Quick question on arrows

[Wasteland Watcher]

 I shot a wolf and it ran away. That was three days ago and I cannot find it. 

 Is the arrow lost forever? If I find the place where the wolf died will the arrow be there? 

[Scyzara]

Depends on quite a lot of factors: 

1. Did you clearly see the wolf run away with the arrow stuck in its body? Sometimes arrows bounce off and lie in the snow afterwards. You should be able to pick it up without problems in this case if you still remember where exactly you shot the wolf.

2. Where in the wolf's body did the arrow get stuck? Wolves sometimes "bury" arrows beneath them when they collapse. As you can't turn around their carcasses, the arrows are lost in this case (even if you manage to find the carcasses themselves). Already happened to me when the arrow got stuck at the side of the forehead.

3. Three days ago is quite a lot of time. As wolf carcasses despawn after a while even if you don't harvest them, you should really have searched the carcass much earlier if you want to retrieve the arrow. Not sure if the carcass even still exists after three days.^^

To sum things up...I doubt it's worth the trouble to continue searching but IF you want to continue, you should definitely do it immediately. The carcass is not going to last more than 4 or 5 days (if at all^^).

No idea what happens to the arrow afterwards (whether it despawns together with the carcass or lies in the snow), but that's a rather academic question imho. You're most likely not going to find a single arrow lying anywhere unless you want to search the whole map VERY thoroughly which is definitely not worth the trouble for one arrow. 

 

 

[Doc Gonzo]

53 minutes ago, Scyzara said:

2. Where in the wolf's body did the arrow get stuck? Wolves sometimes "bury" arrows beneath them when they collapse. As you can't turn around their carcasses, the arrows are lost in this case (even if you manage to find the carcasses themselves). Already happened to me when the arrow got stuck at the side of the forehead.

Many times when a wolf (or deer) collapses and 'buries' my arrow I will harvest the body, drop a tinder plug next to it and return the next day.  Typically the arrow is there on the ground where the corpse has decayed.  Works for me 90% of the time.

[starfighter441]

2 hours ago, Doc Gonzo said:

Many times when a wolf (or deer) collapses and 'buries' my arrow I will harvest the body, drop a tinder plug next to it and return the next day.  Typically the arrow is there on the ground where the corpse has decayed.  Works for me 90% of the time.

Good tip, I'll try that if I should ever hit anything with the bloody bow...

[elloco999]

2 hours ago, Doc Gonzo said:

Many times when a wolf (or deer) collapses and 'buries' my arrow I will harvest the body, drop a tinder plug next to it and return the next day.  Typically the arrow is there on the ground where the corpse has decayed.  Works for me 90% of the time.

This has been my experience as well. When the carcass disappears, the arrow is still there.

3 hours ago, Scyzara said:

3. Three days ago is quite a lot of time. As wolf carcasses despawn after a while even if you don't harvest them, you should really have searched the carcass much earlier if you want to retrieve the arrow. Not sure if the carcass even still exists after three days.^^

In my experience a wolf might despawn if it's wounded but doesn't die. In this case the arrow is likely lost for ever. Even if the arrow doesn't despawn with the wolf, it will be lying in the snow wherever the wolf despawned. If you don't know where that is, good luck finding it...

But if the wolf dies, the carcass will remain for about 3 days if you don't harvest it. So it might still be lying around somewhere, but it may also be gone by now. The arrow should be where the carcass was, but again, if you don't know where that is you're not very likely to find it.

[Wasteland Watcher]

All, thanks for the info & guidance.

I shot the wolf right outside home (Logging Camp barracks) and it ran off towards the nearby mountain (train tracks on the other side) but then I thought I saw it circle around and run around the woods where a bunch of tree stumps are (between Logging camp and Loading Area).
I waited rounghly an in-game hour or two before going in any buildings so hope it dropped dead somewhere.

 

[edit: Got lucky: found the arrow in the hills between Logging Camp and the Boxcars

No wolf carcass though because 5 days had passed ] 
 

[Patrick Carlson]

13 hours ago, Wasteland Watcher said:

All, thanks for the info & guidance.

I shot the wolf right outside home (Logging Camp barracks) and it ran off towards the nearby mountain (train tracks on the other side) but then I thought I saw it circle around and run around the woods where a bunch of tree stumps are (between Logging camp and Loading Area).
I waited rounghly an in-game hour or two before going in any buildings so hope it dropped dead somewhere.

 

[edit: Got lucky: found the arrow in the hills between Logging Camp and the Boxcars

No wolf carcass though because 5 days had passed ] 
 

Nice to hear you were able to pick up the arrow. You a got a worthy story out of it in any case. 

[Wasteland Watcher]

8 hours ago, Patrick Carlson said:

Nice to hear you were able to pick up the arrow. You a got a worthy story out of it in any case. 

Thanks Patrick 
This game is quite the adventure. I probably play two~four hours a day since I bought it a few months back. I can't seem to put it down.
It's full of stories and they just get more interesting the more time I spend in them.

[elloco999]

On 5-3-2016 at 0:52 PM, Wasteland Watcher said:

All, thanks for the info & guidance.

I shot the wolf right outside home (Logging Camp barracks) and it ran off towards the nearby mountain (train tracks on the other side) but then I thought I saw it circle around and run around the woods where a bunch of tree stumps are (between Logging camp and Loading Area).
I waited rounghly an in-game hour or two before going in any buildings so hope it dropped dead somewhere.

 

[edit: Got lucky: found the arrow in the hills between Logging Camp and the Boxcars

No wolf carcass though because 5 days had passed ] 
 

I would indeed call that lucky! Nice that you found your arrow