Chapter 25

Qin Yi tidied up and came downstairs, and Ye Fang was already waiting. Seeing Qin Yi come down, he immediately went over, "Where's the shotgun?"

In fact, firearms were accessible to Ye Fang domestically, but that was only for target practice at the range. There was nothing like the thrill of hunting in a natural environment. Although he had some privileges, there were many restrictions. A family's development not only had various allies but also many political enemies; one couldn't do whatever they wanted!

"Remington or Lee-Enfield, which one do you want?" Qin Yi showed the shotguns in the bag, letting Ye Fang choose.

"Remington too? I'll take the Remington!" Ye Fang was completely delighted. The sound of the Remington firing was so exhilarating!

Qin Yi handed him the Remington and two boxes of 100 rounds of ammunition, then took out two pistols for him to choose from. Ye Fang tried each one and finally selected the QSG92, a 9mm Chinese police pistol with a 15-round magazine. Qin Yi had checked; none of them were loaded. They would load them when they reached the hunting area.

Back in the house, they found a backpack and packed beef jerky, drinking water, and fruit. After some thought, they also brought some salt and cumin powder. Roasting the game they caught at noon would be the most fun! After everything was done, they led the horses from the stable. Qin Yi, of course, rode Little Black, and Ye Fang rode Little Brown. They didn't carry much, so they didn't need an extra horse to carry their gear.

They said goodbye to Ryan, and the two set off!

First, they arrived at Qin Yi's dilapidated shooting range. Ye Fang, holding the Remington, fired a few shots to show off his marksmanship. The target, already riddled with holes, was now just a few scattered pieces of wood on the ground! From there, the two officially set out.

After about 30 minutes, they crossed several streams and saw a small hill covered with shrubs in the distance. They headed towards the hill, where the chances of finding game were higher. When they were about 200 meters from the hill, they dismounted, bent down, and quietly searched ahead.

Earlier, they had wanted to shoot some wild ducks to stew and taste, but the noise from the horses had scared them away, and a large flock of waterfowl flew off. They didn't even leave a single feather!

After this lesson, they became more cautious. Whenever they approached a place where game might be, they dismounted far away, concealed themselves, and searched. They quietly walked about 100 meters, then quietly squatted and stared at the hill for a few minutes, carefully searching for any suspicious movements. At this moment, they realized they had forgotten to bring binoculars!

Their hunting trip was quite amusing. They had no hunting dogs and no binoculars, relying entirely on their eyes to spot game from a distance. It was truly a miserable situation!

It was their first time hunting alone, and they hadn't consulted Ryan beforehand, so they easily forgot some things. Ye Fang, who had been walking on foot since dismounting, sighed more than once, "At least we have beef jerky and water. Even if we don't catch any game, it's still a good ride!"

Qin Yi chuckled softly and said they would definitely catch some pheasants or rabbits. Just as he finished speaking, he noticed some grass moving about 50 meters away from the hill, near a pile of rocks. The surrounding grass wasn't moving, so it wasn't the wind! He quickly pointed it out to Ye Fang, and they crept over quietly.

The grass in this area was sparse and overgrown with weeds, making it difficult to hide. The area was not suitable for grazing or harvesting, so it had gradually become a haven for small animals and a good hunting spot for the ranch hands.

Unfortunately, the low grass made it hard for them to conceal themselves.

Perhaps the fun of hunting lay in the intelligence and courage of the hunter and the prey!

They moved cautiously, stopping and hiding, and it took them about three minutes to get within 30 meters of the moving grass. This distance was too close for hunting, as any movement could scare the game away. However, without binoculars, it was difficult for them to spot small targets in the weeds.

They carefully lay down, afraid to scare the game away.

Qin Yi peeked and saw a gray long-eared rabbit peacefully eating grass.

"It's a rabbit!" Ye Fang also peeked and was delighted, but then he looked at his Remington and felt a bit depressed. One shot would probably blow the rabbit to pieces!

"You shoot. My Remington will make a big hole in the rabbit! I'll take a bigger one later!"

Qin Yi chuckled, slowly crouched, and aimed the gun.

Looking at the rabbit through the sights, Qin Yi remembered the need for a scope. He would ask Old Jack to install one later, which could also serve as a pair of binoculars. Putting aside his thoughts, he focused on the rabbit. This was his first hunt, and he didn't want to miss!

"Bang!"

Qin Yi didn't hesitate after aiming. The rabbit fell with a thud!

He hit it!

Qin Yi was excited. This was his first hunt, and regardless of the size of the game, he had become a hunter!

Seeing the rabbit fall, Ye Fang jumped up and ran over quickly.

"Wow, great shot! Right in the head. If we're careful, we can keep the pelt!"

Qin Yi took a few steps forward, hearing Ye Fang's praise but not responding. In his mind, he was thinking: I aimed for the body, and the head is so small. What if I missed?

He took the rabbit and examined it. Indeed, the bullet had entered from the left ear and exited near the right eye.

