Hunter Challenge Money Exploit

While out in the wilderness you’ll occasionally hear gunfire and see a blue blip appear on the radar. These random events can be many different things, but eventually you’ll encounter a hunter who challenges you to shoot 3 birds within a 1-minute time limit*. This mini-game can be abused to earn a very large amount of money.

*In future challenge attempts, you may need to shoot more birds in less time (e.g. 4 birds in 45 seconds).

Each time you lose the challenge, you’re offered a rematch at double the previous entry fee. The key to the exploit is intentionally losing as many times as possible before finally winning. The higher the final entry fee, the more money you’ll receive when everything is over.

Walkthrough

1. Accept the bird shooting challenge.
2. Check the current entry fee and ask yourself:
   • “If I lose this round, can I still afford the next round at double this cost?”
3. If you can afford the next doubled fee:
   • Intentionally fail the challenge by letting the 1-minute timer run out.
   • The entry fee will double for the next attempt.
4. If you cannot afford the next doubled fee:
   • Win the challenge by shooting 3 birds within the time limit.

Prize Money

• When you win, the game pays you twice the final entry fee (not the total amount you’ve paid so far).

Kill and Loot

• If you care about your Honor rating, equip the Bandana first.
• Kill and loot the hunter after winning.
• You’ll receive roughly the same amount again from his body as you just earned from the mini-game.

How the Money Really Works

• Your total payout is based almost entirely on the final (largest) entry fee.
• When everything is done, you receive approximately:
  • 2x the final entry fee from the mini-game
  • 2x the final entry fee from looting the hunter
• Total payout: about 4x the final entry fee
• Total profit: about 3x the final entry fee

In short, the more money you start with, the more times you can intentionally lose and “feed” the hunter. This increases the final entry fee and because the payout scales off that last bet, it dramatically increases how much money you’ll walk away with at the end.

Step-by-Step Guide

First, take a note of your current money. You can find it at the top right of the pause screen. I have $4141 at the start.

Find a stranger who offers the bird shooting challenge. Admittedly it's completely random when or where they show up, so this step could take awhile. Once you find one, you'll be able to pay a fee to compete. In my case, the initial entry fee was $20.

Stand around and let the clock run out.

You'll fail the challenge.

You'll then be offered to try again at double the cost.

Continue failing it until the last point which you can afford to enter.

Accept the challenge and pay the biggest entry fee you can afford.

Ensure you win this time. Use Dead Eye to target the birds because when they're very high up, you'll need to aim slightly in front of them to hit them so the lock-on targeting functionality isn't much help. Dead Eye won't miss.

Once you kill the final bird, you'll complete the challenge.

Pause the game and check your cash. I got all of my money back and made a $20 profit (your profit will only ever be whatever the initial entry fee was), so I'm now on $4161.

Equip the Bandana (otherwise the next step will cause your Honor to decrease). You can buy it from the Tailor at Thieves' Landing, so if you need one, grab it before attempting this.

Kill the challenge giver.

Loot his body. You'll collect roughly double the amount as the last entry fee you paid, plus a bit of extra cash that he was already holding.

Pause and check your cash again. I'm now on $6729, making $2588 profit in a matter of minutes!