The Ultimate Hunting Guide — Project Zomboid Build 42

Chapter 1

How hunting works

Cans of food run out. Animals do not. Hunting gives you meat, leather and bones for as long as you survive.

In older versions, traps were the only way to get wild meat. Build 42 changed that. Now real animals walk around the woods of Knox Country. They leave clues behind. You follow the clues, find the animal, and bring it home.

There are 3 ways to get wild meat:

🦌

Track and shoot

Follow clues to a deer. Shoot it with a rifle. This gives the most meat and the best leather.

🪤

Set traps

Put out traps with bait. Walk away. Come back to rabbits, squirrels or birds.

🐇

Catch by hand

Small animals like rabbits can be lured and picked up. It is slow, but it needs no gun.

The whole hunt in 8 steps

This is the full journey. Each step has its own chapter.

Get readyPick skills and pack gear.
Pick a spotFind where forest meets field.
Find tracksUse Search Mode on Animal Tracks.
FollowEach clue points to the next one.
ShootStay far back. Aim slowly.
RecoverFollow the blood trail to the body.
ButcherUse a butcher hook for more meat.
Use it allCook the meat. Tan the hide.

Why learn this?

Hunting is quiet country living. You spend less time in towns full of zombies. That keeps your survivor alive longer.

Chapter 2

Meet the animals

Know your target first. Each animal needs a different plan.

The game counts 5 animals as wild: deer, rabbits, raccoons, mice and rats. Wild animals feed themselves. They run away when they notice you.

🦌

Deer

Types: Buck (dad), doe (mom), fawn (baby). All are White Tailed Deer.
Best way to get: Track it, then use a rifle.
You get: Venison, a deer hide, sinew, bones and a head.
Good to know: Deer travel in family groups. They can never be kept as farm animals.

🐇

Rabbit

Types: Buck rabbit, doe rabbit, kit (baby).
Best way to get: Traps at night. You can also lure one and pick it up.
You get: Rabbit meat and a small hide.
Good to know: Rabbits leave tracks too. They live in the same woods as deer.

🦝

Raccoon

Best way to get: They sometimes turn up in night traps.
You get: A little meat and a small hide.
Good to know: They can climb. They are not a steady food source.

🐀

Mice and rats

Best way to get: Mouse traps with cheese.
You get: A tiny bit of meat.
Good to know: They show up in towns and old houses. This is emergency food.

Trap-only animals: squirrels and small birds never walk around the map. You only get them from traps.

Secret: animals are "ghosts" until you get close

The game does not draw every deer all the time. Herds move along hidden paths as invisible groups. When you get near, they pop into the world as real animals. When you leave, they turn invisible again and keep walking their path.

Secret: animals cannot become zombies

Animals cannot catch the Knox Infection. Your dinner will never bite back.

Chapter 3

Build your hunter

A good hunter starts on the character screen. The right skills save you days of practice.

The 5 skills that matter

Skill	What it does for a hunter	How to level it
Tracking	Lets you find smaller clues. Each clue tells you more.	Find different kinds of tracks. Sneak near deer and rabbits.
Aiming	Helps your shots hit. A wounded animal also runs a shorter way.	Shoot guns at zombies or animals.
Sneaking	Keeps you quiet while you creep up.	Crouch-walk near zombies without being seen.
Butchering	Gives you better cuts of meat.	Butcher animals. Fillet fish too.
Trapping	Traps catch more often. You can craft better traps.	Collect animals from traps you placed.

Best picks on the character screen

Hunter (trait, 8 points)

The best single pick. It gives +1 to Aiming, Short Blade, Sneaking, Tracking and Butchering. It also helps foraging. You can start wearing a Hunting Vest.

Park Ranger (job)

You move much faster through forests. You start with +1 Trapping and +1 Foraging. You already know how to make traps.

Rancher (job)

Starts with +3 Butchering and +4 Animal Care. Pick this to get the most from each animal.

Fast Learner (trait)

All skills gain XP at 130% speed. Great for leveling Tracking.

Watch out: point costs change

The game makers still tune traits and jobs. Always read the numbers on your own character screen.

