How to be a Bounty Hunter: A Professions Guide to Red Dead Online

These Bounty Hunter tips and tricks will keep you alive whether you're playing solo or multiplayer with friends in Frontier Pursuits.
These Bounty Hunter tips and tricks will keep you alive whether you're playing solo or multiplayer with friends in Frontier Pursuits.

The Frontier Pursuits content update for Red Dead Online adds several new professions to the game — Trader, Collector, and Bounty Hunter — of which Bounty Hunter is the most dangerous. The profession will appeal to players who like to live on the edge, challenge themselves, and make money doing it. 

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Just like every other profession in Red Dead Online, one must fulfill certain requirements to become a Bounty Hunter; there’s a code, after all, to hunting for gangs and other lawbreakers across the RDO map.

Our guide below outlines helpful tips and tricks for those who want to play the specialty role. 

Getting Started as Bounty Hunter in Red Dead Online

Before getting yourself into all kinds of trouble, you need to get a proper license first. Here’s what to do for a fast start:

  1. Travel to Rhodes
  2. When you arrive, follow the yellow marker on the map
  3. Speak to the Sheriff
  4. Purchase the Bounty Hunter license from him for 15 gold

If you already have a Twitch Prime Member account linked to Red Dead Online, then you will get the license for free, regardless of your platform.

After getting a license, you will see a new marker appear in each town. This is for the bounty board, which, of course, provides you with different types of bounty missions — and different ways to make money and gain XP.

Maybe you will even get lucky and find a legendary bounty. 

Deals, Skills, and Items

All bounty hunting missions are pretty much straightforward, but if you’re having trouble getting to your first mission, here’s the complete cycle:

  • Mark your destination: Follow the marker on the map after activating the bounty hunting mission.
  • Deal with bandits: Take out all enemies except your target, which should be taken alive.
  • Deliver the package: Bring the fugitive back to the Sheriff’s office for a reward.

Obviously, bounty hunting is extremely dangerous business, since you will operate alone in most cases. You will need to be on the lookout for griefers, too, as you hunt your prey since they can make things more difficult.

Because of all of the variables at play, this method requires extra preparation for each mission. Fortunately, every Bounty Hunter is given a number of new skills and items to use while on this dangerous path:

Rewards What They Do
Focus Targets glow red in Eagle Eye
Reinforced Lasso A lasso made with reinforced rope to keep bounties secure
Reverse Spin Perform a Reverse Spin with a single pistol or revolver
Tonics Satchel Upgrade Store more items in your Tonics Pouch
Eagle Eye+ Track enemies while sprinting or galloping
Spin Up Perform a Spin Up with a single pistol or revolver
Kit Satchel Upgrade Store more items in your Kit Pouch
Tracking Arrow Pamphlet A pamphlet recipe on how to craft Tracking Arrows
Reverse Spin Up Perform a Reverse Spin Up with a single pistol or revolver
Ducking Duck for protection while on horseback
Bolas A thrown weapon, perfect for tangling the legs of bounties
Bounty Wagon A wagon for securely retaining multiple bounty targets
Perception Receive bounty notifications from a greater distance
Alternating Flips Perform Alternating Flips with a single pistol or revolver
Dual Gun Spinning Perform gun spinning tricks with two pistols or revolvers
Breton Horses This breed is strong and muscular

Bounty Hunting Tips and Tricks

Even though bounty hunting is a very straightforward trade, there are a few things one should keep in mind if they want to succeed in the role: 

  • Bring your targets back alive rather than dead for bigger rewards
  • Take advantage of your lasso for capturing your targets alive
  • Check out post offices and train stations for more bounty hunts
  • Bring your posse or play with friends for top-tier bounty hunts
  • Reinforce your lasso to win hard-to-get targets
  • Reach Level 15 and hunt for real players for $20 or more

That is all you need to know on how to make money as a successful Bounty Hunter. For more Red Dead Online guides, check out the list below:

Red Dead Online is the online component of Red Dead Redemption 2. It is currently available for the PS4 and Xbox One.

RDO is free to those who own the RDR2 base game, though PlayStation 4 players must subscribe to PlayStation Plus to play online, while Xbox players must subscribe to Xbox Live. 

For more on Red Dead Redemption 2, be sure to head over to our official review of the game


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Serhii Patskan
Serhii is the Writer at GameSkinny. He's been writing for GameSkinny since 2015. Before that, he's been writing for various outlets and playing video games, which eventually turned into a passion. The video games that have contributed the most to his enthusiasm for writing about this industry are Magic: The Gathering, Dark Souls, and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.