Bounty Hunting

The ability to hunt bounties is unlocked after completing the story mission "Political Realities in Armadillo" for Marshal Leigh Johnson, which works as a tutorial for bounty hunting in its own right.

Following the mission you'll be able to find wanted posters in a few of the major towns around the map.

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The easiest way to get them to appear is to save the game a couple of times until it's daylight, then reload your saved game. A minute or so later, the bounty should be posted on a wall by an officer. You'll know when there's one there as a white skull icon will appear on the radar.

You'll then be able to view the bounty target and conditions and accept it which will start the side-quest.

You'll be told again where you can find the bounty.

The target will be marked on the map with a red skull.

You can fast travel to the bounty location by setting up a camp in the wilderness or just ride there directly from the wanted poster. There's no rush to complete a bounty, it will remain active while you ride around and complete other ambient tasks, but if you start a mission, it will be cancelled and you'll need to accept a new wanted poster.

As you reach the outskirts of the last known area for the bounty target, you'll see a message at the bottom of the screen telling you you're getting close.

When you reach the bounty area, a number of red blips will be marked on the map. The bounty is always displayed with a red skull so you should be especially careful to make sure you avoid killing them and instead try to take out all of the other enemies marked by red blips. Then you can charge towards the bounty with your Lasso and capture him.

Once he's been hogtied, you'll need to approach him and pick him up by pressing Triangle.

You'll be told to put him on the back of your horse, so whistle to bring it closer, then approach the back of the horse where you'll be instructed to press Triangle to place him.

If you decide against capturing the bounty, or you've accidentally killed them, you'll need to loot their body for proof of their death, otherwise ride your horse to the nearest jailhouse to deliver them, it'll be marked with a yellow blip on the map.

You'll receive double the cash reward for returning bounties alive and there are some side tasks, mainly around unlocking outfits, which require you to return various gang members alive, so it's always best to go for the capture if you can.

Once you've hogtied the target, you'll be regularly chased and attacked by a number of enemies on horseback, who will appear every minute or so. Anything from 2-4 enemies will give chase and this will happen repeatedly until you return the bounty to the jailhouse. If you're feeling brave, you can sit around and fight off the enemies over and over to collect plenty of ammo and loot their bodies for some extra cash - just be careful, the hogtied enemy can be killed by gunfire.

Once you approach the town with the jailhouse, the enemies will stop chasing you, then you can simply ride towards the yellow cross marker to drop off the criminal and receive your reward.

Bounty Locations

In order to achieve 100% completion in the game, you must complete a bounty in each of the 20 predetermined locations. The gang member or criminal who spawns at each location is random and doesn't really matter, the primary objective is to complete one bounty at each location.

There are 8 bounty locations in New Austin. You'll be able to accept wanted posters from MacFarlane's Ranch, Armadillo or Rathskeller Fork. The names of the criminals you'll go after will vary depending on where you accept the bounty, but ultimately one enemy will spawn in each of the 8 locations before repeating the locations. The order of the locations is also random but you will always visit all 8 of them.

• New Austin
• Brittlebrush Trawl
• Rattlesnake Hollow
• Mercer Station
• Mescalero
• Repentance Rock
• Rio del Lobo
• Silent Stead
• The Hanging Rock

There are also 8 bounty locations in Nuevo Paraiso and you can accept the wanted posters from Escalera, Chuparosa or El Presidio.

• Nuevo Paraiso
• Plata Grande
• Sepulcro
• Barranca
• Ojo Del Diablo
• Rancho Polvo
• Primera Quebrada
• Laguna Borrego
• Hendidura Grande

The final 4 bounty locations are found in West Elizabeth and you can grab the wanted posters from Blackwater and Manzanita Post.

• West Elizabeth
• Bearclaw Camp
• Nekoti Rock
• Aurora Basin
• Tanner's Reach

Bounty Rewards

The cash rewards you'll receive for each bounty can vary due to a few factors. If your honor rating is high (Honest Joe or above), you'll receive double rewards for bounty jobs.

The cash reward for each outlaw seems to be based on the distance from the wanted poster you accepted - the further away, the more you'll make - but it could also be based on the actual outlaw you'll encounter with more challenging enemies offering a higher reward.

There's not really any way to force a specific target, so just accept whatever you get and take the rewards. Reward details below serve as an example, based on what I received in-game with a high honor rating.

New Austin Bounty Locations

There are 8 bounty locations in New Austin.

Brittlebrush Trawl

JAILHOUSE:

• MacFarlane's Ranch

REWARDS:

• $160 Alive
• $80 Dead

Rattlesnake Hollow

JAILHOUSE:

• Armadillo

REWARDS:

• $40 Alive
• $20 Dead

Mercer Station

JAILHOUSE:

• Armadillo

REWARDS:

• $40 Alive
• $20 Dead

Mescalero

JAILHOUSE:

• MacFarlane's Ranch

REWARDS:

• $160 Alive
• $80 Dead

Repentance Rock

JAILHOUSE:

• Armadillo

REWARDS:

• $40 Alive
• $20 Dead

Rio del Lobo

JAILHOUSE:

• Armadillo

REWARDS:

• $160 Alive
• $80 Dead

Silent Stead

JAILHOUSE:

• Armadillo

REWARDS:

• $240 Alive
• $120 Dead

The Hanging Rock

JAILHOUSE:

• Armadillo

REWARDS:

• $40 Alive
• $20 Dead

Nuevo Paraiso Bounty Locations

There are 8 bounty locations in Nuevo Paraiso.

West Elizabeth Bounty Locations

There are 4 bounty locations in West Elizabeth.

Completing 20 different bounty locations is a requirement towards 100% completion in Red Dead Redemption.

Red Dead Redemption

Guides - 100% Completion

100% Completion Checklist

Our interactive checklist detailing every individual task you'll need to complete in order to earn 100% completion in Red Dead Redemption.

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