Just a little way past, Dao Meihua, who was ready with a camera, suddenly dropped her smile and loudly told them to stop the car.
The driver slammed the brakes, and before he could speak, Dao Meihua told him to reverse a bit.
Seeing Dao Meihua with a serious expression holding the camera, the driver closed his mouth and decisively backed up.
Their car was at the very back. The two cars in front had moved a bit, but noticing their movement, they all stopped and asked what was happening.
The driver and the young man in the passenger seat didn’t know how to answer, so Dao Meihua explained proactively, "There’s a dead animal about twenty meters ahead in the forest, it looks like a roe deer."
In such situations, whether it’s natural predation among wild animals or not, they need to check it out and make a record.
Hearing Dao Meihua say this, the two cars in front also reversed back.
Four people got out of the cars, joined by Dao Meihua, and they headed towards the dead animal.
Once they squatted down to look, everyone’s face turned grim.
"A hunting gun?" The young man who came out from the second car took out gloves expertly and inspected the roe deer’s body, "No doubt, it’s a hunting gun."
Although guns are banned domestically, some still privately keep hunting guns in this old forest, and some have applied for gun licenses.
Applying for a civilian gun license is very strict, it must be approved by the public security organs of the county government where the applicant is located and then reported to and issued by the city government public security organs of that area.
The recent uproar about cleaning up the wild boar problem was because there are too few hunters with legal firearms, and it’s very strictly controlled, most people simply can’t apply for one.
Everyone present had learned related knowledge and could see from the dead roe deer’s body that this wasn’t done by an ordinary hunting gun.
Dao Meihua also squatted down to examine for a while, judging it to be a replica gun loaded with metal bullets.
"This kind of replica gun, when loaded with metal bullets, can have a certain lethality at short range. If several guns are fired simultaneously, it might directly kill a wild animal."
Upon discovering such an incident, everyone’s nerves immediately tensed up.
No one knows if this was an accident or a premeditated hunt, but it’s undeniable that if the replica gun can kill a roe deer, it can kill a person.
This old forest is sparsely populated, they haven’t passed a single village in two days, and it’s been snowing at night for these past few days, if it weren’t for Dao Meihua’s sharp eyes, they wouldn’t have found the roe deer dead here.
"The current question is where those people have gone, whether it was intentional night hunting, or something done in passing. And whether these people pose a threat to society."
During the day, basically, no one would hunt in the forest. Although there are few people around, occasionally a car does pass by. But at night, it’s different, in such cold weather of minus twenty or thirty degrees, what kind of good person would overnight outside?
If there really is one, the motive is worth a thorough investigation.
Reporting the situation while taking photos, they also needed to bring the roe deer’s body back.
Normally, animals that die naturally don’t need their intervention, but this body was different, they needed to send it for examination and extract the bullet for source analysis.
The other few people carefully searched around, eventually discovering half a packaging bag in a secluded location.
Judging by the environment and position here, it was a perfect fit for the angle and distance of hunting the roe deer.
"Old Li, you take these two and send this roe deer to the Forest Station for examination, we’ll stay here and wait for Forest Police support."
Old Li was the Forest Police patrolling with them up in the mountains, stationed at the Forest Station thirty kilometers away. The heavy snow had blocked the road, making it impossible to pick up speed, the thirty-kilometer journey would take nearly an hour even if smooth.
"Be careful on the way back, and don’t stop for any vehicles, head directly to the Forest Station."
No one knew if the group of people was still around, if discovered by them, Old Li and the others’ lives could be threatened.
The Forest Police arrived swiftly after receiving the call, dividing a vehicle to escort Old Li’s group back while the other two cars came over for on-site investigation.
Dao Meihua and the rest still needed to move onward, this incident didn’t hinder them from completing their patrol task.
However, for safety’s sake, the Forest Police arranged for an officer to protect them as they continued their forest patrol.
Chen Ying heard about the news at lunchtime, and immediately called Dao Meihua, but due to bad signal in the old forest, it was spotty, and when he called, she was in a dead zone.
"Little Chen, don’t worry, we’ve sent more people for support from this side, nothing will happen."
Although poaching domestically has been hard to stop repeatedly, it hasn’t reached the level of audacity to threaten people.
"Continuous heavy snow, those people probably thought on such snowy days, we wouldn’t come for patrols, or maybe they thought they could hide, didn’t expect your girlfriend to discover it."
Chen Ying nodded absentmindedly, then after a moment, frowned, "If it was poaching, wouldn’t they possibly not leave the prey behind? If just passing by, why kill a wild roe deer?"
Next to him, a keeper chimed in, "Could it be they didn’t have time to take the prey? Maybe they just killed the roe deer, and other beasts came along, like a tiger or a bear or something."
This made even the leader’s expression change.
To be honest, killing a roe deer, though illegal, is still a smaller issue since roe deer have strong reproductive ability. But if a tiger or bear was shot dead...
Phew, the issue might not just be of illegal nature, but criminal.
"The possibility for bears is low. Northeast Black Bears need to hibernate, now isn’t the season for their awakening. But it is possible to encounter a Northeast Tiger or Northeast Leopard."