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[redsector]

Hello,

I've got an problem concerning my hunters: they just won't go hunting anymore. First of all, this is not one of those issues you can read a million times about here in the forum, with the hunters not picking up equipment while being in a military squad because of conflicting uniforms and all that stuff.

Nope, that's all fine. Checklist:

- the hunters are civilians. Not in the military, not currently, and never been.
- hunting labor is enabled, everything else is disabled.
- hunters have been assigned a number of bolts from the military ammo screen, either specific ones (bone, metal, wood) or just "bolts". I tried both settings with different numbers, no difference.
- they've picked up a crossbow, a quiver and bolts (usually, sometimes they won't pick up bolts, doesn't matter though).
- there's plenty of stuff to hunt outside (regular/giant ground-based animals, no humanoid versions, no flying or aquatic beasts).
- they're free to go outside. No burrows and nothing blocking the way.


But they won't hunt. After picking up their equipment, they're just idling around, status menu says "No job".

Disabling hunting labor makes them store their equipment in the respective stockpiles, re-enabling hunting makes them pick it up and go into idle mode again. As I said, sometimes they won't pick up their bolts, but that seems to be another, unrelated issue, since they won't do anything even if their quiver is full.


I'm playing 0.34.11, unmodded except for Ironhand's tileset, and I remember hunting working just fine in older versions. Can't say I'm doing anything different either: enable hunting, let them pickup their equipment and off they'd go. Not anymore, though.

Any ideas?

[Azated]

Just like fish, it's possible that you've hunted your wildlife to extinction. Have you actually got any wild animals on the map?

[redsector]

As I've said, I've got all kinds of animals running around outside. I know hunters won't hunt animalpeople, vermin and aquatic animals, and I'm not sure if they'd hunt stuff that's flying high enough to be out of crossbow range, but that's rare anyway. There's plenty of ground-based, huntable, butcherable, edible wildlife.

[Garath]

while I can't help the actual problem, but it seems true that flying creatures often present hunters with brain problems and cause them to sit down and have a drink. Or two. Or at least not hunt

my usual guesses would have been a lack of bolts or a burrows problem, but it seemed you covered that

[Sutremaine]

Can you send the military out to kill animals?

[redsector]

Hi and sorry for the late answer.

Yes, sending out the military works just fine, but I usually only hunt during the first few seasons and would prefer those semi-autonomous hunters for that, partly because I don't even have any military dwarves in the beginning. And putting the hunters in a marksdwarf squad comes with all those negative side effects like bad thoughts from being drafted and whatever.

Well, seems like nobody else has encountered this particular bug... yet?

[Sutremaine]

Maybe you could put up a save?

Getting dwarves up to Novice in a weapon skill is pretty easy. Take a couple of equal-level dwarves, give them hammers (or crossbows), and let them spar until you get the 'Urist McDwarf has become a Hammerdwarf' message. Do the usual things that keep a dwarf near the barracks as much as possible.

[Fortress Calling]

My hunters refused to go out hunting when the only wildlife were a flock of ravens but immediately started when wild boars arrived so i think that there are some animals that they just refuse to hunt.

[knutor]

Just like an honest dorf, won't lie.  A low focus dorf won't ambush. 

He'd rather No Job.  Which quite possibly is what that particular dorf is good at, if she's high in the socializing stuff.  Just a hunch.  Make sure your hunter isn't twilighting as a noble.

What I do when this happens, and it happens a lot.  With animal men and ravens, is what has already been mentioned.  I kill the current animals with my military, or chase them off the map, and when new stuff visits me, the hunters will sync up, and Hunt.

Do you have the caverns open?  Try closing that.  Some maps have really complex cavern issues, and a hunter will give up trying to catch a cavern entity still behind the fog of war, rather than path to it, this will produce odd behavior topside, as well.  Since deep tasks are prioritized over shallow tasks.

Can't think of anything else at this time.  Good luck, Knutor

[knutor]

because I don't even have any military dwarves in the beginning.

Oops, how did I miss this.  Yeah, I setup 3 of the starting 7 dwarfs to be in a uniformless squad, from the start.  That's why I take 3 quivers.  For those 3.  If your starting with a hunter, take the ambush skill at embark time, for the freebie quiver and armor.  If you do that, like me, you'll have four quivers. 

The starting military, set to not train, from the very beginning.  Then I plop down a target for them, 3 targets to be most efficient.  So ya I set those first 3 dorfs to a squad, wipe the schedule slate clear, so they don't waste time, trying to train, but failing, since marksdwarfs don't train.  Since there is not barracks for them. 

Then use them to build out your fortress while inactive, and chase off the nonhuntables by toggling them to active, in the squad menu, t.  Ha, new word there.  Nonhuntables.  Take care, Knutor