Herd age management (Not fitness) is a new strategy AND Gatorshoe's lost ring - Way of the Hunter

We all know about herd fitness management, but what about Herd age management? Once it gets rolling it may be quite efficient =)

[@cameronberenyi4129]

With that white tail group it’s a full heard, I got my first five star whitetail from that heard, but they may have changed it as I haven’t hunted that heard in a while.

[@bumblewoot]

Thanks, yeah it's weird. I think they have despawned

[@woodsmn8047]

you might try going up stream by the first bridge .. I think I have seen deer herds over there.

[@SuperCharcoalangel]

I had a solo whitetail show up at that drinking zone by the lodge.

[@bumblewoot]

Cool. I've also had people tell me it's a full herd 😆 I'll be happy finding whatever belongs to those zones lol

[@bill1016]

Alot if people say the trails in this game are useless, but they are actually quite useful. I like to ambush herds in-between need zones on the trail.

[@bumblewoot]

I've done that before but very rarely. But I think it's neat that they are not just straight lines. So that could be fun

[@dlrys2139]

Oh they exist, come across them every time I check on a melanistic mule deer waiting for it to mature that is in that area and it's a herd.

[@bumblewoot]

Nice. 100% they are not where they are supposed to be in my map though. I think they are in despawn mode maybe. Hopefully they appear in the new year

[@budolfhawk3898]

Hi Bumblewoot I waited at their often drink sand feed zone today all through the time periods and there was no show on each, I looked at the Rarely sites too? strange may be they don't exist, I'll keep looking though

[@bumblewoot]

Okay thanks for looking! Others have said they have seen them, but they are not currently on my map. Not at those zones anyways 🤷‍♂️

[@greglewis7546]

Yes I have had a solo wt west of the lodge that has zones centered where the roads and creeks merge. Don't think he has always been there. But has for a while. I think he may have been added when elk , the solo near him was afded

[@bill1016]

Yeah the trail system is really in-depth. Sometimes there are 2 or 3 auxiliary trails. But they all lead to the same place.

[@bumblewoot]

I'm gonna try and include trail hunting in my hunts for some fun 😃

[@woodsmn8047]

I wish there was a button on the settings page that could turn off the herd management stuff and all the needs zones and just let the animals roam at will so you could just hunt without having to be at certain places at certain times .. it just feels so contrived the way it is.

[@bumblewoot]

When the game first came out, we did not really know all of this info. The zone times did not seem as consistent. It is still this way for a lot of players no doubt. But once the mechanics are figured out by the player, it does feel very digital like. Classic became this way over time. But that game kept the random waypoints for the animals. For way of the hunter, the developers tend to stick to their vision, so I do not expect them to change this core system. Personally, I'm ok with it. I seem to be enjoying the game more with the animals being more predictable 🤷‍♂️

[@greglewis7546]

Its all.about personal preference. I like my herds staggered in age a bit. I do like only needing to check them once a year, but I don't want to having nothing to do with several herds waiting on a long mature phase to see which have a chance of getting to what I want. It can get super boring for me. And even worse realizing the last day of a year that a herd has several to harvest.

[@bumblewoot]

Yeah I will only be doing it for some groups. As for harvesting multiple in the last year, I'm not really concerned. I usually get about 6 attempts on a herd per in game day. Three days should be plenty. If I don't get to them they will all die at same age anyways and they'll go around again 😃

[@forddriven8962]

i always skip that area - thinking it's to early in the map for anything good too be found.

[@bumblewoot]

All of the grasslands have the same chance for big animals. North or south =)

[@googletoldme2666]

How many ducks can you kill with one shot from a rifle? Maybe a fun video for another time,ive downed 3 with the .338 😅

[@bumblewoot]

Wow that's a great shot! I have trouble hitting one 😆

[@dadsacyco3852]

Another great video. Do you know what I would like to see added to the game but they might feel like they’re copying call of the wild, but it would be nice to have spray scents

[@bumblewoot]

This for sure should be a thing. Scent plays a big part in hunting. Scent lures and scent mask should certainly be added to the game 👍

[@rogerheath3449]

so if I understand right all mature animals live their fife cycle and die on the the last day of the year at 11:59 pm?

[@bumblewoot]

oh good thinking Roger! I should be watching them right at 11:59pm at the last day of their last year! I imagine they do not die of old age until out of render though. But that is the current and partially confirmed theory that the calculations run at midnight on the last day of each year.

[@OregonUplands]

Question I play on PS5 and when I enter photo mode everything freezes and the animals don't move, am I doing something different or wrong ?

[@bumblewoot]

In photo mode there is a setting in the little menu there that unpauses the game while is photo mode