Wolf

Wolves are a species of canine pack animal, found throughout North America and Mexico at the time of Red Dead Redemption.

Description

Wolves are predators and scavengers and will usually hunt in groups. Wolves are known to chase down their prey, relying on speed, agility and their ability to cooperate and separate their prey from other animals of their species. The player can encounter wolves in the wilderness and hunt them. Wolves may also prey on the player, their mount and other NPCs. Players need to stay alert, as they will often attack from behind. Listen for them howling or barking in the background. Like Cougars, they are notorious for interrupting the player in the most uncalled for moments while he/she is in the middle of something. They are 4.5 ft long and weigh 75-100 lbs. They feed on Rabbits, Bighorn sheep, Elk, Deer, Boar, Buffalo, Skunk, Armadillo, Raccoons, Horse, Fox, Coyote and even Cougar.

They hunt in large groups (10+ wolves), so if a small pack (4-5 wolves) has been taken down then either move on quickly or get ready to take on another group of them. Sometimes, the wolves keeps coming in waves/groups of 3-5. This can go on and on until the player have killed as many as 60+ wolves. It seems killing them attracts more wolves. Wolves, unlike coyotes, are not afraid of gun fire, however, they may begin to run away if another wolf is killed; or if they are shot at, especially when using a shotgun.

Wolves are needed to be killed for Master Hunter: Rank 3: Kill 5 wolves with a knife and also need to kill Lobo the Wolf at Aurora Basin, for Master Hunter: Rank 10.

A pack of wolves can quickly dispatch a sleuth of Bears; this can be witnessed by getting a pack of wolves to chase the player, then running into a bear territory. When both are chasing the player, go full speed, and they should give up pursuit and attack each other. Watch on with binoculars or a sniper rifle. Return after to skin the animals for profit.

Location

Wolves are also found in abundance north of MacFarlane's Ranch and south of Armadillo. Be warned while hunting in Tall Trees. There are even more to be found west of Blackwater, near but not on, the river. A group of 15-20 wolves resides there. They are also found in Repentance Rock in small packs of about 2-4. They're also found in abundance at Riley's Charge. They also appear frequently in Perdido and Punta Orgullo, and in the eastern side of Diez Coronas, around Butter Bridge, to the upward climb leading to the bridge.

Hunting Tips

Wolves are very fast, therefore a kill by gun fire can be difficult without Dead Eye. A substitute is using the Hunting Knife, wolves have low health and can easily be killed with several slices, be wary however, of how easily a wolf can drain a player's health. When a wolf latches onto a player's arm, the player cannot fire until the beast is shaken off, and it only takes around 3 to 4 bites to kill a player. Usually when using the knife an entire pack attacking at once is not a problem, as wolves do not keep a constant speed with each other, so one will usually follow another, not them all attacking at once, a few quick stabs can easily kill off a wolf, and usually dispatch the wolf before another arrives.

A good tactic is to use a Sawed-off Shotgun and fire off a couple of random shots. Wolves aren't afraid of most gunfire but they are afraid of the boom from the shotgun. So firing it will cause them to turn and run away, giving the player a chance to regenerate health and pursue if desired.

The bottom east corner of West Elizabeth is a good spot to hunt wolves, the wolves will come in packs of 3-5 so the damage per wave is minimal. As long as the player stands by the corpses, as many as 50 wolves can be killed in a matter of a few minutes. Be careful, however, as cougars can come from behind, while wolves come from the front. Make sure to save frequently.

To kill many wolves in one location, stand by the Marston's house in Beecher's Hope near the wooded area. It will seem as a never ending swarm of wolves.

If there are any rattlesnakes in the area, the wolves will go out of their way to kill it, even if that means to stop attacking the player. Dead rattlesnakes can often be found when wolf hunting, and a good tactic is to kill them before they kill the rattlesnake.

Best way to kill them is by the knife because if you shoot them they will go running away. especially with the shotguns so if you want them coming to you get the knife out and get medicine ready and only use the shotgun to scare them away.

You can set bait then hide behind something then wait for a while and if a wolf comes,kill it then do whatever you want with the wolf/wolves.

Quick profit

For this trick, get some Bait, Medicine and Tobacco (Moonshine/Snake Oil/Tonic also helps). It is also useful to be near the Manteca Falls and Butter Bridge area. Having a horse or mule deed means calling a new one if the wolves kill the horse or mule.

To easily amass money find a spot where there are wolves, then drop down 2-3 baits. Kill and skin all animals that come into the area. After a relatively short time, there will be wolves howling. Using a combination of Dead Eye and rapid aim, shoot and kill as many of the incoming wolves as possible. They usually attack in packs of 3-6 animals. There's no need to kill the whole pack at once - killing one or two, the rest will usually flee and come back later. Don't skin the wolves as this would leave the player open to attacks.

Eventually, players end up with a spiraling effect where dead animals lures more packs, which leads to more dead wolves in the area, which leads to even more packs.

If the wolves kill your mount or any snakes you can also skin them for addational profit meaning the player will have a huge supply of wolf pelt, wolf meat and wolf heart along with horse or mule meat and horse or mule hide from the previous mount and snake skin if the wolves killed any snakes before they attack the player. In addition wolves will fight bears and grizzlies should they be nearby each other so there is also a chance of a tidy profit in the bear and grizzly loot too.

Trivia

The vast majority of wolves featured in game have black fur, which in real life typically indicates that they possess dog ancestry (see Black Wolf article from Wikipedia for more information)
The Black and Grey wolves in game may however indicate that they are Canadian Grey Wolves, a breed of wolf that had been transplanted to the Western United States. The wolves in game are much more similar to the Grey wolf then the Native wolves, but if they are Canadian Grey wolves it would be anachronistic, as they were not intoduced until recently.
In-game, wolves can be heard barking, while in reality wolves rarely bark, and when they do, this is usually when a wolf is startled or otherwise surprised.
Sometimes in wolf packs, animals or humans may be seen acting like a wolf and making the same sounds. This is a common bug that does not only occur with wolves.
Undead Wolves appear in the Red Dead Redemption DLC Undead Nightmare.
Wolves are one of the few animals 'the hunter', who is randomly encountered during the game, wants the player to hunt and kill using the bait given to the player before the challenge begins.
When a wolf attacks the player, it will sometimes hang on to Marston's arm before being thrown a short distance, similar to how German Sheperd police dogs hold on to a trainer's arm when training to attack criminals. The same thing will sometimes happen when the player attacks a domesticated dog in any town or settlement in the game.
Sometimes, a wolf may survive being shot. However, it will be wounded and will attempt to limp away, and may collapse dead while doing so.
If John gets attacked by a wolf while wielding the Hunting Knife, he will say, "How do you think I got these scars?!", suggesting he got his scars from wolves sometime in the past.
Wolves, like many other animals in the games, are not nearly as aggressive as depicted in-game. They usually avoid humans and only attack when cornered or rabid. The sound of gunshots will scare them as well.
Wolves are the only animal known to take revenge, which could be a reason they keep coming after the player if he/she kills one.