The Huntmaster's Challenge is a monthly competitive hunting contest run from the Huntmaster's Lodge near Skara Brae. Players purchase a hunting permit, track down and kill one of two dozen eligible prey species, document the kill, and submit it for judging. The hunter who records the largest specimen of each species by the end of the month wins a reward claim redeemable for exclusive equipment, titles, and crafting tools.
The Huntmaster's Lodge is also home to the Daily Quests. See the Daily Quests page for details on that system.
Getting Started
Buying a Permit
Visit the Huntmaster NPC inside the lodge. Right-click him and choose Get Hunting Permit. The permit costs 5,000 gold, withdrawn from your bank account. You may only carry one active permit at a time—purchase a new one only after the first has been submitted or discarded.
Finding Prey
Any creature whose species appears on the eligible species list can be hunted. These range from common animals like turkeys and boars to exotic beasts like allosaurus and triceratops. You can preview every eligible species by examining the mounted trophy displays inside the lodge.
Important: You must be the sole attacker. If any other player or their pet dealt damage to the creature, you will not be able to document it. Pets controlled by you do count as your damage, but another player's damage—even a single hit—disqualifies the kill.
Documenting a Kill
- Kill an eligible creature while carrying your permit.
- Double-click the Hunting Permit in your backpack.
- Target the corpse of the creature you killed.
- If valid, you will see: "*You document your kill on the permit*"
The permit now records five pieces of information visible in its tooltip: your name, the species, the date, the location, and the measurement (weight, length, or wingspan depending on species). Each permit can only document a single kill.
The measurement is randomly determined at the moment you document the kill, drawn from a range specific to each species. Most kills will fall toward the lower end of the range. Hunting in a prime hunting area dramatically improves your odds of recording a high measurement.
Submitting Your Permit
Drag the documented permit and drop it on the Huntmaster NPC. He will evaluate it:
| Result | What happens |
|---|---|
| Your measurement ties or beats the current leader for that species. | Your kill is registered as the new (or co-) leader. You become eligible for a reward when the season ends. |
| Your measurement does not beat the current leader. | The Huntmaster tells you the record still stands. The permit is still marked as submitted. |
| The permit is from a previous season. | Rejected. Only permits documented in the current calendar month are accepted. |
| The permit has already been submitted. | Rejected. Each permit may only be submitted once. |
| The permit has no documented kill. | Rejected. You must document a kill first. |
There is no limit on how many permits you can purchase and submit in a single season. If another hunter beats your record later in the month, you can try again with a new permit.
Seasons & Rewards
How Seasons Work
Each contest season runs for approximately one calendar month. When the season ends (on the first day of the following month), all current leaders are awarded reward claims. The leaderboard then resets and a new season begins immediately.
If multiple hunters are tied for the lead on a given species (i.e. they recorded exactly the same measurement), all tied hunters receive a reward claim.
A single hunter can earn multiple reward claims in one season by holding the lead across different species. Each species is judged independently.
Claiming Rewards
After a season ends, return to the Huntmaster NPC and right-click him to choose Claim Reward. This opens the reward selection window showing your available reward claims and the list of prizes. Each claim lets you choose one reward. If you won multiple species, you have multiple claims and can pick a different reward each time.
Unclaimed rewards carry over—you do not need to claim them immediately. But you must visit the Huntmaster to spend them.
Reward Items
| Reward | Description |
|---|---|
| Harvester's Blade | An elven spellblade with the Spell Channeling property. Hued 1191. |
| Horn of Plenty | A novelty item with 10 charges. Each use produces a random Thanksgiving-themed item (pies, turkey platters, rolls, coffee plants, furniture deeds, or even a live turkey). Charges regenerate during the month of November (one per day). |
| Huntmaster's Champion (title deed) | Grants the title Huntmaster's Champion. |
| Ranger's Guild Sash | A blessed body sash labeled Member of the Skara Brae Ranger's Guild. Human version. |
| Gargish Ranger's Guild Sash | A blessed gargish sash with the same label. Gargoyle version. |
| Hamburger Recipe Scroll | Teaches the hamburger cooking recipe. |
| Hot Dog Recipe Scroll | Teaches the hot dog cooking recipe. |
| Sausage Recipe Scroll | Teaches the sausage cooking recipe. |
| Miner's Satchel | A container that holds ore, ingots, granite, and saltpeter with a 50% weight reduction. |
| Lumberjack's Satchel | A container that holds logs and boards with a 50% weight reduction. |
| Harvester's Axe | A two-handed axe that magically chops logs into boards on harvest. Comes with 1,000 charges. |
Eligible Species
Every species has a measurement range and a measurement type (weight in stones, length in feet, or wingspan in feet). Higher measurements win.