Read the Tracking books first

Skill books multiply your XP. Read the right book before you go tracking. Each book only works for 2 levels.

Book	Title	Works at levels	XP boost
Tracking I	Animal Pawprints	0 to 2	3 times
Tracking II	Hunting with Hemingway	3 to 4	5 times
Tracking III	Long Range Animal Tracking	5 to 6	8 times
Tracking IV	The Smell of Ivory: An African Adventure	7 to 8	12 times
Tracking V	Understanding Animal Behavior Through Spoor Placement	9 to 10	16 times

Butchering has its own set of 5 books. They work the same way.

Chapter 4

Pack your bag

The woods are far from home. Forget one thing and the whole trip is wasted.

Pick your rifle

Deer spot you from far away. So you need a gun that reaches far. Bolt-action hunting rifles are the best tool.

Rifle	Ammo	Why use it
MSR788 Rifle	7.62 rounds (older versions call it .308)	The classic deer rifle. Hits hard. Reaches 40 tiles.
MSR700 Rifle	5.56 rounds	A lighter hunting rifle. Also takes scopes.

Where to look for an MSR788: ranger stations, prisons, pawn shops, hunting lodges, army surplus stores and gun stores. Police cars and ranger trucks can hold one too.

Add a scope

A scope lets you shoot from farther away. That matters because close deer run. You attach it with a screwdriver. Right-click the rifle, pick Upgrade, then pick the scope.

Scope	Extra far range	Closest shot gets pushed out by
x2 Scope	+7 tiles	6 tiles
x4 Scope	+13 tiles	8 tiles
x8 Scope	+20 tiles	10 tiles

Watch out: scopes are bad up close

A scope also raises your closest good shot. With an x8 scope, a zombie in your face is hard to hit. Carry a melee weapon for zombies.

Watch out: rifles are LOUD

A rifle shot carries a very long way. Every zombie nearby will walk toward it. Hunt far from towns. Plan to leave soon after you shoot.

Level by level: Tracking

The best single thing to do at each level. Read the matching book first when one exists.

Level	Do this for most of your XP	Why
0 to 1	Forage with the Animal Tracks focus near forest edges	Every track found is Tracking XP, no animal needed
1 to 2	Follow found tracks until you see the animal	Spotting the animal from a track pays more than the track alone
2 to 3	Shoot or spear a deer and follow the blood trail	Blood trails are the best mid XP, added in 42.8
3 to 4	Track daily at dawn and dusk	Animals move most then, more tracks per hour
4 to 5	Take Hunter or read the Hunting book for this band	Books multiply. Trait gives +1 to five skills
5 to 6	Hunt deer weekly with a rifle, track every wounded one	Combines Aiming, Tracking and Butchering XP
6 to 7	Track in the deep forest where deer and boar live	More animals, more tracks, more XP per walk
7 to 8	Read the next book, keep the weekly hunt	The band above 6 is slow without a book
8 to 9	Track smaller game too: rabbits, raccoons, birds	Every species counts. Do not skip the small ones
9 to 10	Same routine. It is a long road	No shortcut exists. Hunting feeds the base anyway

Your ticks are saved in this browser, on this device only.

Chapter 5

Find hunting grounds

Tracks only appear where animals really walk. Search the wrong place and you find nothing, no matter your skill.

Where animals like to be

Think like a deer. It wants trees to hide in and open grass to eat. So the best spots are the edges, where forest meets open ground.

Forest edges just outside towns
Fields with trees around them
Farmland next to a tree line
Big empty farm plots. Players often spot deer standing there.

The official wiki names 2 good areas to start. Try the woods west of West Point. Or try the forest east of Muldraugh. Deer and rabbits both live there.

Secret: every world has its own deer paths

Deer walk in loops. Each loop has stops, like a sleeping spot and an eating spot. The loops are made when your world is created. They never change after that. So a path you find once is a path you can use forever.

Watch out: a friend's map will not match yours

Deer paths are different in every save. A spot from a video may be empty in your world. Use it as a hint only. Then find your own paths.

Check the area before you search

Turn on Search Mode. Then hover your mouse over the eye icon. It shows your search radius. It also tells you how good this area is. Bad weather, darkness and tiredness all shrink your search.

