When hunting animals in Red Dead Redemption 2, the goal is to get perfect pelts. Perfect pelts are the highest quality of animal pelt in the game and this quality gets the most money when donated at camp or sold to shops. Perfect pelts are also necessary for crafting certain items. This perhaps explains why Rockstar Games has made these high-quality pelts so difficult to get.
However, bagging perfect pelts doesn't need to be so difficult. Red Dead Redemption 2 players can make it much easier on themselves by using the lasso trick. The trick works with medium-sized animals - so it will work on deer but it won't work on rabbits (too small) or alligators (too big).
The first step to getting perfect pelts with the lasso trick is to bring out your binoculars. Not just for scoping out enemy territory, Arthur's trusty piece of kit also allows players to find out the quality of an animal that is some distance away. Besides legendary, there are three other types of animal in the game: poor, good, and pristine. Players won't get perfect pelts from poor or good animals and pristine animals are the only animals that give you perfect pelts. So, before you even think about capturing and killing it, check that it's a pristine animal first.
Normally, when hunting an animal, the second step would be to line up a shot with the bow and arrow, maybe even using Dead Eye to get a headshot. But with the lasso trick, players instead need to lasso the animal before getting close to it. Once players have gotten close to it, still holding onto the lasso, the game will prompt them to kill the animal. Animals in the game startle easier and it can be difficult to chase them on foot, so players may want to have their horse nearby to get to the animal faster. Just be careful not to trample the animal! Once the animal is dead, skin it, and you will have yourself a perfect pelt.
Just like the game's hidden settings and the fact that players don't need to mash X/A to keep Arthur sprinting, the lasso trick is one of those things that players have had to figure out without the game explicitly stating it. Had players known it from the off, many more probably would have been able to get perfect pelts a lot sooner.
Red Dead Redemption 2 is available on PS4 and Xbox One.