hu took out goggles from his cloth bag. After the four of them put on the goggles, they walked towards the big reservoir.

Xu Ning bought these goggles when he went to the provincial capital for a stroll. In addition, he also bought sheepskin gloves and round sunglasses for fear that his eyes would be hurt by the white snow when hiking in the mountains. However, they did not bring snowboards because the snow in the mountains was impossible to slide on. It would be easy to sink into the snow crust when sliding down from the top of the mountain, making it difficult to control.

They said they were heading towards the big reservoir, but they were still at least three minutes' walk away from the reservoir. When they passed the back garden, the four of them couldn't stand the hunger anymore, so they found a sheltered place to make a fire and cook some rice. After filling their stomachs, when Xu Ning was about to get up, he found a tree with its bark peeled off.

The barked tree was particularly conspicuous in the forest. Guan Lei also noticed it and said, "Brother, I don't think I have seen this tree before."

Wang Hu confirmed: "The bare trees I saw when I entered the mountain two months ago were not here, but in the red pine forest."

Li Fuqiang immediately became alert after hearing this and said, "Does this mean there are any black bears hiding nearby? Brother, try to find them..."

Before he could finish, Xu Ning had already stepped forward to track him down. The two of them hurriedly followed, leaving Wang Hu to pack the lunch box.

When I got closer, I saw many claw marks on the bare tree. I knew they were made by a bear. Then I locked my eyes on the ground and noticed a trail of bear tracks.

The bear's tracks came very suddenly. He was originally planning to hunt roe deer, but unexpectedly a black bear appeared halfway. Should he not chase it away?

"He really came from the back garden and walked towards Heixiazigou."

Guan Lei frowned and asked, "Who is hunting in Heixiazigou?"

"No matter who is hunting in Heixiazi Valley, we will chase them away! We are following the trail from Laoniu Valley, so it would be reasonable to kill them!"

Xu Ning smiled and said, "The forest farm didn't say we can't hunt animals elsewhere, so what are you afraid of? This trace should be from this morning. Look at the depth of the snow crust. I must weigh more than 400 kilograms."

"What else is there to say? Go!"

"Wait a minute, Tiger."

When Wang Hu hurriedly caught up, the four of them followed the trail and moved forward. It was noon now, and the convection of the sun and the cold wind made people who were moving in the mountains feel uncomfortable all over, because a fire shone on the chest and a gust of wind penetrated into the back, which was really uncomfortable.

This is because you are not wearing windproof clothes underneath. If you wear a leather jacket, you won’t have this feeling.

Following the trail forward, after they reached Heixiazi West Valley, they could clearly feel the wind getting weaker, and the four of them were able to catch their breath.

"Brother, why is this trail heading southwest again? Isn't it trying to trick us?"

Xu Ning shook his head: "What do animals know? Maybe they smelled something. Let's go back a little bit and chase them until 4 o'clock. If we don't see them, we can go home."

Guan Lei said: "Brother, can we still take first place?"

"That's not a big deal. We have to kill this black blind man no matter what!"

"This game depends on your fate..."

The four of them chatted while following the track. After walking nearly two miles to the southwest, they saw that the bear tracks changed direction again and actually went straight along the mountain ridge to Liushugou!

This was a bit strange. They obviously noticed that the black bear was taking a walk, turning its head as if it had no destination. Logically, the black bear should have been in the warehouse at this time. Why was it wandering around alone? The whole mountain was covered with snow. There were only fish in the riverbed and rotten fruits left on the mountain...

The more Xu Ning stared at the bear's tracks, the more he felt that the bear must have been in a panic, because it was running in a daze, its steps were obviously a little messy, and it turned left and right.

"If we really want to track it, it will take two or three days to find out. I think it must have smelled something in the mountains, a smell that scares the black bear..."

"Big cat?" Li Fuqiang turned his head and asked.

"Yes, I can't think of anything else that can scare a black bear except a big cat."

Wang Hu said, "Then should we chase them away?"

"Just chase it, what are you afraid of? We have weapons in our hands. If the big cat dares to show off, I will shoot it in the gallbladder!"

"Hahaha, Brother Qiang is really that kind of person!" Guan Lei laughed.

After laughing, the three of them looked at Xu Ning at the same time, waiting for his decision.

"The four of us will move forward 50 meters, and after walking five or six meters, we will knock on the trees with sticks to see if there are any other signs of animals along this path."

"Okay! Hu Zi, give me the gun. I'll go to the side and let the two of them stay in the middle."

