American Hunting: Starting with Solitary Life in the Wilderness

Chapter 21 Daily Life in the Wilderness

The twenty-ninth day had arrived. The newly built terracotta stove, which had burned all night, still retained hot embers inside, keeping the entire stone house warm.

Lin Yu'an stretched, his joints cracking slightly, a lazy satisfaction on his face.

He went to the stove, stirred up the embers, and added some dry pine cones and tinder, and the fire quickly reignited.

The camera is started.

"I slept so well last night! This fireplace is amazing! I felt like I was staying in a luxury suite at a five-star hotel! Haha!"

As Lin Yu'an spoke, he picked up a few pieces of dried trout that had been half-smoked yesterday from the corner, skewered them with sharpened twigs, and placed them over the stove to slowly roast and heat them.

"Guys, come and see me preparing breakfast."

Breakfast consisted of crispy, charred dried fish, accompanied by a steaming cup of "wild pine needle tea" with a subtle pine aroma, which was said to replenish vitamin C, but the taste was truly indescribable.

Lin Yu'an chewed with satisfaction, "Hmm... this dried fish tastes really good, the meat is still very tender, and the smoky flavor is still there."

The construction of the new stove greatly improved Lin Yu'an's quality of life.

He no longer had to endure the smoke and fumes filling the room from the simple hearth; the flat opening above the stove became a natural "stove".

You can bake food directly on it, or place pots and pans to stew soups on it; its thermal efficiency is much higher than that of a fire.

After breakfast, Lin Yu'an did not rush out, but decided to first do some interior improvements to his new home.

He used some sharpened branches and parasol rope to make several simple hooks and shelves on the stone wall.

It was used to hang clothes, tools, and store some frequently used items, making the originally somewhat messy stone house interior neat and tidy.

When the sun was shining brightly, Lin Yu'an took his American hunting bow and went into the forest again to try his luck.

"Today's goal is still to see if we can hunt grouse, wood pigeons and other small game, and also to harvest the Jerusalem artichokes that should have ripened earlier."

He spoke to the camera as he inspected the bow and arrows.

"Although I discovered traces of large herbivores a few days ago, I need more time to familiarize myself with their habits and the terrain of this area, so I cannot act rashly."

He arrived at the berry-rich area and searched carefully, his eyes scanning every corner of the woods and his ears alertly picking up any suspicious sounds.

Unfortunately, his good luck didn't seem to be on his side today. He spent nearly two hours only managing to startle a few timid wood pigeons in the distance, without finding any other prey.

Lin Yu'an was not discouraged. He found a sheltered rock to sit on and said to the camera, "It seems that hunting does require a bit of luck."

"Fortunately, we won't leave empty-handed. There's still a large patch of Jerusalem artichokes in this forest waiting for us to harvest."

Just as he was about to return the way he came, his gaze was suddenly drawn to a peculiar sight on the opposite bank of the stream.

It was a shallow beach covered with dense aquatic plants, and the current was relatively gentle. He could vaguely see some dark shadows darting quickly among the plants!
"Huh? What's that?" Lin Yu'an immediately crouched down, becoming alert! Using the bushes on the bank as cover, he carefully observed.

Soon, he saw the true nature of those dark figures—they were a group of beavers!
There were three or four plump beavers busily nibbling on the roots of aquatic plants on that shallow beach.

Another one seemed to be slapping the water's surface with its large, flat tail, as if playing.

Lin Yu'an's eyes lit up instantly, his voice filled with surprise: "Wow! Guys! It's a beaver! This is something amazing!"

However, he did not act immediately. Beavers are very wary and spend most of their time in the water, making it very difficult to hunt them directly with a bow and arrow.

Lin Yu'an analyzed to the camera: "Attacking them directly is not a wise choice. I need to observe their activity patterns first."

“Find their usual routes to land, or the entrance to their dens, and then consider using traps, or... other more effective methods of hunting.”

Lin Yu'an observed from the shore for nearly an hour, but the beavers had disappeared. He roughly figured out the layout of the beavers' nests.

He carefully marked these locations with charcoal on a homemade map of tree bark.

"Alright, that concludes today's exploration."

