Chapter 38: The Single-Minded 'Yellow Bold'
Without the restraint of the string, Yellow Bold's hunting ability improved slightly once again.
Although he hasn't performed high-level maneuvers like the Eurasian Sparrowhawk (Female) roll, this Yellow Bold knows how to chase, strike, head-snatch, and turn, which are the Eurasian Sparrowhawk's signature moves for hunting in the wild.
What surprised the two brothers the most was when they passed through a transitional shrub area and flushed out a large wild chicken near their feet.
At that time, the Hunting Eagle was perched on Brother Xiao Wu's hand. When the chicken flushed at his feet, Brother Xiao Wu instinctively released Yellow Bold.
Logically speaking, a large wild chicken would not be an option in the typical wild diet of an ordinary Eurasian Sparrowhawk. A regular Eurasian Sparrowhawk would at most catch wild chicken chicks weighing around a jin.
But Yellow Bold lived up to his name. At that moment, he was full of spirit. When Brother Xiao Wu released him, Yellow Bold flew directly towards the large wild chicken.
This is where the difference in hunting intelligence between different Hunting Eagles becomes apparent.
When the Northern Goshawk hunted wild chickens before, he would directly grasp the prey's head with both talons for a brief control, relying on the Hawk Keeper's strength to quickly subdue the wild chicken and end the fight.
While this Yellow Mahaozi was bold enough to chase the wild chicken, his grip after catching it was not skillful.
One talon grabbed the thick feathers on the wild chicken's neck, and the other grabbed the wild chicken's back. He was directly straddled on the large wild chicken like riding a horse.
Large male wild chickens at the foot of Changbai Mountain weigh over two or three jin. A Hunting Eagle weighing over half a jin hanging onto him had little impact on short-distance flight. Just like that, one chicken and one Eurasian Sparrowhawk (Female) flew towards the opposite hillside.
"Damn! It's a large male wild chicken that got up, why did you release the Hunting Eagle!"
His elder brother, Xiao Wen, was a bit confused. Wild chickens are not rare at the foot of the mountain. They encountered them yesterday while circling the mountain, but Xiao Wen didn't release the Hunting Eagle to attack. He didn't expect his younger brother to release the Hunting Eagle so recklessly today, and in a state where the string was still attached.
"I didn't react in time. A bird got up at my feet, and my head got hot, so I just released him! I didn't realize it was a wild chicken until the Hunting Eagle had already chased after it!
What do we do, Brother!"
"What can we do? Chase quickly! Our Hunting Eagles rely on this Yellow Bold to work. If we lose the Hunting Eagle, how will we explain it when we go back? Even if Feng Ge doesn't blame us, we won't be able to catch many birds relying on the remaining Hunting Eagle!"
After saying this, Xiao Wen immediately ran wildly in the direction the Hunting Eagle had flown.
On the other side, the large wild chicken carried Yellow Bold directly for a little less than a li. After exhausting himself and landing, Yellow Bold still held tightly onto the feathers on the back of the neck, refusing to let go.
A wild chicken's fear of a Hunting Eagle is an instinct ingrained in its bones. The large male chicken struggled and flailed on the ground with Yellow Bold on his back, but it was useless.
After struggling on the ground for about thirty seconds, Yellow Bold lowered his head and pecked at the large male chicken's comb. The large male chicken, in pain, took flight again, carrying Yellow Bold towards the next mountain ridge.
Xiao Wen and Brother Xiao Wu hadn't even climbed the slope yet when they saw the large male chicken take flight for the second time from a distance, quickly disappearing from their sight.
"Damn it, this large male chicken can really fly with Yellow Bold on his back! Huff huff... huff... huff." Xiao Wen cursed while gasping for breath.
His younger brother, Brother Xiao Wu, wasn't much better, but he knew he had made a mistake. He didn't say anything, just kept chasing forward with a determined look.
The two brothers crossed two mountain ridges from where they released the Hunting Eagle before they saw the male wild chicken, which had flown two wingspans worth of distance and exhausted his strength, struggling frantically on the ground.
And Yellow Bold, somewhat single-minded, was holding tightly onto the large male chicken's back, refusing to let go.
