Master Hunter Challenges



 are gameplay challenges which entails players hunting and skinning specific animals in Red Dead Redemption.

Starting Point
This challenge will be initiated simply by finding a coyote, killing and then skinning it.

Rank 1: Kill and skin five (5) coyotes.
Coyotes can be found in most areas of New Austin, with abundance in the western half, and Nuevo Paraiso.

Rank 2: Kill and skin five deer.
Deer can be found in most areas of western New Austin and the central region of West Elizabeth. Bucks do not count as Deer.

Rank 3: Kill five wolves with your melee knife and collect five wolf pelts in addition to those you already have.
Wolves can be found in most areas of New Austin, Nuevo Paraiso and Tall Trees and some of the Great Plains in West Elizabeth. Remember to utilize the roll or Dead Eye when attempting to take on an entire wolf pack. Remember, shooting an animal first, then knifing it works too. Sometimes when skinning a wolf after killing it with a melee knife will not collect a wolf pelt. Kill more than 5 to collect all the pelts.

Rank 4: Collect five boar tusks and three armadillo carapaces in addition to those you already have.
Boars can be found in the southern region of Tall Trees in West Elizabeth and north of MacFarlane's Ranch in Hennigan's Stead. Armadillos can be found in the central regions of both New Austin and Nuevo Paraiso. In order to be able to take the carapace from the armadillo, it must be killed with a pistol or revolver. A rifle or shotgun decimates the animal leaving no remains, and Boars do not always give tusks, but the challenge counts the number of boars skinned not the number of tusks collected. Not to be done from horseback

Rank 5: Kill two cougars with your melee knife and collect two cougar pelts.


Killing two cougars with just the knife is not easy. Instead, lure one with bait in an appropriate area. After laying the bait, find a spot where the cougar can't bulldoze from behind. It will rush in to attack, at which time go into Dead Eye mode and use a pistol to sweep its front legs (ideally, tag them both once). Thus wounded, the cougar will stop attacking and totter off much slower than usual. After giving the cougar a few yards of chase, it will sometimes get disoriented and walk in circles. Now it is the chance to knife it. On the mission At Home With Dutch, there is a cougar on the mountain right after the bear. You can use a pistol to weaken it and then knife it from behind. Another way to do this, although it is very risky, is to wait for the cougar to attack and at the exact moment he jumps at you, you roll sideways. This will make the cougar fail the attack and walk around a bit, disoriented, giving you the chance to knife it easily.

Check the surroundings to make sure that there isn't another cougar waiting to get revenge before skinning it, as they quite often hunt in pairs. Cougars can be found south of Blackwater near the river, East of Plainview on the road to Nuevo Paraiso, in Rio Bravo, north of MacFarlane's Ranch and around Fort Mercer. Any camp or residence that appears inexplicably deserted (as indicated by a scripted comment Marston makes upon arrival) is also a good spot to lay bait, as its abrupt depopulation is a sure sign that this is some predator's hunting ground. Silent Stead is one notable example.

Another effective method is to madly swing your knife at the cougar while on horseback. It is recommended to use a 3-star horse as they can receive greater damage.

Rank 6: Collect five raccoon pelts, five fox pelts, and five skunk pelts in addition to those you already have.
Just north/northeast of Thieves' Landing and north/northwest of the Wreck of the Serendipity is an area bordered by roads on three sides and the river on the fourth. On the map, this area is drawn under a picture of the fox. By nightfall, there is an abundance of foxes, many raccoons, and quite a few skunks.

These animals can also be found at Beecher's Hope and north of MacFarlane's Ranch after 6 PM.

Additional locations

 * Raccoons can be found scattered throughout New Austin at night.
 * Foxes can be found near the San Luis River on the Nuevo Paraiso side, in and around Tall Trees, and also near Beecher's Hope and around nine o'clock south of Armadillo they are in abundance.
 * Skunks can be found in the northeastern quadrant of Nuevo Paraiso or in central New Austin at night, and, just like foxes, south of armadillo at hours of 9-12
 * Many skunks can be found in Diez Coronas at night.
 * Skunks and raccoons can also be found just south of Twin Rocks at night.

