How to hunt

Here are the steps for properly hunting a specifically targeted animal.

Studying Animals

It’s recommended to use your binoculars to study the animal first before approaching it. Studying the animal will register it to your Compendium and reveal the suggested weapon/ammo type to take it down without damaging the pelt. The binoculars will reveal the animal’s hide/pelt quality and even let you spot small animals that are hard to spot with the naked eye. With your binocular up, you can focus on a target and track it - very useful for animals that hang out in groups like deers and boars.

Stealth Approach

Press L3 to crouch and carefully approach your target, preferably outside its line of sight or with the help of obstructions like bushes and trees. Any loud noise such as your horses’ gallop, your steps, even loud rustling will alert them and make them flee. Stealth approaches are essential in getting to the right position where you can use Dead Eye to see an animal’s weak point like the neck or heart, killing it immediately and retaining the pristine condition of its pelt. AIming for the animal’s weak point is very challenging if they’re on the move or running away from you.

Hiding your scent

Elusive animals will most likely flee upon picking up your scent. You also need to consider the wind direction as your scent may be carried by the wind if you’re approaching the animal in the same direction as the wind. You can check your scent’s direction using Eagle Eye. Your scent will become stronger as you get dirtier so make sure to take a bath or quick dip on ponds, rivers, or streams to wash yourself off. Your scent will still be present but it won’t be strong enough to be detected by animals several meters away.

The best way to cover your scent is by using a Scent Covering Lotion that can be purchased from general stores and trappers. You can even craft them from your camp by using Scent Glands of animals like skunks or opossums. This item will conceal your scent for a certain period of time.

Tracking animals

Normally, you don’t need to track animals often if you’re able to spot them from afar and identify them with your binoculars. To see the tracks, activate Eagle Eye and look at the trail you want to track. You can then press R1 to focus on that track. The tracking gauge will slowly deplete so you have to activate Eagle Eye again to keep the trail active until you find the animal. A stationary animal will release its own scent so watch out for the target animal’s scent in Eagle Eye mode at the end of the trail.

You can only track land-dwelling animals; birds and fishes can’t be tracked with your Eagle Eye. If the trail is left by an identified animal, you can even see the animal’s quality. If the trail is left by an animal you haven’t studied, killed, or skinned yet, you’ll see it as “unknown animal” while in Eagle Eye mode.

Skinning animals

Skinning animals not only allows you to get their pelts or skin, you can also harvest their parts such as meats, feathers, fat, glands, and more. Harvested animal parts do not spoil and can be kept in your satchel as space allows.

Small animals like squirrels, frogs, and rats can’t be skinned; instead, their whole carcass is stored instead. Larger birds can’t be skinned but you’ll be able to gather their feathers and their meat instead.

You can only skin freshly killed animals. If you leave a whole carcass, it will rot become unusable after some time has passed.