Ambient Challenges

Survivalist - Rank 1

Collect 6 Wild Feverfew, found in Hennigan's Stead and Cholla Springs.

Wild Feverfew are small white patches of flowers, quite low to the ground. They're much easier to see when riding around on your horse.

There are plenty to be found South of MacFarlane's Ranch and near the Warthington Ranch, or in the large flat area just North of Armadillo, towards The Hanging Rock.

Survivalist - Rank 2

Collect 6 Desert Sage in addition to any you may already have. They are found in and around Gaptooth Ridge.

Desert Sage are medium sized shrubs with purple flowers.

They can be found all around Gaptooth Ridge, particularly South of Cueva Seca and West of Tumbleweed.

Survivalist - Rank 3

Collect 4 Red Sage in addition to any you may already have. They are found in and around Rio Bravo.

Red Sage are small plants, which grow low to the ground with red flowers.

These are found all around Rio Bravo. Head towards Fort Mercer and go off the main track and you're sure to encounter plenty of them.

Survivalist - Rank 4

Collect 8 Prickly Pears in addition to any you may already have. They are found in and around Punta Orgullo.

Small cactus plants with red flowers.

These are found all around Punta Orgullo.

Survivalist - Rank 5

Collect 7 Woolly Blue Curls, in addition to any you may already have. They are found in and around Perdido.

Light purple flowers growing out of medium sized bushes.

These are found all around Perdido and Chuparosa.

Survivalist - Rank 6

Collect 8 Butterfly Weed in addition to any you may already have. They are found in and around Diez Coronas.

A small fairly tall skinny plant with orange flowers on top.

These are found all around Diez Coronas.

Survivalist - Rank 7

Collect 10 Hummingbird Sage in addition to any you may already have. The are found in and around Tall Trees.

Bright white flowers growing low to the ground.

These are found all around Tall Trees. Beware of Grizzly Bears!

Occasionally one of these will appear at the very North-Eastern part of Hennigan's Stead, in front of the waterfall just past the railway tracks next to the Tanner's Span bridge.

Survivalist - Rank 8

Collect 12 Prairie Poppies in addition to any you may already have. They are found in and around Great Plains.

Small flowers growing low to the ground with yellow petals.

These are found all around the Great Plains and near Beecher's Hope.

Survivalist - Rank 9

Collect 15 Golden Currants in addition to any you may already have. They are found in and around Great Plains.

Large green bushes which stand out from quite a distance away.

These are found all around the Great Plains and near Beecher's Hope. You'll find more than enough in a matter of minutes.

Survivalist - Rank 10

Collect 10 Violet Snowdrop in addition to any you may already have. They are found in and around Tall Trees. Then collect 2 more of every other herb available.

Small purple flowers which grow quite close to the ground, usually found in snowy areas.

The violet snowdrops are found in the northern part of Tall Trees. And for the "two of every plant", just follow the guides for each of the previous levels for their locations.

The game will keep track of everything you've collected so far if you press Triangle on the challenge.

Sharpshooter - Rank 1

Shoot and kill 5 flying wild birds

This one is simple enough. Look to the sky and you'll more than likely see a bird immediately. Simply shoot 5 of them out of the air to complete rank 1.

Sharpshooter - Rank 2

Shoot and kill 5 rabbits

Slowly travel on horseback, keeping your eyes to the ground and around the bushes because, rabbits are small and kind of hard to see. They are common in Hennigan's Stead and North of Armadillo, so starting your search there is probably a good idea.

You can just keep aiming towards the ground as you ride around which should lock on and target anything that appears nearby.

Sharpshooter - Rank 3

Kill 5 coyotes before any coyote damages you

This isn't really challenging at all. Simply stay on your horse because coyotes are afraid of horses. If you're on foot, there's a chance they may attack you but that appears to be very rare. Shoot and kill 5 coyotes before one of them hurts you and you're done with rank 3.

Sharpshooter - Rank 4

Kill 5 flying birds from a moving train

Wait at a train station, or jump on a moving train. It's up to you. Once you are on board and it's moving, simply climb to the top of the train and watch the skies for flying birds. Kill 5 of them and you're done.

If you're not seeing any birds, shoot your gun off to try to scare them out of the trees then use Dead Eye to hunt them down.

The hardest part of this challenge may just be getting birds to appear as they can sometimes refuse to spawn which can be slightly annoying.

