Best animals to hunt for gm$

[Sidas90]

There are many new players asking about "what new gun should I buy?", "what animals to hunt?", "how to earn gm$ quickly?" and so on. Let's take some guides here for the new players, shall we? It might help others to make choices easier.

My contribution would be:
1. Geese Hunting (Magpie or Snow). Fastest way, but gets boring and sometimes frustrating. Consider 12GA Pump (because of the free ammo) and 10GA (that's OP for waterfowl) shotguns. Get few decoys, a blind and a tent. Sometimes all flocks break one after another, sometimes I get 10 flocks passing by without any break-ups (frustrating part). For starting out, Single-Shot shotgun is enough, but You'll need and upgrade later. Both 12GA Pump'er and 10GA shotguns have quick reload allowing fast follow-up shots.
2. Turkeys, Deer, Elk and Coyotes at Whitehart Island. Best places would be Tower 6 and golden tree near the lake (need a tree stand). Get all the callers. Just go to the tower (or stand) and use all four callers one by one, repeat every now and then. You'll need a bit of patience, but they will come. Consider buying a bow for deer, elk, coyotes AND a crossbow pistol for turkeys (or You can get away with single crossbow for every type). After that You can save up for some turkey and coyote decoys. Some tips to get You going:
a. Coyotes are very cautious predators, they have super smelling capabilities and a good hearing - never leave tower/stand before killing them. Don't bother getting closer to them.
b. Don't waste ammo on females, just let them be. They'll leave soon enough. Only shoot males (You can kill female coyotes though - gives gm$). That goes to shooting from towers and stands.
c. Why bows and crossbows? Simple - Animal spook time is small. Wouldn't worry about that if You misplaced Your shot and animal ran off. You can find him later. However, rifles and shotguns will make a lot of noise - spooking distance is 300 meters I believe, that's way out of rendering distance AND on top off that You'll get 14-30 minutes to wait before ANY animal will answer Your calls. Be smart, use silent weapons - that'll save a lot of time.
3. Whitetail Deer if You like traveling. What I do - travel (walk or crouch!) and use a caller from time to time. After deer calls back, I check whether it's male or female. If it's female, I don't bother and just keep going. If it's a male deer - I just put my ground blind up and call him in. Get him as close as possible, he should be facing You (warning, don't make eye contact!). Just take a bow and shoot between his front legs - instantly helps him to re-spawn. Take Your gm$ and continue travelling (calling too). Things to consider - A bow, 1-2 pouches of arrows, ground blind (camo according to reserve), callers.

That's about it from me. Haven't bought any more guns for other animals. I would love to hear from someone about feeders and other stuff. Also, my next target will be buffalo and bison - not sure if it's worth it (gm$ wise), but still, should be fun. Hope it helps.

[Billy2112]

I can second this. As my top choice for someone starting out would be setup for Geese. 12g Pump and grind. It is also a lot of fun. You can also check multiplayer games as many players who have a lot of gear and have the setups will have an open game. Just be respectful and enjoy yourself.

[azxcvbnm321]

Thing is that all the recommended hunting for $GM requires a lot of $$$$ in the first place. A blind costs like 7000, and there are two callers for geese alone, that's another 5000.

I think you should give tips for those beginners with no $$$ and just the starting equipment and callers. It's easy to make $$$ once you have $$$ it seems, but very difficult if you have nothing and are starting out fresh.

[Sidas90]

I started with Canadian Geese. Got my long range caller and that's it. I just crouched near bale of hay in the field and called them. Later on I got short range caller. But when I heard that Magpie Geese are better, I saved for callers, blind and decoys (I had tent before, was on sale long time ago, took 2). So You need only like 2900 for start.

Blind is important, but You can totally do it without one - 0 gm$. Tent - there's a good spot near the starting lodge, so not that important - 0 gm$. Decoys - important, but not needed for starters, buy them later on - 0 gm$. Better shotgun - I bought it last (12GA Pump'er), Single-Shot shotgun is more than enough for starters - 0 gm$. Short range caller - You can do without it - 0gm$. Long range caller - must have - 2900 gm$.

So in total, You need only 2900 gm$ to start. That kind of money is easy to get with whitetail deer missions. But I admit - it will be a hard start, but it will also get easier later. Actually I'm planning to start Snow Geese hunting with only a long range caller, because I only got like 4k gm$ - not really enough for some serious stuff.

[azxcvbnm321]

Thank you, this is the type of information I was looking for, the ways to hunt for $GM without needing $GM in the first place. Right now I have a Canadian Geese long range caller and enough $$$ to buy the short range caller. Is the short range caller important enough that I should spend the $$$, or I should save it? Remember that I need a bow, blind, and other stuff so if it's not really great, then I need to save the $$$ and get something that has a major impact.

