Unexpected Moose (spoiler alert)

[shade_grey]

After spending several days fishing, I recently stumbled across this beauty:

Strange thing is, there was no previous indication that a moose could spawn here. No trees with scratch marks. No previous spawns for 60 or so days. In all fairness, I have been traveling to and from other regions but coastal highway is my permanent base. That could explain the lack of previous spawns but still, the lack of scratched trees, and the long wait between spawns makes me anxious due to the possibility of "hidden" moose spawn areas. I've encountered three other moose areas and hunted from two of those. They all have scratched trees and frequent spawns, which makes this area aberrant.

Has anyone else ever had a moose suddenly appear in places you've never expected them to spawn at? Could this be a one time moose spawn? I've allowed this moose to despawn and now that I'm prepared for a hunt, the possibility that moose will never return to this area could mean a fruitless wait.

[tuc-tuc]

It was said that the moose spawn on clearings, which this could classify as. So yeah, the may be "hidden" spawns, since "clearing" is pretty vague. For example, the other day I saw a moose next to the pond with a fishing hut in pleasant valley, even though its a pond, not a "clearing" per se.

 

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49 minutes ago, tuc-tuc said:

It was said that the moose spawn on clearings, which this could classify as. So yeah, the may be "hidden" spawns, since "clearing" is pretty vague. For example, the other day I saw a moose next to the pond with a fishing hut in pleasant valley, even though its a pond, not a "clearing" per se.

 

Interesting... Were there any scratched trees in that area?

[Mixxut]

The scrathed trees aren't necessary to make a moose spawn. They are just signs that a moose might be/has been nearby.  Maybe that moose was on a road trip  and just wanted to protect the local trees from getting scratched

 

[tuc-tuc]

11 minutes ago, shade_grey said:

Interesting... Were there any scratched trees in that area?

Not sure. I was on Inteloper, freezing to death so I didnt have time to look. But the spawn chance of the moose gets higher with difficulty, so maybe if you were playing on a lower difficulty, the moose didnt spawn for a long time, because of the lowered spawn chance? Or maybe the chance is lowered, if you are in the area a lot, to prevent things like a moose instantly getting mad when you walk out of your house ? Just an idea, I dont have much experience with the moose myself.

[Fuarian]

The way Moose spawn is very interesting. And strange. It would be nice for Hinterland to clarify the workings of it. But at the same time not knowing how it works allows us constantly have something fresh to experience. Like this.

[Blankshield]

I have seen a moose in the open space (no blaze marks near) in front of Trapper's Cabin on ML, but only once.  I'd assumed they have a broader 'range' than some of the other animals, and it had wandered from the regular spawn up past unnamed pond (where  trees were blazed).

[Hugoodtimes]

I've had this surprise myself while on CH. I just stopped by on my way to DP and the next day when leaving the gas station I hear the stomping. I barely had time to enter a car to check what was happening.

As I understand, the scratched trees are not mandatory for moose spawn. They will occasionally spawn on clearings, as said above. 

I killed this moose, harvested the shit out of it, went to DP, came back some 30 days later and there was a new one. I would say it is a confirmed moose spawn location from now on

[shade_grey]

15 hours ago, Fuarian said:

The way Moose spawn is very interesting. And strange. It would be nice for Hinterland to clarify the workings of it. But at the same time not knowing how it works allows us constantly have something fresh to experience. Like this.

I agree... But knowing certain things about the environment will allow the player to exploit resources more prudently. If the wildlife was more realistically diverse, then the options would mean that secrets would be abundant, even for players who have no problem acquiring resources.

7 hours ago, Hugoodtimes said:

I killed this moose, harvested the shit out of it, went to DP, came back some 30 days later and there was a new one. I would say it is a confirmed moose spawn location from now on

That's reassuring... But as of now, I've been waiting for about 30 days (a coincidence I assure you) but the moose has yet to appear. I'm not giving up, it's just that it's so different from other moose areas that almost always have a moose present when I pass by.

[Hugoodtimes]

7 hours ago, shade_grey said:

That's reassuring... But as of now, I've been waiting for about 30 days (a coincidence I assure you) but the moose has yet to appear. I'm not giving up, it's just that it's so different from other moose areas that almost always have a moose present when I pass by.

Maybe there's something to do with the fact that I was in another region for virtually all 30 days?

It is different from another areas in that this one has a lot of houses and cars and stuff, and also is close to wolves, but there are many things in common too, like being in a clearing and it is in a lower region of a slope (if you consider the mountains behind the town)(I have yet to find a moose at the top of a hill).

[shade_grey]

10 hours ago, shade_grey said:

That's reassuring... But as of now, I've been waiting for about 30 days (a coincidence I assure you) but the moose has yet to appear. I'm not giving up, it's just that it's so different from other moose areas that almost always have a moose present when I pass by.

Well... 8 days later, one finally appears.

This is the first moose I've ever harvested in CH.

2 hours ago, Hugoodtimes said:

Maybe there's something to do with the fact that I was in another region for virtually all 30 days?

