Hunting Wolves For Food

[Ahatch]

I have to ask with the recent changes to wolf AI how many of you are ever hunting wolves on purpose for food. I know on Interloper I have not considered hunting wolves anymore since they are little more aggressive than before. I used to try different strategies to get on ledges / trees etc  where I felt safe. I don't feel safe no longer on rock outcrops as I think the wolves can get you in places that used to be out of their path. If the wolf detects you and are aiming at them if there is no path to you they simple run out off where before they would just walk slowly allowing you a free shot at them. 

[dahemac]

You can still find places where they cannot get you. But hunting them is dangerous, the timberwolves particularly. I thought I had a good spot to the west of the cannery, but it turned out that they could take swipes at me from above. I should have moved onto the next ledge. But I was panicked and they came very close to killing me, despite my having shot at least two of them repeatedly. At least with the new patch, the wounded wolves will stop dropping out of the map so you can harvest their pelts when you track them down.

[dahemac]

12 hours ago, micah6vs8 said:

I am late in a run and the only thing I am really doing is hunting wolves for play-testing…

Good lord. I would like to watch you doing that.

[RegentRelic]

My wolf hunting strategy is to walk up to it and put an arrow through her skull. It has been pretty effective for years, the trick is to not miss and as long as you do that they die instantly about 80ish% of the time and if they don't a good wack in the skull with the heavy hammer drives them off. Sadley this hunting method is a solid way to die against timber wolves.

[Annoying Timber Wolf]

Usually when I am hunting a wolf I try to get a bunny to get killed by one first so that it is focused on eating the bunny then I shoot it and claim the wolf and bunny remains. 

[Simone Else]

i do.. they are kinda gamey tasting but better than eating catstalks.

[Ahatch]

Well I started another interloper run and ended up back on Desolation Point to do some forging. I got my bow and 3 arrows and I needed some deer. The deer near the Riken were gone so I snuck over to the mine near the church. I came out near the road and climbed the tree. I threw a couple rocks towards the car (in the direction of the church) two wolves came out. They didn't see me at first since I was crouched. When I did stand up they barked then stood in one place growling. I was able to take a shot at them with my bow. So I guess one could hunt them in this matter. I will say it would be bad to be up a tree though with no ammo as throwing rocks no longer distracts them once they know you are there. 

[dbmurph22]

On 1/24/2020 at 8:47 PM, Annoying Timber Wolf said:

Usually when I am hunting a wolf I try to get a bunny to get killed by one first so that it is focused on eating the bunny then I shoot it and claim the wolf and bunny remains. 

This is a good method, though the changes to animal behavior also included the deer and bunnies.  They are harder to drive to the wolves.  They seem to have almost a preset horizontal preference at times.

[dbmurph22]

7 hours ago, Ahatch said:

Well I started another interloper run and ended up back on Desolation Point to do some forging. I got my bow and 3 arrows and I needed some deer. The deer near the Riken were gone so I snuck over to the mine near the church. I came out near the road and climbed the tree. I threw a couple rocks towards the car (in the direction of the church) two wolves came out. They didn't see me at first since I was crouched. When I did stand up they barked then stood in one place growling. I was able to take a shot at them with my bow. So I guess one could hunt them in this matter. I will say it would be bad to be up a tree though with no ammo as throwing rocks no longer distracts them once they know you are there. 

Nice.  I did this same method just today, almost exactly in the manner you spoke of though in PV.  And...it charged.  And I happened to miss (I thought it was fairly flat terrain, but there was one small rise I missed).  I dunno...there's some risk until you get Archery 5 and can potshot crouched, but you need to be using the bow to get that level!  I guess trying to improve on long shots is something one could do.

[jhickie]

On 1/21/2020 at 9:18 AM, micah6vs8 said:

Hunting normal wolves is still fire, scent and a prepared place from which to hunt (flat open ground is still the best). Stealth for normal wolves is still very useful. Standard tactic is to light a fire with clear LoS. Have scent on me. Draw wolves by scent or rocks. Kill them crouched before they detect me. However, one can effectively hunt without stealth. The moment the wolf pauses at the fire is your brief opportunity for a kill shot. It's a close shot- maybe ten feet away- but not an easy one.

Fire is still effective. But if you are in funky terrain, and the wolf has limited LoS, and the fire is not between you and the approaching wolf, you can get attacked by the fire. It is a lot of circumstance to stack up, but it can happen. Preparing the hunting ground is more important then ever. Not initiating the encounter can put you more on the back foot now. In general the hunt is more complex and requires more thought to be successful. Happy Hunting.

While I haven't gotten a survivor to L5 bow hunting yet and have no experience with crouch-hunting the new wolves, I have been using this technique of hunting them by the fire quite extensively on my current run. I'm on my longest DMC run ever (49 days!) and started it after the update, right after I spent some time with the new challenge. I'm at L4 bow hunting currently, and have hunted several wolves in ML and CH using fire. It's true, you only have a split second to get a shot off once they pause at the fire because they flee as soon as you aim. While this is great for scaring wolves off when you are unarmed, it sucks for trying to one shot those jerks before they run away. I've lost more than one arrow on my run due to this.

I'll agree that the setup is pretty important now. Flat ground with clear sight lines is a must, and make sure to keep your fire between you and the wolf. This can be problematic when facing multiple wolves, and if one has the chance to come at you from the flank, he will ignore your fire and attack. Try to run them off by aiming your bow when they pause and focus on one at a time. It can take several attempts, but if you have scent on you they will keep coming back for more. Also, be wary of the weather. If your fire is setup somewhere with no cover, the wind can pop up, snuff out your fire, and leave you as a sitting duck.  When facing a lone wolf, I have found it helpful to use a windblock for the fire. It's pretty easy to keep the wolf in front of you if there's only one, and you then have somewhere to cook it when the hunt is over. Hopefully. That DMC wind is an SOB and changes direction constantly though.

I was pretty annoyed when the update dropped and the wolves bid farewell to being mindless bait magnets. I was very used to bait hunting and sucked at figuring out the new wolf/fire behavior. Change is hard. After some practice, I can confidently say I love the new wolf AI. It really adds some needed suspense and awareness to the game, and is back to keeping me on my toes. I never carry bait anymore, and always have 5 rocks on me. I'm going through more fuel and making more fires, which is forcing me to modify my playstyle and priorities. I freaking love it.

Happy hunting, indeed! 

[Ahatch]

Well I have killed 3 wolves on my current Interloper run on Desolation Point 2 from the tree by the road and one from the cabin in the Rikan. I will say one has to plan a little better. The wolves are smarter and won't walk right up close so aiming your bow using the white dot has to be accurate so do not try if you are tired. Killing 4 wolves to get a wolf coat is really the only reason at this time to even bother trying but the risk is worth the reward. Holed up at the Hibernia and there is wolf around here as well , not sure if I wanna risk trying to kill him from the stairs.