Lin Yu'an put away the map with satisfaction and said to the camera, "We've discovered a potential 'treasure trove,' so this trip was worthwhile." "Tomorrow, we'll study in detail how to turn these 'underwater engineers' into our meal! Now let's go harvest some Jerusalem artichokes!"

Following the route I remembered, I headed towards the sunny hillside below, where the soil was relatively loose and fertile, making it ideal for Jerusalem artichokes to grow.

Before long, a patch of withered but still upright Jerusalem artichoke stalks appeared before my eyes!

He put down his backpack and took out a wooden stick that he had previously sharpened and hardened with fire from his waist. This was his simple digging tool.

“Harvesting Jerusalem artichokes is very simple, just like digging potatoes. Just find the main stem and dig down around it.”

He selected a Jerusalem artichoke stalk that looked relatively sturdy and carefully dug away the surrounding soil with a stick.

Soon, some irregularly shaped tubers, resembling ginger but lighter in color, were revealed.

Wow, look at that head!

Lin Yu'an was pleasantly surprised to dig out a Jerusalem artichoke that was about half the size of his palm, and it still smelled of fresh soil.

Set the dug-up Jerusalem artichoke aside and continue searching around the base of the same plant. Jerusalem artichoke tubers usually grow in clusters, and you can often dig up quite a few from one plant.

The Jerusalem artichokes are growing well, and each plant yields a good harvest. The soil flies in his hands as he frees pieces of Jerusalem artichokes of varying sizes from the ground.

It took about two hours to harvest the Jerusalem artichokes. He roughly estimated that they weighed at least forty kilograms.

"Today's Jerusalem artichoke harvesting mission is a complete success! These Jerusalem artichokes are enough to last me a week!"

Lin Yu'an patted the dirt off his hands, his backpack was already bulging, and his face was filled with the joy of a bountiful harvest.

He slung his heavy backpack over his shoulder. With these Jerusalem artichokes, along with the dried fish he had stored and the beavers he might catch in the future, his basic food supply would be secured in the short term.

Lin Yu'an hummed an off-key tune, carrying a heart full of satisfaction, and headed towards the stone house shelter.

Back in the warm stone house, Lin Yu'an dumped all the Jerusalem artichokes from her backpack onto the ground, intending to pick out a few for dinner that night.

The newly built terracotta stove was radiating a warm glow, with the flames burning steadily inside.

He simply rinsed the Jerusalem artichokes he had selected with water to remove the surface dirt, and then threw them directly into the area below the furnace where there were still embers but the fire was not burning brightly.

Lin Yu-an turned the Jerusalem artichokes with a fire poker to ensure they were heated evenly, and spoke to the camera.

"The simplest way to eat Jerusalem artichoke is to roast or boil it. Roasted Jerusalem artichoke has a soft texture and a hint of sweetness, which is very delicious."

While waiting for the Jerusalem artichokes to bake, Lin Yu-an didn't sit idle.

He took out the birch bark map marked with charcoal to show the beaver's activity area and began to study it carefully.

"Based on my observations today, those beavers have a fixed spot to come ashore, mainly concentrated near that shallow area with dense aquatic plants."

“They are very wary. If you shoot them directly with a bow and arrow in open water, the success rate is too low, and if you miss, they will easily change their activity area.”

"If we can find their nests and set traps to wait for them, the success rate of hunting will be greatly increased."

As he pondered, he sketched out various types of traps on a map using charcoal.

The aroma of roasted Jerusalem artichokes gradually wafted from the stove, whetting Lin Yu'an's appetite. He used a fire poker to pull out the Jerusalem artichokes with their charred skins and set them aside to cool slightly.

Before long, he couldn't wait to break open a piece of roasted Jerusalem artichoke. The golden flesh was steaming hot. He blew on it and carefully took a bite.

"Hmm... these fully ripe Jerusalem artichokes taste so much better than the half-ripe ones we harvested before!"

"This soft and smooth texture is simply a gift from nature!"

While enjoying the delicious roasted Jerusalem artichokes, he repeatedly considered the feasibility of various plans to capture beavers.

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(End of this chapter)