Hunting

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

Skinning is essential to the proft of hunting. Skinning an animal allows the player to attain materials from the animal, including furs, pelts, 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 perusing predatory animals.

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

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

Animals
There are approximately 40 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. Beware, killing some animals may not please their owners, or the town folk for that matter. One can assume that killing someone's horse probably won't be any better than stealing it, and may hold the same results.

At this time, the known animals are:
 * Armadillos
 * Bats - Bat Wings
 * Beavers - Beaver Meat, Beaver Fur
 * Bighorn Sheep - Bighorn Meat, Bighorn Horns, Bighorn Skin
 * Bison
 * Birds
 * Boars
 * Bulls
 * Chickens
 * Cougars
 * Coyotes
 * Cattle
 * Deer
 * Dogs
 * Donkeys
 * Ducks
 * Elk
 * Goats
 * Grizzly Bears - Bear Furs, Bear Claws, Bear Meat, Bear Teeth80.jpg
 * Horses
 * Moose
 * Mules
 * Rabbits
 * Rattlesnakes
 * Skunks
 * Vultures
 * Wolves

Multiplayer
In multiplayer Free Roam mode, players and posse can battle waves of assaulting predatory animals.

Achievements
Two known game achievements 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 game mode.