Back to 1984: Hunting in the Mountains

Bears are hibernating animals.

Because bears need a lot of food to survive, and there is often not much food for them to consume in the mountains in winter, species that do not hibernate are basically extinct.

Only species like giant pandas that can eat bamboo in winter can survive without hibernation.

The bear's hibernation place is called a hibernation barn, and there are three main types of common hibernation barns.

There are ground warehouses, tree warehouses (also called sky warehouses in some places), and stone warehouses.

The most common one is the ground warehouse.

This is a nest located on the ground, which is relatively easy to find and has poor protection, allowing predators such as tigers to enter more freely.

Brown bears mainly choose underground warehouses as their hibernation nests. This is because brown bears have strong fighting power. Adult brown bears are basically animals standing at the top of the forest. Not to mention that there are no tigers in many places, even if there are tigers in the forests of Northeast China, they basically will not look for trouble with brown bears.

Black bears prefer tree warehouses.

The main reason is that black bears actually have more natural enemies than humans imagine.

As powerful as tigers and lynxes are, they can have a strong killing power on underage black bears, not to mention jackals and even some weasels, which will also attack black bears if they are starving.

However, in some cases, such as when the number of tree species suitable for black bears to hibernate decreases, some black bears will be forced to hibernate underground, which increases their chances of being hunted by enemies such as tigers.

The second type is the tree warehouse.

There are also two types of tree warehouses.

If the black bear is relatively small, there is usually enough space to accommodate the bear when the center of the tree withers. Since tigers and brown bears have poor tree-climbing skills, generally only black bears can enter, so it has a better protective function.

But if the black bear is huge, it will be difficult to find a suitable tree trunk, so it will choose a relatively strong root to make a tree hole.

The biggest problem with this type of tree hole is that it cannot protect against wild animals such as tigers, and the safety risk is high.

There is also a kind of stone warehouse that is only found in special terrain.

That is to find a stone cave in the facility as a hibernation chamber, whose protection depends on the size of the entrance and whether there is a narrow inner room inside.

The specific circumstances in which bears in different regions choose hibernation chambers may vary, affected by a variety of factors, including the local ecological environment, the distribution of enemies such as tigers, etc.

During hibernation, bears' body temperature, respiration rate and heart rate will drop significantly, and their metabolism will also decrease, but they are not completely asleep and can easily wake up and react to external stimuli.

When setting up camp at night, Yu Qiutang took the opportunity to teach Yu Qiujiang a lot of knowledge about bears, so that they could work together more safely later. At the same time, it would be a waste to keep this knowledge in one's heart if he didn't tell others.

Yu Qiujiang listened very carefully.

Only when I hear something I don’t understand will I ask for the reason.

In the second half of the night, the snow fell heavily, and the two took turns to keep watch, each sleeping for half the night.

When Yu Qiujiang was on guard, Yu Qiutang felt quite relieved. This cousin always made him feel very reliable, and once he agreed to something, he would never let him down.

Sure enough, when he woke up in the middle of the night, he saw Yu Qiujiang's eyes were bright. The edge of the tent could not completely block the wind and snow, and a lot of snow had fallen on his hair and shoulders.

Dahei and Xiaoheizi lay on either side, quietly like two bodyguards.

The two of them have been kept with Yu Qiujiang for a long time, and Yu Qiujiang feeds them personally most of the time, so they have established a deep relationship with Yu Qiujiang.

It’s just that dogs and cats are different.

When a dog looks at a person, he usually looks at the first sight. Once he recognizes that the person is his master, he will basically not change his temper even if others are nice to him.

Unlike cats, who will be nice to whoever gives them cat food and canned food. In their eyes, the owner is just another person who feeds cat food. They are far from loyal. As long as they don't despise humans, they are good.

When going up the mountain, Yu Qiutang put the puppy into a sack, with only its head exposed, and carried it on his back. He also tied Dahei's rope tightly around his waist, so that if the puppy fell, he could still hold it.

Dogs are not suitable for running in such deep snow. If you are hunting in the mountains, the hunting conditions are like this. In heavy snow, the effect of dogs is actually quite limited.

After daybreak, the snow still did not stop.

Yu Qiutang decided to climb the mountain slowly.

In winter, it is always like this in the deep mountains at an altitude of about 3,000 meters. It often snows for many days, sometimes even for a month.

