HUN Chapter 37: Clay's Deer Hunt

In the third episode, the timeline advanced to around the 16th to 25th days of the contestants' wilderness survival.

After the initial adaptation and preliminary shelter construction, food acquisition and storage had become the core issue facing all contestants.

In the program, several experienced contestants began demonstrating their true hunting prowess.

Some captured more snowshoe hares and northern pike through ingenious traps, while others caught sizeable northern pike in streams.

Lin Yu'an's footage during this period mainly focused on how he used homemade lures for fly fishing, successfully hunted two plump spruce grouse using "feint" tactics, and how he built fire kilns, fired ceramic bricks, and finally constructed a ceramic brick stove.

With the blessing of his special spatial sixth sense, he averaged two fish per day on average, meeting the production team's requirements.

Through this episode's performance, he once again solidified his label as "one of the championship candidates."

However, the third episode's biggest explosive moment came from another contestant, Clay Jenkins.

Clay, a tough guy in his forties from Montana.

His resume stated he was formerly a reconnaissance Marine in the U.S. Marine Corps, and after retirement became a professional licensed hunting guide and wilderness survival instructor.

He was burly with sharp eyes, exuding a battle-hardened composure and fierceness.

In the program's first two episodes, although his performance was steady, it lacked particularly brilliant highlights. He mostly focused on quietly building shelters and setting large hunting traps.

The turning point came on Clay's 22nd day in the wilderness.

In the footage, Clay crouched behind dense shrubs, his hunting bow already drawn fully, the arrow pointed directly at a black-tailed deer leisurely nibbling tender leaves not far away.

It was a sub-adult black-tailed deer weighing about 60 kilograms, a dream source of protein and fat for any contestant!

Clay displayed extremely high hunter qualities. He patiently waited for the optimal moment, motionless as a rock blended into the environment.

When the black-tailed deer slightly turned its body, exposing its fatal ribcage area...

"Whoosh!"

The wooden arrow shaft, with a sharp whistling sound, shot like black lightning, precisely penetrating the black-tailed deer's body!

The black-tailed deer let out a short mournful cry, suddenly ran into the shrubs, but soon stumbled and fell due to excessive blood loss.

Clay followed the blood trail for several hundred meters. After discovering the prey had died, his weathered face showed a very complex expression.

He spoke to the camera with a slightly trembling voice, "Oh, God! I did it! A black-tailed deer! This is so important!"

"You know I've hunted many prey in my life. If this were a fish, I wouldn't have these emotions now."

"This successful deer hunt is mixed with many emotions. Now I can get at least 25 kilograms of pure meat! Food is no longer a source of pressure for me!"

He was almost weeping with joy, his nerves that had been tense from food pressure completely released at this moment!

The following footage detailed how Clay skillfully skinned and butchered the venison, then used ropes to hang large chunks of deer meat high on tree branches about four meters off the ground to prevent theft by bears or other scavengers.

This scene undoubtedly brought enormous visual impact and psychological shock to all viewers.

Clay's successful hunting of the black-tailed deer instantly ignited North American viewers' discussion enthusiasm.

"Clay is so strong! This is a real hunter! He deserves everything!"

"A 60-kilogram black-tailed deer! With this much meat, he can basically declare victory, right?"

"Worthy of Marine Corps background, top-notch psychological quality and professional skills!"

"That Chinese kid is still playing with mud and shooting small birds, while Clay is already having venison feasts. The gap is too obvious!"

"Although Lin is also interesting, facing this kind of hard strength, he's probably still lacking."

On social media, Clay's name and "black-tailed deer" quickly became trending topics, with overwhelming praise and acclaim.

Many people believed that Clay, with this successful hunt, had already taken a commanding lead over all other contestants, locking in the final victory.

When the third episode was updated on Bilibili, domestic viewers who had just cheered for Lin Yu'an's lucky shot at his first grouse were also shocked by Clay's deer hunting scene.

The bullet comments and comment sections immediately filled with concerns for Lin Yu'an.

[Holy crap! This Clay is too fierce! Directly taking down a deer?!]

[This amount of meat... Brother An is under pressure! Two grouse compared to a deer really isn't enough!]

[Look, karma is here! No matter how good the shelter is, food is king!]

[Feel sorry for Brother An, just when things were looking up, such a strong opponent appears.]

[Hope Brother An quickly improves his archery and gets something big too!]

Although Lin Yu'an had daily food income and demonstrated his unique skills, compared to Clay's achievement of hunting the black-tailed deer, he seemed slightly inferior in visual impact and actual food storage.

Viewers began sweating for Lin Yu'an, worried whether he could maintain his advantage in the upcoming competition.

The production team's editing also cleverly contrasted Clay's successful hunt with Lin Yu'an's archery practice and small prey processing footage, creating a tense atmosphere of formidable enemies surrounding him, further stimulating viewer discussion and anticipation for subsequent plot developments.

At the end of the third episode, another contestant was eliminated.

A female contestant named Catherine, who had been unable to effectively obtain food for consecutive days, finally chose to quit on the 24th day.

In the footage, Catherine sat at the entrance of her cold shelter, the yellow satellite phone on her knees, her fingers hesitating over the emergency button for a long time.

Finally, she took a deep breath, her eyes filled with unwillingness and disappointment, and pressed that button.

When the roar of the production team's rescue helicopter propeller grew from distant to near, Catherine stood in place waiting, looking at the production team's camera facing her.

Her cheeks appeared somewhat sunken from hunger and fatigue, her lips somewhat cracked, but her eyes remained clear.

"Hey... hello..."

Her voice carried endless fatigue as she tried to squeeze out a smile, but her eyes uncontrollably reddened.

"I think my 'Alone' journey might have to end here."

"I... I tried my best, really."

She raised her head, tears blurring her vision, her voice full of grievance and helplessness.

"I've gone almost five consecutive days without eating anything decent. Traps yielded nothing, fishing came up empty."

"I tried every method I knew, but... this land, it doesn't seem to want to favor me."

After a while, she slowly calmed down, wiped away her tears, and showed a bitter smile.

"This wilderness... it's too powerful. It taught me humility and taught me reverence."

After speaking, she silently walked toward the rescue personnel who came to meet her.

Her departing figure appeared somewhat desolate but also carried a hint of relief.

Catherine's withdrawal speech was full of genuine emotion and expressed the real difficulties many contestants faced in extreme environments.

Her tears and unwillingness made viewers empathize, once again highlighting the cruelty and charm of the "Alone" program.

This was also the content the production team wanted to capture, human nature, what would human nature be like under wilderness survival?

At this point, with three episodes aired, four contestants had already departed sadly.

At this time, Lin Yu'an didn't know that distant Clay had achieved such a major breakthrough.

He also didn't know that many viewers already saw him as a "challenger" who needed to catch up.

Bilibili viewers were even more expectant whether this "infrastructure maniac" contestant from China could also complete an amazing large prey hunt.

The third episode's broadcast undoubtedly added more suspense and highlights to the subsequent development of "Alone: Grizzly Mountain."

Between Lin Yu'an and Clay, an invisible contest had quietly begun.

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