Where do dead animals go that you can't find?

[The Texan Hunter]

So, the game seems to have a lot of glitches. One of them is that on certain animals the tracks disappear quite rapidly, and you cannot find the animal, that was Vital Hit. What happens to the animal?

The reason I ask is that something weird happened last night. I shot a bull moose in an area I had not visited in a week (COTW time) and when I tracked it down, it was laying to another dead bull moose. There were no tracks leading to it, and I had not hunted in the region of the map for over a week. So, I am wondering, do unrecovered dead animals just stay there until you stumble upon them?

[McSqurl Nugget]

Originally posted by The Texan Hunter:

So, the game seems to have a lot of glitches. One of them is that on certain animals the tracks disappear quite rapidly, and you cannot find the animal, that was Vital Hit. What happens to the animal?

Smoking one with the Dev's. This is an oooold glitch they've never fixed. Hopefully they'll get to it when they start working on bugs in August.

Originally posted by The Texan Hunter:

The reason I ask is that something weird happened last night. I shot a bull moose in an area I had not visited in a week (COTW time) and when I tracked it down, it was laying to another dead bull moose. There were no tracks leading to it, and I had not hunted in the region of the map for over a week. So, I am wondering, do unrecovered dead animals just stay there until you stumble upon them?

Yes, i've found an animal i shot and gave up looking for days later (real life time). What's weird is it reset my CK% to 0% even though i found it.

So is there a limit you can kill after 1 that resets it? like maybe hit one and it vanishes, then if you kill 3 more your CK% is reset? Then again i've sat and called in a whole herd of Roe deer before and killed them all before i harvested them, 4 or 5 i think it was, and that didn't reset the CK%, so... i dunno.

[NuCkEnFuTs]

if you leave the game or reserve that dead animal is gone. so is your CH.

[cbrrrman]

there is a time limit that is allowed for harvesting an animal.
Not a limit on how many animals are killed.
I've no idea what that time frame limit is.
Or whether it's based on game time or real time. (tho' likely game time)
Some have said it's an hour or longer... But I've made no confirmation as to what it actually is.
I've easily harvested 25 + animals before that time has elapsed.
Finding animals after the time limit expires nets a zero bonus and a reset of the CH's.

Leaving the game eliminates all of the animals not harvested.
Not sure if one travels from one map to another and then back again...
Tho' the game wasn't closed so I'll assume one can still collect that animal.
But I'll guess the allowed harvest time has expired anyway even if one found the animal.

[McSqurl Nugget]

Originally posted by NuCkEnFuTs:

if you leave the game or reserve that dead animal is gone. so is your CH.

Right i get that. But i play on xbox, the game doesn't exit when you shutdown, it goes into a standbye state. you start the game up again the next day and you're hiding in the same bush as when you quit the night before.

Originally posted by cbrrrman:

there is a time limit that is allowed for harvesting an animal.
Not a limit on how many animals are killed.
I've no idea what that time frame limit is.
Or whether it's based on game time or real time.
Some have said it's an hour or more... But I've made no confirmation as to what it actually is.I
I've easily harvested 25 + animals before that time has elapsed.

think you're right, must be the time limit when i found the dead one days later. only thing that makes sense to me.

[NuCkEnFuTs]

must be a console thing.

[cbrrrman]

Originally posted by McSqurl Nugget:

think you're right, must be the time limit when i found the dead one days later. only thing that makes sense to me.

I play on PC and it must sign me out automatically when I switch back to desktop.
But I never really look for downed animals after a period of time.

If you never sign out... suppose they could still be harvested.
I'm sure they will disappear at some point. At least they would in RL.
No one would collect a rotting carcass after a period of delay.

But I honestly didn't know one can stay signed in forever.

[Nite69]

if the downed animal is just a flesh wound then don't bother, only go after it if its a vital hit or instant kill

[yogisgoat]

For me the limit seems to be about an hour, real time. Then I lose my consec bonus.

[daistn]

Same place all the left socks go.

[TK421]

Originally posted by Nite69:

if the downed animal is just a flesh wound then don't bother, only go after it if its a vital hit or instant kill

I've noticed that headshots in this game sometime register as flesh wounds and I've found most of them. When a deer is walking straight towards me, and I shoot it in the chest, most of the time that registers as a flesh wound and I've found most of them also.

Animals in this game sometime double back on you and often give you a try at a second shot. As far as a time limit, I don't believe that's true either. I shot two doe and left them lying there while I tracked the buck and came back to collect them later.

[TK421]

If you don't like tracking, switch to the bow as early as you can. You don't have to be as accurate with it, and its quiet, so you can take out the whole group without leaving your spot. Then collect them all at once.

Here's 2 doe, the other 2 are just off screen. I collected 4 total. All dropped where I shot them hitting multiple organs at once.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1800735736

[wim1234]

Originally posted by McSqurl Nugget:

Originally posted by NuCkEnFuTs:

if you leave the game or reserve that dead animal is gone. so is your CH.

Right i get that. But i play on xbox, the game doesn't exit when you shutdown, it goes into a standbye state. you start the game up again the next day and you're hiding in the same bush as when you quit the night before.


not at all for me, but i shutdown the console.
so you dont actually close the game, where i do.

[Conan of Oz]

Originally posted by Nite69:

if the downed animal is just a flesh wound then don't bother, only go after it if its a vital hit or instant kill

That's not very good advice; a lot of smaller animals -- and deer are an abundant, and excellent example -- may very well die from a flesh wound. But they'll run for a while first, so tracking will be a challenge.

If you don't chase them down, you'll lose your Consecutive bonus.

[cbrrrman]

Originally posted by iRacer™:

If you don't like tracking, switch to the bow as early as you can. You don't have to be as accurate with it, and its quiet, so you can take out the whole group without leaving your spot. Then collect them all at once.

Here's 2 doe, the other 2 are just off screen. I collected 4 total. All dropped where I shot them hitting multiple organs at once.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1800735736

I recently started using the bow and a tree - tripod stand.

I can lure in the Caribou ( on the Yukon ) in. ( time after time )
As long as it is within their time zone.

I have easily harvested 25+ Caribou during each attempt made.
And most shot placement is within 21 yards or so.
Works very well for other animal species too.

I can hold out for the more difficult, higher rated animals If I choose.
Or simply harvest everything to make some game coin.
Patience is the key.

The rifle is still better for a long distance shot placement...
But I can harvest a lot of animals using the bow and a tree / tripod stands.
Up close... the bow is the way to go IMHO.

[Conan of Oz]

Originally posted by cbrrrman:

The rifle is still better for a long distance shot placement...
But I can harvest a lot of animals using the bow and a tree / tripod stands.
Up close... the bow is the way to go IMHO.

+1

I was hesitant about bows at first too. I thought I'd never get close enough to the animals for a bow. But a combination of experience with the game, plus perks and skills that help with stealth and aiming, and bows are truly excellent weapons. Because of their amazing penetration up close, they can be very forgiving if your shot placement is a little off. It's almost hard to fail to hit multiple organs right through the body.