Wolves running away from you

[LowSpeedHighDrag]

I'm in Pleasant Valley. I strolled out of the barn to hunt for some food. I saw a lone wolf, approached it. Then the wolf let off a whimpering sound then ran away. I didn't shoot or injure any before hand. This was during the afternoon.

Why does this happen?

Also, 24 hours later. I went out to hunt again, but this time the wolf was quite aggressive.

 

[Serenity]

Usually it's the wolf skin coat that does this. It's just a chance and quite rare

[ManicManiac]

3 hours ago, LowSpeedHighDrag said:

Why does this happen?

Because you were very lucky!   
It's unfortunate when they get spooked and run off if your intention is to hunt them... but in general a skittish wolf makes for a happy survivor.

Even with no wolf, bear, or moose pelt items... a wolf still has a chance (albeit very very low) of getting spooked and fleeing.  The more wolf, bear, or moose pelt items you are wearing/have in your inventory the higher the chances of scaring off wolves - however, it's still never a guarantee they will run.  (even in "Pilgrim" you can get attacked)

Edited September 1, 2019 by ManicManiac

[LowSpeedHighDrag]

5 hours ago, Serenity said:

Usually it's the wolf skin coat that does this. It's just a chance and quite rare

that could be a factor, I was wearing one. Albeit under neath my windbreaker.

FYI: this was encountered with Archivist mode.

 

[tulkawen]

I had a wolf run away from me on Loper difficulty a few times when I jumped off a ledge or a cliff next to it. It seems jumping off things makes noise that startles them or they just don't like the sound of something falling out of the sky.

I was in DP going down the path that leads from Church to the highway when I pretty much bumped into a wolf nose to nose. Before it could eat me, I steered sharp right and took a dive off the boulders. This action scared him as much as he scared me.

 

Edited September 9, 2019 by tulkawen

[ajb1978]

4 hours ago, tulkawen said:

I had a wolf run away from me on Loper difficulty a few times when I jumped off a ledge or a cliff next to it. It seems jumping off things makes noise that startles them or they just don't like the sound of something falling out of the sky.

I was in DP going down the path that leads from Church to the highway when I pretty much bumped into a wolf nose to nose. Before it could eat me, I steered sharp right and took a dive off the boulders. This action scared him as much as he scared me.

 

Wildlife can't chart a course that includes a sheer drop.  A common way to evade wildlife is to take an action that they can't, such as dropping off a short cliff, or tactically dropping halfway down a steep incline such that they can't reach you, but you still have a clear line of sight to them.

[tulkawen]

9 hours ago, ajb1978 said:

Wildlife can't chart a course that includes a sheer drop.  A common way to evade wildlife is to take an action that they can't, such as dropping off a short cliff, or tactically dropping halfway down a steep incline such that they can't reach you, but you still have a clear line of sight to them.

I didn't just evade him, as op posted, the wolf yelped and luckily for me ran in the the opposite direction up the path. He got frightened off.

In terms of jumping, it's pretty much true that it has a chance to evade wildlife in general, though, not a guarantee either. I've had plenty of instances where wolves simply took the longer and safer route down the path, but hadn't lost me and zoned in seconds after I tried to escape them, but when you're running for your life a delay in becoming lunch is good too. Not to mention the grand possibility of dying yourself taking cliff dives. In this case, it wasn't a far drop, those were just boulders rather than a cliff and I dropped into a pile of snow below, lucky is lucky hence just minor damage via torn clothes.

[Serenity]

In my current game I'm scaring wolves quite often. Not in absolute numbers, but compared to previous games. Yesterday I attracted three wolves in Milton while being smelly. Scared one, which allowed me to kill the other two.