Reborn in the 1980s: I made my fortune hunting wild game in Changbai Mountain

The operational details of training eagles to throw bait have been mentioned more than once before.

The first time is the most crucial because it involves the issue of the eagle catching the bowstring.

If the falcon chases after the lure, the owner can flick the lure away to let it escape the falcon's pursuit. If the falcon is not in good condition and is not firmly attached to the lure, it may lose control and fly away.

Many problems arise from this very issue when the falconry is not done properly.

When the eagle flies away, the eagle's master should first whistle to signal the eagle, while simultaneously dropping the artificial bait in his hand to attract the eagle's attention, trying to make it turn around and land to grab the bait and eat the meat.

If the timing is off, this operation might make the eagle turn back, allowing the person to retrieve it discreetly. Otherwise, once the eagle flies away, it will be much more difficult to find it again.

Now, even before Yue Feng has blown the whistle to signal the eagle, it already knows it has flown too far and automatically changes direction to chase the lure. This shows that both the eagle's ability to recognize the lure and its friendly attitude towards humans are sufficient.

Soon, the gray falcon spread its wings, turned around, and chased after the lure in Yue Feng's hand again.

Yue Feng used the same trick again, swinging the decoy to evade the gray falcon's second pursuit.

The eagle flew out, and after about twenty meters, it turned back, its target still the lure in its hand.

Upon closer inspection, Yue Feng realized that the grey falcon was very intelligent and had already understood that its owner was interacting and playing games with it.

How can we tell? It's very simple: the time it takes for the eagle to turn around after it flies away.

If it only wants to eat the meat on the lure, it should turn around immediately after missing the bait, just like the first time, to save the most effort.

Now, it flew a full twenty meters before turning around the second time, which is a bit like stretching its muscles and getting some exercise.

After all, eagles are animals of the sky, and before they started flying today, the grey falcon hadn't had a good time flying for a while.

Seeing its reaction, Yue Feng became even less nervous and held back from whistling to stimulate it. He wanted to see just how far the Grey Falcon could go.

The next five minutes turned into an interactive show between Grey Falcon and Yue Feng, one eagle and one person.

Yue Feng swung the lure again and again, and the eagle returned each time.

The distance between narrowly missing the target and turning back is gradually increasing.

On the last attempt, the distance exceeded 35 meters, which was an excellent result for a hawk taking off for the first time.

The grey falcon flew past the lure again, and Yue Feng made a very bold move at this moment.

He quickly opened his shirt and hid the lure inside.

The grey falcon, which had flown away and turned around in mid-air a second ago, looked back at its owner a second later and found that the 'toy' lure in the owner's hand had disappeared.

Having lost its target, the gray falcon still flew towards Yue Feng. Seeing its master standing still, it flew past Yue Feng's head and then circled overhead.

To be honest, Yue Feng looked very calm, but he was actually panicking inside.

The process of feeding the grey falcon from a small disc of wheeled bait to a large disc of no bait takes five to seven days or even longer for most common falcons.

However, Yue Feng actually thought of skipping the adaptation process entirely, which is quite difficult and risky.

Yue Feng kept a close eye on the eagle's reaction. If he sensed something was wrong, he would immediately whistle to call the eagle back.

Then look at the gray falcon. After circling above Yue Feng's head a few times, seeing that its master had no further reaction, it began to climb, ascending from a low altitude of less than 20 meters to a height of 40 or 50 meters.

This is due to the Altaic falcon's habit of flying high and low. With even a slight breeze, they can use the altitude gain to conserve their energy for flight.

Seeing Yue Feng casually watching the eagles in the sky while hiding bait, Li Fulin was so anxious that he almost spoke up to warn him, but at the crucial moment, Little Eagle Liu tugged at him, and he held back his words.

Seeing that the grey falcon had climbed to a height of about forty or fifty meters, Yue Feng was quite satisfied with the eagle's performance.

Just then, Yue Feng heard the cawing of a black magpie in the distance, and his heart tightened.

The next second, he immediately pulled out a lure from his pocket and whistled at the gray falcon that was still climbing.

As soon as the whistle blew, the grey falcon immediately looked down. When it saw its owner take out the lure and start reeling in the bait again, the grey falcon folded its wings and, like a diver, plunged down from the sky with a whistling sound.

Once they gained altitude, the speed at which they swooped down was astonishing, and all three of them heard the low-frequency whistling sound of their wings scraping through the air.