Sharpshooter - Rank 5

Kill any 2 different types of wild animals in 1 Dead Eye meter

The easiest way to accomplish this one is to head out to the brush and wait until a fuzzy little critter and a flying bird are both within your sights. Simply enable the Dead Eye vision and kill both of them in a single use of the Dead Eye.

If you're lucky, you might be able to catch a bird and an armadillo together... Like I did in the screenshots above. Either way, any two different animals work. You should be able to complete this one pretty easily as there are often more than two animals near you.

Sharpshooter - Rank 6

Shoot the hats off of 2 different people's heads

You need to shoot the rim of an enemies hat, making it fly off without killing them. It's very easy to hit them in the head which will kill them and prevent it from counting towards the challenge. See the screenshots above for an idea of where you should aim.

Crouching down and looking up towards the rim of an enemies hat can help. It can also be beneficial to use a sniper rifle, or to turn aiming to Expert mode in the settings so the game doesn't automatically snap your aim to the enemies head. You can use Dead Eye to help aim the shot better, but be careful if you have Dead Eye level 2 as it will automatically paint targets on the enemies' head while you're trying to aim for their hat.

If you're struggling, wait until you reach Mexico as enemies with sombreros are much easier to de-hat, given their enormous size.

Gang hideouts are one of the best places to attempt this but you can also attempt this when Bounty Hunting. Enemies will constantly spawn and chase you on horseback while you're delivering the bounty target, so you'll have an unlimited number of enemies to try this on.

Sharpshooter - Rank 7

Kill 3 bears each with 1 shot

Don't get confused, this is not asking you to kill 3 separate bears with one bullet. It's simply asking you to kill 3 bears, each one must be killed with only a single shot.

The best way to accomplish this is to head to Tall Trees and use your most powerful rifle or repeater - may I suggest the Buffalo Rifle. Use Dead Eye and paint a single mark right between the eyes of the bear. Do this three times and you're done.

The Buffalo Rifle will definitely kill a bear in 1 shot if you hit it in the head. Let a bear chase after your horse so it's directly behind you which will make it much easier to shoot in the face.

In very rare / potentially glitchy situations, a grizzly bear can spawn in the hills at the very Northern point of Hennigan's Stead (above the train tunnel). It could be possible to complete this challenge without access to Tall Trees, but it'll be much quicker if you just wait until you can get there.

Sharpshooter - Rank 8

Shoot the hats off of 2 people's heads and disarm 2 people

Follow the instructions I mentioned above for the hats (aim for the rim specifically, do not aim at their head).

Now for the disarming - simply do the same thing by using Dead Eye but target the enemies hand which is holding their weapon instead. Some enemies can be disarmed twice as they will pull out another weapon after losing the first one. Disarming people in duels also seems to count towards this.

Again, while returning a bounty target, an unlimited number of enemies will spawn if you want to use them for target practice.

Sharpshooter - Rank 9

Kill any 6 wild animals without reloading or changing weapons

This particular challenge is a lot easier than it sounds. Simply ride out into the wilderness and shoot 6 birds or smaller critters without manually reloading or changing weapons. I suggest using a weapon with a decent sized clip - such as the Evans Repeater which carries 22 rounds.

When attempted somewhere with plenty of animals - like Great Plains - this can be done in a matter of seconds and is arguably one of the easiest challenges in the whole list.

If you're really struggling, try killing the buffalo in West Elizabeth as there are plenty of them all close together.

Sharpshooter - Rank 10

Disarm any 6 enemies without reloading or changing weapons

This one is a little harder than the previous one but, the same rules apply. I found that going through the Gaptooth Ridge Gang Hideout is definitely the easiest method.

Once you've cleared the enemies outside the mine, head on into the tunnel. Reload your weapon and then proceed to move "slowly" through the mine, using Dead Eye and targeting their weapons - but only use Dead Eye if you're not carrying additional ammo. You can't allow your gun to be reloaded by Dead Eye.

Once you shoot the gun out of an enemies hand, shoot them in the head to prevent them from killing you. You may have to use some snake oil to refill your Dead Eye meter since you will have to use this method on another 5 enemies reasonably quickly.

It doesn't matter if you miss a shot - the 6 disarms don't need to be in a row, but they must be within the same weapon reload.

I suggest once again to use a weapon with a large ammo clip, like the Evans Repeater with 22 rounds or the Mauser Pistol with 15, to prevent you from needing to reload.

