How to find newborn elk calves and fawns

Many players are excited to hunt newborn elk calves and fawns in the game. However, they may be challenging to find especially for new players. This quide was created to help you hunting them sucessfully and also contains some tips! :)

Finding a single mother elk/deer

First step is to find a single mother elk/deer. They start to spawn around when the flooded areas of the map recede. This usually happens around the time when your pups weigh around 15lbs.

If you find a single elk cow / mule deer doe and they do not try to run away from you, means there is a baby hiding nearby.

You can also know you found a mother elk/deer when a specific music starts to play.

Where are the babies and how to find them?

Babies are always hidden in tall grass which does not disappear even if you put your graphics level to minimum - but they are at least more noticeable if you´re having trouble distinguishing them. Baby deer are motionless and do not emit any scent so the only way you can find them is to check every tall grass near the mother and keep your eyes open.

If a baby deer is present in the tall grass a red bite index appears above. Sometimes it´s even possible to find a baby visually if you look more closely. Another sign that you are close to the baby is when its mother starts running towards you to protect it (even tho it sometimes may take a while until she realises).

Babies do not hide right next to their mothers but a bit further away. It´s because the mother wants to drive the predators attention away from her offspring. They should be hidden inside the music range, so if the music stops playing you probably got too far. If the mother is grazing close to the river it´s even possible the baby may be hiding on the opposite river bank!

TIP : It is harder to look for them in forested areas or during the night. If you want to be more successful try to look for the mothers in open areas when there is a daylight. If you have a bad memory and do not remember which tall grass you have checked, you can mark it by pressing P and the scent view will tell you. It also helps to put your graphics level to minimum because the tall grass becomes a lot more noticeable.

What to do when you find the calf/fawn

All hidden calves/fawns can be killed by a single bite and cannot run away from you. Kill it before their mother comes to you and tries to deal damage to protect her offspring!

Some mothers do not deal with the fact you have killed their baby and may try to attack or refuse to leave even if their baby is already dead. In that case it´s better to walk off as soon as possible.

The carcasses

Both calf and fawn carcasses are carriable. However calves are much heavier and will greatly affect your wolfs speed and stamina. You cannot swim while carrying the baby ungulates so avoid deep bodies of water because you may drop them and be unable to pick them up from the water again!

Note that calf / fawn carcasses already emit scent and can be found by other predators if you leave them unguarded!

I hope this guide helped! Happy hunting! :)

[Yellowstone]

No the elk calves in the herd aren't carriable. I think they're too big or heavy.

[Alika Mykin]

Around the time the elk calf start running with the herd I tried to carry the kill back to my loafing spot. But instead I was eating off it, and I noticed I could not carry them back anymore. Is this a glitch?

[sspiegel]

A trick I sometimes use is turning the grass density all the way down to find the tall grass easier, since they still show up even though other plants won't. It's much easier to spot where they might be hiding.

[richeykid123]

why not change the name to how to hunt summer babies and then show meese?