Xu Ning nodded: "Okay, Huzi, give the gun to my brother, you and Shitou walk in the middle. If you see other tracks, don't go forward and call me."

Forming a horizontal row in the mountains and tracing forward is undoubtedly like looking for a needle in a haystack or looking for watermelon seeds in the mountains.

But sometimes you need a bit of luck. They were 50 meters apart and knocked on the trees twice every five or six meters. After about a mile, they saw traces of the two animals in the old forest on the left side near the junction of Heixiazi Shuanggou and the north of Laoniugou.

"Brother! Lei Zi, you two can call out, I have found a trace! It looks like it's Old Leopard's..."

"Leopard? Oh my god! Huzi, quickly call my brother over, there's old Leopard!"

Upon hearing this, Wang Hu hurriedly knocked on the tree twice and shouted loudly to Xu Ning twice. Upon hearing this, Xu Ning hurried over, met up with Wang Hu and Guan Lei, and quickly found Li Fuqiang.

It was already two o'clock in the afternoon. Xu Ning put down his arms, picked up 56, half-crouched in the snow, looked down at the tracks, and said, "It's really a leopard's tracks! That's not right. A black bear weighing more than 400 kilograms is not afraid of an old leopard at all. Why would it hide from it?"

Since Xu Ning couldn't figure it out, the other three couldn't figure it out either. They could only stare at the leopard's tracks and say, "Should we chase it or not? Is this old leopard bigger than the one we caught last time?"

"Normally, they should be about the same size. Look at these claws. They're obviously just adults."

Guan Lei said with a smile: "If we can take down this old leopard, we will definitely be the first!"

"Of course! Second brother, let's do it? If we can't catch the black bear, we can catch an old leopard."

Li Fuqiang said with a smile: "The city wants specimens, so this leopard should be suitable as a specimen."

Xu Ning stood up and nodded, "Then let's get rid of it! Follow the trail forward, ignore the black blind for now, and go after the old leopard!"

"Okay!"

Both guns were loaded. Guan Lei and Wang Hu's marksmanship was not as good, so the old stick was in Li Fuqiang's hands. Xu Ning and him walked in front and behind, protecting Wang Hu and Guan Lei in the middle, and then walked southeast, that is, the direction of Liushugou. Maybe someone asked, why didn't they see the tracks when they came? You have to know that due to the terrain in the mountains and the large area, even if Xu Ning had eight eyes, he couldn't see the tracks on the ground across the mountains or two or three hundred meters away.

In other words, he had spotted the bear's tracks first, otherwise Xu Ning would have followed Xiaoshi River to Heishitang.

However, they had walked less than 400 meters when the leopard's tracks turned into a long line. This meant that the leopard had quickly run down the mountain here, because the snow was mixed up into a mess.

"Something's wrong. This leopard and the black bear were both running in the same direction. After that, the leopard climbed up this tree, then jumped down and landed here..."

Xu Ning frowned and thought for a moment before saying, "There might really be a big cat. Let's be more careful."

"Okay, I'll keep an eye on the back."

Continuing to walk 200 meters down the mountain, we saw a bright red bloodstain in the old forest, and there were signs of a struggle.

When Xu Ning saw the traces nearby, his heart skipped a beat and he said, "There really is a big cat! Look around."

"Good! Did the big cat come down from the mountain and take the old leopard as its prey?"

"should be……"

Xu Ning glanced at the messy place and then looked along the blood trail. He saw an animal with a yellow body and black spots lying in the snow not far away, 30 meters away.

He immediately raised his gun and said in a hurry, "Just put it in front! Everyone cheer up, let's move forward slowly."

After the three men responded, they all put away their smiles. Xu Ning of course knew that the old leopard was dead, otherwise he would have fired the gun just now.

When they got closer to the old leopard, they saw that it was lying in the snow, no longer breathing, with several bloody holes on its neck, its abdomen had been cut open, and the lanterns were scattered all over the ground. Except for the large intestine which had turned into icicles, the rest of the internal organs had been licked clean.

Li Fuqiang took a look and asked, "Brother, was this done by the big cat?"

"Yes! Huzi, take the sack and put the old leopard in it. Let's go."

Wang Hu took out the sack and said with a smile, "Since we didn't kill any animals, it would be nice to find an old leopard in the mountains! Second brother, do you want to send this old leopard to the specimen museum?"

"Give it to me. The specimen museum is more expensive than selling the skins ourselves."

"It's so cool. I can just walk around the mountains for a day and pick up money without a single shot being fired."