Rank 7: Collect five elk meat and five bighorn skins.
Bighorns can be found in Tall Trees in West Elizabeth, and the area north of Cholla Springs in New Austin. Elk can be found in Tall Trees in West Elizabeth, and around Bear Claw camp and Tanner's Span. Both can be found frequently in the northeast part of Tall Trees by Nekoti Rock.

Elks can be found very commonly at tanner's reach, especialy at night. But be aware of bears and cougars, because they are commonly found there too.

Rank 8: Kill a grizzly bear with your melee knife.
Grizzly Bears can be found in Tall Trees in West Elizabeth. They will be found more frequently when the player is on foot. Use the same technique used to kill the cougar, though it takes three or four body shots to weaken a Grizzly. Also, lasso Grizzlies after several body shots. When letting it go, the bear will run, just like a horse. This will give the opportunity to knife it without being attacked, though the bears are fast making it difficult to chase them on foot. Try to use a horse for extra speed. When bears run, they can run through other animal spawn points, bringing even more bears, wolves, boars, or other dangerous animals which may either attack or kill the wounded bear. Once one of these other animals’ attacks, the running bear (previously confined by your lasso) will stop running and attack as well, so hurry with the knifing.

You can hang out outside Beecher's hope and set bait for a bear. Once it arrives, shoot it once in the head with the Henry repeater and jump the fence.Walk along said fence and it will follow you. Eventually, you will reach a gap in the fence, where its side will be vulnerable

One easy way to melee them is to go into dead-eye and target the front two legs (similar to melee killing cougars) then the bear will charge. Quickly melee it, and then it will turn slightly. Melee it again. It will start to run away so hop on your horse and chase and kill it with one last knife.

Go to Tanner's cabin and put out some bait, then stand inside the cabin door. Shoot the bear 3 times in the rear from inside the cabin. The bear will run off but will come back to attack you. Still standing in the door of the cabin simply cut the bear.

A good method if getting charged by a bear (or just to take it down in general) is to shoot it 10 times in the front legs/paws with the LeMat Revolver, which only needs to be followed by a single knife thrust. Alternatively, shoot it 1 time in the side with a buffalo rifle and 2-3 times anywhere with a Mauser pistol. Also, shoot it once in the head with the Henry Repeater. It will then be weak enough to kill with a knife.

In the mission At Home with Dutch, there is a bear when climbing the mountain. This is a good opportunity to take on the bear. To make it even easier, just keep dying every time meeting the bear and will be given the choice to restart at the checkpoint. Eventually, dying so many times (maybe seven) the game takes pity and gives the choice to skip this checkpoint. Do not take that option. Select to restart the checkpoint. At this point the bear's health is seriously lowered. More than three shots can take it down, so shoot it three times and then go to town with your knife. to make it even easier, go to the checkpoint where the cougar is; and let it kill you (or toss yourself from the mountain). then select restart from last checkpoint. the you will start from the "cougar checkpoint" again but go back where the bear was and it's alive but he will ignor you even if you attack it, making the perfect opportunity to complete the challenge.

Another effective method in the same mission is when climbing onto the plateau the bear is on, climb as far left as possible. This puts Marston behind some rocks in which the bear cannot get directly, this causes it to go onto its hind legs leaving its belly open and giving an easy opportunity to get a few shots in to weaken it.

Another method that requires excellent timing is when the bear is charging straight, just when it’s in arms' length, swipe the hunting knife, and if done correctly, it'll slash the bear's face, killing it. It's neither the smartest method nor the easiest, but it definitely is one of the most satisfying.

Althoug, probably the easiest way to do it is to make a bear chase you, then run up the mountains over Tall Trees to the cave where you find the Rank 10 treasure chest. With the bear still chasing you, get inside the cave. It's just small enough for the bear to not get in, so instead it will start running around outside, eventually glitching and getting stuck between the cave opening and a rock, making it possible to slash at it without getting eaten alive.

In the mission For Purely Scientific Purposes, the party will be attacked by a bear. If knowing when to hang back, the others will be firing at it and it will be distracted, offering a perfect opportunity to kill it from behind.

Once the bear has been weakened it's still no easy job job to knife it, however the most popular way is; when it is charging towards you, target it with your knife and then roll out of the way once it gets too close this is also a good way to kill other animals with a knife. Also if possible when your are trying to knife the bear hang back abit, and it will soon go onto it's rear legs and stand up, this means that it cannot turn around as fast which then gives you the opportunity to go behind it and slash it.

