How Hunting Is Actually Done

[thomas_1611]

Beware wall of text: This is how real hunting works. I have hunted deer, bear, rabbits IRL. Others might have experience with the other SCUM animals.

TLDR: These kinds of hunting mechanics would make SCUM awesome!

1)

You decide which game animal you want to hunt and then you have a lot of decisions to make:

• type of weapon or trap (firearm, bow, crossbow, snare, box-trap, etc. etc.) Certain weapons are appropriate for certain game and this choice makes all the difference in how the hunt proceeds.
  
• some weapons are not appropriate for all animal types (you hunt a deer or bear with a high powered rifle mainly.. this would not work for rabbits because you would destroy the animal and have no useful meat remaining). Rabbits would be more traditionally hunted with snares and box traps. Some large game such as deer *can* be hunted with snares, though in many Western countries this is illegal because it is deemed cruel to the animal.
  On SCUM island I'm sure prisoners would have no such hang-ups.
  
• where to place the hunting stand. Long range, short range, open field, forested area, etc.

2)

You decide whether to bait or stalk game. Probably 85% of IRL hunters bait game. Stalking requires a high degree of knowledge and skill. Baiting means you can wait for the animal to come to you. There are purists who think this cheapens the experience but they often have far less meat in their freezers.

• You look for animal sign initially in order to determine a good spot for your baiting, not to follow an animal in that moment.
  
• deer are baited starting in late summer. You bring a scoop of grain/corn daily to a spot on a field with a good viewing angle from a position in the tree line, or in a blind built for the purpose. Females quickly find the grain and start coming to the bait every day, sometimes multiple times per day. Males are much more cautious and will only come out once the mating season starts.
  
• bear are baited with grease and fats. Often this is done in a small clearing in the woods. A hunter will set up a tree-stand nearby and sit with a rifle or bow.
  
• in both cases the firearm has a huge impact on what range you can hunt from.
  
• hunters will goes out early morning or late afternoon to the blind or hunting position and waits for several hours until the animal comes by. Hunting after dark is usually illegal (because deer are unaware of spotlights used), but again on SCUM island I'm sure prisoners would have no problem doing this.
  
• hunter takes the shot.
  
• hunter then waits for the animal to die (up to an hour if shot placement has been good) before chasing after it! This step is vital! if you chase the animal it will panic and adrenaline will surge, causing it to run farther and farther away.
  
• hunter then has to search for blood sign on the ground, blood on leaves of plants the animal rubbed against as it moved, broken sticks and twigs, all indicating the path that the wounded animal took in order to track the animal to the spot where it has bedded down to die. This part of the hunt is why people think hunting involves "tracking" an animal.. but in fact it happens *after* the shot not *before*!

3)

Stalking an animal requires absolute top-notch skills:

• Animals can hear you and smell you a long way off.
  
• you need to know their movements and activities. you need to understand their habits and traits during various seasons.
  
• you need to be exceptionally skilled at camouflage.
  
• you need to be in position long before the animal comes by on his normal path.

Basically, this idea of finding a deer sign in the woods and following it around until you meet the deer just doesn't exist in reality. Hunters sit and wait. Hunters track animals AFTER the shot, not before.

I've left out a lot of detail in this summary, I'm sure others could provide more. Point is, SCUM's hunting system just doesn't match reality. I don't think it's too hard.. actually much easier than a real hunt for which you might sit for days and weeks before ever seeing an animal. In SCUM it's just the way to get meat, not an accurate approximation of a hunting experience.

[ACE]

Not accurate? no ♥♥♥♥?

[XTazmanianDevilX]

So you want to turn this into a hunting simulator? How dare you :). As for realism: in some aspects the game wants to show a bit of realsim, but as long as you can starve wearing a mask, the realism-card should not be drawn to often imo.

