This post is to let newcomers know which things I found most useful, that you can find when out and about. When you're new to a game you see all this stuff, but it's difficult to know which things will be most useful and which will prove superfluous. So these things are what I always grab when I see them.

Oleander Sage -- This is needed for poisoned weapons, like arrows and throwing knives.

Thyme -- This is used as a cooking spice. This recipe gives a gold dead eye core, and this is the only core you'll be constantly refilling, if you play like me I guess. Thyme prime beef for the win baby. Oregano (stamina) and mint (health) are the same, but those cores don't need refilling so often.

Animal fat -- Needed for explosive ammo..

Moonshine -- Needed for incendiary shotgun shells. These are not a necessity, but once you've shot a bad guy with one, you'll want to make more!

Perfect whitetail pelts -- If you see a three star, take the pelt back to Pearson or sell to the trapper. You'll need several of these to craft items in camp or at the trapper. Might as well get started early.

Flight feathers -- Needed for crafting arrows. These come from most flying birds (not crows, parakeets and some others) The best birds to hunt for feathers are the predators, like eagles and hawks, which typically yield three per bird. Eagle and hawk feathers can also improve tomahawks and throwing knives, but unless you use these a lot it's not a big deal. I use the tomahawks quite a bit, but the standard version is fine. Especially since these are easy to throw and lose, depending on what is down range from your target (like a cliff)

Berries and small fish -- These are used to make predator bait, which you can find and buy. But I found myself crafting some, and any berry will do, while the fish needs to be 'gritty', like a bluegill for example. Anything you can craft will save you money and boost your outdoorsman cred.


Other ingredients have uses too, especially for potions and lotions, but I found so many of these -- and rarely use them -- that I didn't find them necessary to craft. Of course early in the game your satchel size is limited, so you need to be careful with what you pick up. But as the satchel grows you'll be able to be more greedy when grabbing stuff to carry with you. For example you can make snake oil (dead eye potion) with tobacco, but I found so many chewing tobaccos in the game world that it was never needed. And even then I ended up with a lot of snake oil.

One last tip is to familiarize yourself with the items needed to craft trinkets. Trinkets are special stat-boosting charms that usually require a trophy from a legendary animal. Many only require that trophy to make. But there are about five or six that require more items, like silver earrings or jointed gold bracelet. If you know what is needed you can NOT SELL them along the way, so that when you are ready to make the thing you won't need to kick yourself for selling them way back. How many silver earrings have I sold, and now when I need one I can't find it.

Be sure to upgrade the camp as you can to open up some of these crafting options.