Reborn in 80: Starting with hunting in the mountains to get rich

Chapter 361 The Agile Herd of Himalayan Sheep

A group of female Himalayan ibex formed a circle, surrounding their young in the center, to deal with the excited falcons overhead.

The falcon cries out loudly, swoops down, and extends its sharp talons to snatch the little ibex from its back.

Suddenly, two female Himalayan ibex charged out, angrily blocking the way, lowering their heads and raising their hind legs in a few quick movements, attempting to kick the falcon down.

The falcon swooped down too fast and, lacking experience, came within a step of the ibex cub. At such a close distance, the mother ibex intercepted it, and the cub's hoof kicked the falcon in the face.

The turn of events happened so quickly that no one expected it.

Chen Xiangqian gasped, his eyes widened, his pupils trembled, and he exclaimed, "Oh my god!"

That kick was solid; let alone a falcon, even a grown man would be kicked hard, suffering severe internal pain and unable to get up for days.

The falcon, terrified, tried to flap its wings, but it was too late; a hoof was about to strike. Suddenly, Li Ju'an urgently whistled.

The sharp, high-frequency whistle tore through the air.

Upon hearing the whistle, the falcon knew it was the signal to attack. A month of training had instilled in the falcon an instinctive urge to launch an even more ferocious charge upon hearing the attack command.

The claws that were originally gripping the baby ibex are now aimed at the mother ibex.

As it continued its downward descent, the speed increased, and the mother ibex missed its chance. The falcon, still descending, swept past its hooves and pounced straight at the mother ibex's exposed lower abdomen.

With a flap of its wings, the falcon almost blended into the herd of blue sheep. Its sharp beak touched the belly of an adult ewe.

Grandpa Zhao shouted, "This is dangerous!"

If a herd of blue sheep launches a fierce attack, their hard hooves can instantly trample a falcon swooping down from the sky. Such a small falcon is no match for a blue sheep on the ground; it would only risk having its spine broken by the hooves.

Chen Xiangqian panicked and shouted, "We have to fly up quickly!"

Falcons need wind to flap their wings and soar upwards. But on this cliffside slope, there's nowhere to get wind support.

The larger falcon struggled to flap its wings, trying several times, but was still struggling among the argali sheep. This made Li Ju'an nervously clench his palms, his hands sweating profusely.

Suddenly, the herd of blue sheep was greatly alarmed.

In the chaos, the herd of blue sheep began to scatter and flee. What had been an impenetrable encirclement of blue sheep became utter chaos.

Upon hearing the hawk's cry from nearby, four or five female Himalayan ibex instinctively turned and ran. For the flock, the hawk's cry is a nightmare for every Himalayan ibex when it is young.

Golden eagles and gyrfalcons, the dominant predators of the skies, both have a habit of hunting lambs. Even as adults, argali sheep, trembling at the sound of eagles' cries from a young age, retain their fear of aerial predators.

The cries of the eagles were the falcons calling for the hunters' protection, but to the herd of argali sheep, they were the call to arms of two falcons.

dong dong dong.

Beneath the hooves of the argali sheep were hard, fleshy pads, thick calluses pressing against the cliff face, making a hurried, rhythmic sound as they ran. Only the bewildered young argali sheep were left behind, unsure how to keep up with the main herd.

Seeing an opportunity, Li Ju'an whistled, and a small falcon swooped down to attack.

The falcon extended its hard talons and grabbed the baby ibex by the back. The newborn ibex was very small and wobbly.

On its first attempt, the falcon did not lift the ibex completely, but only dragged it a short distance.

The larger falcon finally took off against the wind, swooping down to grab the lamb that had fallen a little, and flew low and crooked over the Gobi Desert, as if showing off, excitedly bringing the lamb to the hunter.

Li Ju'an put down the gun he was holding and blew his whistle loudly: "Come on!"

Chen Xiangqian shouted excitedly, "Wow! These two little guys are already so good at hunting. If we tame some big golden eagles and gyrfalcons, we can even hunt wolves and harass bears!"

Grandpa Zhao, puffing on his pipe, laughed heartily and said, "You little rascal, you're dreaming. You can fight shrews, but how can you fight a bear? Your dog gang should know the most about bears. Even if a dozen hunting dogs surround a bear, they might not be able to take it down. In the end, the hunting dogs will either be dead or injured."

These words silenced Chen Xiangqian. He had long heard of the cruelty of hunting bears in the mountains.

Four or five of Li Ju'an's hunting dogs died, all from the predators' slaps and sharp teeth while hunting their livestock.

He watched as even such fierce hunting dogs couldn't outrun the predator, let alone the falcon flapping its wings in the air.

He thought for a moment and said, "Harassment is still an option, right? One more Falcon means one more helper."

These words were too much for the women in the barley field to bear. Old Mrs. Zhang teased him, saying, "This child, what are you saying? Do you think falconry is a game? Some falconers may only train one or two falcons in their entire lives. And those that can't be trained well will just have to be released and fly away."

Not all eagles can be trained. Only intelligent, human-like eagles that can work well with hunters can stay and help with the hunt.

If an eagle is unruly and stupid, it will be a hindrance rather than a help in the hunt.

Li Ju'an looked at the herd of argali sheep scattering in all directions and suddenly laughed, "What a coincidence!"

The falcon drove the herd of ibex out of the chaos, and two female ibex ran towards the salt flats. In their panic, one of them stepped into a snare set by Li Ju'an.

The ibex bleated loudly as its hind leg stepped into the snare, its entire leg becoming constricted. The more it struggled, the tighter the figure-eight snare became, locking its entire hind leg and rendering it unable to move.

The more the ibex struggled and tried to run, the more its hind legs were pulled apart, yet it could still turn its head to gnaw at the bushes that secured the snare.

Li Ju'an stood up and cursed, "This sheep has become a spirit!"

He had previously seen weasels in the old work area that went against the traps. When the traps clamped their legs, the weasels would simply gnaw off their hind legs to survive.

But this ibex, knowing the snare was related to the bushes, turned around and started biting at the roots and branches of the bushes. Wasn't this a lucky accident that almost led to a successful trap?

He ran more than ten meters, found an open area, set up his gun, aimed at the ibex that was turning its head to gnaw on the bushes, and fired a shot.

Bang!

The gun barrel fired with a loud bang, sparks flew at the muzzle, and the spent cartridge was ejected and ejected upwards.

The shot struck the ibex below its ear, pierced its brain, and sprayed out a cloud of blood mist from the back of its head.

Grandpa Zhao shouted, "Excellent marksmanship!"

Li Ju'an, having successfully shot the first ibex, ignored it and aimed his gun at the second ibex that was running wildly in all directions.

This ibex was incredibly fast, leaping across the Gobi Desert. The cliff face was so steep, almost vertical, but to the ibex it was like flat ground; it was impossible to predict where it would land next.

He held up his gun, pointed his face, and cursed, "Damn! That's really agile."