Chapter 3: Hunting

Chapter 3: Hunting

Marin was quite familiar with archery from his past. Rather, he was somewhat of a hunting enthusiast. Ever since China banned guns, Marin was forced to learn and perfect his archery skills.

Moreover, Marin had once personally crafted an English longbow. Regrettably, the arrows had to be made by a specialized craftsman. With the bow, he went into the mountains and started hunting birds and rabbits.

Of course, in the Middle Ages, bows and arrows were very important weapons. Their price being very expensive. As for the production of an English longbow, putting aside the specialized wood and other materials, just the crafting of the bow would take two or three months. The present Marin had no time to make one. Nor would he have the money to buy the bowstaves.

But, Marin also knew an important hunting skill trapping

As long as the camouflage was cleverly laid, even the most sensitive of animals can be deceived. Because animals are animals, they often pay attention to the movement around them. A useful survival trait when its predators are fast and nimble. Hence, they concentrate on seeing and listening to their surroundings. Leaving them susceptible to the trap underneath their feet. So, if the trap is arranged realistically, it can basically catch most animals. Of course, the premise is that animals happen to walk onto the trap.

Marin started to look around him. He was in a forest near the German Rhine. There was a stream running next to the road, a good source of water for animals. Read latest chapters at nov(e)lbin.com Only

Having watched "Animal Planet" quite often, Marin figured out that many animals, especially herbivores, will travel to the local water source in the mornings. Making it the optimum time for him to catch something.

There were no tigers or lions in Europe; the fiercest wild beast being a wolf. However, wolves infest the forest at night but don't generally appear in the mornings. So, venturing to the river on the mornings is nothing too dangerous.

Marin was riding along the small stream back and forth a few times. Repeatedly dismounting and squatting on the ground to observe the animal footprints and feces. Finally, he narrowed down the three most trafficked areas.

Waking up, Marin threw off the wheat straw that he piled atop himself. Grabbing his horse, he traveled to the stream where he washed his face and gathered some water. Riding into the forest, he dug up some more grassroots and ate them as breakfast. Luckily, this body was used to drinking cold water in the mornings. If it were his old body then there would be a good chance of developing diarrhea by drinking cold water so early in the morning. It was important to note that diarrhea in the medieval times was a very serious issue

Marin was hopeful that he would catch something. So, he rode his horse and checked the traps laid down yesterday afternoon.

The first trap, had nothing. Obviously, no animals had set foot on it. Marin dejectedly shook his head, continuing onwards to the second trap. Approaching the second trap, Marin was pleasantly surprised to find that the grass cover was broken. However, what made him even more depressed was that it was empty. Probably, an animal mistakenly stepped in but escaped before they fell in.

"Ugh, how can I have such bad luck!" Marin shouted to the sky. Now onto the final trap.

Walking up, Marin was surprised that the third trap was also triggered.

What could it be? Marin was careful to take his lance and leaned over the rim. Looking into the pit, he finally saw the animal a male red deer.

As to why he could tell it was a buck? Very simple, as it was nearing summer, bucks would start to grow antlers. This particular deer was quite big, about in the prime of its life.

With a visual inspection, Marin found it to be about approximately 130 cm tall, 180 cm long, about 180 kilograms.

Such a tall and vigorous deer, only place Marin could see one was at the zoo. To catch such a large one, it made him overjoyed.