Take a look at our complete guide on how to hunt in Red Dead Redemption 2.
Why Hunting Is Necessary for Red Dead Redemption 2
Red Dead Redemption 2 offers a large variety of outfits. After progressing into a little bit of story, The game introduces you to a trapper. The trapper can craft you a large variety of outfits using pelts that you sell to him. Mostly legendary pelts are used for crafting, But in some cases, you also need pelts of other animals for crafting. Crafting also utilizes the carcass of small birds. The carrying capacity of the player is an important factor in the game. Satchels can be used to increase the carrying capacity, which can be crafted using animal pelts. The wild west satchel offers the highest carrying capacity. Crafting this satchel requires crafting of all other satchels which require a lot of animal pelts. There are shops called fences in Red Dead Redemption 2 at which the shopkeeper can craft trinkets for us. Trinkets yield us with special skill improvements. Trinkets are mainly crafted from animal parts obtained from legendary animals. The main character needs to eat periodically to maintain his weight. As the weight goes high or low, Consecutive changes will happen in the physical attributes. To avoid this, The player has to maintain health by eating. Meat is one of the easily obtainable sources of food. Animals provide us with meat, So hunting is an important factor in the game.
Studying the Animal in Red Dead Redemption 2
Studying the animal that you are going to hunt is a vital move in Red Dead Redemption 2. Gadgets of Arthur include a binocular. You have to equip the binocular and scout the animal through the binoculars in RDR 2. As you study the animal, your compendium will be updated with the details of the animal. While scouting the animal first thing you have to look for is the quality of the pelt. The animal has 3 quality ratings. 1 star for poor quality pelt, 2 stars for good quality pelt, and 3 stars for perfect quality pelts. Crafting uses only perfect quality pelts. An animal with 1 star or 2 stars will not give you a perfect quality pelt, so, only go for the animal with a 3-star quality rating. Studying an animal also gives an idea of what weapon is to be used for killing the animal. All these things can greatly help in catching an animal. So make sure to scout the animal before opting for a kill.
How to Hunt in Red Dead Redemption 2: Weapons Used & Size of Animals
There is a large variety of animals in RDR 2. Every animal cannot be killed by the same weapon. A variety of weapons are available in the game. Using the correct weapon for the animal will help you in obtaining perfect pelts. The size of the animal plays a vital role in selecting the appropriate weapon.
How to Hunt Small Animals
Hunting small animals like bullfrogs, toad, snake, rat, chipmunks, and bats requires lower-powered weapons. A small game arrow is mainly used to obtain perfect pelts of these animals. The small game arrow can be crafted while resting in the camp. A perfectly placed shot using a small game arrow kills these animals easily.
How to Hunt Moderate-Sized Animals
Rabbit, Armadillo, Skunk, Badger, Muskrat, Possum, Raccoon, Iguana, and Gila monster comes under the moderate animal category. Moderate animals can be killed easily using a varmint rifle for obtaining a perfect pelt. Varmint rifle can be purchased from shops early in the game. This gun is free of cost. Upgrading this gun can help you even further with view distance. Ammunitions for varmint rifle can also be purchased from shops. Hunting Green Iguana and Gila Monster might be difficult sometimes since they are rare to find. Green Iguanas can be found on the Island East of Rhodes. Travel to Rhodes and either use a boat or swim to cross the island. Note that you need extra stamina to reach the other end. Using a boat or going on a horse is better when you are heading to island East of Rhodes. Gila monsters can be found in the black water region. It can be found in the New Auston area near lake Don julio. It can be easily spotted due to its distinct black and white textured skin. Use a varmint rifle to kill and skin the Gila Monster.
How to Hunt Medium Sized Animals in RDR 2
Medium-sized animals like coyote, fox, pig, beaver can be killed using a bow and arrow or a repeater. These animals are easy to find and kill. A poison arrow, throwing-knife, or a poisoned throwing knife can also be used to take down these animals. All these methods provide us with perfect quality pelts.
How to Hunt Large Animals in RDR 2
Large animals on RDR 2 can be taken down by using a rifle. A critical hit from any rifle can easily take down a large animal. Sniper rifle, poison arrow, and poison throwing knife can also be used for a clean kill. Critical hits are required to obtain perfect pelts. Animals like Boar, busk, cougar, panther, Bighorn ram, Wolf, Deer, Pronghorn, peccary, sheep, goat comes under the large animal category. Small alligators also fall under the large animal category. Since panthers, cougars, and wolves try to attack when detected, try to take the kill by a stealthy approach.
