gta-5May 11, 2026 4 min read

GTA 5 Hunting Guide: Cletus, Trevor, and Every Animal

GTA 5 hunting unlocks through Cletus and the Fair Game mission. Here is how to start hunting as Trevor, the wind and tracking rules, every animal, and the cash rewards.

Trevor aiming a sniper rifle at an elk in the Chiliad Mountain State Wilderness in GTA 5

GTA 5 hunting is one of the game's quietest pleasures, a slow, deliberate side activity tucked into the hills of Blaine County. It opens up only after you finish the Fair Game mission given by Cletus Ewing, and from then on you can hunt as Trevor whenever the mood strikes. This guide covers how the activity unlocks, the wind and tracking rules, every animal you can take down, and exactly how much each one pays.

How GTA 5 hunting unlocks through Cletus

Hunting is gated behind a single Strangers and Freaks mission called Fair Game, the final job from Cletus Ewing. You can only play it as Trevor Philips. The mission becomes available after you have completed the story mission Nervous Ron and Cletus's earlier task Target Practice, so you need a little progress under your belt before it shows up on the map.

When it triggers, Trevor gets a text asking him to meet Cletus at the Bayview Lodge in Paleto Forest. Cletus hands over a deer call and walks Trevor through the basics of stalking elk. Finishing Fair Game does two useful things: it unlocks the Sniper Rifle at Ammu-Nation, and it opens the standalone Hunting activity out in the wilderness.

Where to hunt: Chiliad Mountain State Wilderness

Once Fair Game is done, hunting takes place in the Chiliad Mountain State Wilderness, the large protected zone in northern Blaine County that wraps around Mount Chiliad and reaches into Paleto Forest. Look for an elk-head icon on the northwest corner of the map. Drive up there as Trevor, step into the hunting trailer, and the activity begins.

Two things to know before you go. First, this is a Trevor-only pastime: Michael and Franklin cannot start it. Second, hunting runs during daylight, so head out in the morning rather than the dead of night, or the option will not be live. For a refresher on Trevor's stomping grounds and the rest of the map, see our GTA 5 hub.

Weapons and the wind: how tracking works

Step into the trailer and Trevor is kitted out automatically. You get a Sniper Rifle with infinite ammo, the Animal Call that Cletus gave you, a Blazer quad bike for getting around, and the hunting outfit. You are free to swap to other guns, but the weapon you choose changes your payout (more on that below).

The wind is the heart of the whole activity. Animals here have a sharp sense of smell, and a wind indicator sits in the lower-right of the screen alongside your score, medal, and earnings. The rule Cletus drills into you is simple:

Stay downwind. Move against the wind so your scent blows away from the animals. Walk into the wind and they bolt before you can line up a shot.
Use the Animal Call to draw nearby game toward you instead of chasing it across the hills.
Crouch and move slowly. Sprinting spooks everything in earshot.
Aim for the heart. A clean heart shot is the single most valuable hit you can land.

Every animal you can hunt and what it pays

After each kill you take out Trevor's phone, snap a photo of the corpse, and send it to Cletus, who wires over money based on the animal and the quality of the shot. The roster of huntable wildlife and the base values are:

Elk (heart shot): the prize target, worth up to 10 points and $100 for a clean heart hit.
Mountain Lion: 5 points and $25.
Birds: 5 points and $10.
Boar: 3 points and $50.
Coyote: 2 points and $10.

One rule carries over straight from Fair Game: do not shoot antlerless females. The does without antlers are off limits, and dropping one works against you rather than for you. Stick to bucks, boar, big cats, and birds.

How weapon choice changes your reward

The gun you use scales the cash, not just the bragging rights. The payout multipliers break down like this:

Pistol, Rifle, Sniper Rifle: 100% of the base reward.
SMG: 75%.
Melee: 50%.
Machine Gun: 25%.
Heavy weapons and thrown projectiles: 10%.

The lesson is to leave the explosives and miniguns at home. The free Sniper Rifle pays full value and lets you take heart shots from distance, which is why it is the tool Cletus practically forces on you.

Medals and the hunting challenges

Each hunting session is scored on points, and your performance earns a medal: Bronze at 30 points, Silver at 60 points, and Gold at 90 points. Chasing Gold means stacking elk heart shots and avoiding the cheap, low-value kills.

Beyond single sessions, hunting feeds three long-running challenge tracks, each with five ranks:

Master Hunter, for total kills and clean takedowns.
Weapon Master, for landing kills with specific weapon types.
Nature Photographer, for the photos you send back to Cletus.

If you are after weapon discounts elsewhere, the Ammu-Nation shooting range and the in-game GTA 5 cheats cover the rest of Trevor's arsenal.

Quick start checklist

Finish Nervous Ron and Target Practice, then complete Fair Game as Trevor.
Drive to the elk-head icon in the northwest, in the Chiliad Mountain State Wilderness, during the morning.
Enter the trailer to grab the infinite-ammo Sniper Rifle and Animal Call.
Keep an eye on the wind indicator and stay downwind.
Photograph every kill and send it to Cletus, skip the antlerless does, and aim for the heart for the $100 payout.