Corbie trotted into the orchard, pausing to consider the day. The sheep provided a good portion of their stored winter provisions but not all - hunting and smoking meats and hides would be necessary as well. Besides, the deer would overrun the orchard and destroy the trees if they could get away with it. That wasn't a bad plan for the day, but deer weren't a one-wolf job even if they were easier than an elk or moose. But who to call in for backup... After a moment of consideration she raised her muzzle and sang out for Jay. It would be good to get out on a hunt with the young wolf and see how she was shaping up.

Hunting was growing to be one of Jay's main interests. There was something deeply rewarding about working together, especially with her packmates, to take down prey and ensure that Avalon stayed well-fed. Not that they'd had any real issues with that, but it was always better to be more prepared than not, especially with the constant threat of who might be lurking around the corner trying to steal what they'd rightfully gained themselves. Though she hadn't been part of the siege on Avalon she remembered it, or at least how it had made her parents and Corbie and all the older wolves in the pack feel, which was decidedly not very good at all.

Not that she spent long dwelling on it really. She was much more focused on the here and now. Jay was especially glad when she heard Corbie calling for her, seemingly summoning her to hunt alongside her. Quickly she answered her call, not with one of her own but with her prompt arrival. Wearing her characteristic grin, her tongue lolled from her mouth as she rolled up on Corbie. "You called?" Always respectful, and always eager to learn and please, Jay came to a halt and waited for her alpha to instruct her.

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Jay was quick to answer and Corbie smiled at the young wolf as she approached where Corbie was waiting. "Good morning, Jay! How would you feel about going on a hunt with me today? The deer population in here is getting a bit high for my taste, and we could always use the meat." She had no qualms about taking only a single adolescent on the hunt - she knew that they'd had training from Twig and Corvus, from the pack's other hunters, and she trusted the young wolf. They'd do just fine with just the two of them here.

As she'd expected - but hadn't wanted to assume and get her hopes up - Corbie wanted to go on a hunt with her. Apparently it was her lucky day. Her smile grew, if such a thing was possible. "A deer hunt sounds good! The ones around the Orchard, right? Did you have your eye on any one in particular?" Jay had seen a herd moving through recently, noticing its population was quite healthy, though she was curious if Corbie had been eyeing any one deer in particular from the group. Tail wagging behind her, she gave her forelimbs a good stretch, eager to get started.

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Corbie took a moment to sniff the air, looking for the most recent scents around them, before she nodded decisively. "There's an older doe I've been watching with the herd here that I think would be best for us to take. She is probably not making it through the winter this year anyway. She and a few other does have been through here fairly recently and they should be close by still. Look." She gently scraped back some of the leaf debris to show fresh prints pressed into the ground beneath them. A good sized doe, then, and she had that crooked toe that marked her out. Definitely the right group. "Take a good sample of this scent and we'll follow it to them. They should be bedded down right now."

The yearling was as patient as could be as she listened to Corbie's words, explaining there was an older doe she'd been watching. There was a lot that went into hunting, but she knew picking a target was incredibly important. Going after the older, weaker members of the group was a wise decision. Jay nodded along eagerly, agreeing with her decision. She watched as Corbie pushed aside some foliage, revealing the prints beneath. The girl bowed her head and inhaled deeply, trying to imprint the scent to memory. "Lets do it," she agreed to the idea without hesitating. Once they were ready the two would set off through the Orchard, Jay carefully following the deer's scent. Once they were within distance, she made sure to move quietly, not wanting to alert the herd to her presence yet. "How should we go about this?" she asked, head tilting as she asked Corbie. She had a few ideas of her own, but Corbie was far more experienced a hunter than she was, and Jay was happy to follow her lead.

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They followed the trail of the deer for some time before Jay made a low-voiced inquiry. "Deer aren't big, but they are fast," Corbie mused aloud as they continued. "There's just the two of us but an older doe I think we can safely bring her down without wearing her out first, so I think our best bet here is an ambush and a quick kill. It will be a slow creep to get close enough, but we are downwind so it will be a bit easier as long as we are quiet. Hamstring her, and I will hold her nose until she goes down. Then we can make the kill." She stopped Jay suddenly with a soft brush of her tail against the other wolf's side. There ahead of them were the does, bedded down as she had expected and mostly sleeping.

She went into a hunting crouch and step by careful creeping pawstep moved closer... Closer... Closer... When she was still a long - doable, but quite long - leap away from their target, another doe's ears swiveled towards them suddenly and an alarm snort sounded.

Corbie had a split second to decide as their target woke and began to struggle to her feet, and she made that long, long leap to the front of the doe, clamping her jaws over the deer's nostrils and slamming shut. Jay, she hoped, would make a charge of her own to cripple the deer before Corbie got dragged under her

Corbie explained what she thought the best tactic would be, and Jay listened attentively. She thought they'd be able to bring down the older doe without a big chase. Catching her by surprise would definitely aid in that, and the fact that there were only two of them on this hunt made it even more likely that they'd be able to conceal their presence until the last possible moment. Jay nodded, signalling her complete understanding. She was hardly what one would consider a quiet wolf, but when it came to things like this that required focus she had a way of going silent and focusing on the objective ahead of her.

They moved slowly, almost painstakingly slowly through the field. She slowed even further once Corbie signaled her to. Jay was hyper aware of each muscle in her limbs as she crouched low, feeling them straining from the precise, slow movements as she crept forward. Only once did she fear she'd moved too quickly, but she paused with bated breath and resumed her movements once she realized the bedded deer had not heard them. Of course it wasn't long before they made their presence known, just a moment before they'd been about to strike.

Jay reacted accordingly, kicking off hard toward the doe with long strides. Corbie leapt over the doe and Jay was quick to follow, making a decision to work from the opposite side. Finding one of the doe's legs, Jay bit down hard once she was able, fighting hard against the scrambling doe as she tried to flee. The bite was enough to disable her, her front end beginning to buckle and fall back toward the ground.

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