Hmm, aiming for the body but hitting the head. Well, my marksmanship needs improvement!

He weighed the rabbit, which was about 3 pounds. Damn, eating my grass and getting so fat, you deserve to be killed and eaten. I'll ask Ryan to help skin it. This pelt would make a nice pair of gloves for my mother! He used some grass as a rope to tie the rabbit and hang it on the horse. You want a rope? We didn't bring one. We wanted to travel light. See, we didn't even bring binoculars to reduce the load. Yes, to reduce the load!

"Let's go for some larger game. With this Remington, small animals won't dare to show up! I heard there are plenty of white-tailed deer, black-tailed deer, and moose around here!"

"It's the end of June. This season, white-tailed deer are usually in the dense forests on the mountains. Let's go hunting for white-tailed deer during the National Day holiday. By then, the deer will come down to the ranch to find food. The older and younger brothers will come too, and we'll go together!"

Hearing that they couldn't hunt white-tailed deer, Ye Fang was a bit disappointed and seemed to lose his energy. "Alright, I'll come next time, and we'll go camping together!"

Qin Yi nodded, feeling a bit helpless. He had just taken over the ranch and was too eager to go hunting. They didn't even have hunting dogs, and hunting in the mountains or forests would be dangerous without them! He decided to focus on the ranch for the next few months, get some hunting dogs, and then take them on a proper hunting trip during the National Day holiday. He didn't delay and called Ye Fang to mount their horses and continue searching for game.

Their next destination was a small forest, which they could reach in about half an hour on horseback. However, they were here to enjoy the hunt, so they didn't rush. They trotted along, stopping to hunt whenever they saw game.

Just as Qin Yi used the Lee-Enfield to shoot a pheasant in the shrubs, Ye Fang couldn't resist anymore. He put the Remington on his back and took out the QSG92 pistol from his belt, deciding to use it to shoot some small animals for fun!

As they walked, they occasionally heard gunshots, and a rabbit or pheasant would quickly dart away, leaving Ye Fang feeling frustrated!

When they spotted another rabbit, Ye Fang raised his pistol to aim. Just as he was about to miss again, Qin Yi quickly handed him the Lee-Enfield.

"Alright, alright, use this. Using a pistol to hunt is quite unusual!"

Ye Fang chuckled, "I need to practice my marksmanship. I can't even hit at 30 meters!" He took the shotgun, loaded it, aimed, and fired in one smooth motion. Qin Yi, watching from the side, thought it would be a miracle if he missed!

Sure enough, he hit it!

Ye Fang jumped up happily, ran over to pick up the pheasant, and showed it to Qin Yi with a smile. Qin Yi laughed, thinking he was still so childish when he played!

Ye Fang, following Qin Yi's example, hung the game on the horse's neck, which made him grin widely. Ha, I have game too!

They mounted their horses and continued. After another 40 minutes, they had alternated and caught two more rabbits and three more pheasants. They also saw a fox, but Qin Yi let it escape before he could shoot!

By the time they reached the edge of the small forest, it was already noon. They decided to have lunch and then enter the forest in the afternoon. They chose an open area as their temporary campsite. Ye Fang gathered firewood, and Qin Yi cleaned the pheasants by the stream. Fortunately, Qin Yi, being a cowboy, always carried a multi-tool knife, so cleaning the pheasants was easy.

Before leaving, Qin Yi dug a hole and buried the entrails to prevent them from rotting and attracting large predators, which, though unlikely, could still happen!

Back at the campsite, Ye Fang had already started a fire and was sitting, drinking water. Qin Yi skewered the chicken on sticks and handed one to Ye Fang. They chatted and roasted the meat. The pheasants were small, and after cleaning, the meat was only about the size of two fists. Qin Yi and Ye Fang, being food lovers, felt it wasn't enough. They cut a pound of beef jerky from their backpack and shared it, along with some fruit, to finally feel full!

After resting for half an hour, they packed up and left the horses at the campsite, walking along the stream into the forest. The forest was small, extending less than 300 meters along the stream and about 100 meters wide. They walked along the stream, occasionally startling an unknown bird. They had seen many birds on the way, but neither was interested in shooting them. They could shoot pheasants, but why shoot birds?

On the trees around them, many squirrels were jumping and watching them curiously, probably wondering what these strange two-legged creatures were doing.

Qin Yi was also curious about the squirrels. He had heard they were cute and had seen pictures on TV, but this was the first time he had seen a live one. After a few glances, he found the big tails nice, but nothing else particularly cute!

Ignoring them, he continued walking. Suddenly, he noticed a bare branch moving over the water on the left side of a large tree. There was no wind!

Was some game rubbing against the dry branch?

Qin Yi quickly pulled Ye Fang down and crouched, looking carefully. The branch was still moving! Suddenly, the branch lifted, and a large head appeared below it!

Damn, not rubbing at all. It was a deer with large antlers drinking from the stream!