Far Cry 5 best hunting locations

Hunting is how you’re going to make most of your disposable income money in Far Cry 5. You’ll get some money from missions and side missions, but the money for yet another boat or a fancy new shovel is probably going to come from selling animal skins. Hunting each species of animal will also earn you between one and three perk points (once you hit a certain quota).

The problem is hunting is inconsistent in Far Cry 5. You might stumble into a location where you can make thousands of dollars in a few minutes (like the Harris residence or the Taft Lookout Tower), but you might also look for a single skunk for hours without ever finding one. Below, we’ve got a map and some tips for finding all 19 of Hope County’s species along with some advice on how to get the most money out of every hunting trip.

Finding hunting spots

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There are three ways to discover Far Cry 5’s official hunting spots — the ones that will show up on your map:

• Stumble across them. As you’re wandering — especially when you’re taking a cross-country shortcut — you might just happen across a hunting spot. You probably won’t even notice until the notification pops up on the left of your HUD.
• Road signs. If you stick to the roads, you’ll find animal crossing signs every once in a while. These correspond to nearby hunting spots.
• Maps and magazines. Inside some of the buildings that you find — both residences and cult outposts — are hunting and fishing magazines. When you pick these up, new spots will get added to your map.

The thing about the official hunting spots, though, is that they’re more suggestions than sureties. They serve as a good starting point, but you’re rarely going to find exactly what you’re looking for at that marker. Instead, explore around hunting spots for prey species. For carnivorous species, toss some bait nearby — you’re not guaranteed to get the animal you’re after, but it’s more likely one will show up if you keep trying.

Far Cry 5 hunting map and animal locations

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Use the map above as a guide to help you in your search for good hunting grounds. There’s at least one spot where we (relatively) reliably found each of the 19 species. Not every spot lines up with official hunting spots, but these are the locations that worked for us. (We accidentally got a hunting achievement while researching this map, so we know it works.) Here’s what we learned from all that hunting:

• Hunting birds is hard and not worth your time. Of the 19 species of animals in Far Cry 5, five are birds. All birds drop an item called feather and that’s it. You can sell them for $100 each, but — if your aim is as bad as ours — that will barely cover the cost of your ammo. Hunt enough of each species of bird to get your challenge perk points, then don’t worry about them any more.
• Headshots work on some animals. A headshot will drop some animals with one shot, which will save you a lot of time. That said, an M60 works just as well without all that bothersome aiming.
• Don’t rely on the hunting spots on your map. Like we said above, they’re more suggestions. If you find someplace where there are reliably animals, make a note of it. Trust your experience more than the map.
• Some animals’ skins are more valuable. Check the table below for the prices you can sell animal skins for. Some animals are just not worth your time if you’re only looking to make some quick cash. Focus on high-dollar animals that you can find consistently, or just read our guide about hunting at the Harris residence.

Hunting tips and tricks

Hunting is not exactly nuanced in Far Cry 5 — shoot a thing until it falls down, then loot it — but there are some things you can do to squeeze a little more money out of the process.

Finding the animal you just shot

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Things can get pretty hectic in a hurry while you’re trying to do anything in Far Cry 5. If you’re hunting something small or fast — things like hares and ducks — it is surprisingly easy to completely lose track of where it fell.

Whenever you kill something — an animal or a cultist — a faint X will appear on your compass at the top of the screen. It’s very easy to miss, but it’s also invaluable. Use this X to guide you to your loot.

Hunting perks

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There are two perks you’ll want to unlock as early in your hunting career as possible:

• Harvest master (survivalist, eight points). This skill doubles the loot you pick up from plants and animals. Where you’d normally only get one skin, you’ll get two.
• Journey pack (prepper, seven points). This perk gets you a bigger backpack. You’ll be able to carry more gear like medkits, but more importantly for this guide, you’ll be able to carry more skins, feathers and bait as well. This means more hunting before you have to head to a vendor.

A couple other perks will help you out, but these are optional:

• King of the jungle (survivalist, six points). First, this reduces the damage you take from animals. That’s important because you’re going to be attacked by wolverines a lot while hunting here. It also makes prey species less likely to flee from you.
• Sneaky sprint (assassin, four points). This perk makes you move faster while crouched, which keeps you mobile while staying out of sight.

Specialists and weapons

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Aside from your perks, you can make hunting easier by bringing along the goodest boy and our favorite fang for hire, Boomer. He’ll automatically mark animals on your HUD — white chevrons are prey and red chevrons are dangerous. He’ll also occasionally retrieve small animals you kill so you don’t have to go looking for them in the brush.

If you have to pick one companion, pick Boomer. If you can bring two, Jess Black, master huntress, is a great addition. Her feral friendly perk means that animals won’t run away from her. When Boomer finds an animal, put it in your sights and order Jess to sneak up and kill it.

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The loot you get from an animal depends on how you kill it. If you shoot a deer with a gun, you’ll get one skin (without the harvest master perk). If you kill the same deer with a bow instead, you’ll get two. Bring a bow hunting and use it whenever you can. It’s not always practical, though, so bring along something stronger to back it up (we’re not saying you should bring an M60 hunting, but we’re not not saying that either). Just make sure you use your bow as much as possible, especially on the more valuable animals.

Homeopathic aid

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Unsurprisingly, the homeopathic you can make called ultimate hunter is really helpful while hunting. It automatically marks all animals (and enemies) around you for a limited time.