American Hunting: Starting with Solitary Life in the Wilderness

Chapter 57 Gathering Onions and Tanning Deer Hide

"The lake is now calm, which is the perfect time for me to launch the 'Pioneer' again."

"I'm going to the island where I hunted the mule deer and collect all the wild onions I found a few days ago. They'll be an important condiment for me for the foreseeable future."

He took his logging axe and bow and arrows, as well as a wicker basket intended for holding onions, and put them into the "Pioneer" canoe.

Skillfully push the canoe into the water, then gracefully step into the cabin and adjust your sitting posture.

With both hands gripping the wooden oars, using the power of the waist and abdomen to drive the muscles of the shoulders and arms, the boat paddles backward with force and stability, leaving a clear trail of water extending backward along the side of the boat.

As they got closer, the island's outline became clearer and clearer.

It is not very large, and is irregularly oval in shape, with lush vegetation covering the island.

It is mainly low shrubs and some hardy conifers, with some rounded rocks and a small beach at the edge.

A few minutes later, the bow of the Pioneer gently brushed against a shallow beach on the south side of the island.

Lin Yu'an used the oars to stabilize the boat, pulled the canoe ashore, and tied it to a large rock with the rope he had brought.

"Secure login!"

He first surveyed the shore of the island, carefully observing the ground and vegetation, looking for useful resources or traces of animal activity.

The island is very quiet; apart from the rustling of leaves in the wind and the occasional bird call, you can hardly hear any other sounds.

He found some traces of waterbirds building nests, but most of them were empty, indicating that the breeding season was over.

In the central area of ​​the island, the terrain rises slightly, where some relatively tall spruce and black pine trees grow.

He found some wild berry bushes here, but most of the berries had fallen or been pecked by birds, leaving only a few shriveled ones hanging on the branches.

"It seems that the main resource on this island is still plants."

"There are few traces of activity from large mammals; they may have just occasionally swam over in search of food."

Lin Yu-an was not disappointed after making no further significant discoveries on the island, because his other main goal for the trip was to collect wild onions.

Soon, carrying the prepared wicker baskets and simple digging tools, they arrived at their destination.
The wild onions in front of us are still growing well. Although most of the leaves have begun to wither and turn yellow, the bulbs underground are plump and full.

The air is filled with their unique, slightly spicy aroma of onions and garlic.

This patch of wild onions is quite extensive, estimated to be at least several tens of square meters, almost covering the entire gentle slope.

"This is it, the natural seasoning base! Today, I'm going to take this 'treasure' all home!"

He crouched down, holding a sharp wooden stick, and began his large-scale collection work.

He started from the edge of the gentle slope, using a sharp stick to dig away the soil around the roots of the wild onions one by one, while being careful not to damage the deeply buried bulbs.

When the purple and white bulb, about the size of a quail egg or slightly larger, is fully exposed.

He grasped the base of the withered leaf stalk with his fingers, and with a gentle pull, a plump bulb covered in soil emerged.

"The main part of harvesting these wild onions is their bulbs."

"In autumn, the plant's nutrients flow back to the roots and bulbs, so the bulbs are at their most plump at this time."

Lin Yu'an moved swiftly, like an experienced farmer harvesting ripe crops in his field.

He would gently shake off the soil from the roots of each wild onion that was pulled up before placing it in the willow basket next to him.

The wild onions here were more plentiful than he had initially expected.

He practically ransacked the dozens of square meters of wild onions, making sure not a single mature plant was missed.

Time slipped away quietly as Lin Yu'an focused on his work. By the time he had finished harvesting the last patch of wild onions, the sun had already begun to set.

"Come see my results!"

"I've almost wiped out this whole patch of wild onions! Let's estimate how many there are."

"This wicker basket is full, it weighs about twenty kilograms! That's an absolutely astonishing amount!"

“These wild onions, if properly processed and stored, such as hanging them up to dry or burying them in dry sand, will be enough for me to use throughout the long winter!” With this heavy harvest, he rowed his wooden oars again and headed back to his warm stone shelter.

Back at the shelter, Lin Yu-an spent a considerable amount of time processing the newly harvested wild onions.

He braided some of the bulbs and hung them on the beams inside the shelter to dry in the winter for consumption.

Lin Yu'an took a deep breath; the air was filled with the rich aroma of scallions and the faint smell of smoked meat.

It was still early, several hours before sunset.

His gaze fell on the mule hide, which had begun to harden slightly because it had not been properly treated yet.

"Guys, the onions are done, now it's time to deal with this deerskin."

"Such a large, complete mule or deer hide is just the right size to make a warm blanket."

He stretched out the deer hide, meat side up, with great effort, and laid it on a large, slightly tilted birch log stump.

"The first step in all tanned furs is to thoroughly scrape off any remaining fat, meat scraps, and inner membrane tissue from the inside of the hide."

He picked up the scraper he had previously used to polish shale flakes and began to scrape meticulously.

The process was similar to processing beaver skins, but the deer hides were larger and thicker, and it took him nearly three hours to complete the initial phase.

This process allowed him to collect a considerable amount of edible fat, but it still needs to be refined.

At this point, the inside of the mule and deer hide begins to turn a clean, pale yellow color. Rinse it repeatedly with stream water to remove any remaining dirt.

Lin Yu-an stood by the stream, draped the cleaned deerskin over a large rock to drain, and then spoke to the camera with a serious expression.

"Brain marrow is rich in substances such as lecithin, which is a very effective natural tanning agent. This is an ancient method that is still in use today."

"However, in North America, especially among deer, there exists a pathogen called CWD—a prion, which in some places is even called 'zombie deer disease'."

"This is a deadly disease caused by a prion that attacks the nervous system of animals, similar to mad cow disease."

"Although the mule deer I hunted was very healthy in appearance and internal organs, with no signs of disease."

“But I was about to open the champagne, so after careful consideration, I decided not to use the brain of this mule deer for tanning.”

"Instead, we plan to use another natural tanning agent—various plants rich in tannins!"

"When I was collecting firewood, I had already collected a lot of bark from western hemlock and willow trees, which are rich in tannins."

"However, this ceramic basin is clearly not enough to tan such a large deer hide."

“I need a larger container, a tanning tank that can fully submerge the entire deerskin in the tanning solution.”

"So my Pathfinder will have to be 'sacrificed' for the time being."

Lin Yu'an emptied the clutter from the canoe and carefully removed the military green waterproof tarpaulin from it.

This tarpaulin is huge, thick, and completely waterproof, making it an excellent material for making temporary tanning tanks.

Next, he picked up a logging axe and began digging a rectangular shallow pit about two meters long, one meter wide, and half a meter deep in an open area near the shelter.

"It doesn't need to be dug too deep, just deep enough to accommodate the deerskin and allow the tanning solution to reach a certain depth."

Once the pit was dug to the appropriate size and depth, he laid the waterproof tarpaulin into it.

He used stones to weigh down the part of the tarpaulin that protruded from the edge of the pit, ensuring that the tarpaulin could fit tightly against the inner wall of the pit, forming a bag-shaped tanning tank.

"A simple but very practical tanning tank is now complete!"

"The next step is to process the bark, boiling it in water to make tanning agents, which can only be done tomorrow."

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(Good morning everyone, it's 7:03 AM. Those who can get up this early on Saturday must be working hard to fulfill their responsibilities!)

(End of this chapter)