Master Hunter - Rank 1

Skin 5 coyotes: kill 5 coyotes, skin the corpses and collect the pelts

This one is pretty self-explanatory. Kill 5 coyotes and skin them for their pelts. Coyotes can be found almost everywhere so, you shouldn't have much of a problem tracking them down. Just follow the barks, howls, and yelps you hear in the wild.

Master Hunter - Rank 2

Skin 5 deer: kill 5 deer and skin them

Just like the first level of this challenge, you need to kill and skin 5 of a certain species of animal. In this case, it's deer. Just like the coyotes, they are found commonly in the wild so, you shouldn't have much of a problem trying to find them.

Be aware that bucks (with antlers) do not count! They are usually seen alongside the deer which can make this a bit of a pain as it's hard to tell from a distance.

Either try to ignore the buck and just go for the smaller doe instead, or hunt them both. You can make some good cash by selling their parts. Either way, you'll still need to kill 5 deer, regardless of how many bucks you hunt.

Master Hunter - Rank 3

Kill 5 wolves with your melee knife and skin 5 wolves

These pesky little buggers are found throughout the land. They're easy to spot since they are usually chasing other animals and people and let out a dog-like bark and growl. If you stick around long enough, they'll come after you.

You can simply dismount your horse when near a pack and start slicing and dicing with your knife. There's not too much to worry about with the wolves as they don't have a real strong attack but if you're not careful, they can be deadly. Keep some medicine on hand just in case you need a quick health boost.

You don't need to kill 5 wolves in a row, this accumulates over time so if you need to head back to a safehouse to recover, feel free, however if you die, the challenge will be reset.

You can often find wolves near the railway tracks North of MacFarlane's Ranch.

Master Hunter - Rank 4

Skin 5 boars and 3 armadillos

Armadillos are found in any desert-like setting, particularly North of the aptly named town of Armadillo. Kill and skin 3 of them.

Boars are a little harder to find but, they do have spawn locations. They are found all over Tall Trees but, that's not always the best place to hunt them since bears and cougars are there too.

Stillwater Creek, East of MacFarlane's Ranch, is another place they tend to spawn. As well as North of the ranch near the railway tracks. This is probably the safest place to hunt them, and it's also a good place to hunt them if you haven't unlocked West Elizabeth yet. Kill and skin 5 of them and you're done.

Master Hunter - Rank 5

Kill 2 cougars with your melee knife and skin 2 cougars

This is definitely one of the two hardest challenges because cougars are quite a rare spawn. They can be found literally everywhere on the map, but the best spawn locations are usually the Great Plains and in the Southern portion of Nuevo Paraiso. You should be able to occasionally find them in the hilly areas North of Armadillo, and East of MacFarlane's ranch but it could take a lot of riding around before they appear.

It may be worth saving your game at a camp in the wilderness, then reloading your save game which can help reset the spawns and cause cougars to appear more quickly.

The problem with cougars is by the time you see (or hear) one, it's usually too late. When hunting cougars you'll have to stay on high alert or you'll keep missing your chance at this challenge.

The best tip is to shoot the cougar a couple of times with a pistol - I used the Volcanic Pistol - which will cause it to run away, wounded. Then you can just chase after it either on foot or on horseback and use your melee weapon to slice at it until it dies.

The good thing about cougars is they usually travel in pairs. When you kill one, the other isn't usually far away. That can be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on the situation, but it does mean that when you get them to spawn, you can potentially get this challenge done in one go.

Be aware it's quite likely you'll be killed, or at least lose your horse while attempting this challenge. Keep some medicine in your satchel for a quick health boost if you're heavily damaged. Two hits from a cougar will usually result in your death.

If you die, the challenge will be reset, so if you've already knifed 1 cougar, you're going to have to do 2 more again.

It could be a good idea to save your game at a camp once you've successfully stabbed one cougar to death.

Master Hunter - Rank 6

Skin 5 raccoons, 5 skunks, and 5 foxes

15 pelts in one challenge. That's the only difficult part because, these animals are in abundance out there in the wilderness.

Raccoons and skunks are found all over Hennigan's Stead and North of Armadillo.

Foxes can be found in the Southern section of Cholla Springs, or in the Southern section of the Great Plains.

Kill and skin 5 of each and you're done.

Master Hunter - Rank 7

Skin 5 elk and 5 bighorn sheep

You can also find bighorn sheep in the rocky areas North of Tumbleweed and West of Armadillo, but elk can only be found in Tall Trees so you'll need access to West Elizabeth in order to complete this task.

