Can you kill a deer with the starting guns?

[Julius Sebastus]

Hello, noob question here.

I just started the game. I never wen't hunting in real life but my father left me plenty of weapons before dying. (12 - 308 - .22 - bow - 410, etc)

So I really don't know if the starting guns can one shot a deer or not. In game I was twice in front of a deer and shot them in the head and they just ran, the game told me they where barely bleeding. I pass the first quest by killing a rabbit maybe I was just supposed to kill a small game when you start but the game was unclear about it.

Is that the same way in real life? Do you need to fill the beast with ten bullets before he dies or is this a glitch or the starting guns are not powerful; enough?

I wanna know because if the need arise and I have to go hunting in real life I wanna know if the game is reliable experience or is it like watching cartoons and Hollywood.

Thank you for your time have a nice day.

[EIRIKR]

The .243 w/ free Soft Point ammo will kill blacktail and whitetail. You will likely want to be within 100m (well within for quick kill) and get at least single lung. You won't likely be able to hit heart and you won't get through scapula (shoulder bones). Just try and get fairly close, practicing stalking and calling, while doing missions to level up and get clean lung/liver shots. I found trying to get a heart shot with the initial setup was not reliable as there are thicker parts of meat and everything so just try and stick with the safe broadside shots.

You don't have to hit them with large calibers or many bullets, one should always do the job fairly quickly. You do however need to hit at least a lung to eventually stop the animal. There are thick layer of skin, muscle, and fat and sticking a bullet or even two into that is 'flesh' and will not stop the animal with any expediency. It is pretty close to real life, though it does feel like some loadings are just a bit nerfed, and it is a software game so there are quirks. I've recently had a .357 flat nose hard cast (serious bullet) go through both lungs and the heart of a cow elk from just 7 yds. and she ran quite some ways which is quite unlikely. So there are some funny things about the game, but what can ya do...

[Julius Sebastus]

Thank you for the reply I really appreciate.

So it is possible that the bullet wasn't able to go through the skull even if I where really close (20 feet). It is pretty cool tough that the animals have simulated organs .

Can't wait to play more.

[McSqurl Nugget]

Originally posted by SebJulien:

Thank you for the reply I really appreciate.

So it is possible that the bullet wasn't able to go through the skull even if I where really close (20 feet). It is pretty cool tough that the animals have simulated organs .

Can't wait to play more.

should be able, but the brain is a small target, and it will ruin your trophy score doing head shots on deer. Save the head shots for CoD and Sniper Elite :-) you'll want body shots, lungs and heart for best scores, xp and money reward.

[fs7kills]

Originally posted by SebJulien:

Hello, noob question here.

I just started the game. I never wen't hunting in real life but my father left me plenty of weapons before dying. (12 - 308 - .22 - bow - 410, etc)

So I really don't know if the starting guns can one shot a deer or not. In game I was twice in front of a deer and shot them in the head and they just ran, the game told me they where barely bleeding. I pass the first quest by killing a rabbit maybe I was just supposed to kill a small game when you start but the game was unclear about it.

Is that the same way in real life? Do you need to fill the beast with ten bullets before he dies or is this a glitch or the starting guns are not powerful; enough?

I wanna know because if the need arise and I have to go hunting in real life I wanna know if the game is reliable experience or is it like watching cartoons and Hollywood.

Thank you for your time have a nice day.

I'm playing the free trial, I went through similar situations as you.

Yes, 243 & 270 starting rifles can kill deer (I suggest getting the polymer tip bullets), but what I learned by reading some guides and watching videos is that unlike in conventional shooters in COTW you generally don't shoot the animal in the head, you shoot a vital organ. In the case of deer you generally want to position yourself so that you see their side, shoot them in the lung (behind their shoulder/behind the front leg). One good shot with the correct weapon/ammo is enough to kill the animal (maybe they'll drop dead immediately, maybe they'll run a little, depends on weapon used and distance).

Whenever you can get the zeroing perk for the rifle. Spot the animal with the binoculars, use the map to check the animal's distance, then use the zeroing perk to adjust the rifle sights to the proper distance and make shots easier and more accurate.

Also remember to look in your inventory to see the class of the ammo you're using and look in the codex to see the class of the animal you're shooting. Using the proper weapon & ammo makes a lot of difference.

[Julius Sebastus]

Thank you guys for the replies. And yeah I think I played too many FPS before this game ^^.
And thanks for all the advice.