Silvertip Mountain On your blown-out stereo, in suburbia.

hunting thread, the more the better!

She was itching to go on a hunting trip, since she hadn't been on one in a while apart from the pack hunt. Working on the scouting trade was fun but also taxing, and what better way to spend her time than to work on her other trade?

The she-wolf howled, sending out a friendly message that asked if anyone wanted to join her. Tilting her head back down, the she-wolf sat, waiting in anticipation for someone to arrive.

Valette was quick to catch a howl for hunting. The young female was desperate to get her deerstalker specialty and she was willing to work for it. She knew the howl came from Anita and she was pretty excited to see the female again. Valette considered her a friend after the talk they had. She had not been able to talk to Anita afterwards but she was pretty sure the female was doing okay.

Valette instantly trotted towards her. Her dark fur probably smelling heavily of Ezekiel. The girl had been spending more time with him after they shared their past with one another. Valette wanted to take it slow, perhaps then she would not fall so quickly for him. As she approached the other she let out a chuff and grinned. "Hi Anita! I would love to help you," she greeted.

She looked up to see Valette, glad the dark-furred female could join her. She considered Valette a close friend, but could not help but shift when she smelled Ezekiel's scent clinging to the girl's fur. No, she was over all that now. She had moved on, and Valette was happy. A friend who was happy meant that she was happy too.

"Hi, Valette!" Anita grinned, clearing her thoughts of Ezekiel as if her mind had snapped its fingers and made the problem go away. "I'm glad you'd like to help! I was thinking about what we should hunt, any ideas?" The girl asked. She didn't know if smaller game was more of a realistic approach, or if two would be enough to bring down something a bit larger.

Valette greeted the female with a nudge of her nose and then swayed her tail in the process. It was good to have nice wolves around. "Well I would like to work on my Deerstalker specialty but I don't see us hunt large deer, so perhaps we could work on Tracking Specialty?," she pointed out. There was not going to be a lot of hunting with two wolves. "I'd say we track down all the caches, check the contents and see if there is still anything worth saving. Then we can pick new locations so scavengers won't find it. I think ever since Silvertip exists no one ever bothered to change them. Perhaps it would be wise to do so," she hummed.

Valette figured it would be a good initiative to do, especially now during summer so they would have a fresh stock until winter. "Perhaps a cache close to the glacier? The cold might keep the meat from rotting," she spoke. She was not sure if Anita was into this part of the hunting side. It had to happen eventually.

Anita gave Valette a friendly nudge back, listening to what she had to say. She suggesting tracking, something Anita found herself interested in as soon as it was further explained. She wasn't too far along in her hunting trade, and thinking about specialties had oddly never occured to her -- at least not too much. 

"That sounds like a good idea. Spoiled meat is useless meat, so we may as well go check while we're ahead," she agreed. She figured the glacier was a good starting point, seeing that the meat was less likely to spoil while being preserved in the cold. Anita turned to Valette and spoke. "I'm ready to head out when you are."

It seemed that Anita agreed with her. Valette was pleased because it meant that she was one step closer to having her specialty. She could only agree with Anita. It was not nicest chore to do but if they would do it they would be working for the benefit of the pack. Valette nodded instantly. "Lets head this way," she offered and started trotting.

She reached the first cache and started digging. It was soon she started to stumble upon some meat. There were a few rabbits and a bigger part of a deer. Though there was not much left. She grabbed one of the rabbits and inspected it. The deer was too far gone but the two rabbits could be saved. "I think the rabbits could be saved. We can carry them the a new cache or store them with another."

Anita followed after the dark she-wolf, watching as she dug into a cache and revealed the contents. She recoiled at the foul scent, nostrils flaring as she turned to breathe in the less...stinky air over her shoulder. "Wow," she breathed, turning back to watch Valette. The deer meat was the source, but it seemed that the two rabbit caracasses could be saved.

"I think we should store them with something else. Seeing that they are small, they should be able to fit in a cache that's being occupied. This way, we'll save space," Anita explained before picking up the other rabbit. Thankfully, no foul smells or tastes came from this corpse. As for the deer meat, that was better buried.

Valette was handling the scent of the carcasses pretty well. She expected it to smell foul and took a big gulp of air before she did so. She smiled a bit at Anita and then nodded. "I agree." The young female started covering up the foul smelling carcass. She knew that eventually the bones would fade and make the ground fertile and fresh again.

Once it was all covered up she looked at Anita. "I think the cache close the the caves is still decent seeing that most wolves are around the caves so the kills are eaten regularly. We could put them there," she suggested to Anita.

Anita exhaled sharply after the last patch of dirt had covered the rotting piece of meat. She knew she had to get used to the smell, but it would take a while. She admired Valette for not only her extensive knowledge of hunting, but also her resistance to the stench.

She listened as Valette suggested the cache near the caves, nodding as the dark female explained her reasoning. "I agree, these rabbits don't have long until they spoil, so it's best they get eaten as quickly as possible," Anita agreed after setting down her rabbit to speak. "I'm ready to head there when you are," she grinned, picking up the rabbit again in preparation for their next walk.

