American Hunting: Starting with Solitary Life in the Wilderness

Chapter 196 Water Curtain Wall
The twenty-seventh day, 5:30 a.m.

The horizon remained a deep, inky blue, except for the eastern horizon, which was tinged with a very faint band of bluish-gray light.

Inside the shelter, Lin Yu'an had already finished breakfast. Today's energy boost consisted of several pieces of smoked cod fillets and a bowl of piping hot mussel broth.

He carefully inspected his gear for the upcoming expedition. The four-kilogram bundle of mixed charcoal, bound with nylon rope, would be his source of warmth for the journey. Inside his backpack were cooked mussels and dried fish wrapped in birch bark, and his sleeping bag was securely tied to the bottom of the backpack.

Stepping out of the shelter, I secured all my tools to a makeshift tug made of driftwood and fishing net ropes, and with my other hand holding the tug's rope, I entered the deepest silence and cold before dawn.

When we arrived at fishing spot number one, the sun had just peeked over the edge of the horizon, turning the floating snow on the ice into a pale gold color.

The A-shaped ice fishing shed woven from willow branches, and the simple stool he left inside, stood there quietly, covered with a thin layer of snow.

He stepped forward, cleared the snow around the shed, and then crawled inside. Without any delay, he lit charcoal in a tin bucket, and as the first warm red light appeared, the world outside the shed was completely illuminated.

A crucial step he took before leaving last night ensured a seamless transition to his work today. Walking to the ice cave, he explained to the camera, "In sub-zero temperatures, an exposed ice cave can be completely sealed off within hours."

"To slow down this process, the key is isolation, not only isolating the cold air above, but also disrupting the heat conduction of the ice itself."

Before leaving last night, they first inserted these spruce branches with needles, one by one, vertically and tightly, into the ice cave until the entire cylindrical body of water, which was more than 15 centimeters in diameter, was completely filled.

As he pulled out the branches that had been soaked in ice water overnight, he explained, "The needles of the spruce are very dense. Underwater, they form a huge and complex network structure. The core function of this structure is to lock in the water."

“The spruce needles divided the originally connected water column, which could freely conduct heat convection, into countless tiny, independent water cavities, each enclosed by needles and branches.”

"This greatly inhibits the thermal convection of water, preventing the exchange of 'warm' water at the bottom with 'cold' water at the surface."

Lin Yu'an picked up a branch covered in ice shards. "More importantly, these branches themselves, as poor conductors of heat, become the 'skeleton' for ice crystals to condense."

"The freezing process will prioritize these branches rather than forming a solid block of ice, as they disrupt the overall structure of the ice."

After all the spruce branches were removed from the cave, the ice cave did not form the thick block of ice that had been expected.

Instead, there was a layer about seven or eight centimeters thick, a slush-like mixture of countless tiny ice crystals and branches frozen together.

Finally, pick up the ice drill, and without even rotating it, simply use its guide tip to push it downwards forcefully, then stir it a few times.

"Snap... Splash..."

The seemingly thick ice sheet crumbled instantly, like crushed ice sand, revealing the dark river water below. The entire clearing process took less than a minute and produced almost no noise.

He didn't rush to cast his line, but instead took out a large, hard object from his backpack. It was a hairy fish he had caught in the storm a few days earlier, and the subtle pearlescent color on its scales was still faintly visible.

Last night, I cut it into a bunch of pieces of varying sizes. The silver scales, pale pink flesh, and ice crystals mixed together, and a strong, fishy smell instantly filled the air—the unique aroma of high-fat fish.

He picked up the icy, bone-chilling "fish scraps" and swept them all into the dark ice cave without hesitation.

In an instant, the once deep and calm cave entrance became murky, and countless silvery-white fragments swirled and slowly sank.

More importantly, rainbow-like oil slicks quickly spread across the water's surface, silently disseminating the alluring pheromones to the dark world beneath the ice.

He explained in a low voice to the camera, the white mist from his breath instantly dissipating, "Breeding is the most efficient way. Capelin is an energy bar for the Arctic ecosystem, with extremely high fat content."

"In the frigid water, the scent of this oily substance travels very far, creating a massive olfactory trap. For a hungry predator like the Arctic char, this is tantamount to announcing a free feast!"

This time, the bait wasn't some random rabbit liver, but a carefully selected, plump, and intact capelin.

He skillfully hooked it onto the hook; the oil hidden in the fish's belly was the ultimate temptation. He slowly lowered the bait into the ice hole, as if setting the fuse for an underwater bomb.

"Then, there is waiting."

He sat steadily on the stool, his entire attention fixed on the black tail feather at the tip of the pole that swayed slightly with the current.

During the waiting period, all was quiet except for the whistling of the wind across the ice field.

