Getting "Perfect" pelts

[Cokeyskunk]

Okay, I know I'm opening myself up for ridicule here, but I've been playing the game since release and I STILL HAVE YET TO GET ONE #^@%ING "PERFECT" PELT!!

I've spent a great deal of time with those blasted binoculars looking EVERYWHERE for a "Perfect" specimen - for academic purposes, let's say -- a deer - I FINALLY find one, I use the bow and arrow, I get the thing right in the head and it falls over dead. I triumphantly march over to get my kill, take it back to Pearson, select to "Donate," and--

It says "Donate GOOD Deer Pelt"!!!!

???!!!!

HOW DID IT CHANGE?!?!

Please tell me what in the blue hell I am doing wrong before I forcibly rip out what little hair I have remaining in this head of mine.

Thanks in advance. Unless you don't know the answer. Then -- no thanks for you.
- Skunk 

[Vaderspupil]

Did you by any chance trample the carcass with your horse? That'll damage it.

Btw, a rifle headshot is much easier.

Edited January 8, 2019 by Vaderspupil

[Kormath]

19 minutes ago, Cokeyskunk said:

Okay, I know I'm opening myself up for ridicule here, but I've been playing the game since release and I STILL HAVE YET TO GET ONE #^@%ING "PERFECT" PELT!!

I've spent a great deal of time with those blasted binoculars looking EVERYWHERE for a "Perfect" specimen - for academic purposes, let's say -- a deer - I FINALLY find one, I use the bow and arrow, I get the thing right in the head and it falls over dead. I triumphantly march over to get my kill, take it back to Pearson, select to "Donate," and--

It says "Donate GOOD Deer Pelt"!!!!

???!!!!

HOW DID IT CHANGE?!?!

Please tell me what in the blue hell I am doing wrong before I forcibly rip out what little hair I have remaining in this head of mine.

Thanks in advance. Unless you don't know the answer. Then -- no thanks for you.
- Skunk 

First, get the legendary buck and craft the trinket at a fence.  That gives you a chance to have a pelt upgraded.  Seems to work 4 out of 5 times on small game and 3 out of 7 ish on large game in my experience.

Next, study the animals, then press RB/R1 to view their info, that will tell you the preferred weapon to use to get a perfect pelt.  Then use that weapon (don't use exploding rounds) and Dead eye for a headshot.  If you kill a 3 star animal (you'll be able to see the star rating after studying them) you'll get the perfect pelt, or have the chance to have a 2 star upgraded by the trinket to get a perfect pelt.

Edited January 8, 2019 by Kormath

[BropolloCreed79]

Take down the legendary buck if you haven't already.  The trinket has a chance to upgrade a pelt to perfect.

[Kormath]

12 hours ago, Vaderspupil said:

I remember I had a hell of a time trying to get a perfect squirrel pelt to upgrade one of the satchels. Even with small game arrows, the damn things are so small, you have to be practically right next to it with it sitting still to get a clean shot in.

Legendary buck trinket upgrades almost every small animal to perfect.  I never use the small game arrows anymore.  Varmint rifle and cross fingers on the trinket working.

[LastUnicorn]

It has to be one shot one kill and you cant damage the body afterwards so if your say chasing ater the thing on your horse and then you jump off dead eye and shoot it midair means nothing if yer horse stomps on it afterwards Or maybe you marked the head but the thing bowed before arrow hit it and ou got the neck or something. Also for small game like badgers etc I think you need to use varmint rifle or some other special stuff, it always says in the species description in menu thingy. I cant think of anything else hope it helps

[Vaderspupil]

Another alternative is to ride up along side it, lasso it and stab it with your knife. That ensures a clean kill provided again you don't trample it with your horse.

[Truth]

28 minutes ago, Cokeyskunk said:

Please tell me what in the blue hell I am doing wrong before I forcibly rip out what little hair I have remaining in this head of mine.

Get good!