At this time, the climate is generally cold, so snow is relatively common. After a few decades, the weather will warm up overall, and there will be no continuous heavy snowfall, not to mention at the foot of the mountain, even in the mountains.

It is actually not easy to walk from Iron Turtle Shell to Bear Blind Ridge.

From a distance, it seems that you can reach the Blind Bear Ridge by climbing up the Iron Turtle Shell. But in fact, there is a downward rift at the junction of the edge of the turtle shell and the Blind Bear Ridge.

If you want to get through, you must first run down the rift and then climb up from the other side.

This rift valley is about 200 to 300 meters deep, and the slope is not very steep. It takes several hours to walk across it on a clear day, but it will take at least half a day to walk across it on a snowy day.

Yu Qiutang estimated the time to go into the mountains and booked four days for the journey, which was actually very tight.

According to his experience, if one is unlucky, it will be impossible to find the bear warehouse in five or six days, and he may even return empty-handed.

"Brother Jiang, keep your body down, or you'll slip easily."

Yu Qiutang was used to walking in the mountains. No matter it was windy, rainy or snowy, he was very experienced in walking on mountain roads, as if it was engraved in his bones.

But for Yu Qiujiang, although he was quite strong when the weather was fine, he was in a very awkward situation when walking on the soft mountain ground with the snow under his feet slipping all the time. He almost rolled down the mountain several times.

If you slip, you may not die, but you will at least get injured and lose some skin.

Fortunately, Yu Qiutang was well prepared.

Before setting off, Yu Qiujiang had an iron spike made for him. Now, it can be used like a trekking pole to pierce the snow and stabilize his body, so that he could move forward with difficulty.

At around 10 o'clock in the morning, the two finally crossed the Great Rift Valley and officially set foot on Xiong Xiazi Ridge.

The snow is falling less.

If you don't look carefully, you can hardly see any snowflakes. Yu Qiujiang stopped, shielded his eyes from the reflection of the snow, and looked at the top of Xiong Xiazi Ridge from afar. He sighed with rare emotion:
"I've only been to Houtouling before, and I thought all the mountains in the world were similar. I didn't expect this blind bear to be much bigger than the monkey head. Are we really going to find the blind warehouse in this mountain?"

"Well, it's not easy."

Yu Qiutang continued to move forward, with Yu Qiujiang following closely behind.

"But if we really hunt a bear, the price will be twice as high as in summer and autumn. Why? It's simple. In winter, ordinary people can't find bears at all, and those who are greedy and want to eat bear leftovers don't care about winter, summer or autumn.

As long as they give the order, you can't do it until tomorrow. It's better to send me the delicious bear meat like today, otherwise they will be unhappy. "Yu Qiujiang nodded, "Those termites."

Yu Qiutang smiled.

"When we get to the mountain, it's all up to you. Just tell me what you want me to do. I'll be your partner."

"Yes, I will. I know Brother Jiang is very steady. But you are right. When I find the Blind Bear Warehouse, we still need to cooperate.

Bears are not ordinary creatures after all. If we lose the initiative, we will still be in great danger."

At noon, the two of them were in a valley, and they had a meal together.

Due to limited conditions, we just boiled some water and ate some pancakes.

Yu Qiutang originally thought that he would come across some wild animals in the mountains and could supplement his nutrition by hunting them down.

But along the way, because of the heavy snow and the fact that we were in a hurry, we didn't observe the surroundings carefully and didn't gain anything.

Compared to the two of them, the two dogs are in much better conditions.

Before leaving, Yu Qiutang brought some bones for Dahei and prepared minced meat for Xiaoheizi.

Hunting dogs should be fed meat as much as possible.

Don’t feed them too much vegetarian food.

Otherwise, the dog's digestion and absorption abilities will be weakened, and the urge for meat will not be so strong, and it will not run so hard when running in the mountains.

Moreover, if the quality of the dog is too poor, even if it is brought into the mountains, it will only be a bystander and will not have much effect.

Originally, Yu Qiutang was worried about the two dogs, especially the little black one, because it was too cold in the mountains and his body couldn't stand it. Unexpectedly, dogs like him were naturally cold-resistant.

Running in the mountains makes me more lively, as if I have arrived at my own base camp. I am a natural runner.

After dinner, they continued to climb to the top of the mountain that afternoon.

