Red Dead Redemption 2: Best animal skins, pelts - how to get? Red Dead Redemption 2 Guide and Walkthrough

Obtaining animal skins is a incredibly important aspect of RDR2. You can either sell them or use to create new clothes. On this page we show how to hunt in order to obtain perfect wild animal skins.

Last update: 23 September 2022

Animal skins of perfect (a.k.a. pristine) quality are very desirable goods in Red Dead Redemption 2. You can sell them at high prices and, above all, use them for crafting purposes. On this page of our guide we will inform you how to obtain the best skins of wild animals in RDR2.

• Checking the state of animal
• Use special ammo or arrow type
• Hitting an animal in a specific place on the body
• Using perfect leathers for crafting purposes

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 of excellent 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.

Alternatively, you can supply the trapper with animal pelts (including legendary ones). The trapper is located at the marketplace in the biggest city of the game - Saint Denis. Bringing the trapper perfect hides and pelts from legendary animals allows you to buy unique outfits (e.g. bear hunter's outfit).