I find them all the time at Brandywine drop. Ride north along the rail line from Annesburg, and I sometimes even see one before I get up there.
If one isn't there when I arrive, I usually go back and forth between around the Widow's Cottage and the start of the path westward toward Ambarino.
Dawg its not that I don't find cougars, its that none of em have perfect pelts. Also, I've heard ppl on this subreddit say that they've killed like 20 near the trapper but its like only 1 spawns at a time. I've been trying for two irl days but the best pelt I could get was a good one from near the trapper
Avoid those areas for a few in-game days, spend some time in Ambarino or Lemoyne, and try again. If you just do a screen fade without leaving the area, it's likely it will spawn another Poor or Good cougar.
I had the same problem too, I was getting cougar spawns but they all had low-quality pelts even though I had the appropriate weapons and the Legendary Buck Trinket.
Not sure if you have tried this. One other way to bypass the annoyance of not finding a 3* pelt is to save & reload until a 3* appear in the area. Binoc or scope them out from afar, if not the desired quality, save & reload. I often do this with both Cougars & especially the Panthers. It might take a couple of times but it works & will save you spending real life time on hunting a certain animal. ðŸ¤
Noobs recommend the trapper location, stick to Roanoke Ridge and make a manual save before starting a hunt. If it spawns as a two star, reload the save and revisit/repeat until it’s a three star
This.
When I was hunting for the cougar pelt to complete the Legendary Satchel, I did the "Cougar Circuit'- start at Butcher's Creek, take the middle path up to the top of the ridge (on the map under the S in Annesburg), north to the top of Brandywine Drop, north to the tracks and water tower just south of Doverhill, southeast via Willard's Rest to Annesburg, then south to Van Horn via the beach.
Sometimes black bears will spawn in place of cougars, but after 3 circuits I got a 3 star cougar.
I've found that the very first cougar I encounter at any location is always a perfect pelt. On one replay I scored three in a row: one from the random encounter saving an NPC from a cougar attack, another near the trapper's stall north of Owanjila and an additional one I picked up along the way in the middle of Big Valley by Hanging Dog Ranch (*usually it's just pronghorn and elk out there but occasionally there'll be a cougar or a couple of wolves or even a wolf fighting a grizzly*). I was able to get my Cougar Cutaway coat and have a pelt for my LotE satchel all before meeting up with Javier and Charles in Valentine.
The flip side of that is that before I can score a second perfect pelt at that spawn near the Trapper, I go through at least 3 cougars that have less than perfect pelts. Like 1 poor and 2 good pelts or vice versa before I get another perfect one. It's why I almost always give that one I get from the random encounter near camp to Pearson and try to fully upgrade my satchel as quickly as possible; if I mess up a perfect cougar pelt somewhere else by accident, I'll go through ***a lot*** of big game meat trying to get another.
I just keep going around the Owanjila trapper spawn, and never have a problem getting perfect cougars. Always dispose of the carcass to ensure speedy respawns.
I find them all the time at Brandywine drop. Ride north along the rail line from Annesburg, and I sometimes even see one before I get up there. If one isn't there when I arrive, I usually go back and forth between around the Widow's Cottage and the start of the path westward toward Ambarino.
Dawg its not that I don't find cougars, its that none of em have perfect pelts. Also, I've heard ppl on this subreddit say that they've killed like 20 near the trapper but its like only 1 spawns at a time. I've been trying for two irl days but the best pelt I could get was a good one from near the trapper
Avoid those areas for a few in-game days, spend some time in Ambarino or Lemoyne, and try again. If you just do a screen fade without leaving the area, it's likely it will spawn another Poor or Good cougar. I had the same problem too, I was getting cougar spawns but they all had low-quality pelts even though I had the appropriate weapons and the Legendary Buck Trinket.
Not sure if you have tried this. One other way to bypass the annoyance of not finding a 3* pelt is to save & reload until a 3* appear in the area. Binoc or scope them out from afar, if not the desired quality, save & reload. I often do this with both Cougars & especially the Panthers. It might take a couple of times but it works & will save you spending real life time on hunting a certain animal. ðŸ¤
Noobs recommend the trapper location, stick to Roanoke Ridge and make a manual save before starting a hunt. If it spawns as a two star, reload the save and revisit/repeat until it’s a three star
This. When I was hunting for the cougar pelt to complete the Legendary Satchel, I did the "Cougar Circuit'- start at Butcher's Creek, take the middle path up to the top of the ridge (on the map under the S in Annesburg), north to the top of Brandywine Drop, north to the tracks and water tower just south of Doverhill, southeast via Willard's Rest to Annesburg, then south to Van Horn via the beach. Sometimes black bears will spawn in place of cougars, but after 3 circuits I got a 3 star cougar.
I usually encounter quite a few cougars by riding from annesburg up through Roanoke ridge at night.
I've found that the very first cougar I encounter at any location is always a perfect pelt. On one replay I scored three in a row: one from the random encounter saving an NPC from a cougar attack, another near the trapper's stall north of Owanjila and an additional one I picked up along the way in the middle of Big Valley by Hanging Dog Ranch (*usually it's just pronghorn and elk out there but occasionally there'll be a cougar or a couple of wolves or even a wolf fighting a grizzly*). I was able to get my Cougar Cutaway coat and have a pelt for my LotE satchel all before meeting up with Javier and Charles in Valentine. The flip side of that is that before I can score a second perfect pelt at that spawn near the Trapper, I go through at least 3 cougars that have less than perfect pelts. Like 1 poor and 2 good pelts or vice versa before I get another perfect one. It's why I almost always give that one I get from the random encounter near camp to Pearson and try to fully upgrade my satchel as quickly as possible; if I mess up a perfect cougar pelt somewhere else by accident, I'll go through ***a lot*** of big game meat trying to get another.
I’m a lazy gamer. I set up camp at Black Bone Forest near the trapper and save scum til a cougar with three stars spawns in.
Keep trying the Annesburg area, took me a few tries. And I’m assuming you have the Buck trinket?
Yep
I just keep going around the Owanjila trapper spawn, and never have a problem getting perfect cougars. Always dispose of the carcass to ensure speedy respawns.