Legendary hunting anecdotes of the Zhiqing hunters
Source: Hulunbuir News
On September 14, 1968, 51 students from Zalantun No. 1 Middle School (later increased to 53) joined the team and settled in Olunchun Commune (now Orunchun Nationality Township) as zhiqing, and 4 of our classmates were assigned to the hunting team, and the rest of the students were assigned to 4 agricultural production teams.
Orunchun Commune is a small commune inhabited by ethnic minorities mainly from the Orunchun ethnic group, located in a small station called Nanmu on the Binzhou Railway in the northernmost part of butha Banner. Unlike other agricultural areas, there are no production brigades here, only 4 agricultural production teams and one hunting team, not mainly agricultural production, but mainly sideline production and hunting such as inverted nests (logging and transportation of timber), supplemented by agriculture and animal husbandry, and the income of farmers is higher than that in agricultural areas. Due to the convenient transportation here and the proximity to home (only 39 kilometers away from the town of Zarantun), with the help of the military propaganda team stationed in the army, we chose this place to settle down for us.
The hunting team is mainly hunting, with a total of 18 families of hunters, mainly Olunchun hunters, as well as Evenk, Daur and Mongolian hunters. In that extremely difficult historical period, although the economic income of the hunters was higher than that of other agricultural production teams, the life of the hunters was still very difficult, and the cultural level of adult hunters was generally very low.
During my time in the Hunters, I worked as a Hunter, a cashier, an accountant for the production team, and a member of the Production Committee. Because I have culture, I will undertake political activities such as reading documents, reading newspapers, and organizing studies. Later, I also served as the secretary of the Public Society Committee and joined the Communist Party of China, until I was selected to work at the Zarantun Iron and Steel Factory, which ended the legendary life of joining the team to become a hunter.
Years have passed, 40 years have passed in the blink of an eye, when the team was only 19 years old, now it has become more and more flowery, two sideburns white, really a flick of the finger. Recalling a legendary hunter-hunting career that will last a lifetime, I am still full of excitement and thoughts, and the scenes of the past are vividly remembered, just like it happened yesterday.
First hunt
In mid-November 1968, more than two months after the insertion team settled down, the first heavy snow since the beginning of winter began. Snow in winter is the most common thing, and for hunters, it heralds the beginning of winter hunting and is a sign of the success or failure of a year's hunting.
The winter hunt began, and the production captain organized all the hunters into 4 hunting groups and demarcated the hunting routes and hunting ranges of each group. I was placed in a fourth hunting group, which covered a vast area north of the Kuni Gas Forest Farm, two hundred kilometres west of the commune. The hunters were equipped with a large green horse, a small-caliber rifle, a hunting knife, a small plate axe, bullets and bullet bags, water bottles, etc. The main task of our hunting group is to fight gray rats, and the main hunters must also hunt roe deer, wild boar and other large animals. In early winter, the Daxing'an Mountains are covered in snow, densely forested, sparsely populated, and numerous wild animals. In the folk song of Orunchun, it is sung: "The high Xing'an Mountains are a big forest, and the forest lives with the brave Orunchun." A hunting horse and a gun, roe deer can't beat it! "It's a true portrayal. We climbed in the deep mountains and dense forests, and the snow was full of hoof prints of wild boars, red deer, and moose (i.e., YanDahan, also known as the Four Different Elephants), and it seemed that there were many wild beasts this winter. The hunting group walked through the dense forests of the mountains for a whole day, and only when it was dark did they camp in a small mountain nest. The hunters lived in a canvas tent that had just been erected, with a large iron stove converted from used gasoline barrels in the middle, and firewood burned with pine and birch fir. Each person has a roe deer skin quilt, the roe deer quilt is different from the ordinary quilt, the roe deer quilt is of course made of roe deer skin, but it is a leather tube, the surrounding is not breathable, the head is tied with two leather ropes, when sleeping and clothes into the roe deer quilt, tied to the leather rope, very warm. Of course, the first time to live in the deep mountain old forest, the first time to sleep in the roe deer quilt, that is, novel and strange, very unaccustomed, it is difficult to sleep overnight, but the unique roe deer quilt in the northern forest area, both warm and comfortable, really a must.
