HUN Chapter 69: Master Snarer

"Alright, after 2.5 hours of practicing with the snare pole, it's time to go out and get some activity."

Lin Yu'an put on all his warmest clothing, wore the newly made beaver fur hat, and flipped down and tied the ear flaps on both sides.

"Today's primary goal is to check those newly set snare traps. With such heavy snow, I don't know if they can still work normally."

He held the newly made long-pole snare in one hand and stepped into that white world covered with thick snow.

The post-snow forest was unusually quiet, as if all sounds were absorbed by the soft snow.

Lin Yu'an walked toward the shrub area where he had previously found the "rabbit trails," each step quite laborious.

Soon, he arrived at the first trap location, and the scene before him made him frown slightly.

The trap he had carefully camouflaged was now completely covered by thick snow, with not even a trace visible.

He used a stick to dig away the snow, revealing the trap device below that had become somewhat stiff from the cold.

The snare loop still maintained its original shape, with no prey caught.

He consecutively checked several other traps, all with similar situations. All had failed due to the heavy snow, yielding nothing.

There were also several traps that couldn't be located due to snow coverage, which made Lin Yu'an somewhat annoyed.

He didn't get discouraged but patiently cleaned and retrieved each trap, preparing to set them up again after finding new rabbit trails.

After the ground traps yielded nothing, Lin Yu'an didn't immediately return to his shelter.

His gaze began turning toward the surrounding low spruces and birches laden with snow.

"Since the ground targets aren't cooperating, I'll turn my attention skyward, or rather, to the trees."

"Forest birds like grouse will find ground foraging very difficult in this heavy snow weather."

"They'll likely fly to tree branches to peck at exposed tender shoots or needles. And this gives me an excellent opportunity."

He began moving slowly through the forest, his eyes no longer just focused on the ground.

Instead, he carefully scanned every tree he thought might have grouse roosting.

He was looking for relatively low trees with sparse branches that would allow him to extend his long pole, spruces or pines.

Spruce grouse liked to seek food and shelter in these coniferous trees.

At the edge of a relatively sparse spruce forest, he suddenly stopped. His sixth sense had detected something! He keenly captured a target!

About fifteen meters ahead, on a horizontal branch several meters high on a medium-sized spruce tree.

A grayish-brown figure, similar in color to the tree trunk, was standing quietly there!

It was a spruce grouse! It was stretching its neck, pecking at tender buds on the branch one bite at a time, completely unaware of the danger below.

"Target acquired."

Lin Yu'an carefully held his long-pole snare horizontally forward, preparing to begin his first real combat attempt.

He didn't approach from the front but used the tree trunk for cover, making a small arc to move to the grouse's rear side.

He began extremely slowly extending the long pole upward and forward.

The four-meter spruce pole was rock-steady in his hands, and the small steel wire snare loop at the tip was almost completely invisible against the gray-white sky background.

The pole tip approached that unsuspecting grouse bit by bit, inch by inch.

Three meters... two meters... one meter...

The long pole's tip had passed over the branch where the grouse sat, reaching above it.

Lin Yu'an adjusted his wrist angle, letting the open snare loop slowly and precisely descend toward the grouse's head and neck.

Just as the snare loop was about to touch the fluffy feathers on the grouse's neck, the grouse seemed to have finished eating the tender buds on this branch and slightly turned its neck.

Now was the time!

Lin Yu'an's eyes suddenly focused intensely, his arm exerted force, and he pulled with lightning speed!

"Coo?——Coo coo!"

The spruce grouse only had time to emit a short, panicked cry before feeling its neck suddenly tighten!

The grouse struggled violently, its wings flapping frantically, stirring up snow mist among the branches, but the tough steel wire snare only tightened more, making all its struggles futile.

He quickly moved forward and ended its suffering in the fastest way possible.

"Success! Success on the first real attempt!"

Lin Yu'an held this substantial grouse up to the camera, his face radiating irrepressible excitement!

