Red Dead Redemption 2 Perfect Pelt Hunting Guide Weapons and How

A perfect pelt can mean the difference between common gear and rare crafted items. Tracking the right animals, choosing the proper weapons, and knowing where to strike are the keys to securing the finest materials across the frontier.

Checking the state of animal

Obtaining perfect skin quality is not an easy task, because you have to meet several specific requirements to guarantee yourself a chance of getting any of them.

The most important requirement is to determine the health of the animal. If you want to obtain perfect skin, it must be a specimen ofexcellent quality (Pristine). Use binoculars or rifle scopes to determine your pet’s state of health, so you can do this from a safe distance without the risk of scaring the animal away. You can perform a “scan” by holding down the R1, RB button. The information is displayed in the lower left corner of the screen.

Note – You can, of course, skip this step, but then you rely on your fate regarding the potential quality of animal’s skin. Most of the wildlife in the game world is of poor or good quality. “Perfect” animals are much less common.

Use special ammo or arrow type

You should use a bow or rifle (repetitive, standard or sniper rifle) to kill wild animals, but the ammo type is also important:

1. Standard arrows for the bow should be sufficient in most cases. You can use them to hunt all common species of animals.
2. Varmint rifle ammunition is suitable for hunting and reduces the risk of skin damage. You can easily buy it in most shops and it is very cheap – 60 pieces of ammunition costs about $1.
3. Small Game arrows for hunting small animals are useful if you need to hunt, for example, a squirrel, a snake or a rat. You can make these arrows by yourself after reaching the campfire and opening the crafting window. In order to prepare a single “small arrow”, you must have a normal arrow, plus a feather (kill birds) and an ordinary shotgun cartridge.

Hitting an animal in a specific place on the body

After you have done all the preparations, you must kill the selected animal without damaging its skin. The best technique in this case is to kill animals with a single headshot.

You should make sure that the hero has a renewed stamina bar, so that the crosshair will not “fly on the screen”. In addition, you can help yourself with the Dead Eye mode and this is especially helpful if the animal is in motion. You can then easily mark its head as a place to hit.

The technique described above works well for most animals. The largest specimens, such as bears or buffaloes, are an exception. In this case it is better to kill the animal by hitting the heart. Once you have sufficiently developed your Dead Eye, it can highlight the “weak points” on the body of the animal. This will make it easier for you to aim at the right place.

Information that you’ve obtained a perfect skin should appear in the lower right corner of the screen – as shown in the picture. If you’ve got worse quality leather, you don’t have to throw it away. You can sell it and the time spent on hunting will not be completely wasted?

Using perfect leathers for crafting purposes

Perfect skins and leathers can be sold like any other, but it’s better to use them for crafting. First of all, you can return to the gang camp and give Pearson all perfect pelts. It will be put aside for Arthur’s bag improvements and to the gang camp upgrades. Many crafting improvements require the acquisition of a few pristine pelts of animals of a particular species, so look for more opportunities to find the perfect specimens.

Which animals yield perfect pelts for satchel crafting

Perfect pelts from specific animals are required to craft all satchel upgrades at Pearson’s wagon in Red Dead Redemption 2. These must come from 3-star animals killed cleanly with the recommended weapon.​

Full Requirements

To craft every satchel (Ingredients, Materials, Valuables, Kit, Provisions, Tonics, Legend of the East), donate these perfect pelts to Pearson after buying leatherworking tools:​

• 7x Deer Pelt

• 1x Buck Pelt

• 2x Elk Pelt

• 1x Badger Pelt

• 1x Squirrel Pelt

• 1x Panther Pelt

• 1x Bison Pelt

• 1x Raccoon Pelt

• 1x Boar Pelt

• 1x Iguana Skin

• 1x Beaver Pelt

• 1x Rabbit Pelt

• 1x Cougar Pelt

• 1x Wolf Pelt

Satchel Breakdown

Deer pelts appear most frequently across upgrades, making them a priority early on.​

Where to hunt each required animal by map region

In Red Dead Redemption 2, perfect pelts for satchel crafting come from specific animals hunted in various map regions; locations vary by chapter availability and time of day.​

satchel Pelt Locations

• Deer Pelt (7 needed): Common in forests around Valentine (Heartlands), Annesburg woods (Roanoke Ridge), Big Valley (West Elizabeth).​

• Buck Pelt (1): Same as deer, plus Cumberland Forest (Roanoke Ridge) at dawn/dusk.​

• Elk Pelt (2): Big Valley near O’Creagh’s Run or northern Grizzlies (Ambarino).​

• Badger Pelt (1): Heartlands near Flatneck Station at night.​

• Squirrel Pelt (1): Any woodland, like near camp in Horseshoe Overlook or Big Valley.​

• Panther Pelt (1): Bolger Glade (Scarlett Meadows, Lemoyne) at night-use cover.​

• Bison Pelt (1): Great Plains (New Hanover) or near Emerald Ranch.​

• Raccoon Pelt (1): Bayou Nwa swamps (Lemoyne) or wooded riversides.​

• Boar Pelt (1): Bluewater Marsh (Lemoyne) or along Kamassa River.​

• Iguana Skin (1): Swampy Lakay area (Bayou Nwa, Lemoyne).​

• Beaver Pelt (1): Rivers near Rhodes (Scarlett Meadows) or Elysian Pool.​

• Rabbit Pelt (1): Open fields near Valentine or Strawberry meadows.​

• Cougar Pelt (1): Gaptooth Ridge (New Austin, post-Chapter 6) or Grizzlies at dawn.​

• Wolf Pelt (1): Cotorra Springs (Ambarino) or near Bacchus Bridge.​

Hunting Tips by Region

Heartlands and Roanoke Ridge offer early-game access to deer/badger/raccoon; head south to Lemoyne swamps for iguana/panther/boar later. Use Eagle Eye to track; study for 3-stars.​