American Hunting: Starting with Solitary Life in the Wilderness

Chapter 162 No Air Force, Big Gains!
Day .

Before dawn, Lin Yu'an had already woken up in her warm sleeping bag.

Last night, the sea breeze howled even more fiercely than in the previous nights, like a wild beast roaring low outside the shelter.

But with the combined heat radiation from the long bonfire in front and the rock wall behind him, he slept relatively soundly.

He glanced at the faintly lit horizon in the east, then at the time on the camera—6:15 a.m.

"Good morning, everyone, a new day has begun." He exhaled a puff of white breath at the GoPro on his chest, his voice calm yet powerful.

"Today's top priority remains the routine check; we must first confirm whether our 'passive food acquisition system' has yielded any results."

Lin Yu'an walked straight towards the coniferous forest where he had laid his trap.

Three consecutive days of fruitless work did not discourage him in the slightest. In the wilderness, patience is a more important quality than strength.

Traps are like buying lottery tickets; you have to persist every day to have a chance of winning.

He moved quietly through the woods like a ghost blending into its surroundings, and soon he arrived at the location of the first trap.

From a distance, the “4”-shaped trigger mechanism made of three small wooden sticks still stands there intact, with the steel wire lasso hanging silently, waiting for its prey.

“First, the Air Force,” he said calmly to the camera, and continued toward the next target.

The second one is the same.

The third one was also quiet.

As he approached the last trap, which he considered to be in the best position, he suddenly stopped, his eyes instantly becoming sharp as an eagle's!
In the distance, the flexible birch branch that served as the source of power was no longer taut and bent downwards, but instead sprang back into the air, high and straight!
At the end of that branch, a white, furry thing was swaying gently in the morning breeze.

"I got one!"

A hint of barely suppressed joy finally appeared on Lin Yu'an's face!

He strode forward, the joy of a hunter reaping his prey making him feel his blood rushing through his veins.

It was a fairly well-sized adult snowshoe hare, its neck tightly bound by a steel wire noose, its body already cold and stiff.

The powerful elasticity instantly lifted it off the ground, allowing it to die painlessly in the shortest time and avoiding the possibility of being discovered by other ground predators.

He carefully untied the snare, picked up the heavy rabbit in his hand, and felt its thick fur and weight of at least four or five pounds.

He showed off his spoils to the camera: "Beautiful snowshoe hare. Its fur is great material in winter. Although its meat is lean, it is an excellent source of protein."

Just as he was about to reset the trap, a thought suddenly flashed through his mind.

"Wait a minute, there's still one trap we haven't checked."

He put down the rabbit and walked to the spot not far away where he had deliberately triggered the trap to test it. He had simply reassembled the trigger mechanism without changing its location.

When he reached that spot, the sight before him completely stunned him, and then an even greater surge of joy welled up inside him!

That trap was also triggered!

The same tree branch that bounces high, the same white figure swaying in the air!
"My God! Two!"

Lin Yu'an couldn't help but gasp softly, his face filled with surprise and disbelief! He quickly stepped forward to confirm the second find.

This snowshoe hare is slightly smaller, but it is still a healthy adult.

"Either we don't open for business, or we open for two!" He held up two rabbits, flashed a bright smile at the camera.

"That's the charm of a trap; you never know when a surprise will come! Now, the losses the Air Force suffered a few days ago have all been made up for in one go!"

He was not blinded by the great joy. He quickly and meticulously restored the trigger mechanisms and lassos of both traps to their optimal standby state.

In the wilderness, good luck doesn't last forever; only by working continuously can you maximize the probability of good luck.

Carrying these two heavy surprises, he did not return directly to the shelter.

"You should never process prey in a place where you're sleeping," he explained professionally to the camera as he walked.

"The smell of blood will attract all the most sensitive predators in this land, from the smallest mustelids to the bears they least want to encounter."

“I need to find a dedicated processing area that is far from the camp and downwind.”

Soon, they found an ideal spot on a flat area by a stream, about 100 meters downstream from the temporary shelter.