After killing a Grizzly, be aware. More will often show up shortly after skinning the first one.

It is also possible to attack the bears with your knife on horse back, allowing players to continuously "drive by" and slash the bear without being harmed. If the bear kills the players horse John will roll to a safe distance if riding fast enough.

A simple and safe way is to use bait in the west of Beecher's hope. By doing this it will make a bear spawn (it could spawn far from you or a little closer). First try to shoot the body of the bear with the high power pistol 7-8 times or shoot with the buffalo rifle 1 time. This would make the bear attack you(and make him weaker). Let it get close to you and when he is in arm's length, swipe your knife. If he's still alive, swipe again and he will die. NOTE:be sure that you are not near or in broken tree,or a cougar will come instead of a bear. And sometimes, the bear will be so far away that he wont notice you or he wont spawn. You will have to place another bait somewhere else. Be sure not to place the bait near your ranch, because wolfs will come instead of bears. And also if you kill that bear, no other bear will spawn.

Notes:

 * If a Random Stranger encounter happens where a bear is chasing a fellow, and kill the bear with a Melee Knife it MAY count towards the Challenge. Normally, however it will not but there are confirmed cases of this working. This would be an easy way to earn this as the bear will not attack, but keeps chasing the stranger allowing the player to ride up next to the bear and slash away with a Melee Knife.

Rank 9: Search Ojo Del Diablo for “Khan” the legendary jaguar and kill him then collect his pelt.
Use a bottle of bait to search for Khan around the Ojo Del Diablo area. If the player doesn't have any bait, he should kill some of the local wildlife to draw him out, or just wait for a while. Once the player has drawn him out, he should use Dead Eye to finish him. Nothing fancy is needed, just a few shots to the head.

===Rank 10: Search Aurora Basin, Stillwater Creek, and Nekoti Rock for “Lobo” the legendary wolf, “Gordo” the legendary boar, and “Brumas” the legendary bear and collect their pelts.===

Lobo is easy, there will be little problem killing him if staying on a horse. Gordo is the easiest, once again, stay on horseback and keep shooting the waves of boars that come. Brumas is the hardest. This time get off the horse then shoot him in the head in "Dead Eye".

The easiest way to kill these animals is to wait until they appear on the minimap, advance slowly until having them in sight, then go into Dead Eye using a weapon with high ammo capacity/rate of fire and empty most of a magazine into them. Single-shot weapons, even very powerful ones, may not do fatal damage, as all of them have an abnormally large amount of health.

If using fast travel to a waypoint near their location, make sure set the waypoint outside the animal's actual zone. Otherwise the player may have to ride out of their zone and then back to get them to appear. (Or use bait, which is somewhat riskier since they can appear very close to you.)

A good way to kill these legendary animals is to use the Evans Repeater and Dead Eye. First, have full 22 ammo capacity. Second, activate Dead Eye. And third keep tapping RB (Xbox 360), R1 (PS3) on their heads until Marston starts firing. This wil certainly kill him. You can use the Buffalo Rifle to shoot the heads of Gordo the Boar, Khan the Jaguar and Lobo the Wolf and it will usually kill them.

If you had an unsuccessful search for Lobo the Wolf, go and search for Brumas on Nekoti Rock, then come back at midnight. Lobo should now be present when you enter the area. If you are thinking of using bait, be aware that it will attract bears and not the legendary Wolf.

Rewards (Single Player Master Hunter Challenges)
Successful completion of Master Hunter: Rank 5 will unlock the Buffalo Rifle for purchase from a Gunsmith. (Price varies with the players Honor level)

Successful completion of Master Hunter: Rank 10 allows creation of Vittles after skinning an animal.

Trivia

 * Lobo the Wolf was a real wolf in New Mexico around the 1890s. The wolf was considered an outlaw, and required a bounty hunter to capture and kill him.
 * Khan the Jaguar shares his name with the jaguar from Tarzan and the main antagonist, Khan the tiger, of the book and Disney animated film The Jungle Book.
 * Brumas the Bear shares its name with the first polar bear successfully born and raised in Britain. She was a national sensation that generated a huge jump in zoo attendance in the 1950's.