Also how are you able to hunt without a blind? Even crouching won't the geese see you and not be called down? I've had to lie flat in dense brush on the outskirts of the fields for the geese to come down. Then I try to sneak up close enough to get a kill when they fly away after spotting me. I find that just hunting pheasant is much more lucrative and easier. So far, hunting pheasant is my top way to make $$$ besides the missions and so forth. But I'm stuck on some of the missions that require new guns or very time consuming setup. So I'm kinda stuck with no way to make $$$ by just hunting.

[shoopy]

You can make a lot of gm$ from doing missions, even just doing only the ones that don't require special weapons. It's possible to do them without spending anything but having some callers helps a lot.

[Sidas90]

Originally posted by azxcvbnm321:

Thank you, this is the type of information I was looking for, the ways to hunt for $GM without needing $GM in the first place. Right now I have a Canadian Geese long range caller and enough $$$ to buy the short range caller. Is the short range caller important enough that I should spend the $$$, or I should save it? Remember that I need a bow, blind, and other stuff so if it's not really great, then I need to save the $$$ and get something that has a major impact.

Also how are you able to hunt without a blind? Even crouching won't the geese see you and not be called down? I've had to lie flat in dense brush on the outskirts of the fields for the geese to come down. Then I try to sneak up close enough to get a kill when they fly away after spotting me. I find that just hunting pheasant is much more lucrative and easier. So far, hunting pheasant is my top way to make $$$ besides the missions and so forth. But I'm stuck on some of the missions that require new guns or very time consuming setup. So I'm kinda stuck with no way to make $$$ by just hunting.

Pheasants aren't cautious birds, they don't spook if You walk behind them. Try to sneak behind his back, aim a bit upper then he is and whistle. He will fly directly where You're aiming, shoot him when he is a bit in the air. Easy kill.

About short range caller - easier, but not necessary. After flock breaks, it helps to control the direction of their landing. But actually I use it only if I have time. Other times I just wait for them to come and then shoot, no short range caller used there. This item WILL help with the gm$, but it's not important. First thing - go for the blind if You can, or go with the decoys (most important).

Hunting without a blind will decrease chances of flock-break and they won't try to land because of the spooky thing. However, crouching near the bale of hay in the middle of the field was helping me out. They didn't spook before my first shot. So, if they spook - You just waited for too long to shoot. You will learn when to shoot exactly, don't worry.

Another thing to keep in mind:
Canadian MALE goose → 20-40 gm$/kill
Canadian FEMALE goose → 5-10 gm$/kill

Magpie MALE goose → 40-80 gm$/kill
Magpie FEMALE goose → 10-20 gm$/kill

Snow MALE goose → 40-80 gm$/kill
Snow FEMALE goose → 10-20 gm$/kill

About the bow - I bought with cash that Parker Python bow. Now that was a game changer - You can hunt every animal in the game (don't try going after bison, banteng or buffalo - this weapon is permitted, but not strong enough → used 10 arrows just to kill it.), also it's very silent - good for tower/tree stand hunting. One of the best things I got, good item.

Hope this helps a bit :)

[Mickey_Man]

Another good point that I want to add, is that this game is totally worth putting $10 or $15 into from the very beginning, so that you can purchase a weapon, some equipment and calls that you really want, just so that you can have a more fun experience right off the bat.

And then like some of you are mentioning, there are loads of missions that don't require special equipment, that will get you loads of gm's.

[Ceri Cat]

It's also not hard to make bank with a box of bird shot for your 12 gauge and camping rabbit warrens on VDB or BRR (assuming your computer can handle the newer reserves). 68 GM well spent with minimal effort that you can build up using the free buckshot and .243 on deer and bobcats (a little harder to get) on Whitehart. But European Rabbits are 30+ each, and I can't recall cottontail value and given they don't have warrens are harder to get in groups on SC or LP.

[Sidas90]

As Mickey-Man says - it's totally worth it to spend few bucks into this game. I bought Parker Python bow, crossbow pistol, 2x tents (sale), [turkey, elk, deer grunt, geese callers] and a few other items. That was a game changer :)

Ceri Cat, thank You for the info on rabbits, that's very useful indeed, will be trying that out myself. Would be great if You could post some pictures or useful links for others to learn a bit. F.E. - rabbit warren places and etc. Thanks again :)

[Ceri Cat]

Not a lot to teach there, they're semi randomly spawned, VDB you often find warrens east of the centre island (the mouth of what is called "The Devil's Grin" if you check the VDB missions) or immediately north of Copper Hills lodge in BRR. The most I can recommend is check the fandom wiki pages for the reserves for a general location map, and the pages for specific animals they'll have hot spots where we've regularly seen particular animals. European Rabbit - Fandom[thehunter.fandom.com]
If they retreat to the warrens waiting a while will see them come out again, staying low until then will allow for culling them fairly easily, usually on a rock a little distant so you can see them to react before they're close to holes again (they're not recoverable if they fall in).

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The best bit of advice I can give is relax and take it slow, any time you get bored go to another reserve and stick to what you know you can take legally with your free guns, don't waste ammo on female deer unless it's for a mission, females in a lot of cases are worth less outside of deer in the horned species but not always.