This location allows for easy washing with water and enables the blood to flow into the sea via the river, minimizing any odor residue.

He placed the two rabbits side by side on a clean rock, then drew the Damascus hunting knife that old George had given him from his waist.

He first used the sharp tip of his knife to make a circular incision at the ankle of one of the rabbit's hind legs, then cut along the inside of the leg all the way to the tail, treating the other leg in the same way.

Then, he grabbed the fur at the cut with both hands and tore it downwards with force.

"His-"

With a crisp sound, the entire rabbit skin was peeled off cleanly and neatly, just like taking off a sweater, with only the head and front paws needing some minor processing with a knife.

He folded two rabbit skins with thick fur in half, fur facing inwards and skin facing outwards, and set them aside.

"These two hides, after being tanned, can be made into a pair of very warm gloves or a hat, although I don't need them now."

Next came the disembowelment.

He carefully cut open the rabbit's abdominal cavity with the tip of his knife, removed all the internal organs, and then carefully divided them into three piles.

The first pile consisted of liver, heart, and kidneys, which he placed on clean leaves.

"These are the most nutritious parts, meant to be eaten, and absolutely cannot be wasted."

The second pile consisted of intestines and stomach. He cut them open with a knife, squeezed out the contents of the fodder, and then rinsed them repeatedly in the stream.

"These cleaned entrails are excellent bait, especially for trout and red-spotted salmon that like fishy smells."

The third pile was that small, seemingly insignificant rabbit brain.

Lin Yu'an treated the rabbit like a rare treasure, carefully using the back of his axe to crack open its skull, and then using the tip of his knife to carefully pick out the soft, pinkish-white brain tissue, placing it on the cleanest leaf.

"Of all the harvests, this is the most precious gift." He pointed the camera at the tiny rabbit brain, his tone filled with solemnity. "In the wild diet where fat is extremely scarce, animal brains are a pure, natural, and highest-quality source of fat."

"Its fat content is even higher than that of fatty meat, and it is rich in lecithin and various trace elements."

He gently picked up a small amount with his fingers, and the delicate texture made him exclaim, "This stuff is like butter from the wilderness! It's the best energy supplement before the upcoming high-intensity physical exertion."

After processing all the parts, he took the rabbit's carcass and edible internal organs away, while throwing the inedible parts and blood into the flowing river.

Carrying the prepared prey, he returned to the warm campfire in his shelter.

His stomach was already growling with hunger, so he decided to immediately enjoy this hard-won delicacy to store up energy for the heavy work that was about to begin in the afternoon.

In this environment, you can't grill the wood on the stone slabs like you would in autumn at Lake Chirko. The heat from the open flame and the stone slabs would be uneven, and you wouldn't be able to make full use of the charcoal after it burns.

He decided to make a more sophisticated tool, a simple charcoal grill.

He took out the roll of professional annealed steel wire from his backpack, and found two sturdy Y-shaped branches by the edge of the forest, firmly inserting them into the soil on both sides of the fire pit.

Then, he cut several pieces of steel wire and, like weaving cloth, patiently weaved them back and forth between the "Y"-shaped forks of the two branches, creating a mesh-like metal mesh with evenly spaced gaps.

A perfect, height-adjustable simple grill can be made in just over ten minutes.

"Alright, now we can start the real charcoal grilling." He clapped his hands in satisfaction.

He moved the burning firewood aside, revealing the layer of hot charcoal underneath, which was at a stable temperature and emitted a dark red glow.

The first thing he dealt with was still those two precious rabbit brains. He took a small pinch of grayish-white crystals from a bark bag and carefully sprinkled them on the rabbit brains.

This wasn't something he deliberately obtained by boiling seawater; rather, it was an unexpected bonus he had a few days earlier when making seaweed and mussel soup.

After the concentrated, delicious broth in the pot cooled, a thin layer of mineral-rich natural sea salt precipitated on the pot's walls.

He scraped them off and collected them like precious jewels; this salt was his most luxurious condiment at that moment.

To prevent the delicate rabbit brain from falling apart during grilling and into the charcoal fire, he needs a suitable container.