Good hunting time ✅

Daytime
Clear weather
You are rested, fed and calm

Bad hunting time ❌

Night
Heavy rain or thick fog
You are tired, hungry, hurt or scared

Chapter 6

Track like a pro

This is the heart of hunting. Each clue points to the next, like a treasure hunt.

Switch Search Mode to Animal Tracks

Animal clues stay hidden unless you ask for them. Turn on Search Mode (the magnifying glass). Open the focus list. Pick Animal Tracks.

NeedNothing. Any survivor can do it.

WhereA forest edge from Chapter 5.

You getThe power to see clues.

Watch out: "Animals" is the wrong choice

The list has 2 options that sound alike. Animals finds frogs, snails, worms and eggs. Animal Tracks finds deer and rabbit clues. This mix-up is the number 1 reason new hunters find nothing.

Crouch and zigzag

A straight line only checks a thin strip of ground. A zigzag checks a wide area. Crouch down. Walk side to side in a lazy S shape. Let each pass overlap the last one a little.

Think of your search circle as a paintbrush. You want to paint the whole field.

Why crouchYou stay quiet. Sneaking near deer and rabbits also gives Tracking XP.

You getYour first clue.

Zigzag across the field. When a clue gives a direction, zigzag along that direction.

Spot the yellow outline

Animal clues do not pop up like normal foraging finds. There is no arrow or thought bubble for footprints. Instead, a yellow outline appears on the ground when you get close. Keep your eyes on the ground.

Inspect every clue

A clue you do not inspect tells you nothing. Walk to it. Right-click it. Choose to inspect the track. A small window opens with what your hunter worked out.

You learnWhich animal made it. Which way it went.

With more skillHow big the animal is. How fresh the clue is.

You getTracking XP every time.

What each clue means

🐾

Footprints

The best clue. They show which way the animal walked.

💩

Droppings

Proof that animals use this path. Fresh ones mean they are near.

🌿

Broken twigs

Looks like a normal foraging twig. Inspect it to learn how old it is.

🧶

Fur

An animal brushed past here.

🌾

Grazed plants

An eating spot. The herd comes back here to feed.

🛏️

Flattened plants

A sleeping spot. The herd comes back here to rest.

Follow, find, repeat

Walk the way the clue points. Stay crouched. Keep zigzagging, but along that direction now. Find the next yellow outline. Inspect it. Do it again.

Lost the trail? Go back to the last clue you inspected. Walk a wide circle around it. The next clue is usually close by.

Mark your map

Deer paths never change in your world. So write them down. Open your map. Add a note at eating spots and sleeping spots. Next time, skip the search and go straight there.

NeedA map and a pen or pencil.

You getA hunting spot you can use again and again.

Secret: the 2-trip trick

Smart hunters split the job. Trip 1 is only for finding the path and marking the map. No shooting. Trip 2 is the real hunt. You arrive with the car, the rifle and a plan.

Chapter 7

The stalk and the shot

You found the herd. The next 60 seconds decide if you eat tonight.

Creeping up

Deer notice you from far away. Once they notice you, they run. So every move must be slow and quiet.

Load your rifle before you arrive. Reloading takes time, and you have none.
Stay crouched. Never sprint near animals.
Look around first. A zombie wandering in will ruin the shot and maybe your day.
Stay back. Hunters say 20 to 25 tiles is as close as you should get.

Keep your distance. A deer standing sideways is the biggest target.

Taking the shot

Stop moving. Moving makes your aim worse.
Wait for a side-on target. It is the biggest shape to hit.
Hold your aim and let it settle. Do not rush.
Fire once. Then watch where the animal goes.

Watch out: a hit deer usually does NOT drop

This surprises everyone. A shot animal runs away. It leaves a blood trail behind. Follow the blood to find the body. If you walk off, you lose your dinner.

Bigger animals run farther

A deer runs much longer than a rabbit before it falls.

Better Aiming means a shorter chase

High Aiming counts as a cleaner hit. The animal falls sooner.

