HUN Chapter 48: The Mule Deer!

Lin Yu'an's heart suddenly contracted, and all his fatigue seemed to be cast to the ninth heaven in that instant.

He quickly crouched down, using a thick spruce tree as cover, his gaze fixed intently on that clearing as he observed carefully.

The air was filled with the fresh fragrance of pine needles and the moist scent of earth. The wind direction remained favorable to him, carrying his scent in the opposite direction.

He held his breath and listened carefully.

Besides the "rustling" sound of wind blowing through the treetops, he also caught some more subtle sounds!

Those were the sounds of branches being gently brushed aside, and the "rustling" noise made by some animal walking on fallen leaves.

"The target is right there!" Lin Yu'an rejoiced inwardly, his adrenaline beginning to accelerate involuntarily.

He extremely slowly poked half his head out from behind the ancient pine tree, peering through the gaps in the dense branches toward the clearing.

Finally, a clear figure came into his view!

It was a medium-sized buck! It was standing at the edge of the clearing, head lowered, seemingly sniffing something on the ground alertly.

Its coat displayed a beautiful grayish-brown color that blended perfectly with the surrounding environment's tones.

On this deer's head, there prominently grew a pair of fully ossified, branched beautiful antlers! Though not yet robust enough, they already displayed the majestic bearing of an adult buck!

Of course, it could also be a black-tailed deer. Black-tailed deer are themselves a subspecies group of mule deer, they are very close genetically and share many similar characteristics.

"This looks like an adult mule deer! Or a black-tailed deer," Lin Yu'an said quietly to his action camera.

"Looking carefully, most of its tail is white with a small tuft of black hair at the tip. This is a mule deer!"

"If it were a black-tailed deer, its tail should be almost entirely black or dark brown, extending from the base all the way to the tip."

Lin Yu'an's heart pounded because mule deer meant more meat and fat than black-tailed deer.

That buck seemed unaware of the approaching danger. After sniffing the ground for a while, it began walking leisurely toward the center of the clearing.

From time to time it would stop and nibble a few bites of tender green moss or lichen growing from rock crevices.

Lin Yu'an knew this wasn't yet the optimal shooting moment. The distance was still about sixty to seventy meters, and there were quite a few low shrubs and branches blocking the way.

He had to get closer and find a more ideal shooting angle.

He began what could be called a ghostly stalk, his body almost completely pressed against the ground, every movement slowed to the extreme!

When his feet touched the ground, he would first probe with his toes, ensuring he wouldn't step on dry branches or noisy gravel.

His deliberately controlled breathing also gradually became long and steady.

But his eyes never left that buck, constantly monitoring its every move.

When the mule deer alertly raised its head, swiveled its ears, and scanned the surroundings, Lin Yu'an would immediately freeze like a lifeless rock.

When the buck confirmed safety and lowered its head to feed again, only then would he resume creeping forward like a snail, silent and invisible.

This process was filled with torment! Every meter of approach was like walking on a knife's edge.

Lin Yu'an could clearly hear his own heartbeat accelerating from tension! But he had to force himself to maintain absolute calm.

Time passed minute by minute, and the shadows in the forest grew increasingly dense.

Just as he was about fifty meters from the buck, preparing to use a rock formation ahead as final cover, an accident occurred!

"Caw!" A sharp and loud bird call suddenly came from a tree not far above his head!

It was a Clark's nutcracker that was very alert to intruders! It had obviously discovered Lin Yu'an, this unwelcome visitor, and let out a piercing warning!

The buck in the clearing suddenly raised its head, both ears turning alertly in all directions like radar, listening for sounds of danger!

Its body instantly tensed, limbs slightly bent, ready to flee at any moment!

"Damn it!" Lin Yu'an cursed silently, his body instantly freezing, not daring to move at all.

He knew that if he made any rash movement at this moment, this alert buck would immediately disappear into the dense forest.

Lin Yu'an forced himself to remain calm! He hoped the deer would misinterpret the bird call as some other natural phenomenon.

Fortunately, after calling several times, the nutcracker flapped its wings and flew away.

