American Hunting: Starting with Solitary Life in the Wilderness

Chapter 211 Prey That Wastes Nothing

Lin Yu'an glanced at the sky. The sun had already passed its highest point of the day and was beginning to slowly sink towards the western ridge.

The light is no longer so glaring, but the temperature in the air is dropping at a perceptible rate.

"Alright, guys, time for reminiscing is over."

He immediately sprang into action, his tone becoming urgent and focused: "The ambient temperature I'm in right now is about minus twenty degrees Celsius."

"This means that the wolf's carcass will freeze rapidly over the next hour, and I have to finish all the decomposition work before it freezes completely."

"Otherwise, once the muscles and joints freeze solid, my little hunting knife will become like a nail clipper. It's a race against time."

He began the initial dismantling of the trophy. The first thing he had to do was drag the wolf's carcass and position it in a side-lying position with its limbs outstretched, which was most advantageous for maneuvering.

Then, he used snow to padded and secured the wolf's underside and back to prevent it from slipping during handling.

"When butchering large animals in the wild, stability is paramount. A sturdy operating platform allows for more precise and safer cuts."

He only drew his hunting knife after all the preparations were complete, but instead of immediately starting to skin the animal, he first performed "bleeding" and "internal organ removal".

He precisely stabbed the wolf in the chest cavity and carotid artery with the tip of his knife, then pressed hard on the wolf's abdomen.

Warm, dark red blood gushed from the wound, quickly freezing into blackish-red, ice-crystal-like lumps on the snow.

It may have lost a lot of blood from previous injuries, but the amount of blood gushing out was far less than that of a fully grown adult wolf.

Next, he began to remove the internal organs, carefully using the tip of a knife to make a long incision from the end of the sternum down the midline of the abdomen, all the way to the pelvis.

He used the knife very shallowly, only cutting through the skin and fat layer, without damaging the stomach and intestines below.

"When handling internal organs, especially carnivorous animals, the most taboo thing is to puncture the digestive system."

As he operated the machine, he focused intently on explaining to the camera: "Once the contents of the stomach or intestines leak out, the bacteria and digestive juices inside will immediately contaminate the entire abdominal cavity, and that piece of flesh will basically be ruined, requiring more time to deal with work that shouldn't have been done."

He reached into his warm abdominal cavity and could clearly feel the smoothness and temperature of the internal organs.

First, I located the diaphragm and used a knife to separate it from the chest wall. Then, I grabbed the esophagus and trachea with one hand and cut them off with the knife.

Once this step is completed, he can remove the entire set of internal organs, from the chest cavity to the abdominal cavity, completely and all at once, and place them on the snow next to him.

A cluster of steaming, multicolored organs was thus displayed before the camera.

"Alright, now it's time for biology anatomy class." He showed no disgust whatsoever; instead, like an experienced teacher, he began sorting and explaining the spoils of war.

“First, the most valuable parts, the heart and liver.” He used the tip of his knife to separate these two still-warm organs from the connecting tissue.

"Wolf heart is pure muscle, high in protein, low in fat, and tastes excellent. When thoroughly cooked, it is one of the fastest and best sources of protein for replenishing energy."

Then, he lifted up the huge, dark reddish-brown liver, its surface smooth and elastic, looking like a giant piece of blood tofu.

"And the liver, this thing, is both 'heaven' and 'hell'."

"It is a natural vitamin, rich in vitamins A and B, as well as a large amount of iron, copper and essential amino acids."

"In the case of a long-term lack of vegetables and fruits, regularly consuming liver is the best way to prevent various vitamin deficiencies, especially scurvy and night blindness."

"but…"

He abruptly changed the subject, his expression becoming unusually serious, even solemn.

"Here is a crucial piece of knowledge that anyone who wants to survive in the wild must keep in mind."

"Carnivores, especially those at the top of the food chain, store unimaginable amounts of fat-soluble vitamin A in their livers."

"The human body's requirement for vitamin A is measured in 'International Units (IU),' with an adult male needing approximately 3000 IU per day."

"Just 100 grams of seal or polar bear liver can contain millions of IU of vitamin A! This far exceeds the acute toxic dose for humans."

