Sharpshooter Challenges

The Sharpshooter Challenges involve shooting many difficult-to-hit targets.

The Multiplayer Sharpshooter Challenges are found here:
 * Sharpshooter Challenges (Multiplayer)
 * Sharpshooter II Challenges

Rank 1: Kill any 5 flying birds.
This is self-explanatory. The five birds can be any combination of crows, ducks, eagles, hawks, seagulls, songbirds, or vultures, and they must be in flight.

Rank 2: Kill 5 rabbits.
This is actually the most difficult and time consuming of all the challenges, because there is no easy way to do it. Rabbits are found in small groups all over the map, but seem to stick to grassy plains and are typically found near a road. Areas like The Hanging Rock, and Warthington's ranch usually have rabbits lurking around in small groups.

Note: In order to be skinned, rabbits and other small animals must be killed with pistols or any other low powered weaponary.

Rank 3: Kill 5 coyotes without taking any damage from them.
Coyotes can be found in most areas of New Austin and Nuevo Paraiso.

The Easiest way by far to complete this is to stay on a horse with high stamina, and shoot them with the High Powered Pistol. With head shots it will be an instant kill on each one. Just make sure not to shoot the horse as even 2 shots will take it down, especially if you are facing the front of the horse.

Another nifty trick is to go to areas of low coyote spawns. (i.e around macfarlanes ranch but within visable distance). this is because coyotes are very fearfull and will only attack in numbers of 4 or more.



Rank 4: Kill 5 birds from a moving train.
Easiest way to do this is from on top of the train. Use the ladders outside of the cabins to get on top of the train.

Note : The Physics in Red Dead Redemption enables you to stay on top of the train while its moving, so don't be afraid of falling off like in various other Rockstar games.

Also, sometimes the game bugs and the challenge is only avaliable for completion when the train is boarded "Legally" (Boarding when the train is at a station, not jumping on from horseback).

You may wish to do this before you go south to Mexico, as a mission in Mexico destroys a train bridge, which can lead to frustrating delays in the train travelling around its set path.

Rank 5: Kill 2 different animals with 1 Dead-Eye meter.
Easiest way to do this is by going to the Hanging Rock.

Walk around until you find (listen carefully) a rattlesnake.

Make sure you know where it is and you have a clean shot.

Wait until a bird flies close by (normally only takes a minute max.) and enter Dead-eye mode.

Shoot the bird, then the rattlesnake.

Another option is to head to Tall Trees, in West Elizabeth. There are multitudes of larger animals such as bears, boars and elk here, which usually mingle. Just make sure you're packin' some firepower, and you should have the title in a matter of minutes.

Yet another option is head to two crows, south of Armadillo. Many wolves and deer roam around the area. Simply mark 2 shots for the wolf & deer (three shots for deer is recommended) and let a rip. Two Crows Is also idle for the Rank 3 Master Hunter Challenge.

Rank 6: Shoot 2 hats off 2 different people's heads.
These do not have to be done at the same time. Target the top of the hat to make it fly! Walton's gang (Top Hats) and Bandidos (Sombreros) are the easiest.

How to do it: Use the Dead Eye mode that Landon Ricketts taught you: simple Level 1 Slow Motion. Do not use Dead Eye Lock-on or you'll get a head-shot, not a hat-shot. Once in slow motion, manually aim for the very top of the hat (or rim) and squeeze the trigger.

Whilst shooting random strangers: Shooting a hat off someone's head without killing them is not an easy feat at first. You'll quickly find yourself wanted if you practice on unwitting bystanders. You'll really want to put on a Bandana first. If you're uber-cautious, do it out of town so you can kill any witnesses and lose your wanted level, quickly.

Go to Mexico: people walking around towns in Mexico wear sombreros which are larger and easier to hit

Shoot at gang members: Alternatively, go to the Walton Gang hideout (just north of Armadillo). Obviously, you won't have to worry about a wanted level here. Once you whittle off all but the last few bandits, you should be able to get close enough to Dead Eye into slow motion and then carefully aim for the top of their hats.

Try another angle: If you're struggling with this, try shooting down at people. Ride up to them, look down and shoot the rim of their hat.

Use stationary targets: An easy way to do this challenge is to hop on a train. Theres a pretty good chance that there will be at least 2 people on the train who have hats.

Use a sniper rifle and aim for the hat of any person (use the bandana if you want to avoid trouble)

Use the Gatling Gun, you may get this challenge without even trying while using the Gatling Gun during the assault on Fort mercer.

Rank 7: Kill 3 Grizzly Bears with one shot each.
Grizzly Bears can be found in the snowy areas of Tall Trees. They will appear more frequently when the player is not on horseback. The best method for defeating the bears is using Dead-Eye Targeting with the Buffalo Rifle, any sniper rifle or any type of shotgun. Wait until the bear is facing you, and target the head for the kill. Make sure no hunters are around because they may have shot the bear, and it wouldn't count.