The next day, as soon as it was dark, everyone got up, ate breakfast, dressed up, and prepared to go hunting. This was my first official hunting, carrying a shotgun and a bullet bag, with a hunting knife and a small plate axe in his waist, riding majestically on a big green horse, really like an old hunter, but his heart couldn't help but jump. What is a gray rat? Where are wild boars and roe deer? How to hunt? Completely unaware, completely ignorant.
An old "Morrigan" (good hunter) in the hunting group is called Tomulun, orunchun, more than 40 years old, rich hunting experience, extremely accurate marksmanship, no false hair, often the first must be hit, therefore, is known as the "hunting general". He led me out hunting together, explaining hunting knowledge and how to identify animal tracks in half-baked Chinese along the way, and repeatedly introducing me to the image and characteristics of gray rats. We had very good luck and soon found gray rat hoof prints in the snow in a ravine. Climb up the hill following the trail of the gray rat and come to a large pine tree where the hoof prints suddenly disappear. I was at a loss: it was so easy to find the gray rat tracks, suddenly disappeared, and returned empty-handed on the first day of hunting, which was too disappointing. "Hunting General" Tomulun was not in a hurry, and looked at me with a blank look but smiled. I saw him pick up a small branch, walk under the big pine tree, look up, and then tell me to go to the opposite side of the big pine tree, the caliber gun bullet loaded, aimed at the big treetops, and when he found the gray rat, he shot at it. I was confused, and the monk could not feel his head, so he could only go to the opposite side of the big pine tree as requested by Tomulun, set up the gun rack, and prepare to shoot, but he did not know where the squirrel was. I saw Tomuren repeatedly stroke gently on the trunk of a large pine tree with small branches, and suddenly lifted the branches upwards with force, and in the sound of "whoosh, whoosh", a gray rat dragged its long tail out of a small tree hole, quickly climbed to the top of the tree, looked around in horror, and the whole body was exposed to my line of sight, less than 20 meters away from me. My heart beat and I immediately aimed and shot, but unfortunately the shot was high. Who knew that the frightened gray rat turned around on the branch and returned to the same place to look around in panic. Afterwards, the hunters told me that the gray rat has a characteristic, after being frightened, it will not run around in place, and the hunters use this feature to aim at its head and shoot steadily, so as to obtain a complete skin and improve the level of the rat skin. Then Tomulun shouted to me, "Don't worry! Aim and hit again! "I calmed down, aimed and pulled the trigger, and with a crisp gunshot, a big gray rat fell softly into the snow." Hit! Hit! I couldn't help but cheer, my hat fell off, my gloves fell off, my throat dried up, my head buzzed. After all, this is the first time in my life that I have hunted, shot for the first time, and hit the prey for the first time, so excited!
Tomulun picked up the gray rat I had knocked out under the tree, looked at me repeatedly and said, "The bullet hits my back, and it can only be sold for a third-class price, which is half the price of a first-class product!" "It turns out that the gray rat should be hit on the head, and the skin of the whole body cannot be hurt, so that it can be sold at a good price, which is very impressive to me."
After the hunt I learned that Tomulen took the twigs to imitate the sound of gray rats' natural enemies weasels or lynx climbing trees to catch gray rats. After hearing this sound, the gray rat mistakenly thought that it was a weasel or lynx climbing the tree, and would immediately drill out of the tree hole and climb up the treetops to observe the movement, which was an escape instinct, and the hunter used this habit to shoot the gray rat.
A month and a half passed, and our hunting group ended a phase of hunting life. The prey is very rich, a few old hunters hit a few wild boars, moose (moose) and roe deer, each hit nearly a hundred gray rats, I also hit more than a dozen gray rats, but unfortunately the part of the beating is not accurate, affecting the quality of the skin, can not sell at a good price. After returning to the hunters, the hunters spoke highly of me, saying that I was really like "Morrigan".
Eat roe deer liver raw
In the early winter of 1969, the year after I joined the group, I went hunting with the hunters again. I was assigned to the hunting group of He Wenlin, the leader of the hunter team and an old hunter of the Evenk ethnic group, and the hunting destination was in a large ravine in the Jiqin River Forest Farm Shiye Area of the Chaihe Forestry Bureau west of Orunchun Commune. During this period, the hunting guns of the Hunters have been updated, and the Hunters have equipped me with a 7.62 rifle and equipped with bullets, so it can be said that I am already a real hunter.