Valette realized that Anita was following her leadership. It was the second time that she spoke that she was ready when she was. The young female didn't see herself as a leader or one that was very confident enough to lead but, here she was with someone that showed her that she was willing to follow. She nodded and grabbed a rabbit, smiling at the other before trotting to the cache that was used the most.

Once she did arrive there she placed the rabbit aside and started digging. She was right, there was little meat, and the meat what was buried was close to being fresh. She placed the rabbit with the other pieces of meat. "Perhaps having one close to the glacier is not a good spot. This one is used because it is close to where the pack usually is. Perhaps we should keep them all close to hotspots," she thought out loud, giving Anita the opportunity to also voice her opinion.

She watched Valette locate the cache and bury the rabbit with the other contents, taking a mental note of their location. This specialty seemed interesting, and if she wanted to pursue it, she'd need to pay close attention on this trip. 

"I suppose you are right. Caches near highly populated areas do make sense," Anita agreed. "Though the glacier does preserve food for a while...but the spot is inconvenient since there aren't that many pack members up there," she thought aloud, not knowing whether or not a cache near the glacier was a good idea or not. "Maybe it could be a back up place for storing food, since it preserves it longer than other caches?" she suggested, wanting to get some use from the glacier's preservative abilities.

Valette thought about the discussion they were having. She nodded at Anita's point. Because it might be a good place to store it because it does keep the meat cool and frozen. Then something came to her mind and looked at Anita. "But... We would never drag a whole deer up there," she spoke out her realization. "It isn't a nice location, there aren't many prey around," she admitted.

Plus in winter, which was there soon, it would be easier to preserve meat. "I think more caches at places that we have many wolves. We don't need meet to spoil," she spoke out her worry, after all she didn't want her hard owned work to be for nothing as it left to rot.

Anita nodded, listening as Valette explained her view on the matter. What she said did bring a few things to her attention; things she hadn't taken into consideration before. She had only visited the glacier a few times and hadn't seen an abundance of prey residing at or near it, making Valette's point all the more valid.

"You're right, there isn't much there, come to think of it," Anita stated. If they were to drag prey up there, there weren't going to be many that would go all the way to the glacier to eat. If they wanted to re-stock the cache, they'd have to bring in prey from other locations. 

"Caches in popular places it is!" she exclaimed with a smile. It seemed like the logical path, and with some reasoning, it made more sense.

Valette smiled at the other and bobbed her head. "I think there is one more cache in the forest we can check," she spoke, sounding a bit unsure because perhaps it was just an old deer carcass that they never buried. "That also means that this cache is not that full and the one in the forest either. Which means we don't have a lot of back up in stock," she spoke thoughtfully.

"We should let Steady know," she nodded shortly, that would be interesting information for him. "Lets check out the one in the forest," she smiled and started walking. "It is so nice that you wanted to help me with this Anita. Not much fun doing alone," she admitted with a smile.

Anita returned her smile. "Alright, let's go check that one out!" she grinned, listening as the she-wolf spoke again. The downside to have caches near larger populations was having to re-stock, but that wasn't too big of a deal. It was better than the alternative anyway; which the two had already decided.

She nodded. Letting Steady know of their recent cache change was a good idea too. Anita started to walk, matching her stride with her friend's. A smile spread on her lips as Valette thanked her for coming along. "It's no problem really, I'd help out anytime," she responded. "It probably isn't the most enthralling thing to do alone, I can only imagine," she laughed, trying to imagine herself unearthing a stinky deer corpse on her own. There would probably be a much more dramatic reaction to that if she hadn't had anyone around.

I meant to reply to this but it was so hot here currently, which never happens, I wasn't able to sit down and write <3

Valette walked into the forest with Anita, so far it was going well and they had done a good job. "It definitely isn't," she admitted and smiled at her, but that was why one had packmates so they were there to help. The young female was quick to locate the other cache. Her nose was close to the ground and started digging a bit. Seeing that this was a deer carcass it was not really that buried deeply but the meat looked fine. Fine enough, it was not fresh meat but also not the worst they could have.

She looked at Anita. "I think we are good," she decided. "I can tell Steady," she hummed. "You want to freshen up in one of the streams?," she asked. Valette wouldn't mind to chat with her a bit more, though she could understand if the other wasn't up for it. Maybe she was busy with something else.

don't worry about it! :)

She walked along, watching as Valette located another cache with skill. "Yeah, doing this alone probably isn't something anyone looks forwards to," she laughed, though she didn't mind the idea. Doing this with a friend was much better though, as was anything plus company. Her attention was brought back to the cache when the carcass was unearthed. This time, no overwhelming stench rose up to meet her.

"I guess this about wraps it up. Telling Steady seems like a good idea too," she said. Anita's eyes lit up at the chance to go to a stream, she always enjoyed splashing around in the water. "Sounds like a great idea -- I need to wash all that stinky carcass smell off of me too," she grinned.

Fade here? :3

Valette grinned when she accepted her request to go swimming. It was nice to know that she wanted to hang out more. They could cool off in on of the streams, some steams would have small pools that would be very refreshing to lay into. Valette rather enjoyed being around water.

The young girl smiled and walked with Anita, it was nice to have friends here. She was definitely planning on staying. If she wasn't certain before now she definitely was. She walked with Anita to the water, enjoying the coolness after had work.