He tied up this precious grouse and hung it at his waist, then continued searching in the snowy forest, anticipating the next "intimate contact" with prey.

Perhaps the first success had exhausted today's good luck. In the following hour or so, Lin Yu'an didn't find a second suitable target.

He wasn't greedy and was very satisfied with today's harvest.

He glanced at the weather that was becoming overcast again and decided to return to his shelter early.

Back in the warm, solid stone house, Lin Yu'an entered his gourmet time again.

"Guys, for tonight's dinner, I plan to make a simple and bold main dish, wilderness version deer fat stir-fried grouse chunks!"

He began skillfully processing the grouse. Unlike when he made "beggar's chicken" before, laboriously plucking feathers, he chose a more direct method better suited for stir-frying, skinning.

Using the knife tip, he made an incision at the grouse's chest, then carefully peeled off the entire feathered skin along the fascia layer between skin and meat.

This small chicken skin he also didn't discard, planning to save it for other uses.

After skinning, the pink chicken meat was exposed underneath. He began breaking it down with the logging axe.

"Stir-frying requires proper heat control and uniform ingredient size."

"I need to cut all this meat into appropriately sized chunks, about the size of my thumb joint. This way it's easy to cook through and absorbs flavors well."

The logging axe came in handy again. All the chicken legs, wings, and breast meat were broken down into uniformly sized chunks.

He took several wild onion bulbs, crushed them with his palm, then roughly chopped them into pieces.

Then he put these onion pieces and an appropriate amount of salt together with the chicken chunks in a clay bowl.

He mixed thoroughly by hand, letting each piece of chicken absorb the salt and onion aroma for simple marinating.

With everything ready, he placed the stainless steel pot over the stove opening.

He specially prepared many small twigs and dry wood to meet the high heat requirements.

The deer fat quickly melted in the high temperature and was soon heated to scalding, with rich fatty aromas spreading intensely throughout the stone house.

"For stir-frying meat, the oil temperature must be high!"

Lin Yu'an continued adding considerable dry wood to the fuel opening, making the fire blaze up immediately.

He grabbed the bowl of marinated grouse chunks and poured them all into the scalding oil without hesitation!

"Sizzle——!!!!!"

The moment the chicken chunks contacted the hot oil, they made sounds like firecrackers!

Large amounts of steam instantly rose, forming thick white vapor mixed with the mellow aroma of deer fat and the fresh fragrance of chicken!

Lin Yu'an's wooden ladle rapidly stir-fried and tossed in the stainless steel pot.

Each piece of chicken rolled in the scalding deer fat, changing color from pink to an appetizing golden yellow.

The wild onion pieces also released extreme fragrance in the hot oil, perfectly integrating with the deer fat and chicken, providing excellent deodorizing and flavor-enhancing effects.

The entire stir-frying process took only a few minutes. After adding some salt, he removed the stainless steel pot from the fire.

Those golden chicken chunks still had some fragrant charred onion pieces clinging to them, their surfaces wrapped in a layer of crystal-clear deer fat that looked absolutely mouth-watering.

Lin Yu'an picked up a piece of chicken leg meat, brought it to his mouth, and bit down hard!

Immediately, a scalding, rich meaty aroma exploded in his mouth!

Completely different from the tenderness of poached fish and the bounciness of fish balls, this stir-fried grouse brought a meaty impact.

The chicken inside, having its moisture locked in by high-heat quick cooking, became extremely firm and elastic.

With each chew, he could feel the muscle fibers, truly becoming more fragrant with each bite.

"Guys, this... this is what eating delicious food means! Not just survival protein!"

He devoured the entire grouse in no time, eating it completely clean.

Outside was harsh cold with ice covering thousands of miles, while inside were warm flames and scalding hot meat.

Lin Yu'an's entire psychological state became much more peaceful and comfortable thanks to this delicious stir-fried chicken meal.

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