You can find both animals in Tall Trees, but for elk particularly, head on out to Tall Trees with your horse and start searching between the trees. You'll find plenty of them, and they stand out with their large antlers, but be very careful of the more dangerous animals you'll encounter there too, particularly grizzly bears. As you can see from the screenshot below, I was seconds away from being attacked when I found an elk.

Elk are more common the Northern part of Tall Trees while the bighorns are found more in the Southern section of the area. Skin 5 of each to complete this rank.

Master Hunter - Rank 8

Kill a bear with your melee knife and collect a bear pelt

Head out to Tall Trees. Bear Claw Camp, as the name would suggest, is a great place to start and it wont take long before you see a bear... If he hasn't seen you first.

You have to finish off the bear with your knife. It doesn't matter if you shoot it a few times first to weaken it, but the final blow must come from your knife.

There are actually two separate parts to this challenge. You can skin any dead bear to collect the bear pelt, it doesn't have to be the one you killed with your knife.

Bears are the strongest animal in the game and can very quickly take you out. The game also tends to spawn multiple bears together, so make sure you keep an eye out for others while you're attempting knife-to-bear combat.

As you probably expect, there's a very high risk of being killed and/or losing your horse while attempting this challenge. Keep some medicine in your satchel for emergencies and don't be afraid to retreat while your health recovers.

Bear Knifing Tips

• You'll definitely want to weaken the bear by shooting it multiple times before attempting to kill it with a knife. I fired 3 shots into the body of the bear using the Buffalo Rifle which weakens it significantly.

• Don't be afraid to retreat and recover if you're injured. The bear's health won't regenerate.

• Also remember to use the dodge-roll functionality (Hold L2 to aim and press Square to roll) which can help you avoid attacks from the bear.
• Ride around on your horse with your knife out and try to slash at the bear as you run past it. This can give you a little more protection as your horse will go down before you do if the bear is able to attack.
• You can also use your Lasso to grab the bear which will temporarily stun it and allow you to get a few slashes away.

• Once the bear is low on health, it will become scared of you and generally try to run away so you can chase after it.

• Keep slashing away until it eventually goes down.

• Once you skin a dead bear, the challenge should be complete.

• Another useful tip - Bears are unable to get inside buildings. You may be able to use the cabin at Bearclaw Camp for safety, luring the bear to the doorway and allowing it to be killed without being attacked.

Master Hunter - Rank 9

Search Ojo Del Diablo for "Khan", the legendary jaguar and collect his pelt

Pretty self-explanatory and actually quite easy to accomplish. Simply travel to Ojo Del Diablo and start riding around the area. Eventually, a message will pop up saying you've found the legendary animal.

He then appears on your map as a red dot. Simply pull out your best weapon and while using Dead Eye, paint as many targets as you can on his head. These legendary animals have a little more health than usual, so it's going to take a few more well placed shots to take them down. Once you kill him, skin him and you're done.

You can use our legendary animals map to track down Khan and the other special animals below.

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Legendary Animals Map

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Master Hunter - Rank 10

Search Aurora Basin for "Lobo" the legendary wolf, Stillwater Creek for "Gordo" the legendary boar, and Nekoti Rock for "Brumas" the legendary bear and collect their pelts

Pretty much follow the steps indicated for rank 9 of this challenge. These animals are easy to find when you roam around their required areas but, they will take a few more bullets to bring down so be prepared.

Treasure Hunter - Rank 1

Acquire a treasure map

You'll need to pay attention for a blue dot on the radar which can randomly appear as you're riding around. Eventually you'll encounter a treasure hunter. You can either save him, or loot the map from his corpse to get things underway.

The random event will only start appearing after the mission "Political Realities in Armadillo" and can often be found just off the main road East of Armadillo, so you should try to keep an eye out for it as you can't start collecting treasures until you acquire the map.

When the event occurs, you'll be advised to "Save the treasure hunter" who will be marked with a blue blip.

Two enemies will be shooting at him as he takes cover behind a wagon. Quickly head to the area and take out the two enemies, ensuring you don't accidentally kill the wrong person.

Once they're dead, you'll be told to "Go to the treasure hunter".

When you reach him, walk into the yellow cross to begin a cutscene.

In it, the treasure hunter, Chu Fook, will hand over his map, telling John "There is much treasure here. You want map? I retire! Here - take map. You earn it!".

