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[Gculk]

After embarking on a savage evil biome to start my hunting camp, I started losing hunters.  When dangerous beasts (ogres, werewolves, or harpies) would spawn, I'd group my hunters and send the four of them to shoot the beasts down, but even so, every few encounters a crossbowdwarf would get caught alone and killed.  When I was down to two out of four hunters, I said fuck it.  I'm just going to train up my fighters and work on my bonecarving industry.

I get them up to champions in wrestling, give them back their crossbows, and start sending them out against the wolves and ogres of this place, and every encounter was quickly resolved, and my peasants would pick up the body.

This got me thinking, and I started sending my champions after a pack of muskox that spawned.  They engaged, and decimated the pack in a matter of seconds.   My butchers and carvers retrieved the bodies, and they were butchered and used.

I then started sending my champs at every pack of animals that spawned, and in every engagement my champions, set to engage wildlife and chase enemies zipped across the map and wiped the beasts out.

My refuse piles are full of corpses ready to be butchered, and none of my hunters have died since.  It takes a bit of support with butchers and everything, but I don't see why hunting should be done any other way. 

[Jack_Bread]

Hunter's return their kills, which means hunting the way you did would require you to turn on "Gather refuse from outside" which would quickly fill up your refuse stockpiles with dead goblins and their parts and would lower the work your dwarves are doing because they're out grabbing some goblins third finger, left hand. If you turn off refuse hauling on a lot of your dwarves, it might result in a lot more miasma. Also, hunters sneak, making it less likely for the animal to run away.

[Jim Groovester]

It also requires micromanagement to send your champions after groups of animals that spawn. Which is tedious.

And raising animals captured as livestock is a far more efficient way to get meat and leather and bones than hunting. (Well, importing is the best way to get leather, but that's a different point.)

[Gculk]

Doesn't matter if the animal runs if the champion can chase it down in about 20 tiles.  Half the time hunters lose their kills anyways because of "hunter cancels return kill: Interrupted by Hoary Marmot".  I'm using crossbow dwarves, so mess isn't that much of an issue with goblins.  One body that needs to be hauled to the stockpile for bone use anyways.

I just set a patrol route around the outside of the map, the kills cancels out the long patrol duty.   

[Raphite1]

If you can tolerate the downsides that Jack mentioned, you're probably better off using your "military hunting" method since it IS much safer for the dwarves involved. Hunters and hunting are due for a revision.

However, if your fort is in a biome that is mostly populated by small and weak creatures, using actual hunters can be a better choice. They take care of all the hunting and hauling automatically, so you don't have to spend time micromanaging your military to accomplish the same task.

In certain biomes or in mods that increase the game's challenge by making wildlife more dangerous, Hunting can be a nearly-guaranteed-lethal profession. In these situations, make sure that you inspect immigrant waves for Hunters so that you can turn off the labor asap.

[Argonnek]

In these situations, make sure that you inspect immigrant waves for Hunters so that you can turn off the labor asap.

Or, perhaps, activate the labor asap.

[Shaio]

Yes, a lone hunter is not safe, a fortress of nothing but hunters however is remarkably secure.

[Shrike]

The Deadliest Catch: Mountainhome edition.

[Randall Octagonapus]

This got me thinking, and I started sending my champions after a pack of muskox that spawned.  They engaged, and decimated the pack in a matter of seconds.   My butchers and carvers retrieved the bodies, and they were butchered and used.

This reminds me of the time an Elf caravan went crazy and I sent a champion to kill it and a berserk muskox attacked him right when he started vomiting from cave adaption and it ripped off his arm

[Loyal]

It also requires micromanagement to send your champions after groups of animals that spawn. Which is tedious.

Compared to what, exactly? This is Dwarf Fortress we're talking about.

Hell, I do this even with non-champion dwarves, especially those with nervous injuries. Just don't use Speardwarves, otherwise it'll get stuck and you'll have some yahoo who's good with a spear trying to chase down and wrestle the camel who's running away with the spear stuck in its hump.

Hunter's return their kills, which means hunting the way you did would require you to turn on "Gather refuse from outside" which would quickly fill up your refuse stockpiles with dead goblins and their parts and would lower the work your dwarves are doing because they're out grabbing some goblins third finger, left hand.

I can't be the only one who sets the refuse stockpile near the Butcher shop to only accept corpses, can I? Or sets seperate refuse stockpiles for butcherable things and humanoid kills? Body parts, as a rule of thumb, are ignored altogether.

[edit] Also, hunters return their kills only until they get interrupted by another creature. Which happens very often in savage biomes (and if you aren't in a savage biome, why have a hunter at all?)

[Challtdow]

if you aren't in a savage biome, why have a hunter at all?

Unicorns.

Chall T. Dow

[Loyal]

Rebuttal: Interspersed cage traps. Safer, more useful for general purposes, and with a little modding you can breed 'em.

[o_O[WTFace]]

Hunters sneak up on things, champions just outrun them.  Champions do what they are told (sortof) while hunters just run off and hunt random creatures with leather armor and whatever they have lying around.  It works fine against rabbits or whatever but but sooner or later they use up their bolts and its just Urist vs a Grizzly Bear and armor + shield + hammer + legendary wrestling are going to make all the difference. 

[Bauglir]

-snip-

[Zerox]

if you aren't in a savage biome, why have a hunter at all?

Unicorns.

Chall T. Dow

*shivers*

Oh god. Not those blasted creatures...
Turn their fat and sinew to soap and build a statue of one over a pit of lava and drop it in a a sacrafice to armok. It's the only way to survive.