Spooked Animals

[The Eagle]

I am sorry but this game is not as realastic as they claim. I have been hunting for more years then I wish to remember and animals do not spook in real life that quick I have been able to walk up to deer within 50 yds or so with them not spooking as well as moose. Just saying, this game is not that realastic as they and some of you say!!

[kevvy2k]

I saw a whitetail at about 100yards drew my rifle it saw me and wheeled around out of sight.I slowly walked up the dirt road/trail it came to a slight bend and as I cleared enough to see there were 2 bucks within 20 yards...I agree with the spooking in game being a bit crazy.This was RL Idaho hunting.

[DYEUZ]

Based on a couple of situations I experienced, the '' spooking of animals '' is really unbalanced.

I had both extremes happened to me.

Meaning, I was simply walking upright in the woods/fields & arrived on heards of animals ( it happened with many species ) less than 50-60m away w/o having them notice me and/or spook.
On the other end, I was careful big time knowing that there were some animals in front maybe let's say 150 - 100m & was almost digging myself a tunnel in the ground to get to them & they would spook super fast & easy.

So, a little tweaking would be nice to balance that part of the game.

Just my opinion.

[Nooby]

Originally posted by DYEUZ:

Based on a couple of situations I experienced, the "spooking of animals" is really unbalanced.

I will not disagree. I'm still trying to find some "rules" how and when spooking happens. In some situations it seems to be a technical issue (like https://steamcommunity.com/app/1288320/discussions/1/3361397532265693156/ ), but over all it's way too unpredictable.

On the other end, I was careful big time knowing that there were some animals in front maybe let's say 150 - 100m & was almost digging myself a tunnel in the ground to get to them & they would spook super fast & easy.

Right now, it feels to me that
- moving prone makes you less visible but more noisy than when you move crouched, and
- that the animals (at least on "Bear Den Range") have much better ears than eyes.
So I mostly use the "slow crouching" instead of "prone".

[PESCADOU]

For my part, even though I always walk in a crouch, the animals get scared from 180, so I always have to pull them at about 200 metres, which seems abnormal to me. The only animals I manage to get close to are ducks, pheasants and birds.
So I also think that the situation is not normal.
I think that the approach of the animals should be reviewed so that they do not get scared when they are at 220 metres, the follow-up of the blood traces, and the decoys because on my decoys no animals come.


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[kubanskiloewe]

to my experience 150m is a critical range; it seems they always notice something at that range....alll eyes look in your direction :-) Than it depends if you stay for a few sec and slowly move on or they spook after a few steps more. Most times i either shot at 150m or i try to get to 100m which often works.

[Florian Meyer]

I agree. In real life I get closer when I have the wind from the front. The shortest distance I had to a wolf was maybe 10 meters with extreme headwind and we were both surprised, I had experienced the same thing with wild boar and red deer. An animal can never hear you at 250 meters if you're walking in slow motion and don't step on branches. This can get a bit frustrating in the game over time because you feel like you're going in slow motion forever and as soon as you walk 2 steps normally everything in a radius of 300 meters flees. It creates unnecessary stress for the player, because one rarely really relaxes, randomly encounters animals somewhere and can kill them in peace. To come within caller range is often an adventure that costs nerves. The exaggerated flight behavior is, in my opinion, the main reason that many stop playing or that potential buyers are put off. This should definitely be changed, because even if you approach it with patience and think you have discovered the right way, it can no longer work on the next hunt. I love the game and would like it to be supported for a long time, but if that is not changed, even the most enthusiastic player will lose interest at some point, because the time required to successfully manage the herd with the flight behavior of the animals is simply too high at the moment.

[PESCADOU]

to my experience 150m is a critical range; it seems they always notice something at that range....alll eyes look in your direction :-) Than it depends if you stay for a few sec and slowly move on or they spook after a few steps more. Most times i either shot at 150m or i try to get to 100m which often works.

