No tracks after rifle hit

[Holy Teddybear]

Got this on sale 2 days ago and i am enjoying it a lot.

I just got in the neat situation of hitting 2 deer twice each, some 50 m apart. Both ran away. When i get to where the first deer was hit, there is no tracks, no bloodsplatter or bloodtrail. It was only 20 min into the session, so almost no tracks have been recorded before theese. The same with the other deer. Nothing at all to indicate that a deer was shot there.

The weird thing is, that close by, there is an old track from deer that have very old droppings, and just walked. They light up, but not my blood trail 20 meters from that track.


Does anybody know what is going on?

[Hamsterstyle]

I'm experiencing the same damn thing. 3x this evening. I was camping under a tree in the dark, calling some bucks, three of them crested the hill, I thought "it must be my birthday", so I shot one from 30-50 yards. They scatter. I go up to the place they were standing, not one single track of any kind. Very disappointing. I too bought this when it went on sale recently, then bought a bunch of the DLC after another day or two. Seems like this started after I bought the DLC. I cannot find a definitive answer that's recent or relevant.

[Noirvoice]

For evening or night hunts, the headlamp must be on to see the tracks!

[Gared]

It looks like there is a problem when several animals run over the tracks of another animal.

[Hidden Gunman]

Originally posted by Arkendight:

It looks like there is a problem when several animals run over the tracks of another animal.

I hit a gemsbok last night, no blood spray at the hit point, trail started 100m or so away. I checked three times, and thoroughly searched for it. No other animals nearby.

[Gared]

If it were me, I'd doubt myself that I hit the animal in the first place.

As for tracks, I think it's quite realistic and enjoyable that they are not 100% visible and sometimes it's really hard to tell what the animal was doing and where it went.

I've never even once was frustrated by it, after all even "magic vision" shouldn't be perfect.

I know that may sound annoying, but I'm really doubting this is a bug.
Of course, I may be mistaken. But as of now, I'm willing to bet on human mistake and bias.
Looking forward to seeing how my next 30 hours in the game play out.

I also strongly recommend investing at least 2 perk points (3 points cover a ridiculous distance, superman style) into Locate Tracks in Stalker tree, to those who haven't done it already.

Those 2 points helped me a great deal, when the tracks just went blank

[Hidden Gunman]

I checked pre-death, and after it died and the purple zone appeared. It was a botched shot...sights set at 300, range 120. It was a hit, just a crappy one.

[Holy Teddybear]

Originally posted by Arkendight:

If it were me, I'd doubt myself that I hit the animal in the first place.

As for tracks, I think it's quite realistic and enjoyable that they are not 100% visible and sometimes it's really hard to tell what the animal was doing and where it went.

I've never even once was frustrated by it, after all even "magic vision" shouldn't be perfect.

I know that may sound annoying, but I'm really doubting this is a bug.
Of course, I may be mistaken. But as of now, I'm willing to bet on human mistake and bias.
Looking forward to seeing how my next 30 hours in the game play out.

I also strongly recommend investing at least 2 perk points (3 points cover a ridiculous distance, superman style) into Locate Tracks in Stalker tree, to those who haven't done it already.

Those 2 points helped me a great deal, when the tracks just went blank

I believe i have invested 2 points in locate tracks as well.

As for the shot, same as Hidden Gunman. I saw the bullet connect and the deer fall over and hunting pressure appeared on the map, so i don't doubt my aim in this situation.(wel,l was'nt an instakill so.. abit maybe.)


The annoying bit really, mostly was that while i was desperately looking for as much as a single track, i found a track or two from other animals close by, so i was able to track stuff i have never seen, but not the deer i shot in the middle of a field.

This has also occured several times now, at one time, from a luck shot at almost point blank. I saw and heard exaclty where it went, but no tracks or blood at all.

[The Eagle]

Welcome to the club, had that happen to me a few times. Once I followed the the only tracks there were and found the animal I shot dead. My point is follow the tracks for a bit and you just might get the same result.