Instead of sitting idly by the stove, he took out his hunting knife and a spare piece of birch wood. The blade made a soft "rustling" sound as it sliced ​​through the wood, and he began to carve a small wooden-handled scaler for himself to use for processing the catch.

While doing handicrafts, Lin Yu'an explained his next plan to the camera, "Although I can now do stable ice fishing, the efficiency is still not up to my expectations."

"If I had a 24-hour automatic fishing device, my chances of obtaining food would greatly increase."

"So I plan to make an underwater gillnet, referring to the traditional method of setting nets under ice, which is entirely feasible given my current conditions."

Without hesitation, Lin Yu'an began to execute his plan.

He didn't choose randomly, but walked through the forest for nearly ten minutes, scrutinizing each candidate tree with a discerning eye. In the end, he felled six straight spruce trunks, each about three meters long and as thick as a wrist.

After selecting the logs, six trunks were processed with a handsaw. Then, the logs were dragged one by one to an open snowfield in front of the ice to begin fine processing.

Then, using the back of the axe as a hammer, cleanly and efficiently knock away all the large branches and stumps. This process is not only for smoothing, but also to minimize the fluid resistance when the pole moves underwater.

The key to the processing is at both ends. Using the tip of the knife, five centimeters from each end of each pole as the center, and a short, measured piece of rope as the radius, draw a perfect circle.

Then, carefully engrave a groove one centimeter wide and half a centimeter deep along this circle.

This groove is the core of the entire connection structure; it will provide an absolutely stable, non-slip physical locking point for subsequent binding.

Then, he returned to the ice and picked up the heavy ice drill. He first dug the first ice hole near the riverbank, right beneath his feet.

He then stood up, estimated the distance to the opposite bank, and walked about fourteen meters. To ensure that the two openings were precisely aligned, the most primitive yet reliable measurement method was used.

He disassembled the roll of nylon rope himself, and with all his might, he used the axe blade at an angle to carve it deep into the solid ice next to the first ice hole. The axe handle stood firmly on the ice, forming an excellent temporary anchor point.

Then, one end of the nylon rope was tied to the base of the axe handle with a secure slipknot.

He took the whole roll of rope and started walking towards the other side, the nylon rope beneath his feet being released continuously as he moved.

After walking about fourteen meters, he stopped, turned around, and began to pull the rope backward with force.

The slack rope was instantly tightened, stretching out a straight, almost perfectly curved blue line across the ice.

But he didn't start drilling immediately. Instead, he kept the rope taut and, like the axis of a pendulum, moved a few steps to the left and right with himself as the center.

As he moved, he kept looking back to examine the angle between the blue line and the riverbank until it was perfectly perpendicular to the direction of the water flow. He found the most ideal and efficient interception position.

After confirming that everything is correct, lift the ice drill to the final position you have chosen, align the guide tip in the center of the drill bit with the ice surface under your feet, and then press your body weight onto it.

The guide tip immediately "bite" the solid ice, firmly fixing the drill bit in place, with absolutely no possibility of slippage.

Only then did they begin to exert force and turn the crank to excavate the second ice hole.

The blue nylon rope lay quietly between the two openings, a silent testament to his precise work.

The toughest part has begun.

He laid out the six prepared spruce trunks one by one on the ice, and used the same professional cross-binding method to firmly connect the end of each trunk to the front of the next trunk.

After nearly half an hour of meticulous work, he created an amazing tool! A long stick consisting of six wooden poles, with a total length of nearly eighteen meters.

The sole purpose of this long pole was to deliver the crucial nylon guide rope to the ice cave on the other side, and he firmly tied the end of the guide rope to the very tip of the pole.

Sending this huge "wooden spear" into the small ice hole was a clumsy and arduous task.

He first dipped the tip of the long stick into the water, and then had to lift the entire back of the stick at an angle, slowly lowering it into the ice cave.

Then, gripping the end of the long stick tightly, he used all his strength to push forward.

The 18-meter-long wooden stick generated tremendous resistance and inertia underwater. He had to exert tremendous effort to move it forward by even one centimeter, while constantly fighting against the current and correcting his direction.

Lin Yu pushed with complete concentration. When he felt that only a small section of the long stick remained in his hand, he knew that the tip of the stick had reached the bottom of the ice cave on the other side.

He took out a piece of spruce trunk that he had prepared beforehand, weighing at least twenty kilograms, from his backpack.

Carefully and steadily, he pressed the tree trunk onto the last small section of the long stick that was protruding from the ice cave.

The lever principle takes effect instantly!

