Red Dead Redemption 2 Hunting Guide: All Legendary Animal Locations
Here's what animals you can expect to find in RDR2 and how to hunt them, as well as where to find all legendary animals.
Red Dead Redemption 2's hunting mechanics are more in-depth than they are in most dedicated hunting games. You not only have to worry about tracking and taking down game, but what you use to do it. On top of that, there are a finite number of legendary animals found in the wilderness of Red Dead Redemption 2, and it can be a tough time tracking them all down.
In our Red Dead Redemption 2 hunting guide, we'll be detailing everything there is to know about all of RDR2's animals, including a list of the various legendary animal locations in Red Dead Redemption 2.
We're here to walk you through it, to guide to you the right spots, and to help you bag perfect pelts.
Red Dead Redemption 2 Hunting Guide: How to track animals
Hunting is mainly useful for three things: meat, pelts, and crafting items. If you want to keep your health core high, wear the best clothes, and craft the best ammo, hunting is your bread and butter. Here are just some of the things you can do with hunting goods:
- Setting up a campfire and cooking meat is one of the easiest ways to keep Arthur working at maximum capacity.
- Animal parts can be used by a campfire to craft, such as animal fat for explosives and feathers for special arrow types.
- Carcasses and animal parts can be donated to Pearson at camp, both as contributions and to unlock upgrades.
- Animal carcasses and parts can be sold to butchers for profit.
- You can use certain body parts to craft Talismans at fences, permanently boosting your stats.
- Skinning animals works towards your Master Hunter challenges and towards Red Dead Redemption 2's best outfit.
First off, you should avoid going for animals under three star-quality where you can help it. When you spot your prey at a distance - make sure you stay downwind so they don't pick up your scent, visible in Eagle Eye mode - pull out your binoculars. Study the animal and it should give you a star rating on their pelt. Three stars - Pristine - is what you want.
As our Red Dead Redemption 2 pelt guide points out, you then need to use the correct ammunition on the animal to keep the pelt at high quality. You also need to go for kill shots, rather than repeatedly firing at them.
As mentioned above, the quality of your kill is about using the right ammunition (which you can check in the compendium), as well as making a clean kill. All animals have kill spots that you can target for an instant kill. These areas are highlighted in red once you reach Level 4 of Dead Eye.
Unlocked in Chapter 5, this Dead Eye upgrade makes your reticle turn red when close to a vital organ such as the brain or the heart. Hit these small targets for an instant kill. Be aware that you also have to account for penetration, though - animals with thick skulls, for example, can only be taken down instantly with high-velocity cartridges and powerful rifles.
All Red Dead Redemption 2 Legendary Animal locations
Just below, we’ll list out the locations of the legendary animals in Red Dead Redemption 2 that we’ve uncovered for ourselves so far. This list is by no means complete, and we’ll be adding to it whenever we uncover the location of a new elite animal.
Legendary Moose Location
For the legendary moose, you’re going to need to head into the very northeastern corner of the entire Red Dead Redemption 2 map. This is directly north from Annesburg and Roanoke Ridge.
Legendary Grizzly Bear Location
Smack bang in the middle of nowhere, you can find the legendary grizzly bear. You can either head directly east from Bacchus Station, or north from Emerald Ranch to reach this location.
Legendary Wolf Location
To locate the legendary wolf in Red Dead Redemption 2, you're going to want to head to Bacchus Station, and head west from there. You can locate the legendary wolf itself immediately north of the train tracks.
Legendary Beaver Location
For the legendary beaver in Red Dead Redemption 2, you’re going to want to head into the very eastern portion of the entire map. You can find the legendary beaver east of the Van Horn Trading Post.
Legendary Boar Location
Right around Bluewater Marsh, you can find the legendary boar, looking for a fight. If you’re looking for the marsh itself, it’s directly north from Saint Denis.
Legendary Alligator Location
Just north and slightly west of Saint Denis, you can find the legendary alligator in the bayou. Come prepared, because this elite animal puts up a tough fight.
Legendary Fox Location
Just west of the Bayou and north from Rhodes, you can find the legendary fox.
Legendary Coyote Location
Just south and slightly west from Emerald Ranch, you can find the legendary coyote among the trees near Scarlett.
Legendary Buck Location
The legendary buck is definitely going to be one of the tougher creatures to track in Red Dead Redemption 2, since it'll bolt at the first sign of the danger. You can find it by heading northwest of Strawberry, and west of Mount Shann.
Legendary White Bison Location
Far out to the west in Ambarino, you can find the legendary white bison in the snow. Come prepared with your warmest gear for this creature.
Big Horn Ram Location
The legendary big horn ram can be found just west from Valentine, west from the river.
Legendary Pronghorn Location
To find this unique creature, you'll want to head to Fort Mercer, and then east.
Legendary Cougar Location
In the very west of the map, past Tumbleweed, you can find the legendary cougar.
Legendary Tatanka Bison Location
The legendary tatanka bison can be located southwest from Thieves Landing, and just south from Stillwater Creek.
All Red Dead Redemption 2 animal locations and habitats
So, you now know exactly what to do with each animal you encounter. The only problem is, where do you find the buggers? Here, I'll break down animal habitats for you so you can head off to bag your trophies.
I'm not going to list every animal in the game because I will be dead before I've finished. Some of the animals can be found across large portions of the map anyway - those damn badgers are everywhere. Instead, I'll list some of the hardest animals to track down.
Bat locations
Need some bat wings or stringy meat? Here's where to look:
Armadillo, iguana and gila monster locations
If you want armadillo skin, you're going to need to ride past Blackwater and into New Austin. Appropriately, these are all around the outskirts of the town of Armadillo. You can also find gila monsters and iguana around here:
Beaver locations
Whether you want scent glands or beaver fur, these little critters can be tough to track down. You will find a patch of them to the West of Strawberry, around a lake. You can also find some under the 'E' and 'R' of 'NEW HANOVER'. Here's a look:
Bull locations
As far as I know, there are two spots for bulls. If you want bull horns, prime beef, or pelts, here's where you need to go:
Condor locations
If you need condor feathers, there's only one place to get them and it's just to the West of Tumbleweed in New Austin:
Crab locations
These are tricky to track down as well, but here's where you can find some crustacean meat:
Waxwing locations
These small birds can be difficult to track down, so head to these locations to get those cedar waxwing feathers:
For other animal species, just use a bit of common sense. Pigeons scavenge in Saint Denis, gulls are by the coast, farm animals are in farms, and amphibians are by lakes and rivers.
The Bayou North of Saint Denis features its own habitat and hosts species such as bullfrog, alligators, cranes, egrets, and turtles. New Austin is home to desert-dwelling animals.
Check out our Red Dead Redemption 2 Legendary Fish guide if you want to hunt the relaxing way. You can also check out our guide on how to get perfect pelts and where to sell them.
If you're new to Red Dead Redemption 2, then you should also check out our guides on how to upgrade your bows and arrows, how to level up and use Dead Eye and where to find the best horse.