*Snap!* With a crisp sound, the Grey Falcon delivered a precise kick to the lure, causing the pheasant feathers on it to scatter.

The grey falcon struck its target, quickly caught up with the falling lure, and slowly landed on the ground.

Quack, quack, quack!

The grey falcon, perched on the artificial bait, looked up at Yue Feng as if seeking praise, emitting a series of cawing cries.

"Hehehe! This little guy is even trying to show off to me! Okay, okay, you're good, you caught the toy!"

Yue Feng couldn't help but grin and chuckle, flipping the bait over to expose the meat tied to it for the eagle to eat.

Upon seeing the piece of meat, the grey falcon immediately lowered its head and began to peck at it, flapping its wings as it did so, making gestures reminiscent of a fledgling eagle begging for food.

"Wow, Xiaofeng, is this how you trained your falcons? After you use a small bait wheel to catch them, you hide the bait and let the hawk use a large bait wheel? Aren't you afraid it will lose its target and fly away?"

At this moment, Li Fulin, who had a bellyful of questions, finally stepped forward to ask.

Yue Feng nodded: "I'm scared too! Logically speaking, there should be a transition period! The eagles I used to have, even that black falcon, didn't all reach their target in one go!"

"How dare you? With this thing, a single misstep and it's gone for good! Unlike an eagle, which will look for a place to land!"

"I only dared to take the risk after seeing the falcon repeatedly turn back and increase the distance from the second time it chased the lure, judging that it was friendly enough!"

This guy's a bit playful. Actually, he's not exactly short of fat; he might be hungry, but not that hungry! I think his behavior just now was more like he was playing with me!

"Play with you?"

"Yes! Think about it, if it were simply driven by the desire to eat meat, and it failed to catch the decoy, it should have quickly turned around and launched the next attack!"
This way, it saves more energy and makes it easier to catch the lure and eat the meat on it as quickly as possible! This grey falcon didn't behave like this just now; it deliberately flew an extra ten or twenty meters before slowly turning around!

I was originally going to blow the whistle to warn it, but seeing its natural reaction, I held back!
Think back to its behavior just now. Doesn't it resemble how you released those two rabbit-tigers into the fray? They were deliberately chasing and playing with the rabbit, not so much to end the fight immediately, but more to stretch their wings and fly a little longer!

After Yue Feng's explanation, Li Fulin frowned slightly and remained silent for a few seconds: "Tsk tsk, it seems that's really the case!"
Thank goodness we went to retrieve that eagle together, and we even witnessed it circling and catching bait today! Otherwise, I wouldn't have believed anyone else who told me!
You know, it took me two hunting seasons to get used to them and they gradually started treating hunting like a game!

Yue Feng grinned: "I think there's something here that you're taking too much for granted!"

"Huh? Tell me!"

"Weight, actual physical reserves!" Yue Feng said decisively.

Before Li Fulin could press further, Yue Feng explained, "It's common sense, you probably already know that! Whether it's training a falcon or a hawk, the initial stage involves fattening up the animal and holding it up continuously to build a bond between the human and the hawk!"
There's a problem here!
If an eagle is underfed, it won't be hungry and will likely not obey commands, making it difficult to build up a friendly relationship with it!

If you pluck too much fat, the animal will become too affectionate, but its stamina will be too low! Even if it flies around outdoors, it will start panting after a few laps and will not have the energy to play games with its owner or even stretch its muscles.

To solve this problem, the only option is to gradually gain weight and increase training time to readjust, which inadvertently lengthens the entire training cycle!

This grey falcon we have is different! It's naturally more friendly to humans than ordinary eagles! So, it's quite plump and has already started begging for food from me to get closer!

It's bold, so it's not afraid of people. If it's not afraid of people, there's no need to fatten it up too much for affinity training.

When it swung its bait and flew around, it had great stamina, showing a playful attitude towards people!
If I hadn't blown the whistle just now, it probably would have flown and climbed to an even higher position!

Although the park is quiet, it's still not quite right. I heard a black magpie calling, which I figured might pose a risk to the eagle, so I whistled and showed it the bait to lure it down!

After listening to Yue Feng's explanation, Xiao Ying Liu and Li Fulin exchanged a glance and simultaneously gave Yue Feng a thumbs up.

Li Fulin couldn't help but exclaim, "Amazing! Amazing! You deduced so much from just a few details. In terms of observation skills, you are far superior to us two old guys!"
I used to be a little unconvinced, after all, I've been a seasoned falconer for half my life. But now, compared to you, my understanding of falconry is far inferior!