As the end was suddenly pressed down by a heavy object, a huge force was transmitted through the 18-meter-long pole. Dozens of meters underwater, the tip of the pole was subjected to a huge upward force and began to tilt sharply upward!
"Thud!" A dull thud came from the opposite bank; it was the sound of the long stick striking the surface of the ice.
This was the signal he had been waiting for! When he was cutting down the tree trunk, he deliberately left a T-shaped forked branch, which he then modified with his hunting knife to make a perfect barb tool.

He grabbed the "barbed branch" and, like a cheetah on its hunt, dashed toward the ice cave on the opposite bank! He had to control the stick before it shifted due to uneven force!
He covered the fourteen-meter distance in just a few seconds. Without hesitation, he threw himself to the ground, peering into the hole. He could clearly see the tip of the long pole, pressed tightly against the surface of the ice due to the lever's tilt!

He immediately dipped the barbed branch into the water; its T-shaped opening was the perfect tool for grabbing cylindrical objects. With a single stroke, he precisely hooked the long stick underwater, then pulled it upwards with force!
He successfully pulled the end of the long pole out of the water, and there, firmly tied to the tip, was his real target: the nylon guide rope!
He quickly untied the guide rope, first using a short wooden stick to wedge it across the ice cave, temporarily tying the end of the rope to it.

Then they went back to the other end of the ice cave and slowly pulled out the long wooden stick, just in case.

Looking at the guide rope that was firmly locked, a smile of extreme exhaustion yet immense satisfaction appeared on his face.

He rested for a full five minutes until his breathing returned to normal before standing up again.

Now, he has a lifeline that runs unimpeded through the world beneath the ice.

However, this guide rope is too thin to withstand the weight of the fishing net and the impact of the water flow. It is just a guide rope. Now, we need to bring out the real protagonist - the main rope.

Lin Yu'an walked towards the mountain of commercial trawl nets on the tractor, which he had brought specially this morning. It was more than just a net; it was a treasure trove of materials.

Then, using a hunting knife, he cut off a section of the trawl net that was more than thirty meters long and intact.

The rope was as thick as his little finger, tightly woven from countless strands of finer nylon fibers, with a smooth and tough surface, making it the perfect material for the main rope.

Then they walked to the first ice cave and firmly tied the thicker nylon main rope to the end of the guide rope.

Then, he walked back to the ice cave on the other side, untied the short wooden stick that had been temporarily secured, and began to pull the guide rope at a steady pace.

The thin rope easily pierced through the ice, slowly dragging the heavy main rope across from the opposite bank.

When he pulled the end of the main rope out of the water, a step that best embodies long-term planning began.

He didn't stop there, but grabbed the end of the main rope and walked back to the first ice hole along the ice surface.

Now, part of the main rope is underwater, connecting two ice holes. The other part is entirely on the ice surface. The two ends of the main rope are connected together with an extremely strong "double fisherman's knot," a special knot used to connect two thick ropes.

A giant, looping rope was born! It's like an underwater conveyor belt, half running under the ice and half waiting on the ice!

Then, he walked toward the huge trawl net again. What he needed was not the kind of huge net that could catch the entire body of water, but a gillnet with just the right mesh size.

Lin Yu'an searched carefully and finally selected a relatively intact piece of netting that was far from the damaged area. The mesh of this netting was about three fingers wide, which was the perfect size for Arctic char.

This size allows the fish's head to easily slip inside, but its plump body and open gills will be firmly stuck.

He drew his hunting knife and began to cut. The sturdy nylon netting became brittle and tough in the low temperature, requiring tremendous force with each cut.

With a creaking sound as he cut, he finally cut out a rectangular piece of mesh about 15 meters long and 1.5 meters high.

But this is only the first step. At this moment, the two sides of this mesh are covered with countless loose threads due to the cutting, making the structure extremely fragile. With the slightest force, it will fall apart completely like a sweater with loose threads.

What needs to be done now is to reinforce these two vulnerable flanks in the fastest and most reliable way.

Instead of dealing with the countless loose threads, he simply folded the side of the mesh panel about three fingers wide inwards once.

In this way, all loose threads are "wrapped" inside the folded layers and will no longer be directly stressed.

Next, he cut two nylon ropes, each about two meters long and slightly thinner than the main rope, from the huge commercial trawler to serve as new side "keels".

Lin Yu'an pressed one of the dragon bones tightly against the edge of the newly folded double-layered net, and then he unraveled a thinner nylon thread to use as a "binding strap".

Instead of using any sophisticated sewing method, he chose the simplest, most direct, and fastest "through-and-tie method," binding every twenty centimeters or so, and finally tightening it with a simple double knot.

This knot acts like a strong staple, firmly securing the double-layered mesh fabric and the outer keel rope together.

At lightning speed, more than a dozen such binding knots were tied along the two sides. The whole process took less than an hour, and although it looked rough, each binding point was exceptionally strong.