[Splina]

Originally posted by XTazmanianDevilX:

So you want to turn this into a hunting simulator? How dare you :). As for realism: in some aspects the game wants to show a bit of realsim, but as long as you can starve wearing a mask, the realism-card should not be drawn to often imo.

then they (devs) should just stop pretending that this is suposed to be a realistic game and done :)

[CrankyOldMan]

You forgot that in many places there are hunting seasons that you must abide by or be fined and jailed.
You must purchase a license because they only want so many killed.
____
Or in the middle of night you wake up to some strange noises and find a bear just broke into your house searching for food.
You go and grab your gun and shoot him from 20 feet if that far!

[thomas_1611]

Originally posted by CrankyOldMan:

You forgot that in many places there are hunting seasons that you must abide by or be fined and jailed.
You must purchase a license because they only want so many killed.
____
Or in the middle of night you wake up to some strange noises and find a bear just broke into your house searching for food.
You go and grab your gun and shoot him from 20 feet if that far!

Licensing goes out the window in a survival situation, but yea it'd be pretty cool to find a bear rummaging through my base looking for the pantry...

[thomas_1611]

Originally posted by XTazmanianDevilX:

So you want to turn this into a hunting simulator? How dare you :). As for realism: in some aspects the game wants to show a bit of realsim, but as long as you can starve wearing a mask, the realism-card should not be drawn to often imo.

I don't expect it to be perfectly realistic, but some amount of 'realism' in terms of an accurate model of the concept of 'hunting' would really add to the richness of the game.

Imagine: you have to grow or gather corn in order to bait the deer. You put a bucket out daily for a week before they start to show up. Then you have to be in position before they arrive on the day of the hunt in order not to spook them. Finally, you take your shot. But the hunt is not over here, you have to wait, and let the deer bed-down and die, before you track her to her final resting place by looking for sign (blood and trail) on the ground and in the foliage.

[XTazmanianDevilX]

Originally posted by Splina:

Originally posted by XTazmanianDevilX:

So you want to turn this into a hunting simulator? How dare you :). As for realism: in some aspects the game wants to show a bit of realsim, but as long as you can starve wearing a mask, the realism-card should not be drawn to often imo.

then they (devs) should just stop pretending that this is suposed to be a realistic game and done :)

exactly, some players too

[Smitty]

Deadside is going in the right direction. Would like that hunting system in Scum

[Sr. Morajsakom]

Originally posted by thomas_1611:

Originally posted by XTazmanianDevilX:

So you want to turn this into a hunting simulator? How dare you :). As for realism: in some aspects the game wants to show a bit of realsim, but as long as you can starve wearing a mask, the realism-card should not be drawn to often imo.

I don't expect it to be perfectly realistic, but some amount of 'realism' in terms of an accurate model of the concept of 'hunting' would really add to the richness of the game

Im not seeing myself doing the waiting game for hours that also may end up emptyhanded, so that part of the realism must not be there. Theres already the recovery from exhaustion. Gotta have something worth it to "pause" playing.

What is the part of hunting called where you search for a place to set up your platform or location to shoot the prey? Not tracking then but whats that word?

[thomas_1611]

Originally posted by Sr. Morajsakom:

Im not seeing myself doing the waiting game for hours that also may end up emptyhanded, so that part of the realism must not be there. Theres already the recovery from exhaustion. Gotta have something worth it to "pause" playing.

What is the part of hunting called where you search for a place to set up your platform or location to shoot the prey? Not tracking then but whats that word?

Scouting.

And I agree with you, a gaming version of the hunting experience described above should remove some of the time factor, while still approximating the experience to a degree.

[DarkLink]

Its not call of the wild. What they could do is reward you with more meat if you use a weapon that suits the animal. And less if its overkill. Or have a simple hunting skill, the more you hunt the easier/more meat you get, that would prob suit the game best.

Traps would fit well though as it is a survial game. So thats a very good point. A basic rabbit trap for a beginner could be gold worth in getting a small amount of meat.