Watch out: do not spray bullets

Once the herd bolts into the trees, stop shooting. Extra shots waste ammo. They also call more zombies.

Other ways to kill a deer (and why they are worse)

Way	Does it work?	The catch
Hit it with a car	Yes	Roadkill gives far less meat when butchered. It also damages your car.
Melee weapon	Almost never	Deer run before you get close. It only works if one gets stuck.
Shotgun	Sometimes	You must get closer. That needs good Sneaking and Tracking.

Secret: animals can call zombies too

The sandbox has an option named Animals Attract Zombies. When it is on, animal noises pull nearby zombies. Sandbox: Animals Attract Zombies Check your settings so you know what to expect.

Chapter 8

Traps: meat while you sleep

Traps need no gun, make no noise, and work while you do other things.

The 5 rules of trapping

Place it in the right zone. The ground must be a trapping zone, like forest or farmland.
Use fresh bait. Fruit and veg must say "(Fresh)". Rotten bait catches nothing. Frozen bait is fine.
Match the bait to the animal. Rabbits ignore cheese. Mice ignore carrots.
Go far away. Traps only catch when their piece of the map is "asleep".
Mind the clock. Rabbits, squirrels and raccoons only get caught from 19:00 to 05:00.

Watch out: the 80-tile rule

The game only rolls for a catch when the trap's area is unloaded. Walk at least 80 tiles away in a straight line: north, south, east or west. Going 79 tiles east and 79 tiles south may not be enough. Staying near your traps is why they stay empty.

How to place a trap

Put the trap in your main inventory. Not inside a bag.
Right-click it. Choose Place Trap.
Right-click the placed trap. Add your bait.
Leave. Come back in the morning.
A closed trap means a catch. Right-click to collect it.

Trap picker: what do you want to catch?

The 6 traps

Trap	Catches	How you get it
Mouse Trap	Mice, rats	Find it as loot. It cannot be crafted.
Stick Trap	Small birds	Craft it.
Snare Trap	Rabbits, squirrels	Craft it.
Trap Crate	Rabbits, squirrels	Craft it.
Box Trap	Rabbits, squirrels	Craft it.
Cage Trap	Rabbits, squirrels. The best trap for both.	Craft it. Needs wire.

How to learn trap recipes: start as a Park Ranger, take the Hunter trait, read hunting magazines, or level up Trapping. Your crafting menu shows what each trap needs.

Secret: more traps beat better traps

Each trap has only a small chance every hour. So put out 4 or 5 traps, not 1. Set them at sunset. Collect at sunrise. Traps can break over time, so pick them up when you are done.

Secret: only YOUR traps give XP

You earn Trapping XP when you collect an animal from a trap you placed yourself. A friend's trap teaches you nothing.

Catching rabbits by hand

Wild rabbits run when they see you. But you can lure one close with bait, then pick it up. Once you pick up a wild animal, it stops being wild. Now it can live in a farm pen and have babies. That is endless rabbit meat.

Chapter 9

Get it home

A dead animal starts to spoil right away. Move fast.

Right-click the body. Choose Pick Up Animal.

Small animals, like rabbits, fit in your backpack.
Deer are very heavy. Carry the body to your car. Put it in the trunk.

This is why you park close. A long walk with a deer is slow and dangerous.

Watch out: the rot clock is ticking

With normal settings, a body changes stage about every 50 hours. It goes from fresh, to rotten, to bones. A rotten body gives rotten meat. Butcher it the same day if you can.

Secret: no car? Butcher on the spot

You can butcher on the ground with just a knife. You get less meat and no hide. But some venison beats no venison.

Chapter 10

Butchering

This is where a body becomes food and materials. Do it right and one deer goes a long way.

Ground or hook?

	On the ground	On a Butcher Hook
Meat	Less	More
Hide from big animals	No	Yes
What you need	A sharp knife	A sharp knife and a built hook
Butchering XP	Less, because XP follows the meat	More

Build a Butcher Hook

The hook is what unlocks hides and extra meat. Build it once, at your base. Open the Build menu to find it.