The right camo for a reserve goes a long way but that is definitely expensive, you can chew up a lot of GM for even a partial set, if you want to deer hunt mainly the Boone & Crockett or Army sets can be a good early investment as it works across the various deer species (including moose and elk) but only them.

[OvaetwoAndrewC9]

bobcats and eurasian lynx give a ton of money, so it might be worthwhile to put the time into hunting them

[Ceri Cat]

Originally posted by Gaussian:

Originally posted by OvaetwoAndrewC9:

bobcats and eurasian lynx give a ton of money, so it might be worthwhile to put the time into hunting them

No, because you won't be shooting many per hour.

Yep even with a good location and the EC it can be very slow to coax either feline into view, my partner and I watched a Lynx take over 5 minutes to walk 20 metres while being drawn by my caller before I dropped her with the .17 HMR HV. I like buffalo hunting but it's not what I'd recommend for newcomers either even if you had a gun that could drop them ethically.

[Anar Kay]

I am not the pro gamer that beats a game in a few hours or „needs“ to. Reading about “best animal for Gm$” makes me think how you (some of you) go hunting. Only one animal? Setting up lots of gear to shoot ducks? Knowing the spots as beginner?

I understand that its possible and some players want to progress fast, but best for cash is not what the game offers for me. Its about hunting, and I belive there are too much birds, that you can only shoot with the gear for it – that’s no beginner clue, that’s for pro’s.

When I started this game, I was very surprised how often I read “running around 3hours, didn’t find anything”. I liked the sneaky aproach and got to shoot my first deers soon. The starting gear is fine to learn how to move and how animals react to you, tracking wont lvl if you sit around waiting for them to come. The missions give propper income when you just have the patiance to complete them, especialy the later ones.

I even bought the backpack upgrade first and continued to sneak up on Elk’s with the slug loaded shotgun. Now I have spend some time and got a new gun, some callers and got good enough for me to enjoy “hunting”. I find several animals each hunt, different species, propper income, but have to admit, im not into an extinction event, just some population control and a fine piece of venison for the evening hopefully with fried mushrooms.

So basicaly I would say, don’t limmit yourself at the beginning and then be disapointed because you don’t find more or “better” gm$ animals. Just have some fun and enjoy the enviroment, the sound and light, animal behavior, well…. Just enyjoy the game.
Have fun all

PS: this is no offense to players who like to play it different than me. Just trying not to spook new players, that read great tipps and then still get bored fast. This is not a casual game, you have to like it and spend time playing it.

[jthibeault]

I'd like to add some suggestions to this thread, as I am going through starting up. I decided to try Classic after enjoying COTW for the past few months. The struggle to level up skills in Classic is quite different than the easy-leveling skills/perks in COTW, plus the struggle to earn enough for equipment in Classic is quite the challenge. Enjoying it so far but the progress is slow.

The first thing I'd suggest to newcomers is to consider starting over, with an invite, which will get you some freebies, (200 EM$, a 5x30mm Rangefinder, a Moose caller, and a scent eliminator).

if you create a profile from an invite link like this, and start a new account you can get some valuable freebies.
https://signup.thehunter.com?ref=jttoo

(that's me, but you can put whomever you want in the ref field)

I started over with a new email and was able to use the free EM to buy a turkey caller, and used the starter shotgun, with birdshot, to farm turkeys. I had to associate this new email with Steam in order to buy EM, so I now have two Steam logins. I contacted theHunter support, and had them delete my first account that was associated with my main email, and this main Steam account, so I can now move the new account over to my main email and steam login.

I got tired of seeing animals shrug off my wimpy .243 hits, so I broke down and bought enough EM to get a tent and a crossbow. The crossbow can be used on 99.9% of the animals in the game, and they die when hit (eventually). I would suggest the Tenpoint crossbow, as you can get the 3x scope. The Reverse Draw crossbow scope is only 2x, while the built-in sights are 3x. Its backwards, and I guess they never bothered to fix this.

Buy a turkey caller, as turkeys have good GM value, and its easy to call them in from stands on Whitehart island. I have found stands 6 and 12 to be good for turkeys.

Consider spending 10-20 dollars to buy EM, so that you can buy a Tent and a Tenpoint Crossbow and the 3x crossbow scope. Using the crossbow will insure that you kill whatever you shoot. Unlike bullets, crossbows/bows will eventually bleed-out the animal. Somehow the animals are magically able to heal gunshot wounds and trot away, but bows will get the job done, eventually. I found the starter .243 quite frustrating, as the scope doesn't give you enough zoom to accurately place the shots for a vital shot. I got very few harvests using that rifle, and most everything shrugged off the body shot and trotted away. With the crossbow I know I can harvest what I shoot. It may not be optimal harvest value due to bad shot placement, but at least it is not completely wasted time, because you WILL get the harvest with a bow/crossbow.

If you have a tent, you can park it near Tower 6 on Whitehart island, so that you can efficiently farm GM. Once you have enough GM, buy the crossbow pistol so that you can kill turkeys without spooking everything around you.