Wilderness Survival with Druid System

Chapter 199: Chapter 22: Hunting White-Tailed Deer

After building the smokehouse, making smoked meat became quite simple.

Chen Wen placed the burning firewood into the smoker, igniting the other firewood.

Thick smoke rose with high temperatures, steaming the meat above, with juices being smoked and roasted out, as the meat became drier.

As time passed.

Waves of the fresh scent of Yunshan and the fragrance of the meat twisted and turned, wafting out of the smoker.

The first batch of smoked meat strips was completed.

Chen Wen lifted the Yunshan branches, taking out the perfectly smoked meat strips.

He grabbed a piece of argali meat strip, tore off a strip with force, and chewed it.

The taste was quite excellent!

The fresh scent of Yunshan combined with the meat strips, greatly diluting the original gamey smell of the lamb.

Making the lamb taste even more delicious!

While the temperature was still right, Chen Wen immediately put in the second batch of meat strips, adding firewood to smoke and roast them.

...

While Chen Wen was busy smoking the meat.

Hua Yun and the Golden Eagle also entered the surrounding forest together.

Currently, in the Northern Hemisphere, nights are long and days are short, animals drink water in the dark early mornings, making hunting in the morning quite challenging.

Hua Yun could only choose to enter the forest during the day to find prey.

But hunting in the forest, the difficulty increased dramatically.

The Yunshan trees in the forest provide cover for animals, while also hindering human progress.

Moreover, the complex terrain of the forest makes it easier for humans to make noise, alerting the animals in advance.

Hua Yun understood the difficulty of hunting in the forest deeply.

She ordered the Golden Eagle to fly up, scouting the surrounding environment for her.

The Golden Eagle took to the sky.

Chen Wen had already agreed with it to help Hua Yun hunt, the Golden Eagle would not break its promise with Chen Wen.

Occupying the high ground, the Golden Eagle quickly spotted traces of some prey.

It landed on the ground, letting out short cries, and walked a few steps in one direction.

Hua Yun was quite shocked by this scene.

How did Chen Wen train it?

It’s only been a few days, how could the Golden Eagle perform such complex actions?

But despite her shock, Hua Yun’s hunting skills were quite high.

She gripped her bow and arrow, bent down, and carefully approached the direction indicated by the Golden Eagle.

As she moved, Hua Yun kept paying attention to the surrounding environment.

Very soon, she made a discovery.

At the root of a Yunshan tree, she found a pile of very fresh droppings.

Though it wasn’t steaming, it was very soft, likely not excreted more than an hour ago.

The shape of the droppings was pellet-like, similar to sheep droppings, but larger.

”This could be some deer droppings, possibly white-tailed deer or mule deer, moose droppings are larger, clumpy, like cow dung.”

Hua Yun explained the possible owner of the droppings, even crushing a pellet with her hand.

”Definitely deer, there are plant fragments and moss inside.”

Hua Yun wiped her hand with the surrounding leaves and continued tracking.

After walking for over a hundred meters.

Hua Yun stopped again.

She stroked the root of a nearby Yunshan tree, and slowly said, ”It should be white-tailed deer, these Yunshan trees have white-tailed deer secretions, their rutting season is from September to October, these secretions are from their scent glands, used to attract mates.”

”Without a doubt, there should be white-tailed deer ahead.”

”White-tailed deer are very alert and timid animals, they easily get scared and run away quickly, so before hunting white-tailed deer, I need to be prepared to avoid being noticed prematurely by them.”

As she said, Hua Yun quickly wrapped herself tighter with her jacket.

Additionally, she found a pine tree, crushed pine needles, and applied them to her skin.

The jacket was also coated with some crushed pine needles.

She did this to minimize the scent exposure.

Furthermore, Hua Yun took some pine tree branches and stuck them in her hat.

As a disguise.

All preparations complete, Hua Yun bent down and began to approach.

The Golden Eagle was left where it was.

Watching Hua Yun’s retreating figure, the Golden Eagle felt somewhat displeased.

It could somewhat sense Hua Yun’s thoughts; in Hua Yun’s eyes, it seemed to be a burden now.

”Hmph, you don’t value me, I don’t value you either.”

The Golden Eagle flapped its wings, flying high.

It also planned to hunt some prey, to show Hua Yun what the hunting capability of a Golden Eagle truly is!

...

As for Hua Yun.

She carefully cleared the branches on the ground to avoid making noise when stepping on them.

Moreover, now Hua Yun held the bow in her left hand, with three arrows between the fingers of her right hand.

She was ready for the hunt.

Just as Hua Yun continued to step forward.

Suddenly, a heavy breathing sound burst from the forest ahead.

Anyone who has played certain hunting games knows that, in the games, the heavy breathing of a white-tailed deer indicates that it has entered an alert state.

The same holds true in real life.

In reality, a startled white-tailed deer will snort or whistle.

The whistling they make isn’t very loud.

But once you hear these sounds, it signifies that the white-tailed deer have sensed something amiss.

So alert?

Hua Yun was startled, immediately lowering her body.

She looked in the direction where the sound was coming from.

Faintly, Hua Yun saw a blurry silhouette.

It’s a white-tailed deer!

Hua Yun was sure, because she saw the snow-white underside of the white-tailed deer, namely, its rump.

The reason why it’s called a white-tailed deer is because when running, its tail sticks up, revealing the snow-white underside.

But Hua Yun, unlike Chen Wen, wasn’t as knowledgeable about these things.

She just knew that the white-tailed deer’s rump was white, and that was enough.

It seems, this white-tailed deer had its rump facing this way.

Hua Yun pondered; currently, her distance from the white-tailed deer was about seventy meters.

This distance was within the effective range of the Recurve Bow.

But with the white-tailed deer’s rump facing this way, Hua Yun wasn’t sure if one shot could hit the white-tailed deer’s vital spot.

She worried that if the shot missed the vital spot.

It might cause the herd to flee, taking her arrows with them.

Better get a bit closer, change the angle, this shooting angle wasn’t ideal either.

Hua Yun carefully moved to the front left.

After moving about five meters, a whole white-tailed deer appeared within her view.

This white-tailed deer was the one making the noise.

At that moment it was looking to the other side, discerning whether the disturbance it heard was from a predator.

Hua Yun’s right leg was kneeling on the ground, her left leg supporting her arm, hiding behind a Yunshan tree.

This kind of disguise would soon be discovered, better shoot now!

Hua Yun made up her mind, the left hand raised the bow and arrow, the right hand knocked an arrow.

She aimed at the white-tailed deer’s soft abdomen.

Shooting here could effectively damage the internal organs of the white-tailed deer.

A closing of the eyes, a deep breath, relaxation, drawing the bowstring.

When Hua Yun opened her eyes, her bow was aimed at the white-tailed deer.

Deer, arrow, eye, three points in a line.

Now’s the time!

Confidently, Hua Yun released the string, the arrow flew out.

Countless times of training had culminated in a peak-performing shot!

Ancient hunting skills unleashed equally astonishing power in the modern age.

With the sounding of the bowstring, the arrow precisely pierced through the forest air, burying into the white-tailed deer’s tender abdomen.

This shot tore its muscles and destroyed its internal organs.

The white-tailed deer experienced pain.

But the timid creature didn’t even dare to make a sound.

After being hit, the white-tailed deer fled in panic forward.

The herd was also frightened by the shot.

They fled chaotically in all directions.

And Hua Yun began the chase.