I don't think so... The quonset may be my permanent base but at this point I spend most of my in game time in other regions, only returning home to hoard supplies and restock on things like cloth, metal, medication, and arrows as well as to repair some of the gear I couldn't repair in the field. Granted, I did spend about 32 days in CH waiting for the moose to spawn, but that was because I didn't want to miss it since, once it spawns, it only sticks around for 3 or 4 days.

My best hypothesis at the moment is that there's a certain RNG to moose spawn frequency. It would be too easy if you could time the appearance of moose reliably and be able to hunt regularly by returning to certain moose areas after a set number of days.

[shade_grey]

Found another unexpected moose.

I actually kinda already knew about this one but I thought this was one of those areas that had scratched trees. At this point, I think that it's safe for me to say that there are at least two types of moose spawn areas, areas with scratched trees that have frequent spawns and "hidden" areas that have very infrequent spawns.

[FormalBear]

EVERY moose is "unexpected" for me. I have encountered exactly ONE - in Pleasant Valley, ambling upstream not far from the hayfield. I approached it, directly, shot at it, it stomped me, I shot it a couple more times, it stomped me AGAIN, I shot it again, and again - and finally it died. Then I decided it wasn't worth the two broken ribs, and restarted (after restoring a cloud save - yes, I cheat *wears the eternal SHAME*), thinking, "next time, I'll get the moose without getting my arse kicked quite so bad!"

Only trouble: There hasn't been a "next time". (That was around Day 70-75; I'm now on Day 115, or so.) Moose are RARE. I should have taken my lumps - and taken its hide.

[stratvox]

I've been on TWM for quite a while on my current playthrough. It was there when I arrived (around day 75) and it popped up in the same place 60 days after I killed it. I've heard they may be on a 30 day cycle for when they appear and when they do appear they only hang around for a day or three; it may be that I just missed it on the first cycle. If I'm still here a month from now I'm going to be haunting its spawn point to see if it shows up.

[FormalBear]

Weird coincidence: The moose came back to the same spot - which I arrived at by accident, as a blizzard subsided; I wasn't even moose hunting - in my session, this very evening.

But that's not the weirdest bit: I climbed a fallen tree, thinking maybe I could get an arrow or two into the beast. Unexpectedly, it tried charging me, anyway - and got stuck under the tree, right at my feet! I put four arrows in it, one of which broke - then, while it was still running in place, I leaned down and reclaimed the three arrows sticking out of its back, and shot a couple back in. It died.

Far too easy. Comical, though!

[stratvox]

Climbing a tree is hands-down the best way to score a moose without risking broken ribs. Figured that out the very first time I killed a moose (and yes, I took a beating and got a broken rib), and have used it ever since. Real handy for hunting bears too.

I've just noticed the "notes" feature on the Journal calendar... I'm going to use it to track moose killed, see if it's possible to figure out the cycle.

[shade_grey]

50 minutes ago, stratvox said:

I've just noticed the "notes" feature on the Journal calendar... I'm going to use it to track moose killed, see if it's possible to figure out the cycle.

Good idea! I might try this myself. Check different areas and what not.

[Cattleman]

Maybe I should have posted this here instead of creating a new thread... Check it out and see what you think

 

 

[stratvox]

Went and checked thirty days after I killed my last moose on TWM and no moose... looks like it's on a sixty day cycle.

It's possible there's another moose are in this region that I'm unaware of, so perhaps the new moose was hanging out there.

[Blankshield]

16 hours ago, stratvox said:

Went and checked thirty days after I killed my last moose on TWM and no moose... looks like it's on a sixty day cycle.

It's possible there's another moose are in this region that I'm unaware of, so perhaps the new moose was hanging out there.

I think it's more randomized than that, because I saw another moose on Mystery Lake in the area just south of the dam after I shot the first one,  well within 60 days, and I'm pretty sure within 30, but I wasn't tracking that closely, so it might have been around 30.  All I know is that I still had a lot of the first one left to eat.

[Cr41g]

spotted Coastal Townsite moose twice in my first 50 days while doing Pacifist and Silent Hunter... now on day 74 and have not seen him at all since

[stratvox]

Aye, well, the second moose I killed in the area with the moose markings definitely appeared sixty days after I killed the first one. On this run, that's in the area around the wing, just to the east of the mountaineer's hut.

And I mean exactly sixty days.

I've got him wandering around on the mountain at the moment... I hung out around there for a few days around the thirty day mark (day 90-94) to check to see if he would appear... I'm definitely going to be there for days 120-124 to see if he's there. I killed moose two on day 62 on TWM.

[Cr41g]

day 86....still no sign... I think he knows I am gun in hand now....

[Kedge]

Almost day 90 for me, and I've yet to see a moose in my current game. I've only run into one before on another save, and it was a terrible experience, haha. I met him on the bridge in Desolation Point and silly me, I thought I could give chase. But as soon as one bullet hit him, I was instantly clotheslined lol.

[Cr41g]

not seen since my first 50 days while doing Pacifist and Silent Hunter... another 116 days later...success...