Classic Prey
| Species | Measured By | Minimum | Maximum |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grizzly Bear | Weight (stones) | 400 | 790 |
| Grey Wolf | Weight (stones) | 50 | 99 |
| Cougar | Weight (stones) | 100 | 220 |
| Turkey | Weight (stones) | 10 | 24 |
| Bull | Weight (stones) | 1,100 | 2,200 |
| Boar | Weight (stones) | 100 | 400 |
| Walrus | Weight (stones) | 1,200 | 3,700 |
| Alligator | Length (feet) | 15 | 30 |
| Eagle | Wingspan (feet) | 10 | 20 |
Eodon Prey
| Species | Measured By | Minimum | Maximum |
|---|---|---|---|
| Myrmidex Larvae | Weight (stones) | 20 | 40 |
| Najasaurus | Weight (stones) | 200 | 400 |
| Anchisaur | Weight (stones) | 200 | 400 |
| Allosaurus | Weight (stones) | 5,000 | 12,000 |
| Dimetrosaur | Weight (stones) | 200 | 400 |
| Saurosaurus | Weight (stones) | 1,500 | 2,000 |
Exotic Prey
| Species | Measured By | Minimum | Maximum |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tiger | Weight (stones) | 350 | 700 |
| Myrmidex Drone | Weight (stones) | 100 | 200 |
| Triceratops | Weight (stones) | 10,000 | 15,000 |
| Lion | Weight (stones) | 350 | 700 |
| White Tiger | Weight (stones) | 350 | 700 |
| Black Tiger | Weight (stones) | 350 | 700 |
| Raptor | Weight (stones) | 400 | 800 |
| Sea Serpent | Weight (stones) | 200 | 600 |
| Scorpion | Weight (stones) | 250 | 500 |
Prime Hunting Grounds
Members of the Ranger's Guild (NPC guild) have a significant advantage in the Huntmaster's Challenge. Every six hours, the system designates a region of the world as the current prime hunting ground. Kills documented within that region use a much more favorable measurement formula, making record-breaking specimens far more likely.
Getting the Hint
The Huntmaster and other lodge NPCs will periodically share a hint about the current prime hunting ground with any nearby Ranger's Guild member. You will hear something like:
- "A good place to hunt these days is [region name]."
This hint is given roughly every 30 to 60 minutes to any visible (not hidden) Ranger's Guild member standing near a lodge NPC. The prime region rotates every six hours, so check back regularly.
How It Helps
Under normal circumstances, the measurement formula heavily favors the low end of each species' range. A normal kill uses a square-root distribution: most results cluster well below the midpoint.
In a prime hunting ground, the measurement is drawn from a flat random distribution across the full range—meaning you have a roughly equal chance of landing anywhere between the minimum and maximum. For competitive submissions, this makes a substantial difference.
You must be a Ranger's Guild member for the prime hunt bonus to apply. Non-guild members always use the standard distribution, regardless of where they hunt.
Taxidermy & Trophies
Documented kills can also be turned into wall-mounted trophies for your home using a Taxidermy Kit (purchasable from tanners). This is separate from the contest—you do not need to submit a permit to the Huntmaster before creating a trophy, but each permit can only produce one trophy.
Creating a Trophy
Use a taxidermy kit on a documented hunting permit. This produces a trophy item (or a deed for larger specimens) that records the hunter's name, species, measurement, date, and location.
Placing a Trophy
Trophies are placed inside a house you own or co-own:
- Stand next to a wall inside your house.
- For large (complex) trophies, double-click the trophy deed to place it as an addon.
- For standard trophies, double-click the deed while facing the wall you want to hang it on.
- The trophy faces the correct direction based on whether you are against a north-facing or west-facing wall.
Trophies can be flipped between east and south orientations. They display the full kill details in their tooltip when examined.
Top 10 Kill Board
Inside the lodge you will find a Top 10 Kill Board. Double-click it to open a leaderboard showing the ten best kills across all species (or filtered to a single species).
The board displays each entry's hunter name, species, measurement, and date killed. Use the arrow buttons at the bottom to cycle the species filter. The default view ("No Filter") ranks all species together using a normalized percentage of each species' maximum possible measurement, so a near-record turkey and a near-record allosaurus can appear on the same board.
The Top 10 board is a hall-of-fame record—it persists across seasons and is not reset when a new contest begins.
Display Trophies
The mounted trophy heads lining the walls of the lodge are display trophies. Each one represents a single species and automatically updates to show the current season leader's kill details: hunter name, date, location, species, and measurement. If no one has submitted a kill for that species yet this season, the trophy shows no leader data.
Display trophies also show when the current season ends.
Quick Reference
| Step | What to Do |
|---|---|
| 1 | Visit the Huntmaster's Lodge near Skara Brae. |
| 2 | Right-click the Huntmaster and choose Get Hunting Permit (5,000 gold). |
| 3 | Find and kill an eligible creature. You must be the sole attacker. |
| 4 | Double-click the permit, then target the corpse to document the kill. |
| 5 | Return to the lodge and drop the permit on the Huntmaster to submit it. |
| 6 | If your measurement ties or beats the leader, you are in the running for a reward. |
| 7 | After the season ends (first of next month), return and choose Claim Reward. |
| 8 | Optionally, use a taxidermy kit on a documented permit to create a house trophy. |
Tips & Strategy
- Join the Ranger's Guild before hunting competitively. The prime hunting ground bonus is the single biggest factor in recording a high measurement.
- Listen for hints. Stand near the lodge NPCs without hiding. If you are a Ranger's Guild member, the Huntmaster will tell you where the current prime hunting ground is.
- Hunt in the prime zone. Once you know the region, travel there immediately. The bonus rotates every six hours.
- Solo kills only. Bring no party members. If anyone else deals damage to the creature, you cannot document it. Your own tamed pets are fine.
- You can buy multiple permits. If your first documented kill has a low measurement, submit it anyway (it still counts for the Top 10 board) and buy a new permit to try again.
- Species with narrow ranges are more competitive. A saurosaurus ranges from 1,500 to 2,000 stones—a much tighter window than a walrus (1,200 to 3,700). Narrow-range species are harder to dominate but also harder to be unseated on.
- Check the display trophies. Before submitting, glance at the display trophy for your species to see the current leader's measurement. If your kill does not beat it, consider hunting again rather than burning your permit on a losing submission.
- Don't forget the Daily Quests. The Daily Quests NPC are right there in the lodge—pick up a quest on your way out to earn additional rewards while you hunt.