[Goltzhar]

Oh lord.. the tracking system... not unplayable but sometimes close... Most of the times it is pretty ok but sometimes... it sucks balls... skipping over 50-200,300m of tracks, not showing any tracks at all, half or parts of the tracks that appear 10min later.
You follow the tracks and the tracks ENDS... no tracks... you run around looking for them, you go back to starting point 5-10 minutes later AND BAM there they are. And many many MANY more things that has to do with the tracking system.... But most of the time.... not bad.
You just have to get use to it... And be prepared for it...

[Defiant Dan]

In Evening you need the Lamps,otherwise i would recommend the unlock scope Zeroing.
Some Weapons have a ballistic Curve like a Rainbow.
For the Start i would recommend the stick to the 270 with the low penetration/high Mushrooming Ammo...in German thats Teilmantelgeschoss... should translate to semi-jacketed Bullet.
And Google Anatomy Tables of the Animals,some Animals have only Guts where you would expect Vital Organs like Lungs...Wild Boar for example are 80% Guts.
As a Rule of Thumb...imagine an Orange sitting on the Leg (where the Leg meets the Body)
Then you always get a Lung Shot and with some Luck also a Heart Hit.
Animals either fall where they where shot,or like 20 Yards later.

And to Level up i would recommend to shoot Roe Deer and Wild Boar on Hirschfelden on the Areas where the Corn Fields are harvested Down (Schönfelder Stroh for example)
Roe Deer have feeding Areas in the Corn Fields and they are very easy to lure in with the Caller.
Alternative hunt around the Water Holes in Africa,you can shoot even a Cape Buffallo with the 270 ,you just wont get the ethic Bonus for right Caliber but it works good with right shot placement.
Later you can decide if you buy the 30-30 Lever Gun to decimate Wild Boar Herds,or the 7mm Magnum to hunt class 9 Game like Wisent and Cape Buffallo (but 7mm is a break action single shot,long reload,unlike the 30-30 Lever Gun)

[Holy Teddybear]

Originally posted by Weedburner:

In Evening you need the Lamps,otherwise i would recommend the unlock scope Zeroing.
Some Weapons have a ballistic Curve like a Rainbow.
For the Start i would recommend the stick to the 270 with the low penetration/high Mushrooming Ammo...in German thats Teilmantelgeschoss... should translate to semi-jacketed Bullet.
And Google Anatomy Tables of the Animals,some Animals have only Guts where you would expect Vital Organs like Lungs...Wild Boar for example are 80% Guts.
As a Rule of Thumb...imagine an Orange sitting on the Leg (where the Leg meets the Body)
Then you always get a Lung Shot and with some Luck also a Heart Hit.
Animals either fall where they where shot,or like 20 Yards later.

And to Level up i would recommend to shoot Roe Deer and Wild Boar on Hirschfelden on the Areas where the Corn Fields are harvested Down (Schönfelder Stroh for example)
Roe Deer have feeding Areas in the Corn Fields and they are very easy to lure in with the Caller.
Alternative hunt around the Water Holes in Africa,you can shoot even a Cape Buffallo with the 270 ,you just wont get the ethic Bonus for right Caliber but it works good with right shot placement.
Later you can decide if you buy the 30-30 Lever Gun to decimate Wild Boar Herds,or the 7mm Magnum to hunt class 9 Game like Wisent and Cape Buffallo (but 7mm is a break action single shot,long reload,unlike the 30-30 Lever Gun)

Thanks for the advice. I am aware that instakills mostly are the best. Part of my frustration was that i was sure it was a lung shot, but maybe not.

Guess i just need to get uded to how it works and its flaws. Still enjoying it a lot though.

[Lucid]

I had two or three of these today. Shot a deer clear in the open, saw it stumble, the hunting pressure appeared, but no blood splatter where it was hit. Still found the body just into the tree line as it was a double lung shot.

The spotting marker doesn't seem to show up on the map every time when you hit something, but it often does on the hunting mate. So I've found that if I set up a spot in good view of a herd I can pick off 2-3, and then find where they went down based on the hunting mate markers. It's not as straightforward as when the tracks and blood splatters are there consistently, but since I switched to polymer rounds and really stated focusing on my shot placement I'm not chasing animals bleeding out for miles anymore, so they tend to be close by.

[Hidden Gunman]

Couple of hours play tonight, no issues at all with blood markers or trails.