Hunting & Butcher

📖 Overview

Hunting is one of the most accessible ways to earn money in Rosewood Ridge. The frontier is alive with wildlife — from white-tailed deer grazing near Valentine to alligators lurking in the Lemoyne swamps. As a hunter, your job is to track and kill these animals, then bring the carcasses to one of the territory's Butcher shops, where you will be paid based on what you've brought in and how well you've preserved it.

Hunting requires no license, no application, and no prior experience. All you need is a weapon, some patience, and a horse to haul your kills back to town.

🚀 Getting Started

1. Arm yourself appropriately

   Different animals require different weapons. Using the wrong weapon (e.g., a high-powered rifle on a rabbit) will destroy the quality of your carcass and reduce your payout significantly. Bows and small-calibre rifles are ideal for smaller game; larger rifles for deer, boar, and bear.

2. Head out to the wilderness

   Animal activity is concentrated away from busy towns. Dense forests, riverbanks, and open plains all have distinct wildlife populations. Study the terrain — you'll quickly learn where certain animals tend to roam at different times of day.

3. Track and make a clean kill

   A single, clean shot to a vital area — heart, lungs — yields a Perfect quality carcass worth the most money. Multiple hits, explosions, or fire will degrade the quality.

4. Loot the carcass

   Approach the downed animal and interact to pick up the carcass. Larger animals (deer, boar, bear) are carried on your horse. Small critters go directly into your satchel.

5. Ride to a Butcher and sell

   Approach the red marker at any Butcher location and interact to open the sell menu. Your payout is calculated automatically based on the animal and its quality.

⚙ How It Works

The hunting and butcher system operates in a simple loop: hunt → haul → sell. The key variable is quality, which multiplies your base payout:

• You can carry multiple small animals in your satchel simultaneously.
• Large animals (bear, deer, boar) must be tied to your horse — you can carry one at a time per horse.
• Butchers each accept different animals. Check the Butcher Locations section below — not every shop buys every animal.
• Some Butchers offer a small price bonus compared to others, rewarding the extra travel time.

⭐ Carcass Quality

Quality is the single most important factor in your hunting income. There are three tiers:

🗺 Butcher Locations

Butcher shops are marked on your map with a butcher's cleaver blip. Each one accepts different animals and may offer different payouts:

🏆 Legendary Animal Hunting

For experienced hunters, Legendary Animals offer a significant step up in challenge and reward. Gus MacMillan, a legendary trapper, can be found at several locations across the territory and will purchase your legendary kills — but only the specific animals he deals in at each location.

• Legendary animals are significantly tougher than standard wildlife — they take more hits and behave more aggressively.
• Gus's locations are: near Riggs Station, Annesburg, Strawberry, and Colter, among others.
• Each Gus location only purchases specific legendary species — check which one accepts the animal you're after before making the ride.
• Legendary hunts are excellent sources of rare materials used in crafting high-end goods.

💡 Tips & Tricks

• Hunt near rivers and watering holes at dawn and dusk — wildlife activity peaks at those times.
• Approach large animals downwind by crouching and moving slowly to avoid spooking them before you can aim.
• Bring a horse with large saddlebags — the more carcasses you can haul per trip, the higher your overall earn rate.
• Pair hunting with other jobs: if you're already riding through the wilderness for another task, keep your rifle ready.
• Hunting boar and deer in New Hanover and the Heartlands offers a reliable volume of mid-tier animals close to the Valentine bonus butcher.

💵 Earnings Guide

Income from hunting scales with the size of the animal and the quality of each kill. A focused hunter who prioritises perfect-quality kills on larger animals can earn a comfortable income without needing any license or whitelist approval.