How to handle a herd?

[T'Ken]

Came across a HUGE herd tonight. Elk, Moose, Deer....maybe 50 of them. Then I learned they are easily spooked...and then I died. I managed to get a couple before they trampled me.

But...what do you do when you come across this? It's too good to pass up right?

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=929105472

[Vince ✟]

You choose the trophy mount normally. Or you choose what will feed the family best. Then again, in real life you tag out and youre done hunting vs. killing everything that moves. Id take one and then get behind a tree? Nice find man

[BeerMan]

You shoot the big one and then you track the herd because you know what is in it. Or you shoot the big one and then you don't track the herd because you know what is in it

This is also one of the reasons i carry a bow.

[Groovy Monster]

You carry a healthkit. :)

[xartix]

In such a case I always complain about lack of a machine gun or grenade.

[tempast2003]

if you have a great deal of distance (300+ meters), you can often take one out before the rest spook, get a few more shots in. If they do spook just remain calm and watch, taking shots as they run... A few will often run back in the confusion. I've managed to down a good 4 or so like this at a time with a good herd. Edit: You may wanna select the trophy animal as first target...That being said the trophy seems to stand away from the crowd, and if he seperated from the crowd far enough sometimes the rest of the heard doesn't spook after 1 to 3 shots.

[tj5ranch5]

i see you found lawton low lake
shoot a few go pick them up walk back and wait they will come back
(hint dont shoot a lot at once) like did frist time had them laying every where once i walked up they was all gone Then game bugs out no tracks no blood had to rest game
lesson learned

[Fischkopf]

It´s relatively easy to handle a herd in Cotw. Just take one precise shot, then let them flee. call it back and one shot again. The more you shot around the more it flees. If you give it more than one shot it´s possible that the herd flees out of the caller range and than it´s gone and you have to sneak to it again.
If you want to have it a little faster shot, sneak some meters behind it, pick up the pray and call it again. so the time is shorter until the herd is in the shotrange. You can do that also if you have not yet a good position until they flee somewhere you have a better sight.
Elsewise just do it if possible as described from a long range (+250m is enough)

[™1Shot1KiLL®]

that spot is bugged. animals that are killed dissapeer - tracks dissapeer - thay run around in circles for ages. when l shoot at them from long range thay tend to dissapeere more often. so l just go up close to them and get on a rock and kill a few from close range untill thay run away eventualy after rurring around in circles for some time. then you can just wait there and the elk and moose will return. the animals run up the rocky hill behined that spot by the hunting stand there and come back down the hill. so you can just hang out around there and wait for them to come back with the elk caller. but you got to make shure to 1shot kill the annimals because you wont be able to track them, there are so many tracks in that small area so the game cant handle all the tracks there for the animals tracks that you have shot wont be visible because there are too many tracks overlaping each other.

that spot is fun when first discovered but after you experiance all the bugs there you wont go back to that area once you discover the CALBURN River crossing at 6 am in the morning. good hunting and heeps of animals and no bugs. just a awsome hunting spot.

[Felix Hana]

Originally posted by xartix:

In such a case I always complain about lack of a machine gun or grenade.

Indeed I wanna a M60

[Roosterfish]

If that is the Kraken Hole you can stay off at a distance and call them out a few at a time, by a few I mean like 15. If you get to close in they will start bugging where you can not harvest them. It is best just to shoot the few at the Lake leave and come back later. Do not poke the ones down in the Hole with a stick cause it probably will not end well, you will get stomped or they will become one with the Singularity.

As mentioned before buy and carry a first aid kit.

When the animals are spooked they do go forward a bit before they run away. When calling and/or scenting up you have to be careful to not let them get to close before you spook them. Moose and bison especially come forwards a bit at the beginning of a stampede, I guess they are so big they have trouble turning kind of like Grandpa's old 1972 Chrysler Newport. Buddy up to a tree or big rock because the animals seem to not be as likely to charge them.

For just a regular herd of elk or red deer I pick my beggining ambush spot. Call them in, let them come into around 50m if using a rifle or 25m if using a revolver or shotgun. Shoot, then call once to head off them running far off, reload while crouch walking out to harvest or track. After tracking/harvesting the one shot pick another ambush spot rinse and repeat. Yeah, I only shoot one a go then harvest before the next because if I shoot a bunch before harvesting I could end up with a ton of crisscrossing blood trails or bugging blood trails. This way I get each one shot and push the herd away from all the confusing tracks.

[tottlefree]

Originally posted by tj5ranch5:

i see you found lawton low lake
shoot a few go pick them up walk back and wait they will come back
(hint dont shoot a lot at once) like did frist time had them laying every where once i walked up they was all gone Then game bugs out no tracks no blood had to rest game
lesson learned

This place needs to be avoided at all costs before it get fixed. As you mention it's really really bugged. I was laying down some 250m from the herd, used about 70 bullets to gun down a very merry price I thought. But when I got there to collect my well earned money and XP, most of the animals was gone, and there were no tracks to see. Such a huge disappointment!

Needless to say I lost alot of money on those bullets cause of this bug that I won't get back. Yes I did collect some, but I was expecting glory in heaven when I arrived, since I shot a lot of elk/moose with insane antlers.

Word of advice: Save your bullets on that spot!