My Gold Rush Career Begins in 1984

Chapter 135 Truly Terrible

As he was leaving, Zhou Jingming woke up Peng Yuanchao and Li Guozhu and asked them to take care of the mine site.

Seemingly driven by hunting instinct, Jinwang usually doesn't make much noise when encountering wild animals, only barking fiercely as a warning when someone approaches.

Seeing it trotting ahead, occasionally stopping to look cautiously at the other side, Zhou Jingming guessed that it had most likely spotted some wild animal.

After passing through the poplar grove and reaching the riverbank, Zhou Jingming was surprised to find Nara squatting on the riverbank under the wooden bridge, washing clothes.

Without much conversation, he and Wu Yang simply nodded slightly to her in greeting.

To this day, Zhou Jingming still doesn't know where their tent is, but he guesses it should be nearby, most likely on the grassland by the downstream riverbank.

When herders graze their livestock, the place they settle down must be a good pasture and close to a water source.

In Zhou Jingming's memory, there was a large meadow with trees and grassland interspersed around this area, about one kilometer down the river.

They came over mountains and valleys but did not pass through there; however, they did visit it during their river survey.

They could have washed their clothes right by the river, but they went all the way there.

After a moment's thought, Zhou Jingming smiled slightly, realizing he had roughly guessed what Nara was thinking.

At eighteen or nineteen, in the prime of youth, both men and women have something hidden stirring within them.

She hadn't seen a stranger in a long time, and now a group of them had come to the valley... She probably wanted to come and see them, but didn't dare to be open about it, so she hid behind this poplar grove, pretending to wash clothes.

There's a saying that goes something like this: Which young girl doesn't dream of love?
At first, Zhou Jingming thought that Jin Wang had discovered Nara's existence and that's why he spoke up.

Upon closer inspection, however, Jin Wang did not linger on her for long; his attention was still focused on the mountains and forests opposite.

He and Wu Yang did not linger on the riverbank. After crossing the wooden bridge, they followed Jin Wang into the mountains.

Along the way, Jin Wang ran happily, while Zhou Jingming and Wu Yang struggled to keep up.

Fortunately, after going up the hillside for about a hundred meters, Jinwang slowed down.

Zhou Jingming saw it sniffing the ground and noticed a series of hoof prints the size of a fist. He also saw fresh scratches on a nearby tree trunk.

He squatted down and compared the details carefully, and noticed some clues: "It might be a red deer! There must have been a red deer that passed through here before... a male."

He looked back at the location of the mine site in the ravine, which was more than 200 meters away. The reason Jinwang found this place was most likely because the red deer made a sound when it rubbed its antlers against the tree trunk, which Jinwang heard.

He looked in the direction of the hoofprints and pointed to the hillside to the north: "It went that way. Judging from the stride of the footprints, it shouldn't have been startled; it walked very naturally."

Zhou Jingming was no stranger to red deer; he had seen them on the meadows of the Great Northern Wilderness and had even followed the old hunters there to dig deer pit traps.

Back then, the production team system was still in place, and land had not been distributed to individual households. Every year, the various production teams in the villages surrounding the Great Northern Wilderness would organize hunters to dig for deer in their enclosures.

This thing is valuable from head to toe. Hunting one, whether it's dead or alive, can bring a considerable income to the production team.

The production team leader and Party secretary really enjoyed doing this. Anyway, it was June or July, before the wheat seedlings had filled out, so there wasn't much work to be done in the fields and there was plenty of idle labor, which came in handy.

After the deer burrow was dug, only elderly hunters were assigned to patrol it daily to check for any catches.

The farm hired hunters to hunt meat and protect the young, and they also enjoyed doing this job. Since it was approved by the farm manager and the farm needed to generate revenue, the farm would send the educated youth to help out, which gave Zhou Jingming the opportunity to get in touch with them.

Later, during his exploration and survey in the Altay region, Zhou Jingming also encountered red deer. Although it was just a fleeting glimpse, it was still an animal he was quite familiar with in the area.

Wu Yang seemed a little excited: "I've also seen other people bring back a big one, weighing several hundred pounds. It's an eight-pronged deer, and its antlers are really beautiful... I heard it's very valuable. I've never eaten venison before. Shall we go take a look?"

Zhou Jingming shook his head: "Let's forget about it... This thing is very alert. At the slightest disturbance, it will immediately raise its pole. None of us are good hunters. We are good with our guns, but with our hands and feet, we can't even get close enough to reach the edge. If we can't get close enough, we can't pass the shotgun out of our hands."

The key point is that this thing is incredibly fast; even a dog can't catch it, so don't waste your time trying to catch it.

"Instead of wasting time like this, you'd be better off going back to rest and be well-rested for work tomorrow."

Zhou Jingming was self-aware: "When I was in the Great Northern Wilderness, I went to the deer cellar with an old hunter. The old hunter told me that once the deer cellar was set up, it would take several days before the deer could be stocked. This is because deer are very sensitive to smells. They will not go near areas where people have walked. They will only be attracted by the salt placed on the deer cellar cover after the smell has almost dissipated. They like to eat salt, especially when it is hot."

If we really want to hunt deer, we can forget about deer burrows. Building those is too much trouble; you have to dig a pit about three meters deep that a deer can't jump out of. It's even more complicated than building a dugout. We could create a saline-alkali area to attract deer to eat, and then ambush and kill them, but the chances of that are slim.”

