Low Animal Population

[Cptn. Shrimp]

Does someone else think that there's not that much animals in Layton lake?

[Falcon]

Layton has the most animals of any map I think, but there are alot of trees. Small game hunting there is very easy. Just walking around with a 10 gauge is easy to make money there

[MAGE]

I have 805 hours into this game since December. Most of those are in layton lakes. I have harvested a great one and a few diamond whitetails. I worked hard for the great one. Hunting every water feature checking all tracks untill I found his. I it took me roughly 7 hours real time crouched and crawling until I finally got a shot in the dark. He was with a diamond buck as well got them both. It was wonderful. I have been going thru same routine again hitting every water feature during water hours start at 1230 slowly checking every track. There are many areas that still have lots of animals but there are some areas that use to be productive have 0 tracks. In these areas I have zig zaged back and forth until I find a track. I then will follow slowly trying to keep wind in face crouched or crawl. Several times this leads me away from water where I will find dozens of animals bunched up. All kinds. Its like there stuck . Deer bear elk etc. I know its not sportsman like But I just unload on them. By doing this I am hoping they will repawn eleswhere. Also to unclog the pile up. Their bodies pay for the ammo. The one day I killed 72 animals. lot of work picking up. This is only map I experianced this except africa but those are herds and they disperse after a few shots. This is a wonderful game . Messed up my back so cant get out real hunting. so finding this game was godsend . I hope its ok to put this here, but there is a population scanner which is accurate on how many animals on map. It is not a cheat and isonot accurate on sizes, but it does tell you what you have shot and how many spawned. You will find that there are alot of aqnimals on your map you just have to find them. water zones best, feed zones and sleep zones can pay off.
I do have all dlcs.

[Bedoune]

Originally posted by Grandpa_Is_Here:

This is not the worst map. The italian countryside map is the worse. Also, look at the codex once you log into a MP map. It has all the info where and when the animals hang out. Quite steep learning curve. Took me a while to find the info.

Spanish*
Also, I disagree because I find it to be one of the most well balanced map in terms of animal population and geographical distribution. Medved taïga is way harder in that aspect in my opinion.

[Pinger]

They made two animals harder to hunt a few months back, white and black tails by moving there drinking need zones into bushes and tree lines. They are now rarely at waters edge anymore and are way more skittish, plus stay wary for hours not minutes in real time.

So the rivers Look barren of deer but there are still lots of Moose/bears on there banks.

[briansaxton]

Examining my animal population files (don't do this unless you know what you're doing and have backups -- or unless you're using a not-to-be-named-on-the-Steam-forums third-party reader), shows that, at least in my case, Layton Lakes has the MOST animals of any reserve. Here's my breakdown:

Total Population by Reserve:
Hirsch 2028
Layton 3061
Medved 1437
Vurhonga 2728
Parque 2149
Yukon 1605
Cuatro 2444
Silver Ridge 1939
Te Awaroa 1801

Interestingly, these numbers don't seem to be affected much by the amount I hunt. I hunt Layton, Yukon, and Silver Ridge more than any other map ('cause they most resemble where I actually hunt), and one of those has the biggest pop, one in the middle, and one at the low end (second to least).

[RedTide249]

Seems to be different for everyone. When everyone like 6-8 months ago was complaining about white tail need zones being deleted and moved i was still finding a whole bunch on my map. Now though I can only find 4 small heards and I've been all over the map. Layton definitely seems more sparse for me then it was when I first started it a year ago.. there were tons of animals on it and now it is kind of a struggle to find anything.

Someone above said they thought Cautro was the worst for animals for them yet I have a TON of animals on my Cautro map. It might be one of my maps that has the most animals.

Seems to just be a roll of the dice on what you get.

[Falcon]

They just start hiding a little better after you've killed a few I think. Also some herds will just wander off and use other zones sometimes for no reason so you have to keep re-finding them

[Geronimo]

The fact that it seems to be different for each is telling.

This suggests that player interaction affects their individual maps.

And this is true!

Respawning is not simply a matter of replacement and maintaining a population cap.

As far as that capped population number goes, a player will not really observe it's reality because we cannot see the entire map and its inhabitants all at once.

It's more about where these animals respawn that affects our immersive perception.

And what affects that more than anything else is hunting pressure because that decides where respawning is going to happen.

So as you hunt and create pressure, the animals respawn accordingly, and those pressured areas will show fewer animals.

The problem is that the game engine is not properly resetting areas when pressure is relieved.

And this is the result of multiple development issues that have not been resolved.

[Geronimo]

Originally posted by Falcon:

Originally posted by Geronimo:

The fact that it seems to be different for each is telling.

This suggests that player interaction affects their individual maps.

And this is true!

Respawning is not simply a matter of replacement and maintaining a population cap.

As far as that capped population number goes, a player will not really observe it's reality because we cannot see the entire map and its inhabitants all at once.

It's more about where these animals respawn that affects our immersive perception.

