Red Dead Redemption 2 Hunting Guide

If fishing is a peaceful occupation that helps in the search for inner peace, then hunting in the Wild West is just vital. Especially when it is not clear who is the hunter and who is the prey.

This guide will help you to become a hunter in Red Dead Redemption 2.

Hunting Basics: Tracking

• To kill the beast, you need to track it down. Arthur Morgan does it with the help of the "Eagle Eye". Simultaneously press R3 + L3 (both sticks) to find a trail of an animal. When you are guided on the trail in this mode, press R1 to highlight it for a while. Following the path, sooner or later you will find your pray. It is also convenient to use the "Eagle Eye": the contours are highlighted and you can see animals that are usually camouflaged in the grass and among the trees.

• It is convenient to inspect the area on the horse: you can see more from the higher point; in addition, the movement when mounted is quiet. And if something goes wrong, you can easily catch up with the beast or run away from it.

• Use binoculars. Not as dishonest as the "Eagle Eye", but it helps to determine where the animals live from a greater distance.

  
  

The Hunt: How to Get an Excellent Skin

• The purest means for a hunt are a bow and simple arrows. Compared to bullets, arrows don’t do almost any damage to the skin and still can do one shot kill.

• You cannot get the high-quality skin from any animal: the skin of some animals is initially rated as 1 or 2 stars. Aim to the head, neck or breast; even if the animal does not die from the first shot, it will not be able to run further. Track down a wounded animal on the trail of blood (L3 + R3 - and forward).

Legendary animals

• The peculiarity of hunting for the legendary animals in Red Dead Redemption 2 is that their skin is always of the highest quality. So, for example, you can first undermine the legendary bison with a couple of sticks of dynamite, and then shred it with machete - it will not affect the integrity of the skin.

• There are 16 legendary animals in the game. Habitats are marked on the map, which Hosea Matthews gives to Arthur on the quest. When you enter the habitat of one of them, the game will instantly alert you.

• Tracking the legendary beast is different from the usual hunting: with the help of the "Eagle Eye", you first need to find clues (broken branches, gnawed bones, excrement) and then follow the tracks. At a certain moment, the marks will disappear, and you will have a choice: to find an animal on your own or to lure it.

  
  

Why should I hunt legendary animals?

• You can sell legendary skins to the Hunter in the city of Saint-Denis. 

Even if you lost the skin or threw it the ground next to the beast's body, the skin will still be available in recipes of clothing sets

• Buyer. You can make amulets and talismans, that will improve various Arthur’s parameters, from the parts of the bodies of the legendary animals. For example, an amulet made from the horns of a male deer will increase the quality of objects when skinning. A talisman from a bear claw reduces damage by 10%. Useful stuff.

One of the Buyers is located next to the Hunter in Saint-Denis, and the second shows up on the Emerald ranch after a quest of stealing the stage. This is the beginning of the second chapter, so you can find them quite fast.

Baits for the Hunt

The following baits can help you in the hunt:

• Odour neutralizer (animals are not able to smell you)

• Bait for herbivores

• Powerful bait for herbivores (craft only)

• Bait for predator

• Powerful predator bait (craft only)

• Different types of meat

Powerful baits can only be crafted, all others are available for purchase.

What a story Mark

A little off topic, but ...

I caught my first legendary fish before the first fishing quest: I was passing Lake Isabella, the game said that legendary fish lived nearby. I walked around the ice floes, found the fattest fish and shot it with a shotgun ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.