Li Fuqiang laughed and said, "Not bad, brother. Do you think this old leopard can be sold for 5000 yuan?"

"The leopard skin is not very complete. If the specimen museum accepts it, I think it should be able to sell for more than 5000 yuan."

Last year, they hunted an old leopard and sold the skin alone for 6000 yuan. In addition, they also sold the bones and gallbladder for more than 8000 yuan in total.

The leopard's skin was damaged, with claw marks from the big cat on its abdomen, back, neck and face. Since the skin was damaged, it naturally could not be sold at a high price.

Guan Lei bared his teeth and said, "The atmosphere was quite tense just now, I didn't dare to say anything, I never thought I would encounter such a good thing!"

"It's not that great. I used to envy Uncle Yu for picking up a big skin in the mountains, but I didn't expect that we could pick up an old leopard..."

"Didn't we also pick up a black bear last year?"

"Brother Qiang, how much is a black bear worth..."

"That's not a problem. Brother, shall we go home or take a stroll for a while?"

Xu Ning shook his head: "Don't wander around anymore, just go home, it will be dark if you dawdle any longer."

"Okay, now that I think about it, the black bear must have smelled the scent of the big cat, and then ran around. The big cat must have been hunting the old leopard at that time."

"We can't be prepared. Let's go quickly and go to Ximaduozi to find my dad first. They should not run into the big cat again, otherwise they will be doomed."

"No, my uncle is pretty strong too. He has a 56 and a half in his hand, so what's there to be afraid of?"

When Wanye encountered the big cat, Chen Hedong and his two sons were with him, so Xu Ning did not fire the gun impulsively, which only scared the big cat away. After all, Chen Hedong and his two sons had no experience in mountain running, and if they encountered a big cat with its eyes wide open and a roar right up to its face, they would definitely be scared to pee their pants.

If it was only Xu Ning and Guan Lei at the time, then Xu Ning would have fired the gun and done it. This was not hindsight, but a judgment based on the situation at the time, which was enough to show that Xu Ning's decision was correct...

Xu Laonian and others have experience in hunting, so they will not tremble when they encounter a big cat. What are they most afraid of? They are afraid that the big cat will hide and attack suddenly. This is the main way for cats to hunt, and it works every time.

The four of them were in a somewhat excited mood. Old Leopard Bai Jiantou must be happy, so when they walked towards Xima Duozi, their steps were a little unsteady.

"Hey, brother, let's come back tomorrow and look for that black bear?"

Xu Ning said with a smile: "You can stand running for three days straight, but I can't. Let's rest at home for a day tomorrow and go into the mountains the next day."

Wang Hu said: "My brother Qiang's physique is really amazing..."

"Oh, you have to practice more often, otherwise how will your wife be happy?"

Guan Lei smiled and said, "Brother Qiang, why don't you just call my name directly?"

"Hahaha, your physique is much stronger than when we first met. You need to work harder and eat more meat."

Xu Ning said: "His physique will only be like this no matter how much he works out. Haven't you noticed that he never gains weight no matter how much he eats?"

"Yeah, my brother Lei really never gains weight no matter how much he eats, unlike me... I have gained more than 10 pounds from last year to now."

"That's normal! My aunt prepares good food for me all day long, so how can I not get fat?"

"..."

At this moment, a tiger roar was heard from the distant mountains and forests. The sound was so loud that the birds and beasts flew away and fled in all directions.

Xu Ning was stunned when he heard the voice. The four of them looked at each other and then rushed straight towards Liushugou.

On the top of the mountain where Liushugou and Shetanggou meet, there was a huge tiger with its fangs bared and eyes wide open, roaring at the three people below the hillside.

These three people were not outsiders but the Chang brothers and Li Feng who were hunting livestock near Heishitang. At this time, Li Feng and Chang Beifeng were each dragging a wild boar, which had been ripped open, leaving two long bloody marks in the snow.

The Chang brothers and Li Feng were frightened by the tiger's roar, and then the two brothers raised their old sticks at the same time.

Because last time in the old forest south of the village, Chang Beifeng had a face-to-face encounter with Lao Baozi, and he didn't have a gun at that time, so he didn't capture Lao Baozi. Later, his wife Zhang Yan and sister-in-law Gao Yanhong bought him a Lao Juebazi.

Li Feng threw down the rope, half-crouched against the tree, and pulled out the knife from his waist. His throat was rolling and his mouth was dry. The tense atmosphere made the three of them freeze in place, not daring to move at all...

(End of this chapter)