Slings not being used

[Meeky]

I made slings but my hunters won't use them at all. They'll sneak up on animals but never attack them. What gives?

[Okim]

Same problem with bows here.
Have these stored, but never picked up and used.

My hunters instead use bone/flint spears. Does it mean the spears are better for hunting??

[Private Pyle]

I was wondering the same, I have plenty of bows but everyone uses spears? I was almost thinking it was just a generic animations.

[Okim]

Ok. I now notice that new people that join / get adult are picking up bows if no spears are available.

[Jimmaye]

Yes. Same. I have bows and slings and I keep expecting to see them in action. Hell, I'd rather they take down a cave lion with a sling or bow than get clawed up.

[Charge201097]

From what I've read on other threads is that they have to use whatever item they have until it breaks. So, in this case they will keep the bone spears until they break and then they will pick the slingshots. They will always pick the best tool for the job after something breaks.

[DVN]

I try to get rid of obsolete tools by
a) selling to traders
b) stopping production
c) setting % limits on tools

[Namgan]

if you assign someone to hunt (like assigning as a job) then the person who is assigned to will grab a bow and then hunt.

edit: I see people hunting with spears still even when they are assigned to hunt. But what I'm sure of it is that they tend to grab bows when they are assigned to hunt.

[Calico-Jack]

It depends on the animal. Hunters will use ranged weapons to start encounters - animals that run mean the hunters will continue to use ranged weapons. Animals that charge, like Aurox, will close the distance to the hunter and it's all mano a mano from there.

If you don't want to micro manage set up a hunting workarea.

If you want to mildly micro manage select an animal and click the hunt icon.

If you really want to micromanage - be carful of telling individuals to go kill something. Unlike other tasks like harvesting that require specialised tools anything vaguely weapon like counts thus if you select an individual with just a flint biface and tell them to go kill a mammoth they gamely have a go. They'll die trying, but you have to salute their dedication and resolve all the same.

You can check who has the right equipment by holding down H and drag selecting over your settlement - only those carrying hunter gear will be highlighted. Another way of making sure most people have weapons is to sound the raider alarm - anyone who is unarmed will run to the settlement and search for a weapon until they armed. Once everyone is standing about like office workers in a car park during a fire drill, rather then frantically running in and out of structures, then you know they're all tooled up.

[Ronald Gordo]

In addition to what @Calico-Jack said, I can only add the following:

- if you want to be 100% certain, press the H key and select a number of villagers greater than the number of hunters needed;
- select 12 to hunt a mammoth, for example;
- while they are on the way, click each and see if they have weapons and clothes (in the fall, the hunt may take time and they may face a premature blizzard) and send home who has no weapons or clothes;
- also see the condition of these clothes and weapons and if they are at the end of the useful life, send that villager home;
- send home also the villagers with low statistics (hunger, thirst, fatigue or low morale);
- in the end, when you have 7 or 8 strong and well equipped hunters, challenge anything that passes in front of you.