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

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
 * Armadillos - Armadillo Carapace, Armadillo Meat
 * Beavers - Beaver Meat, Beaver Fur
 * Bighorn Sheep - Bighorn Meat, Bighorn Horns, Bighorn Skin
 * Boars - Boar Meat, Tusks, Boar Skin
 * Bobcats
 * Cattle - Cattle Hide, Cattle Meat
 * Bulls


 * Chickens
 * 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
 * Ducks
 * Eagles - Eagle Feathers
 * Elk
 * 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
 * Song Birds- Song Bird Feathers
 * Skunks - Skunk Pelt, Skunk Meat
 * Vultures - Vulture Feather
 * Wolves - Wolf Meat, Wolf Pelt, Wolf Heart

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, hearts, 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 region.

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.

Special Spawns
There are four special animals in the game, those animals represent the last 2 levels of Master Hunter Challenge.

So far, these are the list of the location of those special animals found in-game:


 * Khan the Jaguar – Located in the Ojo Del Diablo hills area south of Chuparosa, south of the road. Use bait if you have difficulty finding him, this animal is also the Master Hunter Level 9 challenge


 * Lobo the Wolf – Located near the Eastern edge of the Aurora Basin lake, Northwest of Tall Trees. Use bait/gun, as above. This animal is also the Master Hunter Level 10 challenge


 * Gordo the Boar – Located in the Stillwater Creek area, north of the road, south of the River, and Southwest of Thieves’ Landing. Use bait, gun, etc.This animal is also the Master Hunter Level 10 challenge


 * Brumas the Bear – Located in the Nekoti Rock area. Lives in a cave at the top of a mountain, Northeast of the Aurora Basin lake.This animal is also the Master Hunter Level 10 challenge

Multiplayer
In Free Roam players are also able to hunt. There are a few places mentioned within the game manual called Hunting Grounds that are triggered when the player enters the area (similar to the message seen when doing a gang hideout). As of now there are two known locations within Tall Trees, Tanner's Reach and Bearclaw Camp, where waves of animals spawn to attack the players. At Tanner's Reach, cougars attack the players, while at Bearclaw Camp bears attack. Please add more locations if you know of any.

In a Free Roam session individuals have the opportunity to undertake personal challenges. These challenges can be found in the multiplayer journal, under the free roam section. Note: If you are in a posse and posse members kill these animals, they will NOT contribute to your challenges.

Master Hunter: Rank 1

Kill 5 Rabbits.

Reward: 250xp

Master Hunter: Rank 2

Kill 5 Deer.

Reward: 250xp

Master Hunter: Rank 3

Kill 5 Coyotes.

Reward: 250xp

Master Hunter: Rank 4

Kill 5 Wolves, one with your melee knife.

Reward: 250xp, New Title.

Master Hunter: Rank 5

Kill 5 Cougars, one with your melee knife.

Reward: 250xp, New Title, Buffalo Rifle available for purchase.

Master Hunter: Rank 6

Collect 5 raccoon pelts, 5 skunk pelts and 5 fox pelts.

Reward: 250xp, New Title.

Master Hunter: Rank 7

Kill 5 Elk & 5 Big Horns.

Reward: 250xp, New Title.

Master Hunter: Rank 8

Kill One Bear with your melee knife and collect one bear pelt. As the Bear is much more powerful than Marston, some careful manuevering is needed. The bear cannot make as sharp Turns as Marston, get behind the bear and chase it, causing it to run, strike its side when possible. Another easy way to this this is to take three shots at the bears legs with dead eye and then once it's health is depleted, knife it down. Four shots can be tried but if it doesn't hit the leg the bear will probably die.

Master Hunter: Rank 9

Search Ojo Del Diablo for "Khan", the legendary jaguar. Just ride around the area of the big loop rock formation and eventually it will say "you have located Khan the legendary jaguar" and a red marker will show up. Deal with it quickly because even on horse back one attack can kill you.

Master Hunter: 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.

At some point when your character levels up -- around 10, you will unlock a new 'set' of Master Hunter challenges. Each of these tasks you with killing a 'rare' animal that is preceded by large number of animals of the same species. Note: If you are in a posse and posse members kill these animals, they will NOT contribute to your challenges. The challenges are as follows:

Master Hunter II: Rank 1

Find the legendary wolf 'Lobo" and kill him. (A large red area will be located on your map to show you where to go)

Reward: 250xp, New Title.

Master Hunter II: Rank 2

Find the legendary boar "Gordo" and kill him. (Same as above)

Reward: 250xp, New Title.

Master Hunter II: Rank 3

Find the legendary jaguar "Khan" and kill him. (Same as above)

Reward: 250xp, New Title.

Master Hunter II: Rank 4

Find the legendary bear "Brumas" and kill him. (Same as above)

Reward: 250xp, New Title.

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.