Through this efficient processing, he transformed a fragile raw material into a finished barbed wire net with sturdy frames on all four sides, capable of withstanding tremendous impact.

Then, he fully unfolded the barbed wire net, which he had reinforced himself, and laid it flat on the ice.

The next step is the most ingenious part of the entire system: the top edge of the fishing net, the float line with rows of small plastic floats, is secured every meter with a short rope to the main rope on the ice.

The bottom edge of the fishing net, with its lead weights embedded in strings of heavy lead weights, remains completely free and is not connected to any rope.

These weights allow the fishing net to unfurl itself underwater. The entire net, now like a "clothes," is then threaded onto the conveyor belt.

He untied the axe that had been used as an anchor point and began to pull the huge rope loop. His movements were steady and powerful, and the top edge of the fishing net, pulled by the main rope, was the first to be smoothly dragged into the first ice hole and slowly sank underwater.

At the same time, the bottom edge of the completely free fishing net, due to the weight of its own lead weight, immediately and naturally sank vertically towards the riverbed.

The float at the top provides upward buoyancy, pulling the top of the net upwards, while the sinker at the bottom provides downward gravity, pulling the bottom of the net downwards.

The two work together perfectly to ensure that the fishing net, from the moment it enters the water, is pulled horizontally through the dark world beneath the ice by the main rope in the form of a completely vertically unfolded "wall".

Meanwhile, the clean section of the main rope underwater was pulled up from the same opening and returned to the ice surface.

He continued to pull until the entire fishing net was completely submerged underwater, and through the tension of the rope, he sensed that it was in the optimal position between the two ice holes.

Next comes the final step, which is also the most ingenious part of the entire project: the "lock-in" process.

He walked to the very center of the 14-meter-long main rope on the ice.

He picked up a sturdy short stick, about a meter long, that he had previously whittled, and threaded it under the taut main rope. Then, he lifted one end of the stick upwards, allowing the main rope to hang securely in the center of the stick.

Grip the ends of the stick tightly, take a deep breath, and start turning it vigorously like winding up a giant spring!
"One lap, two laps, three laps..."

With each turn of the stick, the main rope was wound around the stick's shaft.

Then it can be seen that, with the wooden stick as the center, the ropes on both sides are tightened at the same time, forming two symmetrical, spiral knots, like two giant pythons intertwined, transmitting the enormous tension evenly to the ice caves at both ends.

He stopped when he felt the rope tension had reached its limit, and the wooden stick was making a "creaking" sound due to the enormous pressure, unable to rotate any further.

He carefully and slowly laid the wooden stick, which was locked by a huge torque, on the ice. The immense tension of the rope itself pressed it firmly against the rough ice, making it unable to move or loosen in the opposite direction.

Lockout complete!
This wooden stick, lying quietly in the center of the main rope, needs no anchor points; it secures the entire massive underwater fishing net firmly solely through its own torque and the tension of the rope.

This is a perfect "brake" built purely using physical principles, simple to the extreme yet unbreakable.

By the time all this was done, the sky was already beginning to darken in the west.

Lin Yu'an stood on the ice, looking at the two ice holes facing each other, and the rope twisted into a braid shape by a wooden stick on the ice.

His face showed no sign of fatigue, only a great sense of satisfaction after completing a great project.

This invisible "underwater wall" will become his most reliable and efficient granary on this frozen throne!
He didn't return to the ice fishing shed immediately because there was still an important task to be done. In the extreme cold of the polar region, the two ice holes, each twenty centimeters in diameter, would freeze solid overnight, and he would have to painstakingly chisel them open again the next day if he wanted to retrieve his nets.

He needed to insulate these two critical "ports" properly, so he went to the spruce tree he had previously cut down to weigh down the wooden poles under the ice and picked up a pile of spruce needles.

Then, they walked back to the ice cave and stuffed handfuls of dry, fluffy spruce needles into it. These needles filled countless tiny air gaps, the cheapest and most efficient "insulation" material in nature.

He kept filling the holes until both ice caves were completely stuffed with pine needles, leaving only a small gap where the rope passed through.

This method, based on the same principle he demonstrated when clearing the ice cave in the early morning, can greatly slow down the freezing process of the ice cave and disrupt the structure of the ice.

It can greatly slow down the freezing speed of the ice cave. The ice surface may still be covered with a thin layer of ice by tomorrow morning, but it can be broken with just a gentle poke. Unlike other ice surfaces, it will not require a lot of physical effort to dig it out again.

Finally, he covered the tops of the pine needles with a thick layer of dry snow.

In this way, a simple yet efficient "thermal plug" is completed.

After finishing this final touches, he clapped his hands in satisfaction, packed up all his tools, and returned to the ice fishing shed.

As for what we'll reap from that net tonight, that's a surprise for tomorrow.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

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(End of this chapter)