Hunting

 plays a very prominent role in Red Dead Redemption. The player can hunt all featured animals for sport and money, but hunting may also be necessary for survival, as many of the animals found in the world can easily kill the player. The hunting element of the game involves stalking, advancing upon the targeted animal, and finally making the kill. Animal bait can also be bought from merchants at general store's to attract various animal species.

Skinning allows the Player to make a profit from hunting. Skinning an animal allows the player to acquire materials from the animal, which include furs, pelts,claws, meat and horns. These resources can then be sold or traded to merchants. When the player skins an animal, Marston can be seen crouching in front of the animal. He will then take out his knife, and begin to skin the animal. Blood splats on the screen, confirming a successful skinning.

Animals are randomly generated in the wilderness, and can sometimes assault the player, his allies and the player's horse, requiring intervention. Marston will sometimes encounter scenarios where a Stranger will request protection from pursuing predatory animals.

Additionally, hunting enough specimens of various species will earn the player achievements or trophies.

After a kill, Vultures will appear, opening up the sharpshooting challenge. Completing this and other challenges will earn you fame, and can unlock outfits for John.

The blood of any animal will act as bait for predators, so when you hunt and kill an animal, keep a lookout for wolves, cougars or even bears.



Animals
There are approximately 34 different animals that can be encountered in Red Dead Redemption, and any of the listed animals can be hunted. Different animals supply the player with different pelts, claws, meat and other resources with different values, which can be sold. Beware, killing some animals may not please their owners, or the townsfolk for that matter. Slaughter of an owned horse is a crime in and of itself, which if witnessed and reported will result in a bounty.

The 34 animals all interact throughout the wild in a carefully crafted ecosystem. For instance, the player could be traversing the plains and see a herd of buffalo grazing, or while traveling through a forest, one may encounter a cougar hunting an elk, or a grizzly bear defending its territory from a pack of wolves.

Animals of different species have different habits, so time of day sometimes matters as much as location when trying to hunt down specific prey. Players having trouble spotting a particular critter in the daytime may often find it to be worth their while to camp out and wait for nightfall.

A wise hunter knows which weapon to use for each type of animal. A small firearm may not make a sufficient impression on a large predator, while some heavy weapons turn humbler creatures into fine red mist (thus preventing the player from skinning them or obtaining body parts necessary for some quests).

Also there seems to be unlimited animals on a landmass in Aurora Basin, if you cross the lake to the small landmass on the left, the same animals seem to infinitely respawn until you leave or die then it changes animals



The following animals appear in the various areas of Red Dead Redemption:


 * American Buffalo - Buffalo meat, Buffalo Horns, Buffalo Skin
 * Armadillos - Armadillo Carapace, Armadillo Meat
 * Bats - Bat Wings
 * Beavers - Beaver Meat, Beaver Fur
 * Bighorn Sheep - Bighorn Meat, Bighorn Horns, Bighorn Skin
 * Boars - Boar Meat, Tusks, Boar Skin
 * Bobcats - Bobcat Fur, Bobcat Claw, Bobcat Meat
 * Cattle - Cattle Hide, Cattle Meat
 * Bulls - Bull Meat, Bull Hide
 * Chickens - Chicken Feathers
 * Coyotes - Coyote Hide, Coyote Meat
 * Cougars - Cougar Meat, Cougar Claw, Cougar Fang
 * Crows - Crow Feathers
 * Deer - Deer Meat, Deer Skin
 * Bucks - Buck Meat, Buck Skin, Buck Antlers
 * Dogs - Dog Meat, Dog Fur
 * Donkeys - Donkey Hide, Donkey Meat
 * Ducks - Duck Feathers
 * Eagles - Eagle Feathers
 * Elk - Elk Skin, Elk Antlers, Elk Meat
 * Foxes - Fox Meat
 * Goats - Goat Meat
 * Grizzly Bears - Bear Furs, Bear Claws, Bear Meat, Bear Teeth
 * Hawks - Hawk Feathers
 * Horses - Horse Meat, Horse Hide
 * Mules - Mule Meat, Mule Hide
 * Owls - Owl Feathers
 * Pigs - Pig Meat
 * Rabbits - Rabbit Meat
 * Raccoons - Raccoon Meat, Raccoon Pelt
 * Rattlesnakes - Snake Skin
 * Seagulls - Seagulls Feathers
 * Song Birds - Song Bird Feathers
 * Skunks - Skunk Pelt, Skunk Meat
 * Vultures - Vulture Feather
 * Wolves - Wolf Meat, Wolf Pelt, Wolf Heart

Hunting Challenges
Hunting Challenges, which can be done both as part of the single player experience and in multiplayer Free Roam sessions, will reward you for hunting down and killing set amounts of the most dangerous animals. In single-player, John Marston will hunt and skin many animals in his quest to be a Master Hunter. Click the link to go to the Master Hunter Challenges page.


 * Exploit* In each of the four locations for the legendary animals, there is a building that you can hide in without being attacked. You can just sit back and fire either though the door or a destroyed section of wall.

Achievements and Trophies
There are two known achievements or trophies that involve the hunting and skinning of animals:
 * Bearly Legal: Kill and skin 18 Grizzly Bears
 * Unnatural Selection: Kill one of every animal species in the game in any mode.

Selling Rates at General Stores
The rates vary on your honor level along with from town to town.