"Brother Zhou, I know a way to hide the scent... Anyway, we'll just be sleeping when we get back, so let's give it a try, maybe it'll work."

Wu Yang's interest remained undiminished.

Zhou Jingming sighed, thinking that it made sense. Going back would just mean lying down anyway. Seeing how interested Wu Yang was, he nodded slightly.

Then, Zhou Jingming issued a tracking command to Jin Wang: "Hee hee..."

Jinwang had come here because of the red deer, and now that it smelled the deer's scent, it was already excited. Upon hearing the command, it immediately trotted forward and continued to track the trail of footprints.

Gradually, the two followed each other for about two miles and arrived at a ravine to the north. A small stream flowed gently in the ravine, which was very damp. Vines and wild grasses grew everywhere, and it was very inconvenient to continue walking.

That's probably why Batu didn't let his sheep come over here when he was herding them.

Otherwise, there wouldn't be any deer staying here.

Moreover, there is a path trodden out by a deer in the ditch. It seems that the deer has been here for some time and has been coming and going in this place quite often, which is why there are so many footprints.

Zhou Jingming knew that many wild animals had a habit of following familiar paths, because they felt it was the safest route; hunters called these animal trails. Looking at the direction the ravine led and the trail of hoofprints, he genuinely felt a possibility of catching them.

He patted Wu Yang on the shoulder: "You really want to do it?"

Wu Yang nodded affirmatively.

Zhou Jingming thought for a moment: "Following like this isn't going to work. Looking at this trail of footprints, this deer has been traveling along the ravine. Our chance should be to go around to the front and intercept it, and set up an ambush. Otherwise, just following behind like this is useless. You and I can carefully control our movements, but Jin Wang can't."

Wu Yang nodded: "That's what I think too!"

He immediately looked up at the brighter hillside through the woods, grabbed his gun, and started climbing up the slope.

Zhou Jingming also called Jin Wang and quickly followed.

Since they were some distance from the valley, and felt they wouldn't be easily detected by the deer, the two immediately started jogging through the woods on the hillside.

After traveling for about six or seven minutes, Jinwang, who was following beside him, suddenly stopped and howled fiercely at the ravine below.

Zhou Jingming and Wu Yang stopped. The trees blocked their view of the ravine below, but they could clearly hear the rustling sound of the trees being shaken.

There are deer in this ditch; I reckon it's just deer scratching at the trees again.

"It should be down there. Let's go a little further and then go down to find the path it usually takes."

Zhou Jingming felt excited and continued on his way with his hunting rifle.

After traveling for another four or five minutes, the two felt they were almost there, so they carefully followed the hillside into the valley. Zhou Jingming's guess was correct, and they soon saw the muddy animal trail.

He hunted foxes, gibbons, and water dogs quite a bit in the Great Northern Wilderness. When he had money, he would occasionally go hunting in the Qinling Mountains with his friends. He wouldn't say he was an expert in hunting, but he did have basic judgment.

Zhou Jingming was somewhat skeptical: "You said you know how to conceal your scent?"

Wu Yang nodded: "I heard it from someone else. There are quite a few hunters in our area, and some people have done this... They smear mud on their bodies to mask their smell, and chewing leaves can cover up the smell in their mouths for a short time..."

As he spoke, he began to take off his shoes and clothes. Looking around, he saw a muddy pond in the ditch. After handing his clothes to Zhou Jingming, he walked into the muddy pond wearing only his underwear, while also tearing off a handful of leaves and chewing them.

He walked directly into the mud pit, grabbed some mud and smeared it all over himself. Seemingly not satisfied, he rolled around in the mud a few times.

Seeing his unbridled behavior, Zhou Jingming couldn't help but say, "You're really shameless!"

Wu Yang said nonchalantly, "What's the big deal? I've spent a lot of time crawling and rolling around in the mud during training. I'll just wash myself clean later."

Zhou Jingming brandished the hunting rifle in his hand: "What about the gun? This thing has a smell and is covered in mud... How can we use it?"

Wu Yang was stunned for a moment, then thought for a moment and said, "Brother Zhou, do you think it's possible for us to capture them by hand without using guns?"

"It's possible. I heard from old hunters in Northeast China that the Daur and Oroqen people can use camouflage to catch deer by hand when they get close. You want to try it... but don't forget, those are big guys weighing hundreds of kilograms, it's not easy."

"It's come to this, I'm not willing to give up without trying... How about you hold the gun for me, lead Jinwang back a bit, and I'll give it a shot?"

"Fine……"

Zhou Jingming didn't intend to persuade him anymore, but only advised, "Don't push yourself too hard, do what you can."

He actually wanted to see if Wu Yang's move would actually work.

Watching Wu Yang, covered in mud, approach the deer and then duck down beside a clump of bushes along the animal trail, Zhou Jingming didn't stop. He took Wu Yang's things, led Jin Wang, and walked another seventy or eighty meters into the gully to the north. After putting the things down, he stopped on a slightly higher grassy slope by the gully.

From here, you can see the location of Wuyang.

He thought to himself that if Wu Yang failed to catch it, the startled deer would either turn back or rush forward, or it might even dart directly into the forests on either side.

If they charge forward, they'll have a chance to fire.

Jin Wang was restless, so he had to constantly soothe him to keep him quiet.

This made Zhou Jingming somewhat disheartened. If he had obtained Jin Wang earlier, he could have seized the opportunity to train him properly.

(End of this chapter)