New Player -> Deer impossible to hunt?

[The Stranger]

So, I played an earlier version of this game at a friends a while back and I remember shooting the head usually meant a kill.
For me that doesn't seem to work.
Even after hours of tracking the still alive deer down, it tells me it was a headshot. But it was still alive and needed 2 more shots in the head?
Just seems really unrealistic to me.

Also, can you somehow differ between when a tracked deer went where? I remember tracking a Deer that starts with F and they literally start to run when you crouch towards them from around 400meters away. Yes, crouch. Slowly.

I have been tracking that deer for hours now and the "prints" lead me forward, then backward, then foward. And in the end, they disappear in a cliff I can't climb because jumping is not meant for this game.

Is there anyway to track deers without having to go back and fourth and in circles? Because you crouch all the time followign that deer, slowly, and you keep losing distance and it's just really stressfull knowing that as soon as you stand up to go a little faster, you're done.

[Nick Vascuas]

I can't quite remember but the Fallow deer have exceptional hearing and sight. The easiest way to hunt animals in this game is to use the caller/lure. You can press it every now and then and eventually the animal will come trotting/walking towards you. Hunting without a lure is extremely hard because tracks are unreliable in most cases.

[OneoftheLost]

Its actually very realistic.

Shooting Deer in the head with the starter rifle is a horrible idea. Think about it, what do deer do with those antlers?

In real life, no actual hunter aims for the head unless he has a substantially more powerful rifle and caliber than what is required. Im not sure about the early version, but in the current Call of the Wild, the starter .243 is not built for headshots. Like real life.

Deer have INSANELY thick skulls. Quit thinking of them like humans in fact, don't think of ANY animal like a human, especially big ones. You are playing a hunting game, maybe research how hunters actually hunt? Might I suggest a hunter's safety course? (Nevermind, I see you are from Germany, I have zero knowledge of how hunting works in Europe, but I've been told its not very common.) *EDIT*

To save you time, the best way too humanely and ethically take down a deer, is to aim for the spot on their sides behind the front 'elbow'. This is where their lungs are. No deer is going to die to a cheap rifle immediately, but getting a double lung shot with a 30-30 or .243/.270 will certainly drop them within a few seconds. Remember, Deer get shot all the time and the bullet passes through. Deer are TOUGH animals, they heal much quicker than humans, and their blood clots faster. Short of a hit on a vital organ, you need a MASSIVE bullet to put one down on the spot.

Again. Hunt like a hunter. Aim for the lungs/heart/spine. Maybe watch some youtube videos, there are several Hunter Classic/Hunter COTW players who have uploaded great videos on how to hunt.

[The Stranger]

Originally posted by Nick Vascuas:

I can't quite remember but the Fallow deer have exceptional hearing and sight. The easiest way to hunt animals in this game is to use the caller/lure. You can press it every now and then and eventually the animal will come trotting/walking towards you. Hunting without a lure is extremely hard because tracks are unreliable in most cases.

Alright, so picking a nice spot and luring them is the easiest way, got it.
And yeah, I have noticed how unreliable the tracks can be!

Originally posted by Bloodbeard:

~enter everything you said~

I am not saying the game is unrealistic, just aspects of it. And I am not using the starter rifle anymore.
The kills I do via bow into the body are all insta-kills, since I also try to use a closed range for the arrow to hit the deer. And that has worked perfectly so far.
But with the rifles I just can't seem to make it work.

I think I hit a deer, then I didn't. I think I didn't hit a deer and then I see a blood-trail.
Bows -> Yes!
Rifles -> Not for me.

/EDIT: Hunting is insanely rare. I used to train with Compoundbows, still have one, so that is my weapon of choice. Rifles in Germany -> Nope!

[OneoftheLost]

In North America at least, we have been blessed with an abundance of wildlife and proper conservation laws along with a pretty great system where hunters pay a butt-load, but it ties back into preserving the very wildlife they hunt, hence a booming animal population here. It also helps we didn't have multiple world wars on our continent, so that helps with large animal populations. Sadly, Europe suffered greatly, and from what I can tell most of Europe just can't support any sort of hunting. So my condolences.