"An excessive intake of vitamin A at one time can lead to acute vitamin A poisoning. The symptoms are terrible! Severe headache, nausea, vomiting, blurred vision, skin peeling..."

"Your body will begin to collapse from the inside out, and this process is irreversible. In the wild, once it happens, it's basically a death sentence!"

"Therefore, remember one principle: never, ever, ever touch the livers of any marine mammals such as seals, walruses, whales, or bears such as polar bears, brown bears, and black bears!"

He looked at the wolf liver in his hand and continued to explain, "So, can you eat wolf liver? The answer is yes, but you must be extremely careful and use the correct processing methods."

"Because wolves are also at the top of the food chain, their livers have a very high vitamin A content, far exceeding that of herbivores."

"Therefore, I would never cook it like a steak, frying it in large pieces. What I would do is dilute and control the dosage."

"My method is to cut it into slices the size of a fingernail. Then I make a drying net with a tripwire and place it next to the fireplace in the shelter."

"I won't put it directly over a fire, as that would destroy most of the B vitamins. What I want to utilize is the continuous stream of dry, hot air generated when the fireplace is burning."

"The rising hot air will quickly remove the moisture from the liver slices in a very gentle way, without destroying the vitamins due to excessive temperature."

“Using this fireplace drying method, I estimate that these fresh liver slices can be turned into hard dried liver in just one night, which is several times faster than natural air drying.”

"With a large piece of fresh liver, it's hard to tell exactly how much you've eaten. The total vitamin A content of the liver of an adult Timberwolf is roughly between 10 and 30 IU."

"Although this value is far lower than the terrifying amount that polar bears can reach in the millions, it is still a very dangerous dose for human poisoning."

He put down the piece of liver and continued his analysis with a serious expression: "The whole liver I got weighs about 1.5 pounds, so let's say 700 grams."

"By dividing the total amount of 30 IU by 700 grams, on average, each gram of fresh liver contains approximately 430 IU of vitamin A."

"I cut it into thin slices of about 2 to 3 grams each. Each slice of fresh liver contains about 1000 IU of vitamin A."

"After drying overnight, it will lose most of its moisture and its weight may be reduced to one-third of its original weight."

"But the total amount of vitamin A will remain basically unchanged; one liver tablet still contains about 1000 IU of vitamin A."

"For an adult male, the safe daily intake limit for vitamin A deficiency is 1 IU. Therefore, I take a maximum of four liver tablets per day."

"The total dose is approximately 4400 IU. This dose is sufficient to ensure that my vitamin A levels return to normal quickly, while also maintaining more than double the safe limit."

“Next up are the kidneys.” He picked out two bean-shaped organs, “which are also called kidneys. They are highly nutritious organs and taste good after being cleaned.”

Then he picked up a section of intestine covered in thick fat, "And this, this is the intestinal fat of the small intestine, one of the highest quality fats in animals. I will scrape it off and render it into oil."

He used a large handful of clean, fluffy snow to repeatedly and vigorously scrub the entire section of fatty small intestine, as if sanding it with sandpaper.

He explained, "Snow is the best natural cleaner, which can inhibit the growth of bacteria, and the tiny particles of snow crystals can effectively scrape away blood, mucus and any contaminants that may leak from the intestines."

After several rounds of meticulous snow washing, the section of intestinal fat became snow-white and clean. Then, the cleaned intestinal fat was spread directly on a clean rock.

"Alright, guys, now for the crucial step. Many people deal with intestinal fat by heating it or scraping it off laboriously."

"But in a minus twenty degree environment, we have a smarter way. All I have to do is wait."

"The biting cold wind will take away the last bit of heat from the fat, and at extremely low temperatures, that layer of snow-white fat will solidify and harden at a speed visible to the naked eye."

"And the water-rich membrane that connects to it becomes fragile due to freezing."

About ten minutes later, he picked up the piece of intestinal fat again, which had become as hard as a piece of wax.

"Now, fat and fascia have become significantly different due to the low temperature."

Instead of using a knife, he carefully peeled away pieces of the hardened fat from the fragile, frozen mesentery, starting from the edge.

"Kacha...kacha..."

The sound it makes is like the crisp sound of a frozen fascia being torn apart, like tearing a piece of wet paper that has frozen solid.

