Night hunting...Is it worth it???

[n_e_w_d_u_d_e]

I've been playing the game since release day, and personally, I haven't done to much hunting at night. that probably stems from the fact that I played the Hunter Classic many years before call of the wild and classic had no night time hunting. I wanted to know the communities feed back on if hunting at night, in the game, is worth it. If it is, why? If you, unlike me, find it funner and more profitable hunting at night then hunting during daylight/daylight...ish hours{sunrise and dusk) why??
I find hunting at night to be more difficult and does give a more challenge but is the profit from it outweigh hunting mostly at daytime hours??

[TECHNOMANCER]

I love lynx night hunting with the Alexander bow in my Frontiersman game. Super hard to "graphically"/sight track, so you have to make each shot count.

[Frontiersman game: No Visual Markers, No UI, no equipment past the 1890's. (like binoculars, med kits, map function, most calls and scents, blinds/tents, and a good portion of the weapons.) I usually don't use a dog, but you can.]

[p00se2]

i find it extremely enjoyable

but there seems to be no real benefit for night time hunting in terms of additional xp or cash rewards
+ you cant even see tracks without the lamp

but still awesome !

[Woodyplank]

I find that I can get closer to animals (noise wise) at night than during the day. I've also had a significant difference in the number of blacktails using some of my need zones at night rather than in the morning. For example I'll usually find 1 or 2 animals there in the morning then find a dozen deer or more (sometimes Elk, Moose and Whitetails mixed in) just after dark.

[PicSoul]

I'm told but can't confirm that night hunting is the best tactic on some maps such as Medved.

Personally, as someone that hunts or at least used to IRL, I find night hunting strange but mostly because it's just not a common practice (or even allowed?) where I'm from. Sometimes though, games force us to do what we feel is odd or strange. I'd say give it a try, you never know, you might find it beneficial.

[Neurotic Panda]

The weird or strange part for me with night hunting is that you can use your head lamp and animals aren't scared or bothered by it.. I mean animals will run from seeing you in the daytime. Yet at night they aren't bothered by a giant light in the middle of the woods beaming right at them. I don't even understand why you need night vision equipment honestly.

This is one area of the game i feel is a little... off.

I don't generally hunt at night unless i'm passively in a stand sometimes... but normally when it gets to be 8-9pm i just sleep until 5am or so.

[Hazy_Memories]

best time to hunt gators

[Snail Rancher]

I rarely reset the time, so I end up hunting at night half the time. Depending on the species, night hunts are the way to go in many cases. For example, wolves drink at night, and lions roam around, red deer on Te Aworoa drink, etc. I got a surprise Gold albino lion at night that way.

Of course it is much more challenging, but the lamp doesn't bother the animals at all, and if you have the High Tech DLC, there is night vision available. It is useful, but if it foggy or raining (or heavy snow on Medved), it doesn't work great, but I find it useful.

I won't say that it is my favorite time to hunt, but it does provide some extra challenge, along with extra opportunities. I think those that only hunt by day are missing out on those.

[CaptainNebulous]

Generally if there is an animal you have trouble finding/hunting in the day you'll have better luck with it at night.

Night hunting, once you get adjusted to the lack of vision, is one of the hidden gems that I feel that people don't give enough of a chance. The atmosphere and satisfaction of the hunt at night is great. Having to rely on primarily just sound and tracks, tactically working your way around to get something in view. It's great for someone who's just trying to relax and be immersed.

[IAmNothing]

i dont really rest very often because i enjoy night hunting too and i like the change up. its much easier to get closer to animals undetected, making it much easier to bow hunt, which i enjoy. use night vision/spotting to make animals more visible before taking the shot if able. the moon will come out and shine brighter with time making it easier to see when not using night vision. dont use the flashlight unless you are tracking because even though it can help for really close, it actually makes it harder to see farther away than the immediate vicinity at night. use a headset with surround sound settings to help keep track of direction and distance of animals in case you havent spotted or lose sight of it. day hunting is preferred for pretty scenery/atmosphere with more positive vibes. seeing the sights with long range visuals and shooting

[MAGE]

Its good time to scout and find need zones they glow big time. if you have the night vision its pretty cool too. No more no less money tho. just a different experiance.

[Agent X ™]

I find more bears at night for some odd reason. I usually post up in a spot and use a caller until I build up hunting pressure then move on.

[JeDagelijkseIntrovert]

Originally posted by The Franchise ?!:

I find more bears at night for some odd reason. I usually post up in a spot and use a caller until I build up hunting pressure then move on.

Bears are mostly nocturnal animals in this game.

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To the OP.

