Night Hunting in Panlong Mountain: A Forest Adventure Full of Thrills and Delicacies

I am a person who loves nature and adventure. I like to explore some new and interesting places and experience some exciting activities with my friends in my spare time. Last month, I decided to go hunting in Panlong Mountain Forest Park in Guizhou with two friends, Michelle Curme and Bowen Kellogg. We are all hunting enthusiasts and often exchange hunting tips and skills online. The reason why we chose Panlong Mountain Forest Park is because it is a primitive forest with rich animal and plant resources, and there are also some mysterious attractions that make us curious and expectant.

Panlong Mountain Forest Park is located in Shuitian Town, Wudang District, Guiyang City, Guizhou Province, 21.5 kilometers away from the center of Guiyang City. It covers an area of 1937.53 hectares and is an important part of the second ring forest belt of Guiyang City. It is named “Panlong Mountain” because of its mountain shape like a coiled dragon. It is the largest and best-growing core forest area in the suburbs of Guiyang City, known as the “green oxygen bar”. It has rare plants such as Pinus massoniana, Cryptomeria fortunei, Pinus armandii, orchids, Taxus chinensis, ancient ginkgo, Guizhou red tea, rhododendrons, etc.; wild animals such as red-bellied pheasants, Chinese pangolins, civets, squirrels, monkeys, wild boars, hares, wild goats, snakes, fish, etc. It also has Xiangsi River and Pudu River crossing the forest area, with attractions such as Turtle Stone Intercepting, Fengshan Panlong, Shenxian Du, Guanyin Cave, Tianshen Buddha, Camel Peak and so on.

In such a beautiful and magical place, what kind of forest adventure will we experience? What kind of animals will we encounter? And what kind of delicacies will we taste? If you want to know the answer too, please follow my footsteps and let’s take a look!

We set off from Guiyang City and drove along the 296-village road of Shuitian Town in Wudang District to Panlong Mountain Forest Park. Along the way, we enjoyed the scenery outside the window, saw green mountains and rivers, pastoral scenery, rural houses, and felt the natural beauty and cultural charm of Guizhou. We listened to some legends and stories about Panlong Mountain Forest Park in the car, which increased our interest and expectation. About an hour later, we arrived at the entrance of the park, bought tickets, and entered this magical forest.

We chose a suitable campsite in the park, set up tents and bonfires, prepared the equipment and food needed for hunting. We brought some G-U-N-S, ammunition, knives, ropes, flashlights and other essential tools, as well as some instant noodles, biscuits, fruits, drinks and other simple food. The most important thing is that we also brought two high-tech products: night vision binoculars and infrared binoculars. These two things are our hunting weapons, but also our lifesavers. Night vision binoculars can see animals in the forest at night; infrared binoculars can emit and receive infrared light, detect the heat of the target object, so that we can accurately lock the prey in foggy or rainy weather. These two things were suggested by Bowen Kellogg, who is a tech geek, always likes to try some new things.

It got dark, and our night hunting trip began. Divided into two groups, I was with Michelle Curme, Bowen Kellogg was alone. We quietly walked through the forest, looking for our target. We agreed on a signal, if we found any animals, we would flash three times with a flashlight, if we encountered danger, we would flash five times with a flashlight. We also agreed on a time, if we did not find any animals within two hours, we would return to the camp.

Michelle Curme and I walked for a while and found a red-bellied pheasant. It is a rare bird with bright feathers and a long tail. It was standing on a branch, doing something. I observed it for a while with the night vision binoculars, then said to Michelle Curme: “Look at that red-bellied pheasant, how beautiful! Let’s not disturb it, just take a picture of it.” Michelle Curme nodded, took out her phone, aimed at it and pressed the shutter. The red-bellied pheasant seemed to hear the sound, turned its head and looked at us, then continued to do its own thing. We found it very interesting and lucky to see such a beautiful bird.

We continued to move forward, and soon heard a loud gunshot. We thought it must be Bowen Kellogg who found an animal and fired. We flashed three times with a flashlight in his direction, indicating that we heard his gunshot. He also flashed back three times with a flashlight, indicating that he received our signal. We thought he must have shot an animal, what was it? We were curious and worried, so we sped up and walked towards him.