This mountain is a mixture of stone and soil. Due to soil erosion, the foot and middle of the mountain are mostly soil, while the area towards the top of the mountain is mostly stone.

Therefore, because there is a large rift valley under the iron turtle shell and the mountain, a natural punishment is formed. Ordinary animals will not come here, and it also indirectly blocks humans from coming in, so the species here have formed a relatively stable food chain state.

Bears have basically no natural enemies in the Qinling Mountains.

If we really have to say what influence it has, it is that when bears give birth to cubs, they will be influenced by leopards, lynxes and jackals.

But because the ecology here is better and there is sufficient food in the food chain, there is no need for the wolf to cause trouble for the black bear.

Not to mention lynxes and leopards. With their top hunting abilities, they can choke to death if they try to eat in the mountains. There is no need for them to take huge risks to attack black bear cubs.

You should know that although they are more agile than black bears, black bears are also very fast in terms of explosive speed.

People who have never seen a black bear may have an illusion about it, thinking that such a burly creature must be very clumsy, but in fact their speed can reach 50 to 60 kilometers per hour, and they can burst out in an instant to chase, and basically many animals find it difficult to escape.

Not to mention humans.

That’s why it is said that if a person encounters a black bear within 10 meters, he will faint and it will be impossible for him to escape from the bear’s paw.

Of course, this refers to ordinary people.

When you meet a professional hunter, victory or defeat depends on a single thought.

Within 10 meters, the hunter can usually fire one shot. After that, whether he can have a chance to fire the next shot depends on whether he can avoid the bear's first attack.

Even if you hide, it is very difficult to find a good opportunity again, so few people hunt black bears in winter. They usually hunt them from a long distance in summer and autumn when they are more active.

In other words, after finding the bear's whereabouts, bait a trap for the bear, control it, and then kill it with a gun.

Of course, hunting bears in summer and autumn also has its troubles, that is, the whereabouts of bears are often difficult to control.

Real hunting is not as simple as in novels. Wherever you go, bears seem to appear suddenly.

Instead, you have to keep visiting, looking for bear feces, and then set several traps along the path the bear passes.

How to set a trap?

Generally, cattle or sheep are used, which are specially processed and placed separately. Then, according to the bear's eating movements, its range of activities is continuously narrowed, and finally a suitable place is found to hunt and kill it.

If you are lucky, you may get results in ten days or half a month. If you are unlucky, you may not get any results in one or two months.

It seems that the advantage of winter bear hunting is that you only need to explore places where bears may be hiding, and if you are lucky, the bear will definitely be there.

For a professional like Yu Qiutang, it is easy to judge whether there are bears hibernating inside by the traces outside the bear warehouse.

For the next three days, the two brothers wandered in the mountains.

It was because Yu Qiujiang had a calm temperament. If it were Wang Haofeng, he would have definitely shouted by now.

On the afternoon of the third day, both of them were a little tired. They had been eating the food they brought with them for several days in a row, and due to lack of nutrition, sores began to appear on their mouths.

Fortunately, Yu Qiutang was lucky enough to meet a lost snow sheep and invited it back. The two of them lit a fire and had a delicious meal of roasted whole lamb.

By the way, I also helped the two dogs, especially Dahei, by solving their eating problems.

Dahei was tired of eating bones, so now he had the fresh heart, liver and lungs of the sheep, and he ate them with great pleasure.

Little Heizi also wanted to pounce on it and eat it, so Yu Qiutang chopped it up with a knife and let it start eating something fresh.

Once a dog has eaten fresh flesh and blood, you need to pay special attention to it. At this time, it is like a rebellious child. If you control it well, its wild nature will be preserved and it will also have good loyalty.

If it is not controlled well, it will only burst out with its wildness, and its sense of closeness to humans will weaken, as if it has turned into an ungrateful person.

Once a dog like this appears, it is basically useless. It is impossible to really bring it into the mountains and expect it to help at a critical moment.

On the fourth day, which was also the sixth day since they left home, the sun came out in the morning, which was rare. Although the mountain was still covered with snow, except for the pine and cypress trees, the green color could be seen. Everything else was withered yellow and snow-white, which was cold and lonely.

However, the long-lost sunshine did not bring warmth to the two people because it melted the snow, but it brightened their eyes.

Yu Qiutang felt full of strength and excitement.

Sure enough, when it was almost noon, he turned a corner and suddenly saw something unusual. (End of this chapter)