I personally only night hunt when I need to; As for profit, I don't know how it is calculated, I don't know what's the base value and how the percentages influence it.
The closest I have gotten do deciphering this, is that XP gains is tied to Trophy Rating as well as the 4 checks/percentages (quick kill bonus, consecutive kills, harvest check, species difficulty), Cash uses the same checks/percentages but again, I don't know how it is calculated.

So with that said, cash has a base value which I didn't find yet, which is influenced by the 4 checks mentioned above.
XP gains are influenced by Trophy Ratings and the 4 checks mentioned above.
Night hunts do not increase the animal difficulty or change the gains in any way.

While yes, night hunts are more challenging, I prefer day hunts since I just enjoy the scenery and night hunts don't quite feel the same.

[n_e_w_d_u_d_e]

Originally posted by INFP-T Slagroompje:

Originally posted by The Franchise ?!:

I find more bears at night for some odd reason. I usually post up in a spot and use a caller until I build up hunting pressure then move on.

Bears are mostly nocturnal animals in this game.

-----
To the OP.

I personally only night hunt when I need to; As for profit, I don't know how it is calculated, I don't know what's the base value and how the percentages influence it.
The closest I have gotten do deciphering this, is that XP gains is tied to Trophy Rating as well as the 4 checks/percentages (quick kill bonus, consecutive kills, harvest check, species difficulty), Cash uses the same checks/percentages but again, I don't know how it is calculated.

So with that said, cash has a base value which I didn't find yet, which is influenced by the 4 checks mentioned above.
XP gains are influenced by Trophy Ratings and the 4 checks mentioned above.
Night hunts do not increase the animal difficulty or change the gains in any way.

While yes, night hunts are more challenging, I prefer day hunts since I just enjoy the scenery and night hunts don't quite feel the same.

I'm just curious how night affects the chances of finding and harvesting a higher level animal. In the codex description it shows that a lot of animals are more active between sunset and sunrise. I'm just wondering how that plays out when it comes to animal spotting. Does that mean I should see more animals?

[JeDagelijkseIntrovert]

Originally posted by n_e_w_d_u_d_e:

I'm just curious how night affects the chances of finding and harvesting a higher level animal. In the codex description it shows that a lot of animals are more active between sunset and sunrise. I'm just wondering how that plays out when it comes to animal spotting. Does that mean I should see more animals?

Most animals with the sunset and sunrise are exactly what it says; Depending of the reserve, they'll usually rest on midday's or late night, let's say for example after 12:00 on midday's and 21:00 on the nights.
And you'll pretty much only find them active dusk and dawn.
After 21:00, you'll most likely find predator classed animals, like Foxes, Bears, Wolves, ect.
While red deer have the same difficulty scale as predators, they are resting after 21:00.

So while you can stalk your prey; More often than not, you'll most likely find them in the need zones and for this reason, if you still wish to hunt every animal after 21:00, it's best practice to just walk around and listen for any movement that is not yours or ambient as you will barely hear any calls from diurnal animals after that time.

If you mean with higher level animals the species difficulty (1 to 10), that's completely random. and level 10, also known as the great one, is only possessed by 2 animals to my knowledge.
Most diurnal animals have a species difficulty scale of 1 to 5, while nocturnal(predators in this case) have a scale of 1 to 9.

While yes, the species difficulty affects the xp gains and monetary gains, the difference is usually is very little, lets say about 200 cash difference.
if I remember correctly, most predators range from ~900 to 1600 cash as for regular game ~400 to 1200 cash, this is also partly the reason I can't figure out how the gains are calculated, as it takes trophy ratings and 4 checks into consideration.
Edit: Most animals you'll find however is within the 800-1200 cash range, animals with difficulty 9 usually range from 1400 to 1600 cash, difficulty 8 is usually 1300 to 1500, you get the idea.
These however, are average numbers and the accuracy depends on trophy rating and can be lower than the lowest numbers I have given; However, I never have seen cash rewards above 1600.

So technically, night hunts should be more profitable in the long run if you keep finding animals above difficulty 5-6, however since predators usually have excellent sensing, it takes a lot of skill in knowing your surroundings, sounds, etc; Thus making night hunts difficult, more fun, but difficult and so results in lower profit than day hunts.
So unless you're stalking, you've to practice a lot to become effective at it; or you could do need zones, which imo, isn't as fun as stalking.
For stalking, you'll mostly need to master to be silent and to see everything as a blank image, that way you'll notice movement quicker.

[jjs82xx]

I sort of fell into night hunting. Not that it is any better than day hunting (the later of which I prefer); but I have found night ambush hunting from a tripod (or treestand) to be a zen experience. Fox and European Bison, for example, can be very active at night. At least one location in Hirshfelden is like grand central station, near 1:00 a.m., with many groups of animals crossing through as they move to new locations.