Hunting

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; 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 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, 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.

Animals
There are approximately 40 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. One can assume that killing someone's horse probably won't be any better than stealing it, and may hold the same results.

The 40 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 pack of wolves hunting an elk.

At this time, the known animals are:
 * American Buffalo
 * Armadillos
 * Alligators
 * Bats - Bat Wings
 * Beavers - Beaver Meat, Beaver Fur
 * Bighorn Sheep - Bighorn Meat, Bighorn Horns, Bighorn Skin
 * Boars
 * Bulls
 * Cats
 * Cattle
 * Chickens
 * Coyotes
 * Cougars
 * Crows
 * Deer
 * Dogs
 * Donkeys
 * Ducks
 * Elk
 * Goats
 * Grizzly Bears - Bear Furs, Bear Claws, Bear Meat, Bear Teeth
 * Horses
 * Moose
 * Mules
 * Pigs
 * Rabbits - Rabbit's Foot
 * Raccoons
 * Rattlesnakes
 * Skunks
 * Vultures
 * Wolves

Hunting Rewards
In addition to the thrill of the hunt, you can also make a great deal of money from hunting. Things like meat, fur, feathers, hides, claws, teeth and tusks all carry a value. Earn even more cash by selling animal parts to shops further away from an animal’s native territory.

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.

Rare Spawns
Rockstar Games has confirmed that certain animal species have rare spawns. A confirmed example includes a large Grizzly Bear with noticeable scars and flesh wounds. Rewards and skinnable items from these rare spawns are unknown at this time.

Multiplayer
In Free Roam players are also able to hunt if desired, also, Rockstar have added special hunting challenges for posses. This includes fending off waves of predatory animals together with a posse.

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 game mode.