Hunting and similar activities require long-term planning, and Susie knows her own abilities.
She's not an excellent hunter at the moment. Not only does she lack hunting experience, but even her aim is quite mediocre. She still needs to keep learning and working hard if she wants to continue living on the ranch.
Every aspect needs improvement if she wants a chance to become a better hunter.
Knowing that Dante was interested in hunting, she wanted to go with him.
One afternoon, Larry suggested, "We can start with smaller weapons, medium-caliber rifles, and maybe go fishing when we get the chance."
Susie immediately realized that Dante was suggesting shooting the fish, something she didn't entirely agree with. But when she heard she could hunt ducks instead, her perspective shifted a bit.
This place is also close to the river—it runs through the entire ranch—and it has plenty of what are known as Montana's larger river carps.
Her father told her a long time ago that to control snail infestations and improve the ecosystem, black carp were introduced from abroad. However, who would have thought they'd become a disaster due to having no natural predators?
The black carp, one of four invasive carp species in North America, arrived in the Mississippi River basin and eventually spread to rivers in Montana.
Black carp are large fish native to parts of eastern Asia, typically growing over three feet long and weighing more than 100 pounds. The fish were deliberately brought to the U.S. in the 1970s as a means of controlling aquatic snails in fish ponds. Their population quickly grew out of control.
This is already a biological invasion of an exotic species in the U.S., and the country has spent nearly 20 billion dollars trying to control it. But to this day, there has been no real solution. They're no longer confined to the Mississippi—they continue to spread.
Though the river isn't like the Mississippi, the carp problem—while not as severe—is still widespread.
As for eating the fish, Dante thought, Forget about it. Not to mention the bones and the fishy smell of freshwater fish, the main issue is that some companies trying to build infrastructure on what used to be green lands have now unfortunately turned it into something entirely new.
It could be said that thanks to Dante's intervention, the expansion was halted, and now registration had begun to ensure the infrastructure blended with nature. But even so, it's hard to say if those fish are safe to eat.
"Then maybe I'll have to buy a boat, a speedboat," Dante smiled and told Susie. "In the summer, we can go water skiing and fishing. We absolutely have to have all that stuff."
Speedboats and yachts are also common in the U.S. There are many expensive yachts sold for over 100 million, hundreds of millions, or even more. But speedboats are more common than you might think—practically every family owns one.
"Then when we go water skiing in the summer, I bet you'll want to see me in a swimsuit." Susie hadn't worn a swimsuit in a long time—the only times she had were when she was younger and went to summer parties with her friends.
"What about the rabbits?"
"The reserve workers are taking care of it. They said as long as we give them the meat, they'll do it for free."
Susie nodded. That was a good deal—after all, rabbit meat was just too good.
…
This weekend was especially meaningful for Dante, as he and Susie took their experiences on the ranch to the next level.
That morning, they supervised the rabbit hunt, the expulsion of wild animals, and the construction of a fence in the alfalfa cultivation area.
It goes without saying that Susie's methods were effective. They dealt with those little invaders trying to feed on the alfalfa crop.
Kayce's albino bear took care of many rabbits. Its appearance was a surprise, but with the caretakers looking for an ideal place to create a wildlife zone, no one made a fuss.
Such a lively scene naturally made Dante—now a rancher—feel a deep sense of accomplishment and gave him more reason to look forward to the future.
While Dante acted like an old man waiting for time to pass, Kayce rode up on a motorcycle and said, "Dante, are you sure you want to sell the alfalfa at a low price?"
"I promised the ranchers' association. Besides, the other portion will be donated to the Indian reservation." Dante had proposed these donations to the mayor of the reservation to support independent ranchers.
His goodwill earned him a reputation that everyone admired. He was the only Dutton who listened to the people and helped with their needs.
Loans, surgery payments, or mortgage purchases—anything the average person in Montana or on the reservation couldn't afford, as long as those asking were good people, SAMCRO handled it.
"We're only keeping what we need on the ranch. The rest will be sold to pay workers a good wage, and the rest will be donated."
"You're too kind, brother…" Kayce never really thought this was necessary. People are anything but loyal—especially when they feel threatened—so he believed Dante was wasting his time helping them.
"It doesn't matter. All I care about is meeting the investors' demands." Dante planned to send the first batches of alfalfa to them.
Kayce shrugged and said, "Who knows? We've got to be more careful these days. If we don't deliver, instead of being grateful, they'll resent us."
"You're right about that…"
Now is a time of scarcity. Although most of the grass has already begun to grow, many ranchers don't dare let their livestock graze freely—it would be bad if the tender shoots were damaged.
As for continuing to buy batches of fodder, that's also very likely. Even though fodder isn't cheap, who forced them to run a ranch? It's a necessary expense and an economic cost.
Dante looked at Kayce and smiled. "Based on your expectations, when will my hay be ready to harvest?"
"I think, with the way it's growing now, we can sell the first batch of hay in early April," Kayce said, sounding quite excited after making his assessment. "If our clients are only Montana ranchers, we can sell fresh hay and their profits won't be harmed."
Fresh hay is obviously heavier, but it's relatively cheaper. If Dante simply sold fresh hay, it would save some effort and be less of a hassle.
Dante thought for a moment and said, "Then I'll start preparing to announce the sales information. I need to confirm clients and orders in advance, but I'll have to wait a bit. I think I'll know the answer in a week."
The harvest must be based on order volume. This is also a common practice in the U.S.—production and sales are based on orders so there are no surprises. But since Dante wanted to donate part of the harvest he wouldn't need to the ranchers' association, the rest didn't matter.
Kayce thought it over carefully and said, "A week later is a reasonable deadline. We can monitor and assess the quality of the fodder. It'll definitely be popular. I'll start preparing ahead of time."
Tasks like mowing still need to be done by the staff, since Dante obviously doesn't have that skill yet. He still needs to keep learning before he'll have the chance to operate that large farm machinery and work the ranch properly in the future.
Life was becoming more hopeful, and Dante felt that everything was going well.
Just as Dante was feeling content, several sprinklers suddenly emerged slowly from the ground in the distance, and streams of misted water spread out, watering the thirsty grass.
This really saved time and effort. By setting the values, irrigation work could be completed timely and quantitatively, giving Dante one less thing to worry about.
A better life was calling, and Dante also felt he needed to work harder and not make any mistakes at the last minute.