One of the best ways to get money or materials in Red Dead Redemption 2 is by getting Perfect Pelts. But it can be quite challenging to do so if you’re not sure what to do or where to look. In this guide, I’ll be sharing how to get Perfect Pelts and everything else you need to know about them.
You obtain Perfect Pelts in Red Dead Redemption 2 by hunting pristine animals. Getting clean kills and using the correct weapon will increase your chance of obtaining Perfect Pelts.
The quality of the pelt you obtain from an animal is dependent on several factors. There can be the environment, hunting equipment, and the technique that you utilize. If you continue reading, I’ll go into more detail regarding each of these factors. I’ll also give you general tips to improve your Pelt farming.
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How to Get Perfect Pelts
Getting Perfect Pelts in Red Dead Redemption 2 requires a lot of skill. However, several factors can increase your chances of obtaining the quality of pelts you desire.
Pelts are incredibly useful because they not only give you money when you sell them. But you can also use them to increase your profits from hunting. Especially, since most traders in Red Dead Redemption 2 will give you exceptional deals. This is done in hopes that you would trade them your Perfect Pelts.
Certain crafting recipes specifically require Perfect Pelts. This means that you will need quite a few of them throughout your journey.
In this section, we’ll discuss all the factors that can improve your rate of obtaining perfect pelts. And will go over specific improvements you can make in gameplay to facilitate this increase.
Hunting Pristine Animals
If you’re looking to start farming some Perfect Pelts then you’ll need to select the right prey. This is by far the easiest part of the process of getting Perfect Pelts in Red Dead Redemption 2. There are only a few things to be mindful of, and if you ensure those factors, then you’ll be able to spot the best prey always.
Follow these steps to recognize a Pristine Prey:
- Search for animals while you’re out in the wild.
- Once you spot a suitable animal, simply pull up your Weapon Wheel
- Select your binoculars and use them to look toward the prep or animal.
- At this point try to Zoom into the animal that you have chosen
- Tap R1/RB, depending on your control scheme, and open a Dialogue Box in the bottom left.
- The Dialogue box will identify the quality of the animal that you are targeting.
- The quality of the animals will range from Poor, Good, and Pristine.
This process is slightly different if you’re on Horseback. If you’re currently riding your horse then you can spot an animal’s quality by aiming your weapon toward then and quickly tapping R1/RB.
In either case, you will be able to see the Star-Rating of the animal in the bottom right of the screen. This will indicate to you if it’s worth hunting or not.
Through this method, you can make sure that you don’t attempt to hunt prey that’s not worth your time. And if you’re specifically searching for Perfect Pelts then only hunt for Pristine Animals.
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Select the Correct Weapons
The next factor that we’ll be discussing within this section is selecting the right weapon. As we mentioned above, selecting the right animal after studying them is important. Which animal you hunt provides you with a good indicator of the yield that you receive. However, this principle also applies to the weapons you use.
The dialogue box that tells you if an animal is pristine will also let you know what you need to use to kill it. Depending on the type or species of the animal you are hunting, this tool will differ. There is quite a large compendium of weapons available to you to use. However, the umbrella for species under each weapon is quite wide.
As an example, if you’re hunting for small game such as frogs, snakes, ducks, or squirrels. In that case, you will require Small Game Arrows. If you utilize another weapon then the pelt will be ruined. So you will not be able to receive the Perfect Pelt.
Note: You can craft Small Game Arrows by combining arrows, shotgun shells, and feathers. This is just one form of specific ammunition and weaponry that you might need to hunt Perfect Pelts. It’s important to know that you are currently carrying the correct weapon. Especially, when searching for a certain animal for their pelts.
Animals and Their Weapons
| Animal Size | Animal Names | Weapon Type |
|---|---|---|
| Small | Frogs, Snakes, Ducks, and Squirrels | Small Game Arrows |
| Moderate | Hawks, Rabbits, Badgers, and Racoons | Varmint Rifle |
| Medium | Coyotes, Foxes, or Beavers | Bow or Repeater |
| Large | Cougars, Bucks, and Deer | Bolt-Action Rifle |
| Massive | Bears, Elk, or Cows | Sniper Rifle |
It’s obvious that if you’re looking for the most diverse amount of Perfect Pelts. Then you’re going to have a wide variety of weapons on hand. So it’s usually a good idea to fill out your weapon wheel. And have all manner of weaponry that you can later utilize.
Otherwise, you will not be able to hunt certain animals. And will have to go back to your storage area over and over again.
Related: Red Dead Redemption 2 Ultimate Weapons Guide
Get Clean Kills
The worst part about trying to get Perfect Pelts in Red Dead Redemption 2 is how unforgiving the system it is. Simply finding a Three-Star animal is challenging enough. But it’s made harder when you have to shoot its organs perfectly, so you do not ruin the pelt.
Inflicting Fatal damage in this manner or doing critical damage to an animal is a lot harder than one would initially expect. And it takes a lot of practice to do it efficiently or effectively. Hunting, however, can be made easier. This is usually done by ranking up your Dead Eye.
Vital organs of an animal will light up, such as the brain or heart, once you reach Rank 4 of your Dead Eye ability. This usually happens around the 5th chapter of the story. Even more critical organs are revealed when you attain Rank 5. This occurs in Chapter 6.
Ultimately, your ability to reliably target and hit weak points or vital organs of an animal is directly tied to your Dead Eye ability. So if you’re looking to increase the amount of damage that you do. Or if you’re looking to increase your odds of receiving Perfect Pelts then you want to rank up your Dead Eye.
What To Do After Cleanly Killing Your Prey?
If you’ve followed the information I’ve shared so far then you now know what to do when hunting animals.
However, you might still be confused as to which interactions you need to do to get the pelts from the animals you’ve hunted. This section will be answering just that.
If you’re using the right weapon, and you’ve placed a clean shot on your animal. Then you’re almost done with what you needed to do.
Now all you need is to extrapolate the pelt from the Pristine animal. Ensure that this 3-Star animal was hit in the vital organs and was hit with a critical. If the damage was not clean then it can ruin the pelt.
You need to now Skin the Pelt off of the carcass of your prey. Take the Pelt with you to your local Trapper for extra cash and crafting opportunities. This pretty much wraps up all you need to know about how to obtain Perfect Pelts in Red Dead Redemption 2.
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General Tips Regarding Hunting
Finally, we’ll be going over some general hunting tips. These are designed to help make it easier for you to get those pesky Perfect Pelts! By following some of these guidelines, it’ll be easier for you to get the animal kills you want and subsequently the Pelts you desire.
- Always make sure that you have the High-Ground when hunting animals. This usually gives you a better overall vision of the animal. And provides you the most opportunity to land a clean kill.
- Strike from the side of the animal. In most cases trying to attack from the front or the backside of the animal means that there is a greater chance you’ll miss their vital organs. This is because other sections of the animal’s body might be blocking the way or obstructing your view. So attacking from the side can be helpful.
- If you’re using a bow try to pull the arrow back all the way. Especially if you have the Dead Eye Ability activated. It can be hard to judge how much force you need to land the maximum amount of damage. You want to make sure you always get a clean kill. So by pulling the arrow back all the way you’ll ensure that.
- The last thing I would suggest is to just be patient. Hunting for Perfect Pelts is a long and time-consuming process. If you stress about it too much then you’ll be bound to make mistakes and that can be costly overall.
And that’s it, guys! Hope you found this guide useful for hunting for and obtaining Perfect Pelts. If there is anything else you wish to know then let us know. Till next time!