Chapter 571 - 70: The Muskox Herd!
Chapter 571 - 70: The Muskox Herd!
After selecting the porcupine entry, Chen Wen loosened up and had a hearty meal.Right after finishing his meal, as he was about to clean the porcupine bones outside the camp.
From the north of the shelter, the sound of rustling bushes gradually grew louder.
Chen Wen noticed something approaching his shelter.
He cautiously picked up his long spear, intending to see what it was.
The wolf mink was the first to emerge.
It shouted, "Human! Good news!"
Chen Wen didn’t hear clearly, and instinctively replied, "Did you provoke that North American gray bear again?"
The wolf mink was taken aback, "That’s considered good news?"
"Of course not!"
Chen Wen said helplessly, "What exactly happened? Hurry up and tell me."
At this moment, the red fox also came up.
It said, "Don’t worry, this time it’s good news."
Good news!
Chen Wen breathed a sigh of relief and signaled the red fox to continue.
The red fox said, "We found a large prey! The old wolf told us that he had hunted this prey before, and it has a lot of meat, and it’s delicious!"
North American gray wolf has hunted it before...
"Could it be a moose?"
Chen Wen said, his heart moved with desire.
Moose is an excellent food reserve, big and with lots of meat, and relatively easier to hunt.
If it’s moose, then that’s a fortune!
However, both the red fox and the wolf mink didn’t know the name of that creature.
But when Chen Wen asked them to describe its appearance, as the red fox began to describe, Chen Wen gradually furrowed his brows.
Not a moose!
But another large herbivore—the musk ox!
And a herd of musk oxen!
Just as Chen Wen figured out what animal it was, the North American gray wolf also caught up.
It placed two dead rabbits on the ground, saying, "Human, a great opportunity!"
"We found a large herd of prey, as long as you take action, our food supply will be extremely abundant!"
Hearing this, both the wolf mink and the red fox were very excited.
But Chen Wen said, "Although this thing has high rewards, hunting them is dangerous!"
The musk ox is indeed a very brave creature.
Chen Wen had read information about musk oxen, a herd of musk oxen, in most cases, would not back away and flee.
They would fight for the herd, to the death!
Especially when facing predators like wolf packs and bears, a herd of musk oxen can immediately form a defensive formation.
Adult bulls stand at the forefront, surrounding the calves in the middle.
Then they launch surprise attacks with their sharp horns.
Due to their long and thick fur, which protects their bodies from being bitten by predators, only a very strong wolf pack can hunt musk oxen successfully, and even North American gray bears only target the old, weak, sick, and injured ones when extremely hungry.
Therefore, Chen Wen felt it was prudent not to provoke this herd of musk oxen.
He voiced his concerns.
The red fox and the North American gray wolf remained expressionless, but the wolf mink seemed a bit disappointed.
It had seen the musk oxen with its own eyes.
Those things were gigantic, the meat would be incredibly plentiful!
Thus, the wolf mink wasn’t keen on giving up.
Just as Chen Wen was about to speak again.
The old wolf spoke, "Indeed, directly attacking the herd is dangerous, but I noticed a wounded old ox in the group, targeting it would be much safer. What do you think?"
Injured?
Old ox?
Fully buffed.
Chen Wen became interested, asking, "How serious is the injury?"
The old wolf thought for a moment, then said, "Very serious. It’s walking very slowly. If it weren’t for the herd eating and moving at a slow pace, it would likely have been left behind."
"Hiss! There’s a chance!"
Listening to the old wolf’s words, Chen Wen felt a bit tempted.
The musk ox, as a large herbivore, could easily weigh over 200 kilograms.
Adult male musk oxen can reach 400 kilograms.
If they could take one down, not only could they sustain five animals, but even another five... three!
They could afford to sustain them!
Chen Wen no longer hesitated.
He looked at the old wolf and said, "Where is the herd?"
Upon hearing this, the old wolf got excited.
It hadn’t been this excited in a long time.
"To the north, about an hour’s walk."
After a brief thought, Chen Wen said, "If you’re hungry, have something to eat first. I’ll prepare some hunting tools."
Saying this, Chen Wen headed back to the shelter.
He didn’t concern himself with the few animals behind him.
After a brief thought, Chen Wen took out the fire starter.
Aside from the long spear, axe, and hunting knife, which were must-bring weapons, Chen Wen planned to make use of the fire starter.
He now had a plan for hunting the musk ox, although rough, it should be useful.
Among them, fire was key to attacking the musk ox.
But considering this was a forest area, once a fire started, it would be difficult to control.
Thus, Chen Wen hesitated.
Finally, after thinking for a while.
Chen Wen decided against bringing the fire starter.
Too dangerous.
He thought to himself.
This is a forest area; if control is lost and the fire spreads.
These pine trees, full of oily substances, once ignited, would spell disaster for the entire forest.
Not to mention he was a human trying to survive in the forest.
Better to try using the long spear to hunt that musk ox.
As long as the long spear hits the musk ox, tears its muscles, and makes it bleed, it should be able to bleed out.
The first official hunt of a large animal made Chen Wen somewhat anxious.
However, upon seeing the calm old wolf and the excited wolf mink spinning in circles.
Chen Wen instantly relaxed.
Give it a try. Even if it fails, there’s nothing lost.
...
Without saying a word, Chen Wen took the animals and left the camp.
This time he went all out.
The wolf mink and the old wolf led the way, the red fox followed the wolf mink, the eagle flew high above, and Chen Wen followed them from behind.
Besides the short-tailed weasel still sleeping, all of Chen Wen’s animal companions were on the move.
In the high sky, the eagle had a wide view.
It quickly spotted the herd of musk oxen on the ground.
"I see them!"
The eagle called out from high above, very crisply, "They are on a very open hillside, with many rocks on it. I feel you shouldn’t get too close; getting too close might get you noticed!"
Hearing this, the other animals felt a bit troubled.
Chen Wen remained calm.
This was typical musk ox behavior.
They like staying in barren areas with lots of rocks.
The view is wide open here, making it easier to spot danger and maintain formation.
Chen Wen said, "Old wolf, take the wolf mink, circle to the back of the herd, try to drive them over, Red Fox, you stay with me. You won’t be of much help in this hunt; just stick with me."
The red fox said nothing more. As Chen Wen squatted down, it jumped directly onto his shoulder.
The musk ox was too large, so it couldn’t help at all.
As for the eagle, Chen Wen signaled it to continue circling high, to provide as much of a visual advantage as possible.
The animals were sent out, and Chen Wen picked up his long spear, starting to move toward the herd.
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