Chapter 30: Autumn Flower Day Pinecone
Today's main purpose wasn't work, but rather to use the hawk outing as a chance to teach the brothers some technical details about flying young hawks.
Yue Feng knew well that learning by just talking without hands-on practice would never be good, so when they encountered opportunities on the mountain hunt, he let the three brothers take turns practicing, getting familiar with some of the hawk-flying techniques beforehand.
This stuff also has a talent factor; although Xiao Tao started flying hawks in real combat earlier than Xiao Wen and Xiao Wu, his performance wasn't as good as the Zhang Family brothers.
Especially Xiao Wu, in his first hawk-flattening practical session, he performed very steadily. If they hadn't grown up in the same village and known each other's backgrounds, Yue Feng might have even thought Xiao Wu was a Hawk Keeper before.
After all, the Northern Goshawk's strength was evident. Even if these novices' hawk-flying skills were slightly lacking, after strolling around Erjiazi Gully, the brothers didn't miss a shot.
The only difference was how long it took the hawk to catch the prey after chasing it out.
Those who could get close to the prey and find the right moment to strike might pin the chicken down within ten meters, while those with stiff and nervous limbs who couldn't find opportunities might have the hawk chase for dozens of meters.
The hawk was already accustomed to flying smoothly, and it was a familiar area. As long as there were no major accidents, the hawk generally wouldn't be lost.
The group of four, from past 8:30 AM, strolled on the ridge until past 10:00 AM and caught four Flying Dragons.
The brothers descended from the south slope and arrived at the location where the cage nets were set.
The cage nets had decent results, but they didn't catch the type of hawk Yue Feng was targeting.
Of the three nets, one was not triggered and remained motionless.
Of the other two nets, one caught a Little Owlet (owl), and the other caught a green-eyed autumn flower Pinecone that had just started flying that year (subadult male Japanese Eurasian Sparrowhawk).
The Little Owl, besides being able to act cute, had no taming value, and its meat couldn't be eaten, so Yue Feng released it on the spot.
However, Yue Feng wasn't in a hurry to release the second Little Pinecone.
Japanese Eurasian Sparrowhawks breed in the pine forests on Changbai Mountain.
This kind of Little Pinecone, which had only been out of the nest for a few months that year, was the young hawk with the lowest entry barrier. The little guy weighed less than two liang and wasn't much bigger than a Mountain Eight Tiger (shrike).
Yue Feng flattened the hawk in his hand and examined it. This young hawk had a calculating bead-like head, tender green bean eyes, and belonged to the type that left the nest relatively late and had an exceptionally mild temper among its kind.
If Yue Feng seriously handled him, setting the net in the morning, flattening him on a perch and taking him to the Market to get accustomed to faces all day, then putting on a jess in the evening, flattening him again before dawn the next day, and waiting until it was light, he could be flown as soon as he saw Sparrows on the ground when they went out.
It's just that this kind of young hawk, due to its size, has limited prey it can catch, and young hawks are afraid of the cold, so they can't be flown for many days once the temperature drops.
Therefore, generally, no one trains this type in autumn, but rather around May Day in spring, they catch Little Pinecones that have migrated back and haven't finished molting, and catch Sparrows that have just left the nest in May or June.
If they were lucky enough to find a persimmon-eyed clean-molted Pinecone that had finished molting its subadult feathers early (clean-molted Pinecone refers to a subadult from the previous autumn that has finished molting all its down feathers early after a winter; this kind of young hawk has good physique and strong hunting ability, making it a top-grade among Pinecones), they could stroll around the village all day flying it and still catch twenty or thirty Sparrows.
Earlier, Hawk Keepers who kept Great Eagles in cages at home (keeping Northern Goshawks that left the nest in the autumn of the previous year in separate cages, allowing the hawk to molt in a domesticated state with people) would tie up Pinecones in spring to catch birds to feed the Great Eagles.
Great Eagles that ate live food every day and molted quickly had good physique. By the time they started hunting in autumn, they had great stamina and strong hunting instincts. Their practical performance after a year in a cage far exceeded that of yellow hawks that had just come down from the mountain that year.
Of course, if a Great Eagle performed generally in the previous hunting season, the Hawk Keeper would mostly not bother to cage it, but rather choose to wait until spring when flowers bloom, leave the hawk for a period to make it afraid of people again, and then release it back into nature.
In this era, raptor resources are also relatively abundant. Great Eagles that can be trained to catch Rabbits and pheasants are not uncommon, it's just that top-quality hawks like the Northern Goshawk are rare and hard to come by.
I've gone off-topic, let's get back to the main subject.
After Yue Feng took down the Little Autumn Flower, the first thing he did was pull out a loop of cotton string from his pocket.
He hadn't prepared the two-part leash for tying up the Little Pinecone beforehand, so Yue Feng folded several strands of cotton string in half and twisted them firmly, temporarily tying a clove hitch to leash the young hawk.
Since he was free anyway, and this young hawk had been caught in the net, it was a kind of fate. He might as well flatten it and admire it. If it was bold and had a good temper, catching some Sparrows near his home to feed other hawks would also be a good thing.
Seeing Yue Feng skillfully take the small hawk out of the net and tie its leg, Xiao Tao asked curiously, "Brother, why are you tying up this little grasshopper hawk? Can it also hunt?"
Yue Feng grinned and smiled, "Since I'm free anyway, I'll admire it! Don't look down on its small size, it can also catch Sparrows! This is a nestling that just left the nest not long ago. Flattening it for a while, I estimate it won't take much effort to get it ready to fly!"
As he spoke, Yue Feng held the newly tied cotton string leash between his thumb and index finger, then spread out his palm.
He saw the young hawk slowly stand up shakily from its curled-up nesting posture. It didn't struggle to fly, just like a socially anxious little boy, shrinking its neck and observing the burly men beside it.
Yue Feng deliberately turned his wrist smoothly halfway. The young hawk followed by stepping its legs, and slowly, it actually stood steadily on Yue Feng's hand.
Yue Feng knew that nestlings were bold, but he had never seen one so bold. It had just been taken from the net and flattened for less than ten minutes, and it already dared to stand on his hand. Ordinary young hawks just taken from the net would be scared to death, and if they weren't flattened immediately after being tied, nine out of ten would 'hang' themselves.
Based on this alone, Yue Feng was certain that this little guy could definitely be flown within a day at most.
"Hehehe, alright, this little guy dares to stand on my hand right after being netted! Okay, I happen to have some free time these two days, I'll mess around with him!"
The more Yue Feng looked at this Little Pinecone, the more he liked him. After letting him stand on his hand for a while, he quickly took him back and flattened him in his hand again.
After putting the hawk away properly, Yue Feng re-hung the cage nets. The brothers then strolled around the bushes outside the riverside woods again and caught two Sand Grouses.
As noon approached, the four people went back to check the nets again. Perhaps because there had been people active near the woods, none of the three nets had any catch.
When he left home, Yue Feng had told his family that he would eat lunch at home. Seeing that it was time for lunch, Yue Feng waved his hand and said they should go back to eat first.
For lunch, Mom Meng Yulan also prepared quite a spread. The Sand Grouses they had just brought back were cleaned and put into a pot with hazelnuts and potatoes, stewed. Flying Dragons were made into Flying Dragon soup. There was also luncheon meat and canned yellow croaker bought from the small shop on the table. In addition, there were fried peanuts, plus sliced pork stir-fried with onions.
A simple six dishes. Although it couldn't be considered high-class, in that era of scarce resources, this table of dishes was considered a high standard.