Problems killing wolves with a bow

[Vince 49]

I'm playing stalker without a rifle (see the topic "Stalker+"), so I have to use a bow.  It's significantly more difficult for me because of issues I have with a bow.  I'm still playing Rugged Sentinel, so cooked meat as a decoy still makes sense.  With the decoy, the wolf moves more slowly and (usually) doesn't weave, so I hit him almost every time.  However, quit often it's not an instakill.   So on some occasions he will still attack (struggle), while other times he will run away with the arrow in him.  Of course, the struggles are damaging to my health and clothing.  When he runs away, often I can't find him, so lose the arrow.  If there is a windless day soon after, I look for the birds, but that only works sometimes.

When I used a rifle, I got an instakill almost every time, so it must not depend on the critical hit chance.  Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[NardoLoopa]

5 minutes ago, Vince 49 said:

I'm still playing Rugged Sentinel, so cooked meat as a decoy still makes sense. 

Off-topic: is it now changed, so cooked meat no longer works as a decoy?  o_O

[Vince 49]

@NardoLoopa, someone, I believe Drifter Man, said the last update (Vigilant Flame I think) changed the strength of the scent from cooked meat (maybe other things too) by a factor of two, so he believes that now the wolves homing in on the scent makes decoys no longer a good idea.  (I've searched, but can't find the post where I read this).  Maybe he will see this topic and explain in more detail.

[Spakerman]

I've been using cooked meat since the update and it's been still very useful.  The trick is to eat the piece of cooked meat and cancel the eating action when there's ~30% of the piece left. do that for two pieces and you have a couple tiny decoys that don't really increase your scent much.

I've been using the same 0.13kg piece of ruined cooked fish for like 50 in game days.

[Vince 49]

@Spakerman, that's good to hear.  What level are you playing?  Also, are you playing the recent Vigilant Flame version?

[Drifter Man]

On 27/08/2018 at 1:40 PM, Vince 49 said:

@NardoLoopa, someone, I believe Drifter Man, said the last update (Vigilant Flame I think) changed the strength of the scent from cooked meat (maybe other things too) by a factor of two, so he believes that now the wolves homing in on the scent makes decoys no longer a good idea.  (I've searched, but can't find the post where I read this).  Maybe he will see this topic and explain in more detail.

I didn't do that research but based on my observations and on testing by @Ruruwawa, the scent range of cooked meat is significant and enough to make a stealth move through a wolf area impossible. However, when used with skill, the bait tactic can assist you in clearing an area from wolves before you move through. I don't have much experience with that myself.

In addition, weight doesn't affect scent range, apparently only the number of pieces does. It still makes sense to nib them down for weight reasons.

[Ruruwawa]

1 hour ago, Drifter Man said:

However, when used with skill, the bait tactic can assist you in clearing an area from wolves before you move through.

Reliable archery has been a game-changer for my Interloper games.  I sucked at it for a very long time, and I still suck at targets moving swiftly or laterally.  But anything fairly close, moving slowly and directly toward or away from me -- no sweat.  Bunnies and baited wolves, routine.  Bear and moose are reliable too with good logistics.  Deer tend to be less cooperative prior to archery 5's shoot-while-stealthed.

It was the return of the 'aiming dot' that did the trick for me.  The dot disappears when you draw the bow so I practiced aiming at a stationary object to learn where the aiming dot is relative to the drawn bow animation.   As you can see in this example (a piece of coal) the aim point is a little above the point of the arrow.

Once I mastered that, archery got a LOT easier.   Hear a bark?  Drop bait and step back a few paces. keeping the bait directly between me and the wolf.  Pull bow, and wait for the wolf's head to intersect the aim point.  Release.  Even with sway due to low archery skill, the arrow is likely to hit the wolf because it's so close. 

Now I carry bait with the expectation that I'll have to kill every wolf I come across.  It helps that I know the maps and wolf paths quite well.  And I avoid travel at night, since a bonus night wolf on a path you thought was clear can be a deadly surprise.  It's extra work but the level of control I get with bait+archery -- and the plentiful food, pelts and guts -- are priceless in Interloper.

[Spakerman]

14 hours ago, Vince 49 said:

@Spakerman, that's good to hear.  What level are you playing?  Also, are you playing the recent Vigilant Flame version?

I've been playing Interloper in the most recent Vigilant Flame version.

[palbi]

4 hours ago, Ruruwawa said:

As you can see in this example (a piece of coal) the aim point is a little above the point of the arrow.

Just like in real life.

[Doc Feral]

4 hours ago, Ruruwawa said:

It was the return of the 'aiming dot' that did the trick for me.  The dot disappears when you draw the bow I practiced aiming at a stationary object to learn where the aiming dot is relative to the drawn bow animation.   As you can see in this example (a piece of coal) the aim point is a little above the point of the arrow.

 

 

Am I the only one who made a dot on the pc screen with a marker? Makes me feel weirder than usual.

[palbi]

On 2018. 08. 27. at 5:01 AM, Vince 49 said:

When he runs away, often I can't find him, so lose the arrow.

I also experienced this, only once. I shot the deer with the rifle, it was a hit, but not a deadly one. (Got my "bonus icon"). Since it was very cold weather, I went back to my house to regain warmth (half an hour, maybe) and then started to search, it was clear daylight. Nothing. No birds, no blood drops. I thought it ran to a place I can't reach or see, but then I realized, that two deers were in the area when I shot one of them, and now there are two again. Thought maybe the program "forgot" about it. But then I dropped the case.

[Ruruwawa]

1 hour ago, palbi said:

Just like in real life.

Really?  I would have guessed you needed to aim high to compensate for ballistic drop.  I've never tried archery in real life, though, so it's not surprising my guess is wrong.

[palbi]

19 minutes ago, Ruruwawa said:

Really?  I would have guessed you needed to aim high to compensate for ballistic drop.  I've never tried archery in real life, though, so it's not surprising my guess is wrong.

That depends on the distance and the strength of the bow, of course. But for shorter range ("direct hit", closer than ca. 10 meters) it is so.

[NardoLoopa]

2 hours ago, palbi said:

I also experienced this, only once. I shot the deer with the rifle, it was a hit, but not a deadly one. (Got my "bonus icon"). Since it was very cold weather, I went back to my house to regain warmth (half an hour, maybe) and then started to search, it was clear daylight. Nothing. No birds, no blood drops. I thought it ran to a place I can't reach or see, but then I realized, that two deers were in the area when I shot one of them, and now there are two again. Thought maybe the program "forgot" about it. But then I dropped the case.

Had the same experience last night, but with a bow.  I impulsively loosed an arrow at a running deer.  Hit to the flank.  But then it just kept running.  I had my eye on it for a while, but the weather turned too cold for me.  So, I went inside and figured I'd come back and look for crows.

Nada.

It was part of a pack of 4, I'm pretty sure.  And when I came back 4 were munching around.  So, could it be that he just didn't bleed out?  And do Deer show an injured walk similar to a wolf?  Maybe my snow-madness is playing tricks on me.

(I need to get better at remembering where arrows hit miss, too)

[Ruruwawa]

4 hours ago, palbi said:

That depends on the distance and the strength of the bow, of course. But for shorter range ("direct hit", closer than ca. 10 meters) it is so.

Thanks very much for the explanation.   It makes the aiming more realistic for me!