American Hunting: Starting with Solitary Life in the Wilderness

Chapter 94 Wyatt's Plea for Help

The fireplace was burning brightly, and the family was preparing to enjoy a sumptuous dinner.

The old satellite phone in the living room of the farmhouse suddenly rang sharply, shattering the laughter and chatter that filled the room.

Robert walked over and answered the phone. After saying "hello," his expression gradually became serious.

The call was from his older brother, Wyatt. His voice, coming through the static, sounded deep and filled with suppressed anger.

"Dad, those damn bastards are here again!"

"When we counted the cattle this morning, the numbers didn't match up. We also found the carcasses of three calves in the valley north of the pasture!"

"I've lost seven of my best Angus calves in just one week!"

Robert asked in a deep voice, "The same old routine? Only attacking calves?"

"That's right!"

Wyatt's voice carried a hint of helplessness.

"The wounds are all on their throats. They only ate a small portion of the internal organs, purely for hunting and amusement. These bastards are provoking me!"

"They bypassed the tripwire traps I set, dug up the animal traps I buried, and turned the soil upside down, as if they were mocking me!"

Is their alpha wolf still the same one?

“It’s that one! I observed it with binoculars yesterday, and it’s still the same huge black Alpha Wolf leading the pack.”

"It's a size bigger than a typical gray wolf, I have no mistake for it! It's very experienced, and the other wolves absolutely obey its commands."

"If we don't get rid of it, my cattle won't have a peaceful winter! Dad, I need the brothers' help; we must completely eliminate this menace!"

Robert hung up the phone and told Wyatt's other sons and Lin Yu-an about Wyatt's predicament.

"Wyatt is in trouble."

Robert's voice was deep and serious, and the atmosphere at the dinner table instantly became heavy.

The leader of this large family is usually kind and gentle, but when he needs to step forward, he becomes a completely different person, exuding an aura of authority without anger.

"Clay, Bo, tomorrow morning, you guys, along with Herman, take your gear and head to Wyatt's farm."

"Remember, your target is the alpha wolf! This won't end until you take it down!"

"No problem, Dad!"

The three brothers immediately put down their knives and forks, their relaxed expressions replaced by the focus and ferocity of hunters.

Robert's sharp gaze swept over his three sons, finally settling on Lin Yu'an.

"But before you get carried away with your passion, listen carefully."

He tapped the oak dining table with his fingers, making a dull sound.

“This is not a revenge operation. Under Montana law, hunting down those wolves now would be illegal poaching, which would result in jail time, hefty fines, and the revocation of your hunting license.”

Garrett retorted, "Dad! They killed Wyatt's cows! Are we just going to sit here and do nothing?"

Robert explained, “I understand your anger, but we have to follow the rules.”

“I will contact the FWP (Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Authority) and the USDA Wildlife Service on Wyatt’s behalf, and they will send people to investigate.”

“If it is confirmed that wolves did it, Wyatt can apply for compensation from the Livestock Loss Committee.”

“But you know, that money could take months to arrive, and if the wolf pack is identified as a repeat offender, the FWP might grant us a time-limited hunting permit.”

"But all of this is too slow! By the time the official procedures are completed, Wyatt's herd may have no calves left!"

He changed the subject, a shrewd glint in his eyes, and said, "However, while the law closes one door, it also leaves a window open."

Montana’s “Property Defense Law” states that ranchers or their employees have the right to shoot wolves immediately if they witness them chasing or killing their livestock on their own land.

Robert looked at everyone and said, "Do you all understand? We can't 'hunt', but we can 'protect'."

"The wolves have tasted the sweetness of victory, and they will surely return! Your mission is to be there the moment you have the legal right to fire when they launch their attack."

"Eliminate the threat quickly and accurately! Do you understand?" "Yes, Dad."

"Good, be careful not to get hurt."

After dinner, they began to discuss the equipment and ammunition they needed to prepare.

"Bo, I'm planning to bring my Remington 700, along with those night vision goggles with ballistic calculation capabilities, for long-range sniping. What do you think?"

"Sure, Garrett, I'll take the AR-10 then, equipped with a drum magazine. Plenty of firepower to handle any unexpected situations. What about Clay?"

“Since you’ve all made your choices, I’ll take my pump-action shotgun with large buckshot, just in case a wolf gets close.”

Then the three of them looked at Lin Yu'an in unison, seemingly waiting for him to speak.

Lin Yu'an, who had been silent all along, calmly said, "This time I brought a large-caliber Winchester M70, so I'll just ambush them in a quiet environment."

“We also need a high-performance drone camera to ensure we have irrefutable video evidence that we fired while the wolf pack was ‘attacking.’”

Robert looked at his composed prospective son-in-law and saw no trace of bravado in his eyes, only pure confidence.

He nodded slowly: "You all need to be careful and avoid getting hurt. Let those damned wolves taste the might of the McKinley family!"

At four o'clock the next morning, before dawn, the entire farm was already brightly lit.

In the garage, the Garrett, Bo, and Clay brothers were loading equipment onto their Ford F-150 and Dodge Ram pickup truck.

Their respective firearms had been carefully wiped clean and oiled, and they were fully equipped with ammunition, thermal imagers, GPS devices, high-powered walkie-talkies, and first-aid kits.

Lin Yu'an, on the other side, quietly made her own preparations.

He changed into an Arc'teryx jacket and down jacket combo.

The Winchester M70 rifle was taken out of its case from the car, along with the action camera and drone to be used for filming.

Then, sitting at a workbench, he took out professional firearms maintenance tools and began the final adjustments.

He carefully cleaned the inside of the gun barrel and its components with a thin cleaning rod and a cloth soaked in detergent, removing any impurities and grease that might be present.

Finally, the gun body was wiped evenly, and the classic walnut stock and dark blued barrel gleamed with a captivating luster under the light.

After completing the maintenance, he took out a box of .300 WMG bullets from a hard ammunition box and slowly loaded it.

He skillfully and steadily loaded the golden bullets into the magazine.

Pulling the bolt, the mechanism emitted a "click" sound, one of two kinds of sounds that would captivate any normal man.

As for the other most addictive sound, those who know, know.

At five o'clock in the morning, a convoy of three heavy pickup trucks, braving the biting cold wind, drove away from Robert's frontier farm and sped along the snowy highway toward Wyatt's farm.

Upon arriving at Wyatt's farm, the group surveyed the site.

On the snow, the mangled carcass of a calf, eaten and frozen solid, lay in ruins, the surrounding snow trampled into a mess, and a faint smell of blood lingered in the air.

The brothers-in-law were cursing angrily, while Lin Yu'an opened his camera, squatted down, and carefully examined the bite marks on the calf's throat.

"The wound edges were very clean, without too many tearing marks. It was a fatal blow, which shows that it was very experienced and full of confidence in itself."

He stood up, looked at the messy footprints on the snow, measured the size of the claw marks with his hand, and judged their approximate weight based on the pressure.

"This male Alpha wolf weighs at least 60 kilograms and is very strong."

He then pointed to the distribution of footprints around him and drew a simple diagram on the snow with a twig.

“Look, these two sets of shallower footprints are on the flanks; they are responsible for driving away and harassing the adult cattle.”

"The alpha wolf and another adult wolf attacked the isolated calf from the front. The tactics were very clear."

Lin Yu'an's series of highly professional analyses made all the brothers-in-law put away their last trace of contempt.

They began to truly regard him as a professional hunter expert skilled in tracking and analysis.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

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