Archery 101 : Visual Guide

With the recent release of the bow and arrow and no guides (yet) showing how to properly use it, I decided to make one WITH pictures to explain things. Enjoy and consider giving the guide a thumbs up or favourite for more guides!

Introduction and Controls

A small word of advice for new archers, the bow should only be used to kill small game being rabbits and chickens but it can also be used to kill wolves and bears. Killing larger animals should be done with a gun, but sometimes circumstances won't allow it. Arrows are a very efficient ammunition for hunting small animals because they are cheap to craft, can be re-used if they hit the ground instead of intended target and an arrow that hits a small animal will incapacitate it (down it to 5 health, good for capturing) or kill it. From the few game I have killed, it seems to be completely random with incapacitation being a small chance, perhaps 25% to happen.

To actually use your bow, make sure you have a bow and atleast 3 arrows to start with. You can veiw the materials to craft these items in your crafting menu. Equip the bow like you would with a gun and then right click to notch an arrow. Notching an arrow in will zoom in the view, making it easier to hit a target. Left click with a notched arrow to shoot it and right click again to remove the arrow from the bowstring.

How to hit a target

When you have crafted your bow and gotten used to the controls, you will need to get used to the drop. The update contianing the bow suggested you shoot trees to get used to the drop (Which I highly reccomend) because to be honest, it is kind of off. When you are aiming out on the feild at chickens and rabbits, the zoom can throw off your depth perception and make you forget how far you may be from the animal, increasing the trouble with drop. When I hunted my first animal, I found myself chasing a chicken half-way across the map until I killed it, after that I was able to kill most animals with only 1 shot. I suppose the same will happen with you guys.
Assuming that the average person will notch an arrow about 5-10 meters from the target, you should aim generally 1-2 centimeters above the target (1 inch) for a good hit (or close miss).

Advice for hunting

• When you are aiming at a target, make sure you can clearly see them and they arn't obstructed by flora such as grass or fibre plants.

This isn't a good time to shoot, since the animal is mostly covered in grass.

If you can see the animal clearly, you are more likely to hit it rather then land an arrow in it's general area.

• If there is a wolf or bear in the radius of a target, don't risk a shot. If you miss, the target animal will run away and the dangerous animal will be alerted to your presence (most of the time anyway).
  
• Like I said earlier, using the bow to shoot wolves and bears should be a last-ditch effort. When you go hunting away from your base, always bring a gun with sufficient ammo.
  
• Arrows can be retreived if they don't hit an animal. If they hit an animal regardless of killing it, you can't get an arrow back from the body.
  
• When hunting small game, the bow has a small chance to render incapacitate an animal by bringing it to 5 health. You can bring it back to an animal house, nurse it back to health and domesticate it for butchering it at a later date. Don't rely on this too heavily since it will always have a greater chance of killing the animal.
  
• Although you can retreive arrows, they are very easily lost and hidden by grass and flora. Bring lots of arrows which is easily done due to their cheap crafting materials.
  
• Arrows can sometimes break when they hit the world, there is a sound of this that notifies you of it being broken.

Conclusion

If you have followed this guide and learned from it, you should have an easier time learning to use the bow. It took me a solid 20 minutes of chasing animals to actually get a shot. Here is a photo of the first animal I killed.

Thank you for reading my guide, if you liked it then please give it a thumbs up or favourite it to show me that you like the guide! I will make another guide if this one gets good ratings! :steamhappy:

[TioApex]

TO TENTANDO JOGAR MAS CHEGA A NEVE FICA MEIO RUIM PRA JOGAAR

[Dralth]

Being a recent buyer of the game and not having a good knowledge of the bow in the game, I have favorited your guide and gave it a thumb's up as well.

[Alan]

I always shoot the wolves with bow to draw them in and lower their health enough so that one shotgun blast to the head at point blank range always takes them down.
Also, don't go nuts making a ton of arrows in the beginning. You will need the nails for building.

[The Light of Dark]

I usually shoot them twice and right when they are about to strike me I sprint strafe and jump to the left. They then pause for a bit and that's when I finish them with the last arrow or two. I don't know why more people never mention this. Guess im a lone wolf. PUN INTENDED B___ch

[AlexST323]

I havent played the game in about a month except like 2 hours offline recently BUT I believe the normal wooden bow needs to be aimed decently high to hit the target and it also shoots slightly to the left of where you point as well. It is perfect for headshots on deer, small animals like chickens or rabbits, and for headshotting unarmored hunters (no helmet). If you get good enough you can also 3 shot wolves that are level 1 without getting hit at all.

[Hunter]

the very best way to practice the bow is use 1 foundation then save and turn off auto save. shot the wolf, when he gets close just hope on the foundation so he runs away and keep on until u use all arrows then just reload the save so you have your arrows back to practice again ;) best to kill level 1 wolves with a long range pistol shot and 2 arrows anyway as cheaper, long range pistol shot and a bow shot then turn and run until he bites then turn and finish him

[LakeWanderer]

Always found that crouching and creeping up until the health pops up is a proper distance, then I put the tip of the arrow just slightly above the topside of the target and I've hit every time.

[givgav]

i WOULD like to add to this... You can use bow to hunt big game. There are bug game arrows that will allow taking a bear down with 2 arrows sometimes 3 and moose 4-5. I tend to save the ammo for the hunters...being its more expensive, and use arrows from a distance so you can get multiple hits on the bigger animals with the reg bow before reaching you.

[Akeel]

Lol, every aim on the screenshots is off the target.

[c.jackharkness]

aim a bit high and go , the first bow is your bread and butter all through the entire game . for me anyway like 400 hours in.