I've really learned something new today!

"Hehe, Uncle Li, you're too kind! I just had a sudden thought! Eagles have good temperaments, so it's easier for the eagle trainers. It has something to do with skill, but not much! If you give me a timid live eagle to train from scratch, I can't train it quickly even if I want to!"

Yue Feng responded with a chuckle while glancing at the progress of the gray falcon eating its food on the ground. The piece of meat tied to the lure had been almost completely gnawed away.

On the treetops not far away, several black magpies had already gathered around. Seeing this, Yue Feng took out the remaining meat wrapped in cabbage leaves from his pocket and whistled again at the gray falcon.

Seeing this, the gray falcon decisively abandoned the lure under its feet, jumped directly from the ground and easily flew to Yue Feng's arm, fluttering its wings and begging for food.

Yue Feng seized the gray falcon's leg and then fed the little guy pieces of meat into his mouth.

This time, there was no need to hold back. The remaining portion was all fed to the eagle. The last few pieces of meat were wrapped in a wet sparrow skin with feathers on and fed to it as well.

After a hearty meal, the grey falcon's crop bulged high. The little guy pecked at its talons and then preened the feathers on its chest, looking incredibly content.

A large number of black magpies gathered nearby, chattering incessantly, but the little guy seemed to know that its owner would protect it, not even lifting its eyelids, completely unafraid.

It's worth noting that even golden eagles or gyrfalcons are reluctant to provoke these flocks of corvids.

Whether it's crows or black magpies, they are both troublesome creatures. Relying on their flocks, they dare to bully anything.

When a lone bird of prey is attacked by a flock of magpies or crows, its first reaction is to run away if possible, for fear of being entangled and suffering losses.

"Tsk tsk tsk, look at how it doesn't even lift its eyelids! This little guy is very clever; it knows that black magpies don't dare to come near us!" Grandpa Liu observed for a few moments and couldn't help but say with a smile.

Yue Feng nodded and reached out to stroke the gray falcon's tail: "Hmm! I feel its intelligence is not much worse than my black hawk at home! Now that it's eaten and drunk its fill, let's go back. It'll be time for lunch when we get home!"

"Come on, let your auntie prepare some hearty dishes for us, and we men can have a drink at noon!"

"it is good!"

……

The three of them hit it off immediately, and with the well-fed gray falcon on their backs, they turned around and headed back the way they came.

When Yue Feng returned to the entrance of the alley where Grandpa Liu lived, before he even entered the alley, he saw a car parked inside, and his brow twitched slightly involuntarily.

Judging from the license plate, it's not a King Long vehicle. The license plate numbers seem familiar. Who is it?
Just as the three of them were wondering what was going on, the car door opened and a round, fat man squeezed out from the back seat.

Yue Feng's heart skipped a beat. Well, before evening even arrived, Feng Huanping had already found Grandpa Liu's doorstep.

"Brother Yue, Uncle Liu, Uncle Li! You're finally back!"

Feng Huanping greeted them with a smile from at least ten meters away.

"Brother Feng, what brings you here! Have you been waiting for a while?" Yue Feng greeted him with a smile.

"I haven't been here long! I went to your house first, and your aunt said you went out with your hawk after breakfast! I asked Jinlong, and he said you were probably at Grandpa Liu's house. He gave me the address, so I drove over! I've only been here for about ten minutes. What have you been doing?"

As Feng Huanping recounted the whole story, his gaze remained fixed on the gray falcon perched on Yue Feng's arm.

"I had tea at my grandpa's house until after 10 a.m. this morning, and then I went to the small park next door to train this eagle to run, circle, and fly! I just finished, and look at its crop, it's at least 80% full! How's the eagle at home?"

Yue Feng reached out and touched the back of the gray falcon, asking with a smile.

"The old rotor is in good condition, but it hasn't been fed and is getting restless from hunger! It's even chewing up the feathers on its claws. What's wrong with your falcon? I haven't heard you mention it before."

"Hehe, this is the Altai falcon we just got back a few days ago. I'm going to take it back to Northeast China to breed with other birds!"

At this moment, Grandpa Liu said with a smile, "Young Master Feng, don't just stand there in the alley. Now that we're at your doorstep, let's go inside and talk! It's almost mealtime, so please make do with a simple meal at home."

"Other Uncle Lius, I've come to find you. I've already booked a restaurant in advance!"

Xiaofeng, an old friend wants to see you! (End of Chapter)