However, you are on the right path. Rifles are a bit boring for me personally (IRL as well.) and the Bow is the proper way to hunt. More challenging, and much more satisfying. Both in game and out.

Also, be warned, the game is fairly buggy with the latest patch. Deer AI is pretty wonky with the halloween update. Every deer I come across runs around in circles and acts super wierd as opposed to running away. Bears also like to just stand there and stare at you.

May explain some of the other things you are experiencing.

[brazenda]

Ironically I was stood next to a row of deer carcasses’s earlier in the week so I looked for the exit/entry wounds and could not see any holes. I asked the owner where the bullet holes were and he replied he needs a ‘perfect’ carcass for the meat so gets the hunters to do head shots!!

[Secret Squirrel]

The tracks can be hard to follow because if you spook the deer while tracking, they will turn facing you, then turn and bolt in the (opposite) direction they were going before the spook. So if you see the tracks turn a 180, but can't find any more in the direction the track if pointing, ignore that and keep tracking in the original direction.

[Captain Baldy]

Originally posted by Bloodbeard:

Its actually very realistic.

Shooting Deer in the head with the starter rifle is a horrible idea. Think about it, what do deer do with those antlers?

In real life, no actual hunter aims for the head unless he has a substantially more powerful rifle and caliber than what is required. Im not sure about the early version, but in the current Call of the Wild, the starter .243 is not built for headshots. Like real life.

Deer have INSANELY thick skulls. Quit thinking of them like humans in fact, don't think of ANY animal like a human, especially big ones. You are playing a hunting game, maybe research how hunters actually hunt? Might I suggest a hunter's safety course? (Nevermind, I see you are from Germany, I have zero knowledge of how hunting works in Europe, but I've been told its not very common.) *EDIT*

To save you time, the best way too humanely and ethically take down a deer, is to aim for the spot on their sides behind the front 'elbow'. This is where their lungs are. No deer is going to die to a cheap rifle immediately, but getting a double lung shot with a 30-30 or .243/.270 will certainly drop them within a few seconds. Remember, Deer get shot all the time and the bullet passes through. Deer are TOUGH animals, they heal much quicker than humans, and their blood clots faster. Short of a hit on a vital organ, you need a MASSIVE bullet to put one down on the spot.

Again. Hunt like a hunter. Aim for the lungs/heart/spine. Maybe watch some youtube videos, there are several Hunter Classic/Hunter COTW players who have uploaded great videos on how to hunt.

marvelous writup - A newbie virtual hunter thanks you very much for it

[kaleun76]

Originally posted by brazenda:

Ironically I was stood next to a row of deer carcasses’s earlier in the week so I looked for the exit/entry wounds and could not see any holes. I asked the owner where the bullet holes were and he replied he needs a ‘perfect’ carcass for the meat so gets the hunters to do head shots!!

I personally prefer neck shots. I don't use the neck anyway and that way I don't spoil any meat on the forelegs

[Sminky]

I used to train with Compoundbows, still have one, so that is my weapon of choice. Rifles in Germany -> Nope!

It's totaly the opposite here in the UK strangly, hunting with any form of arrow is illegal, yet in a country with highly controlled firearms rifles and shotguns are the only legal Hunting weapons.

[Ambro789]

Tracking is where the talent, if any, comes into play. Understand that no matter what the tracks show, if you are shooting the deer, or any wild life, they are running away from the current area. My RL brother hates tracking. So, shoot them in the lungs, they not go far and run around mixing up the tracks.

[Pastah]

Use lures when you're near the prey. It's much easier and faster than sneaking up on the prey. Be close where you know it's near by enough for the lure to work.

It's much easier when the prey is coming to you than you going to the prey.

[Dex]

I've started going for spine shots now. If it's facing me, middle of the neck, if sideways neck or lungs/heart, facing away, back of head or neck.