Hunting

Hunting can be separated into active and passive hunting. Passive hunting means using traps. Active hunting means encountering the animal and killing it down by using hunting weapons, of which various bows and spears are the most commonly used. Animals can be encountered randomly - which is especially the case with the widespread small animals like hares, squirrels and birds. Or one can use his tracking skills to find and follow the tracks of his prey. Sightings of big carnivores - bear, lynx, wolf and glutton - are usually such a news that you'll most likely hear about them if you talk to the people you meet. -Game Encyclopedia

(Copy from old Wikia site below. Separate topic(s) needed on hunting page.)

Hunting advice

Everybody's favourite way of getting meat, hunting can be a daunting challenge. While hunting for small game (squirrels, hares, foxes and badgers to name a few examples) may be easy, larger game is not and can easily injure or even kill you if you aren't careful.

To find an animal, either climb up on a tree and scan the surroundings, or use your tracking skill to locate some tracks.

If you find tracks, follow them to the animal, where you can choose whether or not to zoom in and look for it. An animal will always be on the same screen as you when you first zoom in, but may be obscured by trees or they might not be where you're looking. You will be facing the direction of the animal when you zoom in, so you only need to walk straight ahead.

Different animals behave differently. For example, squirrels like to jump from tree to tree, while hares take off as soon as they see you. Forest reindeer tend to run, but will attack if enraged. Bears and lynxes are deadly, and can kill you with a single swipe. For this reason, it's a good idea to hide, sneaking close enough to attack from a short distance away. Most of the time it is effective to strike them on the legs to prevent the animal from running away. With Bears and Lynxes it might be a good idea to try for headshots.

The weapon of choice for many hunters is the bow. Failing that, javelins with Oath of Iron performed on them are also very effective, although this can be considered an exploit. In any case, attacking from a distance is much safer than trying to get up close and personal, unless you are doing it on purpose. Javelins have one advantage, in that they can be used as a melee weapon.

Dead animals give great rewards in the form of meat and hide. Make sure to first use hideworking to skin the carcass and only after that cut the carcass for meat as cutting for meat destroys the hide. Meat is very nutritious, and hide can be worked into a number of useful items, such as clothing and cord.

If an animal runs, it is possible to find it again just by wandering on world map in the direction it ran in. However, this is very hit or miss, and not guaranteed to succeed as the animal does not always run in a straight line. It is possible to follow tracks left behind. By using the tracking skill when standing on top of tracks, the direction that the animal is travelling in can be determined. In the current edition, it is no longer possible to climb to a tree on the zoomed-out map.

Once you have encountered an animal on the zoomed in view, if it runs out of sight, it is possible to encounter it again on the zoomed-out map nearby.