The hunt into the mountains was very smooth, and in about ten days, our hunting group hunted more than 30 wild boars and roe deer, and there was a fox Dahan, which was very fruitful. Unfortunately, I was the only one who didn't fight anything, and I was very anxious. The hunters kept comforting me, telling me not to be in a hurry, because when the time came, I would definitely hit the prey.
During dinner that night, Captain He told me that he had found a group of wild boars, about 20 or so, a group of pigs frightened after being shot, and the leading wild boar was very cunning, leading the pigs to run along the shady slope of the mountain to the depths of the dense forest, occasionally stopping to arch and eat a little food and then continue to run. The herd of wild boars has been tracking for 2 days and will definitely stop tomorrow to forage and rest, which is a great opportunity to hunt. I was very excited after listening to it, and I was ready to show my skills and try to hit a few wild boars.
In the long-term hunting activities, hunters have mastered the different living habits and activity rules of different wild animals, knowing what animals are in what season and where they like to forage and inhabit.
According to the living habits and activities of this group of wild boars that have been mastered, this group of wild boars should be in a north-south direction and leeward and sunny mountain pass that has been the place where wild boars inhabit and feed for many years.
The next day, the 4 of us got up early in the morning and went straight to the mountain pass that had been booked last night. After a 3-hour trek, we climbed up the beam above the col and saw more than two dozen wild boars in the distance foraging in the morning light, and a few small wild boars chasing and playing. After we went around the mountain, we were divided into 3 hunting groups, the first hunting group with all the hounds directly touching the place where the wild boar was foraging, and the second and third hunting groups set up ambushes on the only way for the wild boar to escape, and strived to hunt more wild boars.
Captain He and I were the first hunting group, leading 5 or 6 hounds straight to the place where the wild boars were foraging. We tied up the horses on the shady slopes of the mountain, turned over the hill, and quietly looked down, only to see a group of wild boars arching and walking, and the nearest distance from us was only more than 20 meters. What a godsend! Captain He consciously arranged for me to shoot first, because I had not hit a wild boar until now, and I was feeling chagrin. I knew that this was my greatest concern and support, but for the first time I had seen the herd of wild boars so closely, the adult wild boars with upright manes, megalodons, long jaws, white foam in their mouths, fierce, and fierce, and compared with the docile domestic pigs, it was simply ferocious and terrifying. Looking at the herd of wild boars in front of me, my heart couldn't help but jump, my mouth was dry, and the hand holding the gun couldn't help but shake involuntarily, and I couldn't care less about shooting. Seeing that I had not shot, Captain He shouted urgently: "Xiao Gao, shoot quickly!" "I calmed down, aimed at an adult boar, pulled the trigger of the 7.62 rifle, and almost at the same time, Captain He also shot at the boar. I felt that I had hit the wild boar, but I did not see the wild boar fall, and Captain He fell in front of a fierce and powerful adult wild boar. Captain He fired five or six shots in succession, and I fired four or five shots, but I never saw the wild boar fall. Suddenly, several hounds received a signal from Captain He and rushed towards the wild boar herd with a low roar, encircling a wounded wild boar. I hurried forward with my gun and waited for an opportunity to make up a shot and kill the injured big wild boar. Judging by the injuries and the blood on the snow, this wild boar was injured when I fired the first shot, and the injuries were so bad that they could not escape after being surrounded by hounds and were killed. For the first time in my life, I had knocked down the first large ferocious animal, a wild boar, and the excitement was so intense that it lasted for days.
After collecting the hunt and counting the spoils, the hunting team went out to kill a total of 7 large wild boars, 2 small wild boars, and several wild boars with wounds and escaped. The battle was so beautiful that the hunters said they hadn't hunted like this for years.
