The Entire Mountain Is My Hunting Ground

"Xiaojun, this Big Fatty dog’s range isn’t very far!"

Seeing Big Fatty run about twenty meters before stopping to look back at Zhao Jun, Lin Xiangshun immediately gave his assessment.

"That can’t be right," Zhao Jun retorted.

’The dog might be a bit of a slacker, but his range is definitely long!’

As far as Zhao Jun was concerned, there was hard evidence to the contrary. He remembered that day Big Fatty had led three other dogs on a chase of nearly two miles to take down a sow.

’That was a fact!’

’Nearly two miles... how could anyone say his range wasn’t long?’

But Zhao Jun had no idea that Big Fatty had essentially fought two separate battles that day. First, he’d run for about a mile and given up the chase. Then, hearing the barks of the other three dogs, he rejoined the hunt and ran for nearly another mile, extending his total range for that hunt to almost two miles.

But Zhao Jun didn’t know any of this and was still defending Big Fatty to Lin Xiangshun. "Maybe the dog just isn’t used to us yet," he said. "He doesn’t dare run too far, afraid I’ll leave him behind."

Zhao Jun let out a chuckle as he said the last part as a joke.

"That’s not it!" Lin Xiangshun shook his head and pointed at Big Fatty. "He hasn’t been up the mountain in a while, has he?"

"Yeah!" Zhao Jun couldn’t remember the exact day Big Fatty had arrived, but he gave a vague answer. "It’s been about ten days!"

"Well, there you have it," Lin Xiangshun said, looking at Zhao Jun. "After being cooped up at home for over ten days, he should be incredibly excited to be in the mountains. Whether he knows you well or not, if he had a long range, he’d be tearing all over the place. But he runs a short distance and then stops to wait for you. What is that, if not a short range?"

"I... don’t think so," Zhao Jun said, his brow furrowed. Having hunted for two lifetimes, he knew Lin Xiangshun was right. ’But Big Fatty’s track record is right there, so how do you explain that?’

As the two men walked on, Big Fatty ran ahead again. This time he made it about thirty meters before stopping once more to look back at Zhao Jun.

"See?" Lin Xiangshun pointed ahead. "Xiaojun, we don’t even need to test him. This dog’s range is definitely not far. As for that two-mile chase last time, who knows what the story was there? By the way, how’s the range on that female of yours?"

Hearing Lin Xiangshun ask about Little Bear, Zhao Jun nodded. "Yep, Little Bear’s range is great. A mile and a half, two miles, no problem at all."

Lin Xiangshun waved his arm, motioning for Big Fatty, who was standing up ahead looking back, to keep running. But the dog just turned and began walking forward with big strides instead.

Meanwhile, San Pang, Flower Cat, and Hua Lang stuck close to Zhao Jun and Lin Xiangshun, never venturing ahead.

They were support dogs, so this was to be expected. The real issue was Big Fatty, who wasn’t turning out to be as good as Zhao Jun had first thought.

Lin Xiangshun pointed ahead and said to Zhao Jun, "His scenting ability seems decent, but his range definitely won’t exceed a mile."

Dogs can’t count or measure distance. But the uncanny thing is, if a lead dog’s range is only a mile, it’ll turn back the moment it’s run that far. It doesn’t matter what it’s chasing or even if it’s inches away from its prey—it simply stops running.

After a moment of thought, Zhao Jun said, "Then I’ll have Little Bear lead him, I guess?"

"Yep. That’s what you’ll have to do."

"Sigh." Zhao Jun let out a small sigh and a wry smile. "And here I thought I’d hit the jackpot with him."

"Heh, it’s never that easy," Lin Xiangshun said. "Just use him as your second lead. Let the female be your main lead dog."

"Alright, then."

Zhao Jun knew there was no other way. A lead dog’s scenting ability and range were innate.

Big Fatty’s range was short, while Little Bear’s was long. When they chased a wild boar together, Big Fatty would stop after about a mile.

But Little Bear would continue the chase. And since Little Bear was a female who barked on the run, Big Fatty would hear her baying and be spurred to chase the boar again.

At that point—in other words, once the chase exceeded a mile—Big Fatty would automatically switch from being the lead dog to a support dog.

In a situation like that, even if Zhao Jun ordered Big Fatty to continue leading the chase, it would be useless.

It was determined by instinct and biology; nothing could change it.

But seeing the muscles ripple on Big Fatty’s bulky frame as he ran, Lin Xiangshun smiled at Zhao Jun. "This big fella’s built like a tank. He must be strong. If he learns to work well with the female, the two of them together could be worth one top-tier lead dog."

Zhao Jun and Lin Xiangshun continued down the path, chatting as they went. Suddenly, Big Fatty lifted his nose, sniffed the air, and then charged straight down into a gully.

"After him!" Lin Xiangshun roared, slinging his rifle off his shoulder as he started to run downhill.

Zhao Jun froze for a second, then remembered they were supposed to be training the dogs. He quickly took his Type 56 semi-automatic rifle off his shoulder and took off after Lin Xiangshun.

As the two men began to run, the three other dogs fell in behind them, but they never overtook the men, simply trailing them.

Not until Big Fatty’s barks echoed up from the bottom of the gully.

Hearing Big Fatty’s cry, the three dogs instantly accelerated, surging past Zhao Jun and Lin Xiangshun and disappearing into the distance.

Running on mountain trails was nothing like running on flat ground. After just over five hundred meters, Zhao Jun felt a fire searing his lungs. He couldn’t help but think of Hua Xiao’Er. ’If Hua Xiao’Er were still around, I wouldn’t have to go through all this trouble. I could just take my time and wait for the dog to pin the prey down.’

But Hua Xiao was gone now. All Zhao Jun could do was think of Cyan Dragon and Black Dragon, still growing in the shed.

In his past life, he’d had four dogs: Cyan Dragon was the lead, Black Dragon was his second, and then there were Yellow Dragon and Hua Long.

One man, one gun, four dogs, and they had ruled the mountains. At his peak, he’d hunted so many wild boars in a single winter that the trotters alone could fill two large back-baskets.

’But then again,’ he thought, ’didn’t I train those four dogs myself? These new dogs like Big Fatty might be average now, but if I put in the work, I can train them up too.’

’After all, no matter what, they followed me home. I can’t give up on them.’

At this thought, Zhao Jun picked up his pace. He could hear a chaotic cacophony of barks coming from the gully.

Zhao Jun and Lin Xiangshun descended into the gully and pushed their way through the dense undergrowth. Pine needles and branches whipped at their faces, but they both gritted their teeth and pressed on.

The whole way, the sound of barking was constant, but its location kept shifting.

"Let’s rest a second... I can’t go on!" Suddenly, Lin Xiangshun grabbed Zhao Jun’s arm to steady himself, bending over and gasping for breath.

Zhao Jun quickly patted Lin Xiangshun on the back to help him catch his breath.

Lin Xiangshun straightened up, still panting, and said to Zhao Jun, "Haven’t been on a hunt since the New Year... I just can’t run like I used to."

He then pointed ahead and asked, "Where do these dogs of yours usually bite?"

He was asking which part of a wild boar the dogs targeted.

"Big Fatty bites the snout. Flower Cat and Hua Lang latch onto the jowls," Zhao Jun explained. "San Pang goes for the Haraba."

"Then we don’t need to run. No need," Lin Xiangshun said, waving his hand at Zhao Jun. "Looking at the spots they target, they won’t be able to take down any big boars."

Just as he said that, everything ahead suddenly fell silent. The barking had stopped.