A carcass will degrade over time, the pelt alone will not. I rarely bothered with carcasses, you only needed for certain camp items anyway. You can load up your horse with as many pelts as you want though, so I always skin my kills right away and I can take my time getting somewhere to sell them.

When you skin the animal, you should see a pop-up that says "perfect deer pelt" or "good deer pelt".

Other problems I suspect you might be having are already posted here. For starters:

19 minutes ago, Vaderspupil said:

Did you by any chance trample the carcass with your horse? That'll damage it.

Btw, a rifle headshot is much easier.

I wouldn't bother with a bow unless it's something stupid like a toad. For some reason you can only get a perfect toad with a small game arrow. Varmint rifle won't do it...

Next (since @Kormath jumped in while I was typing this portion):

10 minutes ago, Kormath said:

Next, study the animals, then press RB/R1 to view their info, that will tell you the preferred weapon to use to get a perfect pelt.  Then use that weapon (don't use exploding rounds) and Dead eye for a headshot.  If you kill a 3 star animal (you'll be able to see the star rating after studying them) you'll get the perfect pelt, or have the chance to have a 2 star upgraded by the trinket to get a perfect pelt.

Always here with good advice. That trinket is a blessing, and knowing what weapon is best will save what's left of your hair.

Also, as @LastUnicorn touched on, arrows travel much slower than bullets. You might be lined up for a perfect head shot, but your target is likely to move before the arrow reaches it.

Then, of course, we have @Vaderspupil thinking outside the box. That's another sure way to get that perfect pelt.

 

If none of this helps, then enjoy being bald!

Edit: Forgot one thing. I'll make it a spoiler just in case, but it's only regarding an upgrade you'll get later on in the story.

Spoiler

Once your dead eye is upgraded further, kill shots are highlighted on your target.

 

Edited January 8, 2019 by Truth

[Ozy8753]

Don't bother with the bow using the rolling block rifle it will show a 3 star animal, then 1 shot to the head. 

[Vaderspupil]

4 hours ago, Truth said:

 

I wouldn't bother with a bow unless it's something stupid like a toad. For some reason you can only get a perfect toad with a small game arrow. Varmint rifle won't do it...

I remember I had a hell of a time trying to get a perfect squirrel pelt to upgrade one of the satchels. Even with small game arrows, the damn things are so small, you have to be practically right next to it with it sitting still to get a clean shot in.

[Tenti]

13 hours ago, Kormath said:

First, get the legendary buck and craft the trinket at a fence.  That gives you a chance to have a pelt upgraded.  Seems to work 4 out of 5 times on small game and 3 out of 7 ish on large game in my experience.

Next, study the animals, then press RB/R1 to view their info, that will tell you the preferred weapon to use to get a perfect pelt.  Then use that weapon (don't use exploding rounds) and Dead eye for a headshot.  If you kill a 3 star animal (you'll be able to see the star rating after studying them) you'll get the perfect pelt, or have the chance to have a 2 star upgraded by the trinket to get a perfect pelt.

Blimey, on 3rd playthrough and didn't know that!!  I haven't had a problem though as long as you use the weapon suggested.  But deffo gonna get that trinket asap!

[Vaderspupil]

21 minutes ago, Kormath said:

Legendary buck trinket upgrades almost every small animal to perfect.  I never use the small game arrows anymore.  Varmint rifle and cross fingers on the trinket working.

I do have the buck trinket. Maybe that's what got it for me. I generally rely on the tool tip from studying the animals to determine what weapon to use.

[Kormath]

24 minutes ago, Vaderspupil said:

I do have the buck trinket. Maybe that's what got it for me. I generally rely on the tool tip from studying the animals to determine what weapon to use.

yep so i do i other than the small animals and song bird types.  Unless i'm in a mission my weapon wheel has the varmint rifle at bottom and Springfield at left.

[Vaderspupil]

26 minutes ago, Kormath said:

yep so i do i other than the small animals and song bird types.  Unless i'm in a mission my weapon wheel has the varmint rifle at bottom and Springfield at left.