Need2 planks, 2 nails, 1 large hook

ToolAny hammer, except a club hammer

Unlocked byCarpentry level 3

You getA Butcher Hook, forever

Watch out: you cannot move it later

A built hook can never be picked up again. Choose the spot with care. Put it outside or in a shed, near your fridge. Keep it away from farm animals.

Hang the animal

Carry the body to the hook. Right-click the empty hook. Choose to add the corpse. The animal now hangs from it.

Harvest everything

Right-click the hanging animal. The hook menu gives you several jobs. Do all of them:

Drain the blood
Harvest the leather (this is your hide)
Harvest the meat
Harvest the head (you need its brain in Chapter 11)

When you finish, a skeleton drops to the ground. Harvest that too. It gives animal bones.

From a deer you getVenison, deer hide, animal sinew, bones, a head

Skill usedButchering. Higher skill means better cuts.

Secret: small animals skip the hook

Rabbits, birds, squirrels and rodents are butchered from your inventory or the crafting menu. The hook is for big animals.

Watch out: "Why did my deer give so little meat?"

There are 3 usual reasons. You hit it with a car. You butchered on the ground. Or your Butchering skill is still low. Fix those and the numbers go up.

Chapter 11

Hide into leather

A raw hide is useless. Leather makes clothes, bags, and the bellows a blacksmith's forge needs.

The job has 4 stations. All of them are in the Build menu. Build them before your first hunt, so the hide does not sit and rot.

Softening BeamScrape the hide clean.
Bowl of Brain TanMix the tanning liquid.
Tannin BarrelSoak the hide.
Drying RackHang it to dry.

Scrape it at the Softening Beam

A fresh hide still has bits of flesh on it. Those must come off first. Use the beam to remove the flesh. You need a fleshing tool for this.

Now comes a big choice: remove the fur, or keep it?

Keep the furYou get furred leather. Most clothing recipes want this.

Remove the furYou get crude leather. Some tool recipes want this, like the Large Bellows.

Watch out: this choice is forever

You can only remove fur before you tan the hide. After that, the option is gone. There is no undo. Check the recipe you want to make first. Then decide at the beam.

Make a Bowl of Brain Tan

Tanning liquid stops the hide from rotting. You make it from the animal itself. Take the brain out of the animal's head. Mix it with a bowl of water.

Need1 animal brain, 1 bowl of water

You get1 Bowl of Brain Tan

Soak it in the Tannin Barrel

Build a Tannin Barrel. Put in the scraped hide and the brain tan. Out comes wet, tanned leather.

Dry it on a rack

Wet leather must dry before you can use it. Racks come in 3 sizes: small, medium and large. Each rack only takes leather of its own size. If a rack refuses your leather, build the next size up.

Small rackRabbits, raccoons, baby animals

Medium rackSheep, pigs, medium leather

Large rackCows and furred adult deer leather

TimeAbout 7 days in mild weather

🌧️ Rain pauses drying

Put your rack under a roof.

🥶 Cold stops drying

Below about 4.5°C, nothing dries. Tan in the warm months.

☀️ Heat speeds it up

Hot days dry leather up to 2 times faster.

Secret: big leather cuts into small leather

1 large leather cuts into 2 medium leathers. 1 medium leather cuts into 2 small ones. So a big hide is never wasted on a small recipe.

Chapter 12

Cook it and keep it

One deer is a lot of meat. Without a plan, most of it rots.

Always cook wild meat. Raw meat can make your survivor sick.
Fridge: keeps meat fresh for longer.
Freezer: keeps meat fresh for much longer. This is the best choice.
Make room first. Clear out the freezer before you leave to hunt.

Watch out: the power goes out

Some time in the first weeks, the electricity shuts off for good. Sandbox: Electricity Shutoff After that, fridges and freezers need a generator. No generator? Then hunt small and often. One rabbit a day beats one rotten deer a week.

Secret: winter is a bad time to start

Leather will not dry in the cold. Fresh vegetables for bait are hard to find. Build your hook, racks and traps in the warm months. Then you are ready when food gets scarce.

Chapter 13

Tips, tricks and fixes

20 tips from the trail

Before you go

Read the Tracking book that fits your level before every trip.
Build the hook and leather stations before your first hunt.
Empty your freezer and car trunk first.
Clear zombies from your hunting ground on a separate day.
Hunt in daylight and good weather. You search better.

