Hunting

Hunting is a great way to get Protein (meat), Fat, Cloth, Sinew and Antlers. It is important to balance the cost of ammo / Weapon Repairs vs the animals yield.

Early game it is easily possible to hunt enough Chickens (for feathers to create more arrows) and Rabbits (for cloth to make bandages) for protein instead of Fishing, as well as a few Wolves and Bears for fat, cloth, liver and protein. Fishing has the advantage of fish oil to make Medicinal Tonic used in crafting an antidote and other boosts.

There are a few options when hunting animals (see below sections for more details of each technique):

• Catch in hand - Chickens and occasionally Rabbits
• Single shot - Chickens and Rabbits, Deer with head shot from rifle or Bears and Cougars with an upgraded Shotgun (SG) or Double Barrel Shotgun (DBSG)
• Gun and chase - Deer will run from the player when shot (or shot at) and wolves will run from the player when on platform if they are agro'd
• Gun and run - Shooting larger animals can cause them to charge the player, run away from the animal and then shoot again after they stop chasing (can use doorways and platforms for protection)
• Shoot and shotgun - Shoot an animal to get it to charge, then fire a shotgun shell or two to finish it
• Shoot and retreat slowly - Shoot an animal to get it to charge, as it runs towards the player walk backwards while continuing to shoot

The Animal's yield is gained when harvested using the action key ('e' by default) when holding the axe. This will give the player dirty hands, an infection will occur if the player does not wash their hands for 15 minutes. Hands can be washed with dirty water (rivers, ponds, canteens or water tank) or clean water (bottles or canteens).
A head shot is possible on hunters, rouges, miners, moose and deer which will provide an additional 30% damage for all weapons. A player will know when a head shot was made from the crunching sound.

Catch in Hand

Catching a chicken or rabbit in hand guarantees it can be placed into an animal housing and saves an arrow.

To catch a chicken in hand, run jump when approaching the chicken, once chasing the chicken it will stop occasionally allowing the player to get closer, when close enough press the action key ('e' by default) to pick up the chicken. It is important to stay aware of the surroundings, chickens are known for running players into other animals and hunters/rouges. With practice catching chickens becomes fairly easy.

Rabbits run faster than the player, to catch them in hand they need to be cornered (use waterways, rocks or player structures for this). This is quite difficult.

Catch chicken in hand

Single Shot

When the weapon damage is higher than the animals health, only a single shot is required.

Some examples of this are:

• Hunting Bow vs a chicken or rabbit
• Rifle or Level 4 Recurve Bow with head shot vs a deer
• Level 3 (180) or 4 (200) Shotgun or DBSG vs a bear or cougar (if the animal HP is low enough, walk up to the animal to agro it and then shoot when it is close enough)
• Shotgun or DBSG vs a Bat, wolf or white wolf

Examples of Single Shot Hunting

Rabbit aiming with bow

Single shot at dear Leaver Action Rifle

Cougar single shot with L3 DGSG

Gun and Chase

Deer will run once the player fires a weapon in their direction or gets too close, shoot the deer and then run after it to shoot it again.

When preparing to shoot, approach the deer so when it runs it will run in a favorable direction. Wait for it to stop moving, then fire.

Moose may run away if the first shot did not cause enough HP loss, it will charge after it has lost about 75HP.

Gun and Run

A player can outrun all animals if they have enough of a head start. Cougars and Moose in particular can run faster than the player, with at least a 15m head start the player can run until the animal gives up. This can be a relatively safe way to hunt larger animals early game.

The steps are:

1. Check the Hunger Meter for enough stamina and recovery
2. Ensure there is a safe area to run once the animal is shot (about 100m), ideally without hills or trees that will prevent seeing the animal after running or a structure to run into.
3. Start at least 15m (ideally 20+) from the animal when shooting to prevent them noticing the player and also to provide enough space for the animal to give up the chase prior to catching the player
4. After firing at the animal, turn and run listening for the 'thwart' hit sound and for the animal agro/chasing sounds, do not wait for the hit unless further away
5. Do not turn around or stop running until the animal sounds have stopped or lowered considerably in volume

Shoot and Shotgun

The Shotgun Shells have 120 default damage, and go up by 20 damage per weapon level. For a level 1 cougar with 180 HP, if the first shot causes 60 damage or higher (i.e. Level 1 Leaver Action Rifle) the default shotgun with a shell is enough. It is safer to learn this technique with the DBSG so if the first shot is missed another is available.

After firing a shot at the animal (ideally from over 15m away), change to the shotgun as the animal is charging, aim slightly lower than centre, fire the shotgun when the animal is almost on top of the player.

Moose shot with LAR and then shotgun

LAR First Shot

DBSG Second Shot

Harvest with no player damage

Shoot and Retreat Slowly

By mid game the player will have better weapons, if an animal will only take two or three shots the player can take the first shot and when the animal turns to charge, walk backwards and continue to fire at the animal.

Level 1 animals that charge (other than cougar) will run straight at the player making them easy to shoot. All cougars and animals level 2 and above will zigzag as they run at the player making them harder to hit.

This method is not recommended against cougars or level 2 and above animals unless the player is a very good shot.