Chapter 84: Pheasants Released in Black Coffin Valley

Damn, this big red eagle now weighs about 2.18 jin. The muscles in its chest are very developed, and you can’t even feel the gap in the middle of the keel.

The eagle’s body is covered with lumps of flesh. As long as the crop is not injured, this little impact will be a small problem and it will be fine.

Yue Feng sat on the ridge, holding the eagle, and took out a kettle from his pocket to give the eagle some water. After waiting for about two minutes, the eagle had resumed its normal breathing rhythm.

Fearing that the eagle might be injured, Yue Feng stayed where he was and kept his attention on observing the eagle. Ten minutes later, the eagle’s fur loosened up again. Yue Feng knew that the eagle had recovered its strength, so he stood up and continued to move forward.

Compared to the wonderful performance of the first rabbit, the next few rabbits were a bit boring. Basically, after being chased by Yue Feng, the big eagle could easily catch them within 30 meters.

It is worth mentioning that after the first rabbit paid the price of its life to tell the eagle that grabbing the buttocks to hunt was not very efficient, when the big red eagle chased the subsequent rabbits with its claws, it subdued the prey by using one claw to block the prey’s head and mouth and the other claw to block the waist.

Yue Feng was also quite satisfied. Although this surrender posture was quite strenuous, it was at least much better than grabbing a rabbit by the butt and not letting go.

Yue Feng went out at eight in the morning and strolled outside the village until about twelve o’clock. There were already six rabbits in his bag. The largest one weighed nearly five kilograms, and the smaller ones weighed more than three kilograms.

Including the two rabbits that were temporarily raised at home, there would definitely be enough game to deliver to the canteen in the city in the evening, so Yue Feng changed the prey for the hawk’s release in the afternoon to pheasants.

In fact, in normal falconry activities, using a big eagle to catch pheasants is not an easy job.

Compared with an eagle catching rabbits, the risk of losing an eagle when catching pheasants is many times higher.

Why do I say this? The reason is very simple. Pheasants are flying birds. Once they are coaxed into flying, they have the ability to fly with two or three wings. Their maneuverability is far superior to that of rabbits which can only run on four legs.

In addition, the large eagle cannot be released flatly. Fist hunting (the eagle stands on the arm or fist of the handler to launch an attack is called fist hunting). Compared with releasing it flatly, the initial velocity of the eagle when it leaves the hand is significantly lower, so the flying distance of the falcon in chasing its prey will inevitably be longer.

The new eagle, which had only been released for three days, was still far from reaching its peak both mentally and physically. It could probably catch a pheasant with a bit of luck, and at most the eagle handler would be a little tired running behind.

If the eagle’s physical strength is not up to the standard of chasing a pheasant, and it fails to catch up with the pheasant, and it lands on some tree, it may be several hours before the falconer can find it again.

Despite knowing this, Yue Feng had no intention of giving up. He had to face this problem sooner or later. He had to at least try it once and then make subsequent adjustments based on the Eagle’s actual combat performance.

Yue Feng had promised Master Niu that he would supply the canteen with wild rabbits and pheasants. Now that he had the rabbits, he couldn’t tell anyone else. He didn’t dare to release the pheasants himself. Yue Feng couldn’t afford to lose face.

As for losing a hawk, Yue Feng was not too afraid. As an experienced falconer, he would conduct a risk assessment in advance when choosing a falconry site. He would not simply choose a site with complex terrain where the hawk might fly away with one wing and no one could be seen to catch pheasants. That was not falconry, that was gambling.

After some thought, Yue Feng chose the Heicunzaigou located northeast of Xing’an Village as the first battlefield for actual pheasant catching.

This name may sound a bit scary, but the actual situation is a little more complicated than it sounds.

This Black Coffin Ditch was originally the flood discharge channel of the Muling River in the north of the village. Every year when the rainy season comes, the water level reaches a certain level and the flood will be discharged from this ditch and flow into the larger river further downstream. One year, the rain was heavy and the water level of the river rose sharply. Many black wooden coffins were washed out of the Black Coffin Ditch by the flood. According to the villagers, this should have been a cemetery hundreds of years ago.

Later, this large ditch of the flood discharge channel was given a name and became known as the Black Coffin Ditch by villagers in the surrounding villages.

There are two main reasons why Yue Feng chose this place as the place to release hawks and catch pheasants. First, the terrain here is relatively open, and the reclaimed farmland is afraid of being destroyed by floods, so the crops are planted on the middle and upper slopes of the ditch, with a large impact plain below.

It is not the rainy season yet, and the bottom of the ditch is full of pebbles of various sizes. The plants are not lush, and the sparsely populated area is very bright.

There are many pheasants here, and the view is wide. The nearest forest is three or four miles away in a straight line, so it is definitely the first choice for catching pheasants with hawks.

After making up his mind, Yue Feng walked back with the eagle on his back. He was carrying six rabbits, which weighed more than 20 kilograms. He took a small path back home, put down the prey, and set off again with light equipment. In less than half an hour, Yue Feng had arrived at the upper reaches of the Black Coffin Valley.

The terrain here is higher. At a glance, the soybeans planted on the slope have been harvested, and the river beach below is covered with sparse short grass. As soon as I stood at the high point of Hulukou, I heard the iconic cluck…cluck sound of a male pheasant coming from a distance.

The eagle also heard the pheasant’s call. Its feathers tensed up and it looked around, as if trying to find the location of the prey that had just called.

Yue Feng came down the path from Hulukou and walked forward slowly.

According to Yue Feng’s experience, these pheasants like to hide in the buffer zone between the soybean field and the short grass at the bottom of the valley. In these locations, the grass is relatively taller and they feel safer.

Yue Feng walked slowly forward from the edge of the soybean field. After every few steps, he would knock a few times symbolically with the stick in his hand.

It was exactly as he expected. He had only walked less than two hundred meters when he heard a flapping sound coming from four or five meters below his feet. A sturdy big pheasant flapped its wings and took off like a helicopter, flying towards the shallows below.

Seeing this scene, the big red eagle in his hand started instantly. It kicked Yue Feng’s arm hard, then flapped its wings and chased in the direction the pheasant flew away.

There is no harm without comparison. If you take a first glance, the speed of this big pheasant’s first wing taking off is actually not slow.

But compared to Yue Feng’s iron-backed red eagle, the pheasant is much slower.

The eagle chased from a high position, and after flying less than fifty meters, it had already caught up with the pheasant. It turned sideways and reached up from below, and directly gave the pheasant a wonderful hug in the air.

Compared with the various funny performances of catching hares mentioned above, the performance of the iron-backed redbird in catching pheasants can be described as professional. Its flying speed is extremely fast and its pursuit distance is short. The look back and grab that is comparable to a kite turning over is even more classic.

Yue Feng didn’t have time to admire the eagle’s working skills, he just stretched out his long legs and ran down.

(End of this chapter)