The more the chicken struggled, the faster his strength was consumed. By the time Xiao Wen and Brother Xiao Wu arrived, the large wild chicken had completely given up resisting. His head was buried in a shrub, ignoring his rear end, and he remained motionless.
In contrast, Yellow Bold was currently flapping his wings occasionally to maintain balance, panting with his large beak open, and his talons were still firmly gripping the prey, refusing to loosen.
After continuously crossing two mountain ridges, Xiao Wen and Brother Xiao Wu were completely exhausted. Upon seeing the Hunting Eagle and the wild chicken on the ground, they forced themselves to chase after them.
"I'll kill it!"
"Don't, we finally caught it alive! Feng Ge said live ones fetch a higher price!" Brother Xiao Wu pulled out a small knife, wanting to slaughter the wild chicken directly, but his elder brother stopped him.
Then, Xiao Wen walked up to the wild chicken, his eyes quick and hands nimble, and grabbed the chicken's talons, pulling him out from the shrub.
At this time, the simple-minded Yellow Bold was still reluctant to release his grip. Xiao Wen held down the wild chicken, and this guy, while panting heavily with his mouth open, struggled to try and pull feathers from the wild chicken's neck.
From a physiological structure perspective, a Eurasian Sparrowhawk's strong beak has difficulty breaking through a large male wild chicken's defenses. Even if the large male chicken's neck is twisted and given to the Eurasian Sparrowhawk, the small Hunting Eagle would still have a lot of trouble tearing through the wild chicken's skin to get to the meat.
But Yellow Bold seemed a bit slow-witted, with a single-minded temperament. Brother Xiao Wu had already taken out a Sand Grouse from his backpack to cover his glove and exchange for food, but Yellow Bold stubbornly refused to release his grip. The standoff lasted for over a minute before he finally loosened his talons, stepped on the Sand Grouse, and lowered his head to devour the meat frantically.
Xiao Wen and Brother Xiao Wu's Falconry experience was still somewhat lacking at this point. In this situation, having caught a wild chicken, they definitely shouldn't have been calculating the value of a live wild chicken, but rather focused on cultivating the Hunting Eagle's gripping technique.
It can be said that Yellow Bold's success in catching the wild chicken this time relied on brute force and a single-minded temperament. As for skill, it didn't touch on that at all.
If Yue Feng were beside them at this moment, his first reaction wouldn't be to exchange the prey, but to find a way to guide the Hunting Eagle, letting him know where the wild chicken's vital points are, so that next time he strikes, he knows where to grip to control the prey more easily.
As Yue Feng had said to the younger brothers before, being bold and daring to catch is a talent, but just being bold is far from enough. To grow into an excellent Hunting Eagle, he still needs correct guidance from the Hawk Keeper.
Xiao Wen and Brother Xiao Wu's lack of experience caused Yellow Bold to miss this opportunity for learning and advancement.
However, this wasn't important. Even though the catch was a bit clumsy, the final result was good.
After completing such a big task, the Hunting Eagle's physical strength was greatly depleted. Although the brothers were eager to go deeper into the mountains to catch more prey, they also knew that the Hunting Eagle's condition was more important. They were afraid of the Hunting Eagle becoming exhausted and being unable to fly properly, so even though it wasn't yet noon, they fed Yellow Bold to about eighty percent full and handed him over to Brother Xiao Wu to carry all the way.
For the rest of the afternoon, the brothers focused their attention on the other substitute Eurasian Sparrowhawk (Female). Although this 'bad' Hunting Eagle, which the brothers didn't rate highly, had a lower success rate, the cooperation between them and the Hunting Eagle also improved. They kept this Hunting Eagle perched on their hand and wandered through the forest until dusk before carrying the Hunting Eagle down the mountain.
Around four o'clock in the afternoon, Yue Feng was the first to return home with his Hunting Eagle perched on his hand. Today, he had spent the entire day wandering in the red pine forest. Including squirrels that came down to the ground and squirrels forced out by smoke and fire, he caught a total of eight live ones. On the way down the mountain, he also conveniently caught three Flying Dragons and two Sand Grouse.
Half an hour later, the Li Family also returned. Today, Li Shu and Xiao Tao's harvest was significantly larger than yesterday.
There's another chapter tonight, mwah mwah~