Ha. I usually keep my varmint rifle to the left and Springfield at the bottom.😀 I really wish there was a better way to sort your weapons. I hate having to choose only 2 long arms when I'm off my horse and it's a pain in the butt having to cycle through and select the bow or sniper rifle when you need them when you're  on your horse. I almost never use repeaters and I only use shotguns if I know there's  a good chance I'll be in a firefight with cqc. This goes for both online and single player.

[Kormath]

3 minutes ago, Vaderspupil said:

Ha. I usually keep my varmint rifle to the left and Springfield at the bottom.😀 I really wish there was a better way to sort your weapons. I hate having to choose only 2 long arms when I'm off my horse and it's a pain in the butt having to cycle through and select the bow or sniper rifle when you need them when you're  on your horse. I almost never use repeaters and I only use shotguns if I know there's  a good chance I'll be in a firefight with cqc. This goes for both online and single player.

if i'm bored and wanting to lower my honor back to red after doing missions i use the Lancaster and semi-auto shotgun to go on a killing spree.  You'd think the people in Van Horn would go into hiding when they see me riding into town with those equipped, considering how many times i've made Van Horn a ghost town

[Vaderspupil]

3 minutes ago, Kormath said:

if i'm bored and wanting to lower my honor back to red after doing missions i use the Lancaster and semi-auto shotgun to go on a killing spree.  You'd think the people in Van Horn would go into hiding when they see me riding into town with those equipped, considering how many times i've made Van Horn a ghost town

My preferred murder spree weapon is the simple combat knife. I love tackling anyone I come across and executing them with a throat slit.😊

[Truth]

1 hour ago, Vaderspupil said:

My preferred murder spree weapon is the simple combat knife. I love tackling anyone I come across and executing them with a throat slit.😊

Rdr2, f13 style?

[Vaderspupil]

12 minutes ago, Truth said:

Rdr2, f13 style?

Exactly! LOL 😉

[CowBoii]

I had quite a number of pelts go from perfect to basically crap and I couldn't understand what I was doing. Had no idea the horse touching the carcass would affect it in any way. So that is something. Not to highjack the OP here or anything, but is there anything else that would cause them to change? 

[Kormath]

14 hours ago, CowBoii said:

I had quite a number of pelts go from perfect to basically crap and I couldn't understand what I was doing. Had no idea the horse touching the carcass would affect it in any way. So that is something. Not to highjack the OP here or anything, but is there anything else that would cause them to change? 

once they're skinned they won't degrade.  if left on the carcass they'll degrade with it.  I had a deer once that i shot, shot another near by it.  Went to the first deer and skinned it, but when i did that the 2nd deer carcass went outside the range of the minimap, when i went to skin it it was rotten and i couldn't. And it was that fast, gallop to the first deer, skin, stow skin, gallop to 2nd deer, swear.  Both were 3 star deer when shot.  Had another near Van horn that degraded from 3 star to poor in like triple time, guessing it was one of them mangy deer, only one of them i tried harvesting.  They work good for attracting birds and smaller scavengers though.

[Cokeyskunk]

So, I went into the mountains, near the Indian camp (where I was NOT warmly greeted by the apparently passive-aggressive natives), and found a trapper's campsite. I sat with him by the fire and talked a bit, then something apparently spooked him and he left within minutes. But he left behind some perfect pelts - which I was happy to take.

Here's the frustrating part:

It seems like every time - EVERY TIME - I get a good skin or kill, I end up getting ambushed by some gang and killed. Then, when I re-spawn, I'm $150 poorer and the kills/hides are gone.

Such is life . . .  

[Truth]

7 minutes ago, Cokeyskunk said:

So, I went into the mountains, near the Indian camp (where I was NOT warmly greeted by the apparently passive-aggressive natives), and found a trapper's campsite. I sat with him by the fire and talked a bit, then something apparently spooked him and he left within minutes. But he left behind some perfect pelts - which I was happy to take.

