COTW on the rocks

[Mom_Kat]

I have harvested a lot of fine animals from lying prone on a ROCK. A few days ago I shot 13 black tail deer in Layton (2 does, 11 bucks) from the top of the same high rock. I've 'rock' hunted all kinds of game. I discovered this on my own, and have only seen maybe a handful of other people talk about it, but it's a real handy thing to know.

I stalk. I used the bushes and scrubby trees to hide in when I'd come upon an unsuspecting critter. Then one day, while walking by one of those big rocks, I thought "I wonder if I could get up there?" It turned out that I could!

Some rocks in the game are slanted all the way to the ground others start slanting up from about knee high, and you can jump up onto it. I've climbed up on rocks that put me higher than a tripod. It doesn't give the low hunt pressure bonus of a tripod, but it has the advantage of being a lot quieter in a pinch.

Try it on various rocks around the game and you'll soon learn to recognize the ones you can use. You can go up some surprisingly steep inclines and if it slants to the ground you can actually crawl up. This is one of my favorite hunting tactics—it gets you a higher vantage point without the setup time and noise of a tripod—and it's surprisingly good camouflage.

If you bow hunt, you'll have to get the perk that lets you use the bow prone (or use the crossbow.

There's one other drawback, but it's easy to get around. Rocks, like trees, have a 'hit box' that can block your shot. If there's any kind of up-slope on the rock in the direction you're shooting, it's best to hang a bit past the edge to shoot or risk hitting the rock box.

[Mom_Kat]

It shows the thin line, but by experience, it does give you a better hide that standing on the ground. And no, it doesn't have the advantage of lower hunting pressure, but since I use it primarily for stalking, it doesn't make much of a difference. In the 13 blacktail hunt I mentioned in my op, the hunting pressure was not horrible thanks to using the bow.

Using a gun from the rocks is the same as hunting from the ground except for the advantage of height. It works well for hares and rabbits—they don't seem to spook as easily if you're on a rock. I've had herds come in around me while I'm prone on a slab of granite.

I've found the rocks to be especially helpful when hunting coyotes - especially for certain 'mission' hunts like Leviathan Lake. If I heard a coyote call, I'd head for the nearest rock and call them in—much easier to see them in the grass from a higher vantage point.

[Falcon]

This is how I got my diamond mountain goat. Works great if you don't have a tripod, but yeah beware the bullet proof blades of grass.

[The Sarge]

It's also worth a mention that if you're on a high enough rock (or certain lower rocks) wounded animals that will come for you can't get at you.

[pit-s]

The thing is that rocks often have a wider hitbox than you would expect.
I stopped using them after i had (overall) more bullets vanishing than i had hits (especially if you lay down on the rocks - the same with shooting while standing close to trees).

And these are 2 of the things that they will never fix as they stated in a newsposting a couple of months ago (alongside with floating rocks/bushes and tracks below the surface).

[Mom_Kat]

Originally posted by pit-s:

The thing is that rocks often have a wider hitbox than you would expect.
I stopped using them after i had (overall) more bullets vanishing than i had hits (especially if you lay down on the rocks - the same with shooting while standing close to trees).

And these are 2 of the things that they will never fix as they stated in a newsposting a couple of months ago (alongside with floating rocks/bushes and tracks below the surface).

Odd. I always shoot prone—there's no real advantage to standing on a rock. I use a bow more than a gun, but I have also shot all of my firearms off rocks for months and lost only a handful of shots to the rock box—all of which were when I was learning the way of it, or my own fault for being inattentive. The only real issues are being too far back on the rock, or being in a low spot. I've lost far more shots to tree boxes than I ever have to shooting from rocks. To each his own.

There is also the occasional no-shot glitch where your firearm seems to be shooting blanks, but that is not rock related, either.

[Mom_Kat]

Originally posted by The Sarge:

It's also worth a mention that if you're on a high enough rock (or certain lower rocks) wounded animals that will come for you can't get at you.

If you had to jump to get up there, they usually can't get you, unless you're near the edge, but there are exceptions. If you could just crawl or walk up, so can they, if they find it.

I had six wolves corner me on a rock in Cuatro Colinas. Just yesterday I had a wonderful dance with an angry water buffalo in Vurhonga with me on a rock and them trying to kill me. I had to dodge from side to side, or it could hit me.

I also learned the hard way that wherever I could jump lions can jump, too.

I have also hunted water buffalo with a tripod 'in my hand'. You can outrun a water buffalo but not by much. With luck you can drop the tripod and climb right up, or at least circle back to it.

[ruichi]

I use the rocks a lot. Climbing the slope while prone and calling the animals at the same time. For example in medved is really useful. Yes, one just need to be careful not to shoot the rock.