You'll then be instructed to check the challenges menu and your inventory for the map.

It'll be found inside the "Kit" section of your satchel. Open it up and follow the very cryptic drawing to find the treasure.

Rewards

• Treasure Map 1 Acquired

Treasure Hunter - Rank 2

Collect Rhodes' Gold from The Hanging Rock

Start off at the North-East of the large rocks which make up "The Hanging Rock". You'll spot a gap between the two smaller rocks.

Head into the gap and you'll discover some light colored rocks by some bushes.

Press Triangle to search them and you'll remove the rocks to find a treasure chest.

Inside the chest is a gold bar and another map which points to the next treasure.

Rewards

• Treasure Map 2 Acquired
• Rhodes' Gold has a base selling price of $100.

Treasure Hunter - Rank 3

Collect Jackson's Gold from Del Lobo Rock

Head up the main road to a camp at the top of Del Lobo Rock. Carefully make your way past the bushes and look down over the cliffs below.

Follow the path down, and try to stick to the left hand side until you reach the rocks.

If you immediately open your satchel and use your campsite, the game should allow you to set one up which will spawn you to a safer location, then you can quit out of the camp and be on your way. Otherwise it's pretty tricky, if not impossible to get back up the cliffs without ending up at the bottom first.

Rewards

• Treasure Map 3 Acquired
• Jackson's Gold has a base selling price of $125.

Treasure Hunter - Rank 4

Collect Calhoun's Gold in Tumbleweed

Head to Tumbleweed and approach the large mansion at the West side of the town.

Move around to the back of the mansion where you'll find an open door leading to the basement.

Once inside, head to the back wall and look out for a cattle skull attached to the wooden frame. The treasure rocks are right below it.

Rewards

• Treasure Map 4 Acquired.
• Calhoun's Gold has a base selling price of $150.

Treasure Hunter - Rank 5

Collect Tubman's Gold in Rio del Toro

Look for the big tree with cattle skulls all around it. Follow the very simple directions from the map to a location just behind a small wall where you'll find the treasure.

Rewards

• Treasure Map 5 Acquired
• Tubman's Gold has a base selling price of $263.

Treasure Hunter - Rank 6

Collect Brown's Gold in Crooked Toes

The fifth treasure is found just South of your first Mexican safehouse. It's East of Escalera.

Climb the big rock formation you see in the map sketch. It's easy to determine which one it is because, the correct one has an additional chest you can open at the bottom of it, unrelated to the treasure hunt itself. You can see the rocks on top.

Climb up the back of the rock face and you'll be able to make it to the top.

Rewards

• Treasure Map 6 Acquired
• Brown's Gold has a base selling price of $300.

Treasure Hunter - Rank 7

Collect Douglass' Gold from Ojo del Diablo

This one is pretty easy as you'll see the familiar rock formation from the map miles away. Simply climb up to the spot and it's hard to miss.

Rewards

• Treasure Map 7 Acquired
• Douglass' Gold has a base selling price of $338.

Treasure Hunter - Rank 8

Collect Garrison's Gold from Roca de Madera

The seventh treasure is found north of Agave Viejo.

You'll have to approach this one from the South because this rock formation sits atop one of the tallest formations in Mexico and offers a really nice view. Approach from the West of Casa Madrugada, climbing up the hill and going pass Agave Viejo to the North.

Once you spot the rock from the illustration on the map, follow the path from the map. You'll walk along a cliff facing the water until you reach the end. The treasure is at the end of the walk.

Rewards

• Treasure Map 8 Acquired
• Garrison's Gold has a base selling price of $450.

Treasure Hunter - Rank 9

Collect Pickett's Gold from Broken Tree

Head to a little place on the map called, Broken Tree, just East of Beecher's Hope. You'll spot a large tree, all by itself next to a small stone wall.

The treasure is located alongside a broken down wall. You can't really miss it.

Rewards

• Treasure Map 9 Acquired
• Pickett's Gold has a base selling price of $600.

Treasure Hunter - Rank 10

Collect Stonewall's Gold from Nekoti Rock

The ninth and final treasure is found in Tall Trees, to the North of Manzanita Post.

A very simple treasure location finishes out the list. Ride up the winding path in Nekoti Rock and you'll see a cave at the end of the road.

Enter the cave and you'll spot the treasure inside. Open it up to complete the Treasure Hunting Challenge.

Rewards

• Stonewall's Gold has a base selling price of $750.