(After March Update) Animals Not Returning to Zones after gun shot

[canadianx]

Just curious if anyone else has encountered that since the last update the animals in a zone flee and DO NOT return after a gunshot? I've noticed that I am no longer able to call animals back to their feeding zones if I have shot a gun. It makes no difference if it is the beginning, middle or end of the need zone time.
- Happens during any time of the day
- All creatures behave the same way
- Currently on the Layton Lakes map (need to verify if this happens on other maps)

I've never seen this as an issue up until this last update.

[IAmNothing]

i have noticed that after shooting an animal in a need zone that i hadnt had the animals return as im leaving it so far since update. instead ive noticed i can continue tracking the herd to a different need zone/resting spot (instead of them coming back to me while im tracking the one i shot if tracking slowly) if i wanted more from that herd after harvesting the one i shot. if this is a change that came from the update i consider it a major improvement rather than an issue. this was actually one of the major animal behavior changes i was hoping would come the most at some point. i always thought the whole herd of animals returning to the need zone shortly after shooting one from there was an unreal mechanic that shouldnt be done that way. i get how ppl that like to grind/farm need zones would like to still be able to exploit that and its a matter of opinion in how ppl like to play their game though. ive only been playing on hirch since the update so far

[IAmNothing]

oh i didnt know about animals never coming to some need zones at all during listed times since i havent been using need zones like that since update, just randomly coming across animals and zones as i go. ive also had a time or 2 where i thought for sure i had hit the animal perfect with easy shot only to see that i missed and just assumed maybe it was me instead of the game or maybe it hit a branch i was hiding in or something. i didnt know what happened really. and yea i know what you mean about the recoil lol. ive never fallen through the world/trees yet like you mentioned, besides being launched across it from the atv

edit: how many times have you fallen through trees/world? for a reference of frequency. and those couple times i missed i mentioned earlier, i was sure my zero was set right and appeared to be perfect shots that werent risky

[Woodyplank]

They patch notes indicated that the devs "adjusted" how animals react to gunfire. It's been quite awhile since I first noticed a drop in the number of animals that would return to a need zone after firing a rifle. L-O-N-G before the latest patch. Since the latest patch we're almost guaranteed that all animals within 250 meters around a lake will clear out at the sound of the .22 being fired. That, to me, is a bit extreme. One thing to consider is that once an animal flees out of a need zone it will run until it feels safe. A couple years ago the devs indicated that the "I feel safe" distance was about 200 meters. At whatever point they stop running, I've learned that they are prone to stop at the nearest need zone (that matches the kind they got spooked out of) and resume eating, drinking or resting. No point in hanging around a need zone in hopes you'll see those animals any time soon. Maybe tomorrow.

btw, it's happening today in LL, Africa, NZ, Rev and SRP.
Edit: And Mexico.

[BigBuckBunny]

I thought it was a deliberate update of the animal behavior, adapting to people's water hole grind playstyle.

[krzychuzokecia]

I had the very opposite happen to me. Yesterday I shot a roe deer feeding in the middle of a field. It was a bad shot, so it ran away, and I went to see the blood trail. When I get out of the bushes and onto the field, I saw the very same roe deer walking back to the place where it was shot first time.

Today I shot drinking red deer bull. Cows ran away, only to return to the same drinking spot after a minute or two. I shot one of the cows, and the rest scattered... only to return to the same place for second time. I went there loudly to claim my kills, spooked the remaining cows, but they still returned when I was looking for the bull.

So yeah, for me they still get back, and IMHO the chance for that is higher than last week (before the patch). This shouldn't happen at all IMO - it takes all challenge out of the game, and changes it into a rabid turkey shot. I remember the same issue with the game about 3 years ago when I first tried it, and it was one of the things which made me go back to Classic. In Classic firing a rifle makes area around you a virtual desert. Here you can just keep camping in one place, decimating animal herds that happen to be in your sight.