Rank 8: Shoot 2 hats off 2 people's heads and disarm 2 people.
These do not have to be done at the same time. Make sure you aim at the WEAPON (Not arm or hand)..if blood is drawn it doesn't count. Rifle or shotgun holding enemies are easiest to target. Walton's Gang (found at Armadillo and Twin Rocks) is ideal for this challenge because of their top-hats and weaponry. Don't use a high powered weapon like the high powered pistol. Use something like the Cattleman Revolver for the hats. For the hats you can shoot anyones hat off. For the disarms, it has to be enemies, policeman do not count as enemies.

Rank 9: Kill any 6 wild animals without changing or reloading weapons.
The SIMPLEST way to do this is: Go to Twin Rocks, beat the gang hideout there. It's recommended playing it first, but its very simple. When you beat it, vultures will circle the area. Take out your Repeater Carbine or any other Repeater, and enter Dead-Eye. Lock on to 6 vultures, and shoot away. This is the simplest way to get Rank 9

Buffalo and wolves travel in herds, choose the Evan's repeater, use moonshine, and then dead eye 2 shots to the head of 6 buffalo or wolves.

Alternately, after clearing a hideout, use the repeaters and dead eye to knock the vultures out of the sky.

The easiest way to complete this challenge is to wait until the 'Pestilence' mission given to you towards the end of the game in Beecher's Hope. Crows gather taking away your corn from the silo and it's a simple matter to use the Evan's Repeater or the Mauser Pistol and Deadeye to kill 6 Crows without reloading - so much so that you can fail the mission and still gain the required Sharpshooter Challenge level. No unloading until the last clip is required and with the Deadly Assassin Outfit, Chewing Tobacco or Moonshine you will have multiple chances to complete the challenge without reloading.

This method also gives you a large amount of feathers to use for the 'Deadalus and Son' Stranger mission.

Rank 10: Disarm any 6 enemies without reloading or changing weapons.
This video shows the easiest method known so far for completing the final challenge.

NOTE: I found an easier way that involves the video with a tiny twist that you need the Elegant Suit to do: instead of getting into a bar fight where you have to aim and fire randomly, go to a poker game and get caught cheating or find a duel. If you win by disarm, then it counts towards your challenge and if you have less than 15 bullets you won't reload giving you the chance to re-enter the poker game for another duel or go to a different town. Make sure you use the Mauser Pistol and have only one clip left.

Using a Mauser Pistol, without emptying the magazine as shown in the video, and without leaving aim, has resulted in unlimited magazine size 5/5 times attempted. Leaving and then re-entering Dead Eye also refills your ammo, but does not count as a reload for the purposes of the challenge.

It seems to be easier to get a disarm by painting the enemy's weapon in Dead-Eye mode before firing (rather than simply aiming at it and pulling the trigger). You can verify that you've successfully painted the weapon if the X moves as the gun does.

You can also attempt this during a bounty hunting mission when the bounty is part of a gang whose outfit you have. For instance, for a bounty mission to find a Bandito gang member, you would put on the Bandito outfit, and walk right into the middle of camp. The gang members won't shoot until you pull your gun, so find a spot where you have 4 or 5 of them in a cluster nearby, pull your weapon and go into Dead Eye. Have medicine and an item that refills Dead Eye handy. Since gang members are a little tougher than other characters, you may be able to disarm them 3 times before they die.

An easy way to complete rank 10 is to equip an Evans Repeater, and then shoot until you have 1 clip remaining. Then head to a town with few lawmen, such as Armadillo, and then kill 1 person. This gives you 21 bullets to make six shots. Alternatively, with a high rank in Honour and Fame , you could pull a gun out on Walton's gang , who sit in the saloon in Armadillo ( distinctively ) , wait until they fire the first shot , and then use deadeye to disarm all of the gang members aiming at you , if there was not enough gang members there in order for you to rank up , then keep aiming , step outside and find some more.

Another easy place to do this is the Gaptooth Breach gang hideout. During the mine portion all of the enemies appear in front of you so you can disarm them then kill then move on to the next guy.

One of the best spots is at Twin Rocks. There's a well on the south side of the area. If you hide behind the wall/fence and lure baddies to the well to hide behind, they tend to expose the right side of their body when hiding. They hide while pointing their pistol to the air away from their body, making for one of the easiest targets ever. As always, make sure you have some replenishing items on you just in case.

It doesn't have to be 6 different enemies. You can disarm the same person more than once. If you disarm an enemy with a handgun, then they might pull out a rifle.

Also if you use the glitch to get under the governer of Mexico's house, get a bounty, and shot the guns out of the army's hand as they stand still.

Rewards
After level 5 the player receives an increase in ammo when using chests in safehouses and camps. Once he completes all the challenges, his Dead Eye meter builds faster as he kills enemies.

The only outfit this is necessary for is the Legend of the West Outfit.

Strategy
There is an easy way to get the first 3 Sharpshooter levels out during the first and second missions. When you go up to Fort Mercer shoot to make the four crows fly into the air, then kill them. Then in the second mission when you look at the barn in MacFarlanes' ranch an eagle will spawn overhead, this will complete rank one. Then the rabbits and coyotes should be easy while you're doing the patrol.