Easy ways to make money for kids

“Red Dead Redemption” starts out by dumping you in New Austin with a bullet in your gut and no idea really of where to go. Local rancher Bonnie MacFarlane shows you compassion in saving your life, but that doesn’t change the fact that you’re penniless. You’ve got a gun and a horse, but you’ve left that outlaw life behind. John Marston kills only out of necessity these days, and he’s okay with that.

Unfortunately, that new-found kindness of your is going to be a real problem when it comes to eeking out a living in the tough New Austin landscape. You can’t rob folks, nor can you kill them and loot the bodies. Have no fear, stranger– there are other ways to make money on the frontier. The best option is to live off the land around you. You have all of those bullets and you can’t use them on people. But there’s no dishonor in whittling away at the local animal population!

(1) Mount Up
The first rule of hunting in the wilderness is this: you’re gonna need a horse. Yes, it will get you around more quickly. And yes it will allow you to keep up with fleet-footed deer. But the number one reason to keep your faithful steed handy? It puts a few more feet between you and the ground, where wolves, coyotes and the occasional mountain lion can end you quickly and painfully.

(2) Use Your Minimap
Anything you kill, man or beast, is marked on the minimap with a little “x”. Except there’s one catch: the “x” doesn’t show up unless you’re in the general proximity of the kill. Once you know that, the rest is easy. Pick an area to hunt in, spend a bunch of minutes gunning down anything that moves and then explore the area in increasingly wide arcs to make sure you get everything. No one’s going to skin your prey before you do, and it won’t disappear unless you leave the area.

(3) Know Your Prey
Don’t waste your time killing horses. The $6 you earn for their various parts isn’t worth the time you spend waiting for Marston to skin the thing. The best place to hunt in the early game is south of Armadillo, where you’re more likely to find wolves and foxes. Deer are great, but they rarely appear in great numbers. Foxes are valuable enough that they’re worth the effort, even as solo travelers. And wolves, dangerous as they can be, travel in packs. Take out a bunch, skin the lot of them and sell it all off for a tidy profit. Also, keep your eye on the skies. Vulture feathers and crow feathers aren’t terribly valuable, but most every other bird — particularly hawks — will get you good money. What’s more, birds take less time to “skin” (since you’re just plucking feathers) and you’ll usually get two to four feathers per bird.