While tracking

Pick Animal Tracks, never just "Animals".
Search the edges where trees meet grass, not deep forest.
Zigzag. Never walk a straight line.
Inspect every clue, even boring ones. Each one gives XP.
Different kinds of clues give XP. So look for twigs and droppings, not only footprints.
Mark eating and sleeping spots on your map.
Use Trip 1 to scout and Trip 2 to hunt.

At the shot

Load the rifle before you get close.
Stay 20 to 25 tiles back and use a scope.
Stand still, aim at a side-on deer, and wait for steady aim.
After the shot, follow the blood trail right away.
Carry a melee weapon. Save bullets for deer.

After the hunt

Use the hook for big animals. Always.
Keep the head. Its brain tans the hide.
Decide about fur before tanning. Dry leather under a roof.

Fix-it table

Problem	Likely cause	Fix
I never find tracks.	Wrong focus, or a bad area.	Pick Animal Tracks. Move to a forest edge. Hunt by day.
The trail just stops.	You walked past the next clue.	Go back to the last clue. Circle around it.
Deer run before I can aim.	You are too close or too loud.	Crouch. Stay 20 to 25 tiles back. Fit a scope.
I shot it and it vanished.	Hit animals run away.	Follow the blood trail to the body.
I need so many bullets.	Low Aiming skill.	Level Aiming on zombies first. Let your aim settle.
My traps are always empty.	You stayed too close, or the bait is wrong.	Go 80 tiles away. Use fresh, matching bait. Leave them overnight.
The bait is gone but no catch.	Bait can vanish without a catch.	Re-bait. Use more traps.
I got no hide.	You butchered on the ground.	Build a Butcher Hook.
I got tiny bits of meat.	Roadkill, ground butchering, or low skill.	Shoot it. Hook it. Level Butchering.
I cannot remove the fur.	The hide is already tanned.	Too late for this hide. Decide earlier next time.
My leather never dries.	Rain or cold.	Move the rack under a roof. Wait for warm weather.

Chapter 14

Hunter's test

7 questions. Get them all right and you are ready for the woods.

Chapter 15

Words and sources

Hunter's word list

Build 42 (B42): The big game update that added real animals, tracking and butchering.
Search Mode: The magnifying glass mode used for foraging. It also finds animal clues.
Focus: The thing you tell Search Mode to look for. Hunters pick Animal Tracks.
Tile: One square of ground in the game. About 1 step.
Buck, doe, fawn: A dad deer, a mom deer and a baby deer.
Venison: Deer meat.
Hide: Animal skin, before it becomes leather.
Tanning: Soaking a hide so it turns into leather that will not rot.
Crude leather: Leather with the fur removed.
Sinew: Tough animal string. Useful for crafting.
Roadkill: An animal killed by a car. It gives far less meat.
Bait: Food placed in a trap to tempt an animal.
Sandbox: The settings screen where you change the game's rules.

How sure are we?

Every fact here was checked in September 2026 for game version 42.20.4. The order of trust was: official patch notes first, then the official wiki, then player reports.

The game still gets updates. A few things may differ in your game:

Trait and job numbers. These were last confirmed on versions 42.19 to 42.20.
The 20 to 25 tile distance. This is player advice, not an official number.
Deer leather rack size. The wiki says large. Players report de-furred deer leather fits a medium rack. If one rack refuses it, try the other.
Raccoons in traps. Players disagree on how often this works.
Luring rabbits. The wiki says this may need some Animal Care skill.

Sources

The Indie Stone, official patch notes for 42.8.0 (fleeing animals and blood trails), 42.4.0 (corpse rot) and 42.9.0
The Indie Stone blog, "The Skillful HuntZman" (how herds and clues work)
PZwiki (the official wiki): Tracking, Trapping, Butchering, Butcher Hook, Animal, Deer, Rabbit, Hunter, Park Ranger, MSR788 Rifle, x8 Scope, and the Tracking skill books
Steam Community discussions for player tips on distance, scopes, roadkill and hunting spots