In the clearing, the buck observed alertly for several seconds, seemingly finding no direct threat, and slowly relaxed again.

But its vigilance had obviously increased considerably. It no longer focused on feeding as before, but frequently raised its head to scan the surroundings.

Lin Yu'an knew in his heart that he had to be even more careful now.

He chose a more circuitous route, stalking from the buck's rear side using denser vegetation.

This was an extremely demanding test of patience and skill.

Lin Yu'an held his breath, moving forward inch by inch like a forest wildcat.

Every time the deer alertly raised its head, he had to instantly freeze and blend with the surrounding environment.

After about seven or eight minutes of agonizing stalking, he successfully shortened the distance between himself and the buck to about thirty-five meters!

This distance was well within the very reliable effective range for his 50-pound American hunting bow and sharp hunting arrowheads!

He chose a spruce tree with rough bark and dense foliage as his final shooting position, pressing his body tightly against the rough trunk, exposing only half his profile.

Lin Yu'an's movements were gentle and fluid, without any excess. His left hand first steadily gripped the bow's handle, then his right hand drew two metal hunting arrows with gleaming arrowheads from the quiver at his waist.

The first arrow was quickly and silently nocked on the bowstring's nocking point, the arrow's nock pressed against the bowstring's center.

The second arrow was cleverly held lightly between the fingers of his bow-holding left hand, the arrow shaft pressed against the inside of the bow grip, arrowhead pointing diagonally forward and down, while the nock end remained close to his body.

This neither interfered with aiming and shooting the first arrow, nor prevented him from grasping and nocking the second arrow at maximum speed after shooting the first.

His gaze didn't deviate in the slightest, locked dead on the area behind the buck's left ribs, beneath that thick fur was the region where a living heart was beating!

The bowstring was gradually drawn to full draw, until it touched near his mouth corner, forming a stable anchor point.

His body leaned slightly forward, his entire center of gravity resting on his bow-holding left arm and his body-supporting left leg, his right shoulder blade pulling back and tightening, feeling the powerful tension transmitted through the bowstring.

Time seemed to freeze at this moment.

In the instant when that buck lowered its head again, focusing all attention on the ground.

Now!

Lin Yu'an's gaze suddenly intensified, his string-holding fingers quickly released!

"Whoosh!"

A low and powerful bowstring vibration sounded!

That metal hunting arrow, like black lightning leaving the string, shot straight toward the defenseless mule deer!

"Thud!"

A muffled yet clear sound of a sharp weapon piercing flesh came!

The buck let out a piercing and brief cry of anguish, its body lurching forward as if struck by a heavy hammer!

Mule deer, like black-tailed deer, when startled will leap high with all four feet, then begin running after landing.

"Hit! Definitely hit it!" Lin Yu'an exclaimed excitedly in a low voice.

This mule deer began fleeing desperately toward the forest depths! Its running posture was already somewhat stumbling, but its speed remained undiminished.

As it ran, it frantically rubbed its arrow-struck body against shrubs, trying to escape that sudden severe pain!

But that deadly arrow had already penetrated deeply into its left ribs.

Only the arrow nock and half the shaft remained outside the body, trembling as the mule deer scraped against things!

Lin Yu'an had already quickly drawn the second backup arrow from his left hand and nocked it on the string, but because the target fled too quickly, he had no opportunity to immediately follow up with this shot.

He stared intently at the direction the mule deer fled, watching its stumbling figure disappear into the dense woods.

He took deep breaths, working hard to calm his emotions, then said to the camera with some tremor in his voice.

"Incredible! Guys, I really did it!!"

Lin Yu'an's adrenaline began to gradually recede, but he still had the excited emotions from hitting his prey! However, his voice had already steadied as he continued to add.

"This big guy, hit by my hunting arrowhead in a vital area, will definitely cause massive internal trauma and continuous heavy bleeding."

"You must remember that after hitting prey, never shout loudly and immediately give chase, that will only make it run farther out of fear."

"It might even trigger its survival potential, making it run into a river and swim away! You need to give it some time, let blood loss and pain weaken its strength."

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