[PESCADOU]

Originally posted by m.h.267:

I agree. In real life I get closer when I have the wind from the front. The shortest distance I had to a wolf was maybe 10 meters with extreme headwind and we were both surprised, I had experienced the same thing with wild boar and red deer. An animal can never hear you at 250 meters if you're walking in slow motion and don't step on branches. This can get a bit frustrating in the game over time because you feel like you're going in slow motion forever and as soon as you walk 2 steps normally everything in a radius of 300 meters flees. It creates unnecessary stress for the player, because one rarely really relaxes, randomly encounters animals somewhere and can kill them in peace. To come within caller range is often an adventure that costs nerves. The exaggerated flight behavior is, in my opinion, the main reason that many stop playing or that potential buyers are put off. This should definitely be changed, because even if you approach it with patience and think you have discovered the right way, it can no longer work on the next hunt. I love the game and would like it to be supported for a long time, but if that is not changed, even the most enthusiastic player will lose interest at some point, because the time required to successfully manage the herd with the flight behavior of the animals is simply too high at the moment.

+1

[Nooby]

Originally posted by m.h.267:

To come within caller range is often an adventure that costs nerves.

This is something I don't understand too: On one hand, the animals literally can hear you breathing from >200m away - on the other hand they ignore a caller (which is made to be perceived) until you can literally throw it at them.

[Geronimo]

Regarding the Callers, they are often ignored when animals are engaged in zone activity, or are making a b-line for a zone because of the time.

I think that once animals have had a bit of time to engage in their activity, they may become more susceptible to the lures. This is similarly experienced in CoTW.

We shouldn't be expecting our calls to work instantly, as though hunting pressure, a recent nearby kill or gunshot, their state of alert or suspicion, or an animal's need times, etc. doesn't affect how they respond.

Regarding the spooking distances, I think that animals should always go into Alert status before they actually flee. Right now that alert state seems to depend on a specific distance, or unnatural motion/sound.

If all animals always went into Alert mode before fleeing it would give us time to choose our next steps, without having to go another 300 yards to find them again.

And it should also matter whether the hunter was running, standing, fully exposed, or coming up on them closely, like around a corner or over the crest of a hill, etc.

Right now I see the alert mode very infrequently, and more often from particular animal's. It should always be the case to avoid having animals flee instantly, and than these distance factors wouldn't be such a dilemma.

[Herr von Stein]

in this game you can drive past deer and they wont get spooked but as soon as you get out of the car around 150m away and they get spooked. Not bad

[RIPDixie1865]

I agree. Just spooked a Mule herd from 110 yards away. No line of sight. Wind blowing in the opposite direction. I was crawling to a tree to be able to spot then they just spook. Like cmon, what? How? Definitely needs some tweaks because it is damn near impossible to get within 100-150 yards of most species.

[Joel]

It appears that there's some element of randomness in the conditions for spooking. I've had massive variation in how easily animals spook. Elk or red deer half the time spook from almost 200m away, while crouching going into the wind, while other times they don't become alerted until you're at 100m.

I don't mind a bit of randomness and differences between animals, but come on, this variance is too large and unpredictable. Planning things like the angle of approach and finding a good vantage don't work when you're unsure of your limits.

[RIPDixie1865]

Originally posted by RIPDixie1865:

I agree. Just spooked a Mule herd from 110 yards away. No line of sight. Wind blowing in the opposite direction. I was crawling to a tree to be able to spot then they just spook. Like cmon, what? How? Definitely needs some tweaks because it is damn near impossible to get within 100-150 yards of most species.

To follow this up. Just a few moments later, I mistakenly stumbled upon 2 foxes while fast crouching who didn't even know I was there until I was within 15 yards. Even then, they bark and stand alert for about 5 seconds until they flee. Foxes are incredibly elusive in real life, much more so that any deer, so how can I so easily sneak up on a fox while deer run as soon as I'm within 100 yards? Just doesn't make sense.

[DC2Dixon]

Have no IRL experience but it seems extreme to me. I can slow crouch and have elk and wolves know I'm there and flee at 250M. Deer on the other hand are about 120-150M. I get a wolf being more alert but how are we ever supposed to get near anything if slow crouch or crawl still alerts them at 200M+? I'm still not convinced crawling is any better than crouching.

Other times I can crouch or walk with the binos (slightly quicker than slow crawl) and stumble on animals 60M away from me and not knowing I'm there.

Most times now I just try to get to around 200M and call everything to me. Often walk upright and only crawl if hear or see a animal.