First ever tips of the week come from our forum moderators:
Look up! to ID those calls.
Have you ever been standing near a track when an animal called, and clicked to ID the call but only ID'd the track again?
Look up toward the sky, and the highlight for the track will disappear allowing you to ID the call quickly. - Tod1d
Having trouble picking up the next piece of the trail? Try changing the track colour to help it stand out. - Dr Noesis
Shorten your tracking time.... by waiting a couple of minutes before you start trying to track the animal you just shot, given time they'll often lie down and wait for you. - Dr Noesis
If a moose, bear, or hog starts being aggressive towards you, it may be about to charge. Try standing up and sprinting a few feet to one side, or another. I find that will spook them enough to flee. If they start charging at you, fire a shot. Even if you don't hit him, it can still spook them, and make them flee, mid charge. - BillytheCrayon
Wounded animals will generally flee in a straight line, if you see the tracks change direction just keep an eye on the direction the animal was running, a lot of the time you'll find the next track in the same line. - Worthington
Never shoot the first animal you see, even if it's big! Often the bigger trophy animals could be close, especially in groups of animals. - ronMctube (nominated via Steam)
Multiplayer Etiquette Tips:
When hosting a MP game, always allow your guests to collect their kills before quitting the game.
Always ask permission before joining someone on their hunt. Most people like to hunt alone.
When less that 500m from another player, always use a bow or ask permission before firing!
If you receive a call, ID it and check where the circles are on the Huntermate map. Then immediately put the Huntermate away or replace it by another item. You can now walk towards the calling location or call and wait. The next time you take out the Huntermate, even if 5 minutes later, the circles will still be there. The circles use up "screen time". Their timer only runs down when ever the Huntermate is equipped. You can repeat this four, fives times before the circles finally die off. Every time check the Huntermate quickly and remove it again.
This method saves you from having to create red dots on the map. Once you get used to doing this, you will do it all the time. - HooCairs
If you want to mark several positions on the map, mark a red dot and then draw a small cross on the big map to mark it. You can then place the red dot in a new position without losing the position of the old mark. - T0MRf5
Get a call? Creep towards the call direction and scent a tree / rock in that line. Return the call and walk backwards, keeping the tree / rock directly in front with call circles also in front. 9 out of 10 times, animal will walk straight to your tree and stop. You should be prone on good ground / cover and ranged long before it arrives. - Maverick_2014
Before moving ahead always look & glass the area over for animals you can't see right away. - gas56
If you've spooked a trophy sized animal, (especially if it has fled into an area that offers poor visibility) you can shorten your frustration and improve your chances of a successful harvest by:
Noting the time on your Huntermate that the animal fled.
Crouchwalking forward until the second fleeing track, and crawling to the third, if possible. If not, hang back and wait it out.
After 12-13 in-game minutes have passed, the animal will be out of "spook mode." Now, it is time to stalk the animal. It will now once again respond to your lures and will be less easily spooked again by noise/motion.
If you follow this method, use the surrounding landscape well, and exercise patience, you will give yourself the most optimal chance possible to put the animal smack in the middle of your crosshair. - jlferrel
When calling animals, try to make them pass before you shoot. Then they will hopefully flee in a different direction instead of fleeing to where they came from causing a mix of old and new tracks. This is especially useful when you spot or hear a animal close to you and it might have been roaming there for some time, leaving a lots of tracks. - Kniven
When hosting a Multiplayer game you can save yourself a lot of trouble with an open password approach:
Install a password for your game
state in the game's name something like "password in text"
give in the game's description your own rules followed by the password
This way you make sure that only people who cared enough to have read the rules will enter your game.
In my experience it saves a lot of trouble with incidents of unfriendly behaviour and mischief - but it makes a game significantly less frequented by others. - Knut
If I'm tracking an animal via colored domes, and one calls, I like to left-click on the Huntermate to bring up the "new/old track found" screen, but not click again to confirm it, instead just leaving the message up on the screen. I keep walking until I visually know where the next solid color dome is in my current tracking sequence, -then- I left click to confirm the call. If the call is an animal I'd rather track instead, I'll keep it - otherwise I just pick up the next track that I visually confirmed on the ground in the original tracking sequence and continue on. - TundraPuppy
Never stay in the place where you've just used you caller. When I hear a call, I "mark" the spot on my huntermate, return the call, then move to a location that's elevated or well concealed. Usually at a 90 degree angle from where the call originated. It allows you to be more selective with animals that travel in groups. Sometimes, when the animal presents itself, and I choose not to take the shot, I can slip away without spooking any animals. - Mike7071
This tip will save you a little time when mounting a treestand.