"Look, this is the low-temperature peeling method." He showed the piece of hard fat in his hand, which was pure white and without a trace of impurity.

“By utilizing extreme cold, different tissues can be differentiated, making them easy to separate with almost no loss.”

As for the rest...

He pointed to the enormous small intestine, large intestine, and spleen, which he had stripped of their fat, leaving only a thin membrane.

“Theoretically, they are all edible, but without enough clean water and seasonings, the risks and benefits of processing them are not proportional. So, let’s leave these parts to the forest.”

He paused for a moment, weighing the hard lump of intestinal fat in his hand.

"By the way, there's something I need to clarify about oil rendered from intestinal fat. Its taste is completely different from oil rendered from subcutaneous fat or abdominal fat."

"Oil rendered from subcutaneous fat has a relatively pure taste, mainly consisting of the caramelized aroma of animal fat."

"As for intestinal fat, because it is close to the internal organs, even if it is cleaned very thoroughly, the rendered fat will still have a very strong fishy and muttony smell, which is unacceptable to people."

"However, for me, this taste is something I have to overcome, because this oil is a rare fat in the wild."

After sorting out the internal organs, he began the most crucial and time-consuming task—skinning.

"Now, I need to obtain this perfect wolf pelt, which will be the top-grade material for making winter clothes, gloves, and even snow camouflage suits in the future."

"A top-quality northern forest wolf pelt is worth a lot of money on the market, but here, its value cannot be measured in money."

“Peeling on the ground, especially on snow, presents many challenges.”

As Lin Yu'an spoke, he took out a long nylon rope from his backpack. "You'll be bending over the whole time, which is very physically demanding."

"Moreover, fur is very easy to get stained with blood, which is very troublesome to clean later. Therefore, I need to use gravity."

He found a sturdy pine tree nearby, threw one end of the nylon rope upwards, looped it around a sturdy horizontal branch about two meters above the ground, and then pulled both ends of the rope down.

Returning to the wolf's carcass, he used a hunting knife to cut open the flesh at the ankles of the wolf's two hind legs, exposing the hard Achilles tendons.

Then, thread both ends of the rope through the Achilles tendons of both legs and tie a secure knot.

After doing all this, he walked to the tree, grabbed the rope with both hands, and pulled down with all his might.

"drink!"

With a low growl, he forcefully hoisted the wolf carcass, its internal organs ripped out, upside down, hanging it in mid-air.

"This way, I can stand up straight to operate, which greatly saves energy. During the skinning process, blood will not contaminate most of the skin and flesh."

"Most importantly, I can use the body's own gravity to make skinning easier."

He began his work with a hunting knife, employing the highly skilled technique of "tubular skinning."

The first cut was made at the ankle of the hind leg, which was already tied with a rope.

Carefully use the tip of the knife to cut along the inside of the leg, down to the midline incision left during the previous evisceration.

The blade sliced ​​through the cold skin and the already congealed subcutaneous fat layer, producing a slight hissing sound, like cutting hard wax.

There was no warm steam, only a cold, pungent smell mixed with the stench of blood and animal fur emanating from the cut.

He used the same method to treat the other three legs, connecting all the auxiliary incisions to the main incision.

Now that all the main incisions were complete, he put away his hunting knife and began the actual dissection.

He used his fingers, which were stiff from the cold, to tear a small opening between the skin and the underlying muscle tissue at the cut on his hind leg, and then began to pull downwards forcefully.

In areas where the fur is tightly connected to the body, he used a hunting knife as a "skinning tool," inserting it between the skin and flesh to continuously cut and scrape away the connecting white fascia tissue.

In most loosely connected areas, he only needs to use his fist to forcefully "push" downwards, using the blunt force and gravity of his fist to shake large patches of fur off his body.

"Hiss... hiss..."

That was the sound of fascia being constantly peeled away.

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.

(Disposing of prey is both bloody and necessary. I've been watching autopsy videos the most these past two months. If this continues, I'll probably be watching cadaver videos.)
(PS: The draw will be held in two days, so remember to vote with your monthly tickets! I'm looking forward to seeing the lucky winner! I'll share the prize redemption group number in a separate chapter.)
(End of this chapter)