Two days before descending the mountain, I tracked a herd of wild boars with Wu Huanzhu, a young evenk hunter. This group of wild boars is very cunning, as if they know that there are hunters chasing after them, looking for a place in the high mountains and dense forests. In some places, the mountains are so dense that even horses are difficult to pass through, and they do not catch up until the sun is about to set in the afternoon. We had just climbed a hill when we suddenly noticed 3 black spots in the snow on the opposite semi-shady slope shaking. Quietly approaching and taking a closer look, it was 3 adult roe deer lying leisurely on the grass by the bushes and chewing. What to do? To fight or not to fight? If the gun is fired, the herd of wild boars in front will run faster, or even lose the target. If you don't fight, 3 roe deer are in front of you and let go, which is a pity. After a brief discussion, we decided to fight roe deer, because the day after tomorrow we will collect the troops and go home, and the wild boar herd in front of us is far away from us, and it is still unknown where to run.
After tying up the horses, the two of us quietly moved forward, and set up a gun rack in a hidden place next to a small bush on the slope of the sun, less than 100 meters from the roe deer habitat, which was an excellent hiding place and an ideal shooting distance. Our activity 3 roe deer are completely unknown, really can be called "silly roe deer", still lying motionless on the grass, only the head is constantly shaking in the sun. One of us aimed at one and shot at the same time. After two gunshots, Wu Huanzhu hit one, and the roe deer that was hit immediately fell to the ground and died. But the roe deer I hit did not know whether it hit or not, and after the gunshot was frightened, it slammed into the slash and disappeared. Another frightened roe deer, terrified, jumped and fled under the cover of bushes to the depths of the dense forest.
We led the horse to look for the fleeing roe deer, and after walking a short distance, we found that the roe deer that I had hit was injured and fell to the ground more than ten meters below the diagonal, but it was not dead, and I made up another shot to kill it. In this way, 3 adult roe deer were killed by us, 2, and 1 escaped into the mountains.
After a day of running across the mountains and forests, the sun was about to set, and the two of us were tired, tired and hungry. Under normal circumstances, hunters have to go out hunting at dawn when they go up the mountain, return to camp after dark, and run in the mountains and forests for more than ten hours a day, never bringing lunch. At this time, we were both hungry and thirsty, but there was no food around us. Wu Huanzhu took out a hunting knife, picked open a roe deer's chest, and cut a piece of roe deer liver, which was black and bloody, and the blood flowed downwards. Wu Huanzhu did not care about these at all, and chewed the roe deer liver with blood in his hand and ate it with relish. Then he cut off a bloody roe deer liver and handed it to me, telling me to eat it too. I looked at the bloody, hot roe deer liver and felt a wave of nausea that almost threw up. Watching Wu Huanzhu swallow the roe deer liver with his mouth full of blood, there was a scene of human ancestor Ru Mao drinking blood in the barbaric period, and it felt like time was really going back in time, as if the ancient style had reappeared.
However, at this time, I was already hungry to the front of my chest and back, seeing that he ate so fragrantly, I really couldn't resist the temptation of hunger, holding the dark red, dripping roe deer liver in my hand, and took a bite with trembling, wow! The roe deer liver is eaten in the mouth, smooth, tender, and has a unique meat flavor, just a little fishy. Wu Huanzhu looked at my eating appearance, smiled and took out a small cloth bag from his pocket, which contained large grains of salty salt, and he took out a few grains of salty salt for me to dip in a little salty salt and eat it. Sure enough, the fresh roe deer liver dipped in salty salt tasted great, and it didn't feel so fishy. I ate a few pieces in quick succession, filled my stomach, and felt very comfortable. Wu Huanzhu not only ate fresh roe deer liver, but also ate a few pieces of roe deer loins, watching him eat so sweet, really made me envious.
According to the old hunters, roe deer liver contains a variety of vitamins and trace elements beneficial to the human body, has the functions of blindness, heat removal, heat relief, vitality, diuresis, eating a few pieces of raw roe deer liver, urine is yellow. After the hunters have hit the roe deer, it is a traditional national virtue to offer the fresh roe deer liver to the respected elderly and the respected excellent old hunters. Today, like the old man and His Holiness, I have enjoyed fresh roe deer liver, enjoying such a special honor, I have become a real old hunter.
The above article is just a recollection of the past
Now the state prohibits deforestation and the hunting of wild animals at the same time! Offenders will be sentenced if caught!