And what affects that more than anything else is hunting pressure because that decides where respawning is going to happen.

So as you hunt and create pressure, the animals respawn accordingly, and those pressured areas will show fewer animals.

The problem is that the game engine is not properly resetting areas when pressure is relieved.

I've actually heard from people who use the scanners, that the populations are relatively fixed, and don't vary much if at all from player to player except for the size and trophy ratings of the animals.

What do u mean by fixed Falcon?

The cap doesn't have anything to do with WHERE the animals respawn, or the duration of hunting pressure in an area.

[Geronimo]

When hunting pressure causes animals to relocate, if some bug is causing them to avoid certain areas for longer than should be expected, than the result is areas where the player has been hunting regularly, and even overlapping, to become void of life sign.

We must also take into consideration that EW is constantly experimenting, trying to fix bugs, and rewriting mechanics.

If a player is trying to hunt in overlapping areas regularly, even though they are killing and hoping that kill will relieve pressure in another area, the fact is that their hunting has caused a lapse of respawning in a much larger area than they thought, and because of the other issues the results are not being able to find animals.

The population cap is supposed to remain static, but since they are respawning elsewhere, possibly not according to proper game immersion, it could be that all those animals are respawning within one area that you never go to.

This was a glitch early on where players were finding a spot where large numbers of mixed species were spawning, creating an opportunity for mass killing. It was fixed, but to what degree, and with what resulting consequences?

And this is what I am experiencing.

In order for me to repopulate zones I had tried to manage, I find it necessary to do more than just hunt elsewhere.

I also have to make sure that elsewhere is not just another regular hunting area, or else I risk overhunting more than one area.

I find I have to actually go into areas that I don't usually hunt in order to increase my chances of finding that spot where the respawn are now happening.

And I am finding good hunting in those areas, until they become pressured.

Now, think about the pressured areas overlapping, the animal AI pathways, and the actual map area to be utilized.

Than factor in the correlating bugs.

After a player has caused enough overlapping affect on their maps, and especially if they aren't going to those areas where the animals are now respawning, than we should be able to realize why we aren't seeing game to hunt like we used to.

[WarpLover]

Originally posted by wirex3:

I have 805 hours into this game since December. Most of those are in layton lakes. I have harvested a great one and a few diamond whitetails. I worked hard for the great one. Hunting every water feature checking all tracks untill I found his. I it took me roughly 7 hours real time crouched and crawling until I finally got a shot in the dark. He was with a diamond buck as well got them both. It was wonderful. I have been going thru same routine again hitting every water feature during water hours start at 1230 slowly checking every track.

Are you changing time to 1230 after each water feature? Or serially going from water feature to water feature, until the bar closes, and then change time?

[EIRIKR]

yea ive had a hard time ever really playing this because the animals are few and far between

[EIRIKR]

i'm not new

[MarktheMuffin]

Originally posted by Cptn. Shrimp:

Does someone else think that there's not that much animals in Layton lake?

I used to think that at times, but once you have unlocked the whole map and found quite a few need zones doing it, things start to change and you will notice herds of Elk, black and Whitetail dear, also keep an eye out for crossing areas in Layton, between lakes that are close to each other, these can be good places to put hides, I have one area where I go to for Elk, white and black passing, it never fails in giving kills.

[MAGE]

Answer to warp lover.
When hunting the water sources I will change time to 1232. Then right away to 1231. I had read while back that this helps with repawns and rare colors. I have noticed more rares doing this. Could be coinsidense. I usually do the time thing several hundred yards from water source because it takes time for the deer to either get to or spawn at water source I am going to hunt unless your hunting the rivers but there too it takes time for deer to appear. I approach with wind in face or to the side. If you know where water zone is keep in mind it could be I believe 200 yard area. I try to go to spot where I can scan the shores of the lake with the binoculars. If nothing I then make my way around the lake as quiet as possible a good 100 yards or so away from the water looking for tracks. When I find a buck track I will follow in crouch using cover. it is time consuming but it usually pays off. Very rarly bucks are alone usually will be in herds. When you find herd glass the area. the bigger ones like diamonds and the great one will be harder to spot but sometimes you get lucky.

Now, By the time you finish the first lake depending on size its usually toward the end of water hours. I then make my way to the next water source. Sometimes deer will still be drinking well after drink times or may have feed zone near lake which starts after drink time. Regardless do the same routine as first lake looking for tracks. When I got my great one I found his tracks leading away from the lake around 5pm. I then followed his tracks for 7 plus hours real time. I left game on took breaks then got back at it. Needless to say it was dark when I finally got a shot at him.

My routine is simple. I start at bottom right side of map and work all the lakes up to top. I then make my way down the river checking all all the small water holes as well. I have tents set up along the river ways and also utilize outpost as well. I change times when I get to them . My routine usually takes several days real time. By doing this it gives time for hunting preasure to go away. Also dont forget eastern shoreline.
By doing my routine I also bag lots of other animals to. and you get to see lots of nice scenery