He looked around and his gaze fell on a pile of cleaned mussel shells left over from the meal, next to the fire.

He selected the largest and most intact seashell, whose concave curve was just right to serve as a natural small bowl.

Lin Yu'an carefully placed the salted rabbit brain into the black mussel shell, and then placed the entire shell steadily in the center of the wire grill.

The shell slowly absorbs the radiant heat from the charcoal fire below and evenly transfers the heat to the rabbit brain inside.

Slowly, fine moisture seeped from the surface of the rabbit's brain, accompanied by a hissing sound, as the moisture in the tissue evaporated when heated.

As the temperature rose further, the pinkish-white brain tissue began to change color from translucent pink to opaque milky white from the bottom of the shell where it came into contact with the shell.

Immediately afterwards, clear oil began to slowly seep out from the tissue, accumulating into a thin layer at the bottom of the black shell.

Soon, the entire rabbit brain was submerged in its own oozing hot oil, and tiny bubbles began to rise and fall.

This is more like a slow, sous-vide cooking in one's own fat, rather than a high-heat, fast-roasting process.

A rich, oily aroma, accompanied by the heat, slowly permeated the camp.

Lin Yu'an waited patiently, watching the clump of brain tissue completely solidify and solidify in the oil, its surface turning a pale yellow.

In just a few minutes, this top-notch "Charcoal Grilled Sea Salt Rabbit Brain" was ready.

He couldn't wait to pick up a small piece with his chopsticks and put it in his mouth.

The first thing you feel upon tasting it is its incredibly soft, almost salty custard-like texture, which melts on your tongue almost without chewing.

Immediately afterwards, a strong, rich, and sweet aroma wafted over, instantly filling the entire mouth.

But beneath this sweet aroma lies a subtle, undeniable fishy odor.

The taste wasn't nauseating, but it clearly reminded him that this wasn't processed food from a modern kitchen, but rather the most primal and wildest source of energy.

The saltiness of the sea salt plays a crucial role here, striving to balance the fishy smell and making the rich aroma of the fat even more prominent.

Lin Yu'an chewed expressionlessly, savoring the taste. This stuff wasn't exactly delicious; for someone accustomed to modern seasonings, it might even seem a bit strange.

But his body was sending out the most honest signals; every cell was craving this high-purity energy!

It's a sense of satisfaction derived from the deepest physiological needs, far more direct and intense than any gustatory pleasure!

After finishing this "appetizer" that was far more nutritious than flavorful, he sprinkled the main part of a rabbit with precious sea salt and neatly arranged it on the wire grill.

He put the other rabbit into a storage basket made of wooden sticks, planning to stew it when he came back in the evening.

The rabbit on the grill isn't licked by an open flame, but only by the steady and powerful heat radiation from the charcoal.

The moisture on the surface of the rabbit meat evaporates quickly, forming a thin crust that perfectly locks in the juices.

Occasionally, the meat juices would drip onto the hot charcoal, creating a cloud of smoke with a meaty aroma, which in turn made the rabbit meat even more flavorful.

Rabbit meat itself has almost no fat, and relying solely on grilling can easily make it dry and tough.

Lin Yu'an was well aware of this. He didn't expect to eat anything fancy. The core purpose of this meal was to efficiently consume protein.

Half an hour later, when the rabbit meat was roasted until the skin was crispy and golden brown, and a knife cut revealed the cooked, distinct white meat inside, this long-awaited land feast was finally ready.

He tore off a hind leg and chewed it greedily.

As expected, the meat was firm, even a bit tough, and quite difficult to chew.

Aside from the saltiness from the surface sea salt and the smoky flavor from the charcoal fire, the rabbit meat itself has a rather bland taste.

But for someone who has been eating seafood and plant roots for several days in a row, this pure meaty taste still brings a great sense of satisfaction.

He ate slowly, carefully gnawing away every last bit of meat from the bones.

This meal wasn't exactly enjoyable, but every bite provided his body with the most robust energy.

He knew that the next phase of the project would be a real tough battle!

(End of this chapter)