How to Hunt Massive Animals in RDR 2
The massive animals in the game can be killed using a sniper rifle. One critical shot from a sniper rifle can kill massive animals and yield you with the perfect quality pelt. Bison, bear, Bull, Cow, Ox, Moose, Elk, and Large alligators can be taken down using a sniper rifle.
How to Hunt Birds in Red Dead Redemption 2
The feather obtained from birds is very essential for crafting arrows of different types. The carcass of small birds is used for crafting hats and other outfits. This makes hunting birds important in Red Dead Redemption 2. Hunting birds is simple compared to animals since they will die in a single shot from a varmint rifle. But what makes it tricky is that small birds are very rare to find. Birds like American robin, orioles, blue jay, cardinal, woodpecker, etc are hard to find. There are a few locations in which these birds appear periodically. The Old fort Brennan along Camassa river is a location in which these birds can be easily found. Find a good spot in the fort and start shooting. The next location is the Bridge north of Hanover trapper. Birds like robin and orioles rest along the bridge. Wait for the bird and take the shot. The town near beaver hollow is also a good location to find small birds. You can find blue jays near the stream. The abandoned house in the west of Vanhorn is also a location in which small birds appear often. You can catch birds while you travel in a horse, but you have to be very careful. Each bird has a particular sound. You have to pay attention to sounds while traveling. The birds will make a noise and flies vertically upwards when you cross them. Whenever you hear a bird sound or the sound of wing flaps, activate your dead eye and look for the bird. Find it and shoot it down.
How to Hunt Legendary Animals
Hunting legendary animals are different from hunting normal animals. From the very beginning of the game, You will get access to a location map of legendary animals. You have to relate the map with the game map and find the locations. Travel to that location. When you are in the correct hunting region, a notification will appear which says you are in a legendary animal territory. Along with the notification, a clue will appear. Look for a question mark in the mini-map or use your dead eye to find the clue. Finding the first clue will trigger the side mission. you have to follow along the side quest. You can use any weapon to kill the legendary animal. Even if you use explosives, the pelt will not be damaged. Feel free to use your desired weapon. Try to avoid bounty on your head while going for a legendary animal hunt. When bounty hunters are nearby, the clue might not show or the animal will be lost. In case the animal is lost you have to travel away from the area, rest for a few days, and come back later. Make sure you do not forget to skin the animal after the kill, the pelt will be lost forever. So keep that in mind while going for a hunt.
How to Increase Shot accuracy in RDR 2
In Red Dead Redemption 2, the quality of the pelt obtained depends on how fast you kill the animal and the number of shots placed. So, shot placement and accuracy play an important factor in RDR 2 hunting. One critical or fatal shot is enough to kill the animal if using the correct weapon. Every animal other than small animals will have critical parts in the body. The brain, heart, and stomach are the critical parts of an animal. When you progress into the story of the game, these areas will be shown highlighted while using the dead eye ability. Aim for any of these parts and take the shot. It is better to go for the brain since it is easier to aim. You also have a call animal option while focused on an animal. Calling the animal will force it to raise its head and look towards you. Combine this with a dead-eye and you will get a perfect shot. Small animals are easily killed by a body shot while using the correct weapon. When the animal is hunted with a poison arrow or a poison throwing knife, there are chances that animals might not die in the first shot. If the animal does not die, it will flee from the location. Don’t shoot again, the pelt often will get damaged. Follow the animal trail. It will show a red trail that depicts bleeding. After a small while, the animal will fall. You can mercy kill the animal to obtain the perfect pelt.
How to Use Bait and Cover Scent Lotion in Red Dead Redemption 2
While hunting near towns or hunting for rare animals, It is hard to find animals. In this case, We can use baits to attract animals towards us. Place the baits in an open space and stay in cover. Stay someplace near where you can easily take the shot.
The bait attracts the animals towards it. Take the shot while the animal is in the range. Baits can be crafted or purchased from shops. Predators like cougars and panthers can be caught easily by using potent predator baits.
Some animals like pronghorn and deers will flee as soon as they detect you. To avoid detection you have to take a stealthy approach. Even when you are crouching, they can detect you within a certain range.
You can use a cover scent lotion to mask your scent. This will help you to reach more closer to the animal. Using a cover scent lotion can greatly increase your stealth.
Pay attention to all these details, you will greatly improve your hunting skills in RDR 2. Keep these tips in mind while going for a hunt. Hunting in Red Dead redemption requires a lot of patience. Spend time in hunting if you want to improve yourself.
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