Clearing wolves. Useless?

[TWM]

I killed some wolves around the church in Milton to create a safe hunting environment for myself; killed three, went outside that night, got stalked by yet another wolf, killed that one; then I went to the farm and fetched a hacksaw. Spent the night there. Next day, I return to the church: new set of wolves prowling about.

What's the point of killing wolves if they just respawn straight away? And also, what's the point of creating game in an area if I have to look over my shoulder as soon as I start butchering it? This isn't fun: most logical place to bring game is the church, but that's where the wolves patrol, so I can't go there stinking of meat.

It used to be the case I could tackle this problem by clearing the wolves first. Now it seems that's just a waste of ammunition.

[ajb1978]

Wolves aren't "assigned" to a particular area as near as I can tell.  There seem to be a limited number of wolves that can populate a map at any given time, and those wolves migrate from location to location.  I encounter this in Mystery Lake in particular, when clearing the lake out for a fishing marathon.  I will make two attack runs, one in the morning, one at night, and sometimes I will find that a new pack has moved in after I shot the first one.  But after two attack runs the lake is safe for a short while, and I can spend a couple days fishing without fear of being attacked while I haul my catch back to the camp office.

Also, if you completely harvest the wolves, they dissapear immediately the next time you go indoors, shortening the time before they respawn.  If you want the wolves to stay gone, leave something on the carcass.

[TWM]

Migration could be factor, although it's odd that a troop of wolves would migrate to the exact spot I just cleared out. It's the first time I experienced this, hence the question.

But thanks for the suggestion of migration, it's certainly worth considering.

And yes, I am aware of the quirk where wolves take longer to respawn if their carcasses are left lying around. I've also noticed that harvesting won't allow me to leave 100 grammes of meat on the carcass anymore. I've harvested several animals while trying to leave the least amount of meat on it, like if it was 3,1 kgs, i'd harves 3 kgs. Nope. Won't have it.

As an aside, I've also noticed that wolves will home in on me when I'm carrying cooked meat, even without the scent-o-meter flaring up. Which makes it easier to shoot them, actually.

[ajb1978]

10 minutes ago, TWM said:

As an aside, I've also noticed that wolves will home in on me when I'm carrying cooked meat, even without the scent-o-meter flaring up. Which makes it easier to shoot them, actually.

I remember seeing a video somewhere where someone was demonstrating this.  There was a wolf just kind of doing wolf things, he picked up some meat off the ground and even though there was no scent meter, the wolf started coming at him.  He dropped the meat, the wolf immediately lost interest and returned to his regularly scheduled wolfing.

[NardoLoopa]

1 hour ago, ajb1978 said:

I remember seeing a video somewhere where someone was demonstrating this.  There was a wolf just kind of doing wolf things, he picked up some meat off the ground and even though there was no scent meter, the wolf started coming at him.  He dropped the meat, the wolf immediately lost interest and returned to his regularly scheduled wolfing.

I believe that is in a GELtaz video. https://www.youtube.com/user/geltaz

[JAFO]

On 9/7/2018 at 1:57 AM, TWM said:

As an aside, I've also noticed that wolves will home in on me when I'm carrying cooked meat, even without the scent-o-meter flaring up.

On 9/7/2018 at 2:09 AM, ajb1978 said:

I remember seeing a video somewhere where someone was demonstrating this.

This is one of the things that many people don't realise about TLD.. the stink bars don't light up until you are actually giving off a significant amount of scent. Just because there are no stink bars showing, doesn't mean you're not smelly.

Even one piece of meat (raw or cooked) or one fresh guts is enough to get a wolf's attention, if he's in range. Also, recent updates increased the smelliness of items.. it used to be that it took 6 cooked pieces of meat (the weight doesn't matter, just the item count) to light up a stink bar. Now it only takes 3, meaning everything is effectively twice as smelly as it used to be.

[TerribleSurvivor]

On 6.9.2018 at 5:59 AM, TWM said:

What's the point of killing wolves if they just respawn straight away?

If your respawn rate for wildlife is set on maximum or even just over "low", wolves tend to evolve into a pest as if they were coyotes. My experience with the period between the carcass' despawn and wolf´s respawn for every value in the setting "Respawn rate for wildlife":

• "Low" ->            5 to 7 days
• "Medium" ->   ~4 days
• "High" ->         <3 days
• "Very high" -> Why would you ever play with that rate?!

Wolves by the way like to respawn during blizzards. Had you had one going within the timeframe you described?

Bear in mind that wolves migrate and can thus potentially will respawn at other spots!

Edit: Also note that Pilgrim, Voyageur and Stalker use the "medium" setting for wildlife respawn! Oh and the reduction of wildlife over the course of the game may also cause longer periods between carcass despawn and wolf respawn in the lategame!