Here's the frustrating part:

It seems like every time - EVERY TIME - I get a good skin or kill, I end up getting ambushed by some gang and killed. Then, when I re-spawn, I'm $150 poorer and the kills/hides are gone.

Such is life . . .  

ALWAYS SAVE YOUR GAME.

I save every few minutes simply to avoid that. 

[Kormath]

1 hour ago, Truth said:

ALWAYS SAVE YOUR GAME.

I save every few minutes simply to avoid that. 

I don't go that far   I save after every challenge, after every hide, and such like that.  Might be hours before i do a manual save like that, but that usually means i haven't done anything important in that time that i can't redo when i come back to life or the auto save mark doesn't work for.

I also make a save every time i quit a play session, just in case there's a glitch, like my arabian horse becomes a morgan when i turn the game on again

[Cokeyskunk]

On 1/9/2019 at 12:33 PM, Truth said:

Rdr2, f13 style?

Remember the masks you can buy from the fences . . . ?

Guess what I'm thinking for a future DLC . . . ?

(and you know, you CAN equip a machete . . . )

@Vaderspupil, @BropolloCreed79, @NthnButAGoodTime, @TheHansonGoons, @Freddie Mercury

😁

[Truth]

28 minutes ago, Cokeyskunk said:

Remember the masks you can buy from the fences . . . ?

Guess what I'm thinking for a future DLC . . . ?

(and you know, you CAN equip a machete . . . )

@Vaderspupil, @BropolloCreed79, @NthnButAGoodTime, @TheHansonGoons, @Freddie Mercury

😁

They should make Jason a random encounter in the swamps!

(not really, but it would be cool)

Edited January 11, 2019 by Truth

[Cokeyskunk]

39 minutes ago, Truth said:

They should make Jason a random encounter in the swamps!

(not really, but it would be cool)

Well, THAT won't happen. But if they create a mask that LOOKS like a hockey mask -- and make it CUSTOMIZABLE to where WE can make it look like THE mask if we so wish -- then there's no legal ramification, and boom - you've got Jason haunting the woods and swamps of Lemoyne.

. . . only problem is, the more death you wreak, the more "the law" is gonna come after you. Something tells me a Jason-esque Arthur Morgan can't take a bullet the way Jason could.  😒 

[Truth]

2 minutes ago, Cokeyskunk said:

. . . only problem is, the more death you wreak, the more "the law" is gonna come after you. Something tells me a Jason-esque Arthur Morgan can't take a bullet the way Jason could.  😒  

*There is no invincibility cheat in Red Dead Redemption 2, nor do any of the cheats work in Red Dead Online.

https://www.rdr2.org/cheats/rdr2/

That sucks...

Looks like this is the closest we have now:

[Cokeyskunk]

25 minutes ago, Truth said:

*There is no invincibility cheat in Red Dead Redemption 2, nor do any of the cheats work in Red Dead Online.

https://www.rdr2.org/cheats/rdr2/

That sucks...

Looks like this is the closest we have now:

They should do a "porcelain mask" that has vent holes and allows you to add designs to it.

Would also be nice if we had the option for the eyes to be blacked out-- or not (a la Part 3). 

[LastUnicorn]

On 1/8/2019 at 10:59 PM, Vaderspupil said:

Another alternative is to ride up along side it, lasso it and stab it with your knife. That ensures a clean kill provided again you don't trample it with your horse.

Does that work for squirells ?

[Kormath]

4 hours ago, LastUnicorn said:

Does that work for squirells ?

No lol can't do that with anything smaller than a sheep

[Vaderspupil]

On 1/12/2019 at 5:49 AM, LastUnicorn said:

Does that work for squirells ?

 

On 1/12/2019 at 10:28 AM, Kormath said:

No lol can't do that with anything smaller than a sheep

That would take some impressive skill to lasso a squirrel. LOL!🤣