Seriously how to use the damn bow?!

[Bamanaboni]

Am I missing on something? How am I supposed to use that?
The aim is always not steady, arrow inclines after travelling a very short distance, you can't use it while crouched which scares the animals, you cant kill a deer with it because the deer wont die with even 2 arrows, and you can't kill a rabit because he always runs and he is small.
Maybe I just suck at using the bow, but as of right now I am living 28 days off the rifle and I will really need the bow soon so any tip is appreciated.

[bek]

Originally posted by Camora:

The aim is always not steady

the more tired your character is the more sway you will encounter.

Originally posted by Camora:

you cant kill a deer with it because the deer wont die with even 2 arrows

deers are very hard to kill with the bow. that's why i don't shoot them, instead i lure them to a wolf which does the work for me, and then kill the wolf. you will get two carcasses with one arrow.

Originally posted by Camora:

and you can't kill a rabit because he always runs and he is small.

don't shoot rabbits. use snare traps to catch them.

[Brock]

Welcome to trying to kill something with a home made bow. Practice makes perfect ;-)

[Bamanaboni]

Originally posted by bekkar:

Originally posted by Camora:

The aim is always not steady

the more tired your character is the more sway you will encounter.

Originally posted by Camora:

you cant kill a deer with it because the deer wont die with even 2 arrows

deers are very hard to kill with the bow. that's why i don't shoot them, instead i lure them to a wolf which does the work for me, and then kill the wolf. you will get two carcasses with one arrow.

Originally posted by Camora:

and you can't kill a rabit because he always runs and he is small.

don't shoot rabbits. use snare traps to catch them.

I know that tirdness and freezing affects the sway, but even with full stats the bow is as steady as a rifle while having bad stats, also, if deers are hard to kill, also are rabbits, then what should I do?
What about the lure method, the wolf won't die from an arrow hit.

[Bamanaboni]

Originally posted by Brock:

Welcome to trying to kill something with a home made bow. Practice makes perfect ;-)

Yea I think that is the only way, considering I have lots of Green Birch Saplings, I will practice at home.

[Hoppingdeth]

Lots of arrows, lots of bows, lots of practice. I'm on day 180 and I'm now starting to hit things more often than not.

BTW deer do die if you hit them. You just have to track them.

[Dreskar]

Do not hunt with the bow while tired. The little dot in the center of the screen is where your arrow will fly under a rested condition. Always compensate for changes in wildlife's movement and elevation(if sneaking/crouching). You can sort of eye-ball where you will fire based on an imaginary line from the bottom where the bow leaves the screen and where the arrow is pointing.

Even then, sometimes the arrow will glance off. That has happened to be on more than a few occasions.

[bek]

Originally posted by Camora:

What about the lure method, the wolf won't die from an arrow hit.

once the wolf kills the deer you approach to him. once near enough he will try to attack you and run straight forward to your character. once the he is near, you can easily shoot the arrow in this head and he is instant dead. a little practice is always needed, but it's not that hard because he will run in a straight line to your character. this works even in stalker mode.

edit if you get trouble with it you can always drop decoy so the wolf will get his attention to the decoy.

[Insignus]

Originally posted by Camora:

Am I missing on something? How am I supposed to use that?
The aim is always not steady, arrow inclines after travelling a very short distance, you can't use it while crouched which scares the animals, you cant kill a deer with it because the deer wont die with even 2 arrows, and you can't kill a rabit because he always runs and he is small.
Maybe I just suck at using the bow, but as of right now I am living 28 days off the rifle and I will really need the bow soon so any tip is appreciated.

Historically speaking, bows are difficult to use while crouched just because of ergonomics. They are also a very practice intensive weapon in the first place (Hence why they were eventually supplanted by crossbows and later, firearms). The only bow I can see being used while crouching is a short bow, which introduces other challenges (I'm not an expert enough in archery or hunting to tell you what it is specifically - others can comment to that).

Might be interesting to offer to the developers as an additional item - a shortbow.

[jouertue]

Don't keep aimong. Decide when to shoot and go for it. Once you hit the deer, place the bedroll and rest/wait one hour, then look for the corpse.

[Excorpion]

Ok some quick tips...

- Do quick shots, there is no point to aim more than 0.5 sec when you dont knnwo how the bow is working.
- Dont do long shoots, they require a lot of skill.
- Dont use more than 1 arrow for Wolves and Deers, wait until they bleed out.
- Use wolves to hunt Deers and then kill the Wolf.
- Intercept the direction of an animal when is running, cause they dont change it. So you can get easy headshots.
- If youre hunting a Bear, try to dont use a lot of arrows and use the enviroment to your favor.
- Drop a decoy for Bear/Wolf so youre going to get a static target.

[iwasa]

Selfless did a post somewhere about wounds. Basically, excepting trivial hits, a wound will either be an instant kill (% based on where hit) or a bleeding wound. The instant kill, of course, drops the animal in its tracks. The bleeding wound means it will eventually die though there are some nuances to that especially when dealing with bears and tactics to stay alive while do so. Multiple bleeding wounds to not speed up bleed out though the more severe bleeding wound does cause the animal to bleed out faster.

I find that if you have stalked up to the deer that when you stand to loose an arrow you better do so within a second or so or lose the shot. I would not, though have been tempted, to try a second arrow on a deer that has been hit and is leaving a blood trail (a sign that it is bleeding out). You are not going to get a better shot (imo) by waiting and waiting with the bow drawn - eventually you are going to let go if you hold it drawn too long.

Refer to the Stats in the journal which tells you how many of what kind of animal you killed. When it bumps up, you know the animal has died and that it is no longer running away/around. At least it give you a clue.

You should try for head/neck hits. I am still surprised and gratified when I loose an arrow and the deer drops immediately. I would prefer to miss and recover the arrow than have the deer flee and be lost, which has happened on occasion. Heck I have had a deer drop in its tracks and was unable to find the darn arrow. Sigh.

[Bamanaboni]

Some solid tips there guys, REALLY helped, I am starting to use the bow much more than before now and I am starting to see a use for it, thanks a lot. :D

[Hoppingdeth]

Good man! It's the only weapon to use. The rifle is very short lived. I've pretty much 100% all maps and I've found about 60 rounds of rifle ammo - and that's it. No more.

Learn the bow and you'll survive longer with that skill than you will with the rifle - trust me.

Once you get the hang of luring deer in to wolf packs, you wont even need the bow!

[goblin]

Yes, every time i use a bullet instead of an arrow i feel like i die a little inside.
Save those bullets man.

The bow is at its most accurate just after you draw it. Don't hold it. Drawn it back and release immediately. Aim slightly higher than the crosshair even up close.

Theres a practice target in one of the central farmhouses in pleasant valley.

[brandtex]

It seems to have gotten harder after one of the last updates. I used to be able to hide and wait for the deer to pass me - once I was a bit behind its field of vision, I could stand and plant an arrow just above its "shoulder", which usually would bring it down right away.
Now the deer seems to be spooked as soon as I start aiming, no matter where I stand.. but I have yet to fully test it out after starting on my first stalker.
Just arrived at DP and will be doing some proper training and bow hunting soon.
Good luck with the bow.. if you keep failing, remember that you still have your fishing gear ;)