American Hunting: Starting with Solitary Life in the Wilderness

Chapter 69 Beaver Fur Hat

Braving the increasingly heavy snow and wind, Lin Yu'an trudged quickly toward the shelter, his steps uneven.

The temperature in the air seemed to drop several degrees in just a few minutes, and the icy cold air was everywhere, desperately trying to penetrate his thick clothes.

The clear animal tracks he had just discovered on the snow were smoothed over by the newly fallen snow and the strong winds.

The entire forest was being ravaged by this sudden blizzard.

Visibility became extremely poor; within ten meters, everything was a white blur, and the sky and earth were indistinguishable.

Lin Yu'an relied almost entirely on his memory and his sense of the terrain to painstakingly discern directions amidst the wind and snow.

He kept his body low to the ground to resist the force of the gale, making each step exceptionally heavy and difficult.

Finally, after nearly half an hour, the stone shelter appeared ahead, shrouded in wind and snow.

The moment you enter the shelter, most of the violent howling noise from the outside world is instantly shut out.

The stove inside the stone house was still burning, maintaining a relatively warm environment.

"Phew... Phew... I'm finally back."

Lin Yu'an leaned against the stone wall by the door, panting heavily. He took off his gloves and rubbed his hands, which were already stiff from the cold.

He walked to the small window and looked out through the crack.

All that could be seen was chaos, with blizzards pouring down and gales raging, as if the whole world had been plunged into a white apocalypse.

"Looks like I can't go anywhere today."

He walked to the stove and skillfully added a lot of dry firewood, and the flames inside the stove began to rise.

The orange-red light instantly dispelled the chill inside the house, bringing a touch of warmth to this small shelter amidst the raging snowstorm.

Outside was a world of ice and snow, while inside was a warm, crackling fire and plenty of food.

This stark contrast brought a strange sense of peace to Lin Yu'an's heart.

Since he couldn't go out, he decided to find something to do. He remembered the two beaver skins he had tanned.

Pick up a soft, thick beaver pelt and show it off its glossy, smooth fur in front of the camera.

"Such fine leather, it's a waste to just leave it lying around. I plan to use it to make two hats."

"One is for myself, and the other is for my wife, Arya."

“I plan to make a variant of the ‘hunter’s hat’.”

As he spoke, he carefully outlined the shape of the hat on the brown leather with a small piece of charcoal.

The hat is made of three pieces of leather: a top piece that covers the top of the head, and two side pieces shaped like full crescent moons that can wrap around the sides and back of the head.

In addition to the main body, two ear flaps that could cover the ears and part of the cheeks were also drawn.

After outlining all the parts, he began cutting them out.

He didn't have modern scissors, so he could only use his sharp multi-tool to cut along the drawn charcoal lines very carefully, bit by bit.

Beaver skin is very tough and quite difficult to cut; it takes a lot of force to make the blade penetrate the skin in one go.

After all the leather pieces were cut according to the design, he began to prepare the sewing tools.

Lin Yu'an took out a medium-sized metal fishhook made of high-carbon steel from his fishing tackle bag.

He first used two stones as pliers and an anvil, carefully straightening the curved part of the fishhook, which also had a line hole.

Lin Yu'an cut a piece of nylon fishing line about one meter long, skillfully threaded it through the eye of his homemade fishhook, and tied a secure knot.

He picked up a crescent-shaped side piece and an oval-shaped top piece, aligned their edges, and placed the fur side facing the fur side.

He first used the tip of the fishhook needle to pre-punch small, evenly spaced holes about three or four millimeters apart along the edges of the two leather pieces that needed to be sewn together. The fishhook needle was exceptionally sharp and could easily pierce through the tough beaver skin.

"Pre-punching makes subsequent suturing easier and ensures that the stitches are neat and uniform."

Then the actual suturing began.

Inside the shelter, the only sounds were the crackling of the fire and the soft thud of a fishing hook piercing leather.

Lin Yu'an was completely focused. Under his pull, the nylon thread tightly sewed the two pieces of leather together, forming a neat and sturdy seam.

After a long period of meticulous work, the main body of the hat was sewn together.

He also cleverly utilized the beaver's signature feature, retaining the flat tail section after tanning, as a back binding.

A rugged beaver fur hat, full of hunter's style, was finally born in his hands.

He tried on the hat he had made, and it fit perfectly.

The thick, soft beaver fur clung tightly to his head and ears, instantly shielding him from the cold.

After finishing the two hats, it was already dark, and the blizzard showed no signs of abating.

After a simple dinner, I added plenty of firewood to the stove and went to bed.

Day 58.

Seeing the snow and wind outside the shelter lessen slightly, he did not choose to wait passively.

Instead, he immediately began his next "indoor workshop" program.

"With the snow so heavy outside, once it stops, birds like grouse will likely fly to low branches to avoid the snow and look for food."

As he spoke, he pulled out a spruce seedling he had collected earlier as a backup material from the corner.

"Although bows and arrows are useful, they are really cold to the touch in this weather, so I plan to make another hunting tool - a long-handled lasso."

“Use a long pole to ‘fish’ the grouse off the tree branch when it is completely unprepared.”

He selected a spruce sapling that was about four meters long.

Because it is long enough, straight enough, and lightweight, it was one of the alternative woods previously used for making fishing rods.

He cut a piece of steel wire about fifty centimeters long and bent one end of the wire into a very strong small loop.

Then, the other end of the steel wire is passed through the small steel ring that has been made, and a loop that can slide and tighten freely is formed.

He adjusted the diameter of the lasso to about ten centimeters, a size large enough to easily loop over the grouse's head and neck.

A simple long pole lasso was finally completed.

"Guys, the principle of this device is not about strength and speed, but about extreme patience and timing."

He brought the clubhead close to the camera, showing off the almost invisible wire loop.

"First, you approach the prey perched on the branch silently. Then, very slowly, you extend the lasso toward its head."

"Birds like grouse sometimes remain still and observe when they do not feel a direct threat."

"Once the lasso successfully passes over its head and around its neck, all you need to do is pull quickly, and the lasso will tighten instantly!"

"Whether it succeeds or fails depends entirely on your skill and patience."

As noon approached, the snowstorm outside the shelter subsided.

Although the sky remained overcast, the gale-force winds and blizzard that had obscured the view had subsided.

(End of this chapter)