When you mount your treestand, the screen turns black for a second. If you use 'E' + mouse (to enter the treestand) while the screen is black, you will end up IN the treestand instead of at the bottom of the tree. - Flanker305
There is a 3d target range with a variety of different targets at different distances at Darkwood lodge in Red Feather Falls. It doesn't cost you any ammo, it tells you what organs you hit and any weapon can be used. Even guests can use it. Just be courteous with shooting your firearm in multiplayer, if other hunters are in the area hunting: ask before you shoot. - Raptor02
Fox and Coyote hunting tip: when you get a call from either, quickly check your surroundings for an area that allows you to see the spot you are currently standing on. Using the Predator Call, call 1-4 times in succession, and then back into your hiding spot that you found. 20m and beyond works as long as you can see the spot you called from. Just sit and wait, and you'll have an easy shot every time.
It's a little different with Coyotes because they travel in packs, so if one comes in, chances are it's not alone. That is up to the player whether they wanna wait and see the others or take their shot. - BucksnBuffalo
Having trouble climbing? Keep "W" pressed while climbing all the time and do not stop moving up to center your balance perfectly before climbing up further. Keep pressing "W" to climb up and just make sure you stay away from the orange and red zones on the mini-game. Also note that the corrections you make with "A" and "D" have a small delay. With this advice you should have less trouble climbing. - Pratze
When you are in a bushy area or in the forest and you know (by hearing the calls or by tracking) that turkeys are close, just try to find a good elevated position (rocks, tree roots etc.) and go prone, facing the direction of the calls or the middle of the cone from HunterMate's screen. Call the turkeys and try to spot them. As a tip, LISTEN! Turkeys are hard to be seen into dense vegetation, but roaming ones are flapping wings and that sound can make your life much easier! - JackRbbt
This tip if for those who love to do mission after mission in the same hunt. Get a tent and carry it wherever you go. This will allow you to access all of your goodies and weapons when you need them: just set up the tent, pull out your tripod or a different gun, reload ammo etc. When your inventory is set up the way you need, dismantle your tent and away you go.
Bonus mission tip: as soon as you complete a mission, go to the menu (if you don't go to the menu, you risk having your mouse lock in the top left corner and that's a pain in the rear), hit the windows button on your keyboard, go to the web site and activate your next mission, then return to the game, setup the tent and select the gear you need and continue on. - Bonecollector81
The brown bear has a relatively high roaming speed. When you follow it you can catch up as long as you walk. When you get within reach of the bear you will naturally crouch. The problem is that the bear has almost the same speed for roaming as you have for crouching. In addition if the bear makes a turn you lose time searching for the next track. The result is that you can barely get any closer anymore and get frustrated. The circle on the Huntermate just doesn't get any smaller and the bear ahead of you just keeps going.
The solution is that you break this pattern by intentionally spooking the bear. At first it will run and gain some ground again, but then it will stop and stand around a lot. During this time you can finally catch up even while crouching. After some fleeing tracks you will find roaming tracks that show that the bear is now very close of you. Glass around a lot and try to find the bear, and keep crouching after it. In fact you will get so close that you might repeatedly spook it again, but that is not a problem. Just keep going after it, the bear won't go back to its crazy cruising speed if you keep it busy and don't let it fully calm down. Using this method you can get the bear within reach even for safe bow shots. - HooCairs
Easy way to place decoys and get one duck on your HM:
Find your area and place one decoy. Stand directly on top of it. Extend the next decoy out as far as your mouse wheel will allow (this should be about 6m IIRC). Then go and stand on that decoy, extend the mouse wheel again to it's furthest, place decoy...rinse and repeat. Make 4 rows of 5 and one row of 4 in a box pattern. Separate each row by the same 'mouse wheel extension' distance. - Tuck_SFA
When ibex hunting in VdB, before using binoc or a scope to focus on any specific area, get a good amount of rendered space in your view, and have nothing in your hands ( use the "H" key ). Then sit back a bit from your monitor and don't focus on any thing in particular. Your eye is more likely to catch the "not like the others" movement. There is a timed flash of certain objects in the distance, almost like a blinking LED. When you see that you'll see the timing, and things that violate that are basically rendered animals. - MoonpieSpotlight