We walked a distance and saw Bowen Kellogg standing by a stream, with a wild boar lying next to him. The wild boar had several bullet holes in its body and was dead. Bowen Kellogg saw us coming and said with a smile: “Look, I shot a wild boar! It found me and ran towards me, I had to pick up the gun and fire, luckily, I didn’t hurt myself or you.” Michelle Curme and I both breathed a sigh of relief and said: “You are awesome, you shot a wild boar! But you are too risky, what if it bites you?” Bowen Kellogg shook his head and said: “It’s okay, I have infrared binoculars, I can see its heat, I can judge its position and speed in advance. And I also have a gun, so I can protect myself.” We listened to his words and felt he was confident and cool. We helped him drag the wild boar aside and continued to look for other animals.

We walked for a while and found some other animals, some we wanted to shoot, some we didn’t. We used night vision binoculars and infrared binoculars to observe their behavior and habits, then decided whether to shoot or not. We shot some small animals such as hares, wild goats and squirrels, and also spared some rare animals such as pangolins, civets and pheasants. We also saw some strange animals such as snakes, fish and monkeys, but we didn’t shoot them because they were either too dangerous or too hard to eat. In short, in this forest, we saw a lot of things that surprised and scared us.

Two hours later, we returned to the camp. We made a hearty dinner with the game we shot and the local ingredients. We made a spicy rabbit dish with rabbit meat and chili peppers, Sichuan peppercorns, ginger, garlic and other seasonings, the meat was tender and juicy, spicy and sweet ; we made a pot of mutton soup with wild goat meat and potatoes, carrots, onions and other vegetables, the soup was rich and fragrant, nourishing and healthy ; we made a plate of squirrel corn cakes with squirrel meat and corn flour, sesame oil, vinegar and other ingredients, squirrel corn cakes are a special snack in Guizhou, crispy outside and tender inside, sweet and delicious. We also bought some local specialties, such as Guizhou red tea, Guizhou bacon, Guizhou sour soup fish, etc., which increased our appetite. We ate and chatted, shared our hunting experiences and feelings, praised and joked with each other, the atmosphere was very pleasant.

After dinner, we chatted, sang, and played games around the bonfire. We also watched some photos and videos we took with our phones, recalling our adventure in the forest. We talked about some topics related to nature and animals, such as “The red-bellied pheasant is a national second-class protected animal in China, and its feathers can be used to make ornaments”, “The pangolin is the only mammal with scales in the world, and its scales can be used to treat some diseases”, “The wild goat is a unique species of Panlong Mountain Forest Park, and it can jump freely on the cliffs” and so on. We also talked about some topics related to technology and hunting, such as “The night vision binoculars work by using a photomultiplier tube to convert weak light into electronic signals, and then convert them into visible light”, “The infrared binoculars work by using an infrared sensor to convert the infrared radiation emitted by the target object into electronic signals, and then convert them into visible light”, “Hunting is one of the oldest activities of human beings, it can exercise one’s body and will, and also cultivate one’s awareness of living in harmony with nature” and so on. We learned and exchanged with each other, enhancing our knowledge and friendship.

We chatted until late at night, then reluctantly entered the tent. We lay in our sleeping bags, listening to the sounds of the forest, feeling the breath of nature. We soon fell into a sweet dream.

This is our hunting experience in Panlong Mountain Forest Park, where we spent a forest adventure full of thrills and delicacies, feeling the charm of nature and the vitality of life. We not only saw many rare animals, tasted many delicious foods, but also learned a lot of useful knowledge, made a lot of good friends. We felt this was a very worthwhile trip, which gave us a lot of happiness and emotion.

If you also want to come to Panlong Mountain Forest Park for hunting, remember to bring night vision binoculars or infrared binoculars, they will make your hunting smoother and safer. And, don’t forget to respect and protect the animals and plants in the forest, they are our common wealth and friends. Finally, I wish you a happy and unforgettable journey in Panlong Mountain Forest Park!

Panlong Mountain Forest Park, a magical place worth exploring for you and me!