Bow of the Hunt

Bow of the Hunt
Base Damage	10
Speed	0.937
Weight	7
Value	434
Level	1+
Category	Bow
Class	Steel
Variants	Angi's Bow, Dravin's Bow, Hunting Bow
Skill	Archery
Unique	Yes
Item ID	000AB705
Game/DLC	Skyrim

The Bow of the Hunt is a unique hunting bow with 10 base damage that hits animals hard. It rests on an altar at the back of the cave at Clearspring Tarn, and can be taken at any level.

Weapon Enchantment

Animals take 20 points of extra damage from each arrow. Insects and trolls count as animals for this effect.

The Enchantment Effects page lists every weapon enchantment.

Enchantment
Animals take 20 points of extra damage

Bow of the Hunt Map Location

Bow of the Hunt map location:

The Bow of the Hunt rests on an altar at the back of the cave at Clearspring Tarn. The cave can be explored at any point in the game.

Map credit by Map Genie.

Gameplay Tips and Tricks

Temper it at a grindstone with a Steel Ingot. The Steel Smithing perk doubles the improvement.

Smithing Guide

Enchanted weapons require the Arcane Blacksmith Perk to upgrade.

Upgrades

Bow of the Hunt is improved at a grindstone with one Steel Ingot per improvement. The Steel Smithing perk doubles the improvement, so each quality tier needs less Smithing skill. An enchanted copy can only be improved with the Arcane Blacksmith perk.

Quality	Smithing	With Perk	Damage
Fine	14	14	+1
Superior	31	22	+3
Exquisite	65	40	+5
Flawless	100	57	+7
Epic	134	74	+8 to +9
Legendary	168	91	+10

Crafting Materials	Upgrade Materials	Smithing Level	Smithing Perk
Cannot be crafted	Steel Ingot	-	Steel Smithing

Weapon Levels

Some weapons in Skyrim are Levelled. The power of a levelled weapon is based on your charcters level when you get them. Some get stronger in both physical and magical aspects, while others only improve their enchantments. These items don't get better as your character levels up.

Bow of the Hunt has the same damage at every character level.

Level	Damage	Weight	Value	Enchantment	Level ID
1+	10	7	434	Animals take 20 points of extra damage	000AB705

How It Plays

The Bow of the Hunt is a specialist bow. Against people it is just a Hunting Bow. Against animals, each arrow deals a large bonus on top of its normal damage. For a low level archer, that bonus outweighs the damage of most better bows.

The list of animals is wider than it sounds. Wolves and bears count, and so do werebears and the chaurus. Spriggans and vampires fall outside the bonus.

The bow is easy to reach early. Clearspring Tarn sits a short trip from Helgen, so a new character can claim the bow early on. The bonus damage then makes early hunting much easier. Pelts and meat from those hunts are a steady early source of gold.

Perks and Builds

The Archery skill tree makes the bow much stronger. Overdraw raises the damage of every bow, and Critical Shot adds critical hits. The bonus damage against animals counts as part of the base damage for critical hits. A critical shot from this bow therefore hits an animal much harder than an ordinary hunting bow would.

Critical damage also ignores the armor of an Armored Troll. Armored Trolls appear in the Dawnguard DLC, and the bow handles them well.

A hunter build fits the bow best. A character who roams the wilds, sneaks up on game and sells pelts gets the most from it.

Compared with Other Bows

The Bow of the Hunt keeps its edge over better bows only against animals. Orcish, Elven and Glass bows soon outdamage it against bandits and soldiers. Carrying a second bow for humanoid foes covers that gap.

The enchantment is unique to this bow. It cannot be disenchanted, so no other bow can carry the same bonus without exploits.

Ranged Weapon Categories

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• 

  Bows

• 

  Crossbows

All Unique Bows

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Name	Image	Damage	Speed	Weight	Value	Enchantment	Item ID	Level	Upgrade Material	Crafting Perk	Skill	DLC
Angi's Bow		7	0.937	7	50	Cannot be enchanted	000CC392	1+	Steel Ingot	Steel Smithing	Archery	Skyrim
Auriel's Bow		13	1	11	1000	21 points of sun damage. Undead targets take triple damage	XX000800	1+	Refined Moonstone	Elven Smithing	Archery	Dawnguard
Bow of the Hunt		10	0.937	7	434	Animals take 20 points of extra damage	000AB705	1+	Steel Ingot	Steel Smithing	Archery	Skyrim
Drainspell Bow		14	0.875	6	458	Absorb Magicka 15 points	000F82FC	1+	Cannot be Upgraded	None	Archery	Skyrim
Dravin's Bow		7	0.937	7	50	Cannot be enchanted	0006B9AD	1+	Leather Strips	Steel Smithing	Archery	Skyrim
Dwarven Black Bow of Fate		13	0.75	10	1446	50% chance for each attribute to absorb 25 pts. of Health, Stamina, and/or Magicka	XX02C01A	1+	Ebony Ingot	Dwarven Smithing	Archery	Dragonborn
Firiniel's End		13	0.687	12	785	Target takes 20 points of frost damage to Health and Stamina	00017059	1+	Refined Moonstone	Elven Smithing	Archery	Skyrim
Froki's Bow		6	1	5	307	Does 10 points of Stamina damage	000C0186	1+	Iron Ingot	None	Archery	Skyrim
Gauldur Blackbow		14	0.875	18	972	Absorb 30 points of magicka	000F5D22	36+	Steel Ingot	Dwarven Smithing	Archery	Skyrim
Glass Bow of the Stag Prince		16	0.625	14	375	Wielder receives an increasingly powerful blessing for every 20 animals killed by the bow	XX018ED5	1+	Refined Malachite	Glass Smithing	Archery	Dragonborn
Karliah's Bow		25	0.625	9	5	Cannot be enchanted	000DEED8	1+	Cannot be Upgraded	None	Archery	Skyrim
Nightingale Bow		19	0.5	18	3405	Freezes the target for 30 points and shocks the target for 15 points	000F652C	46+	Ebony Ingot	None	Archery	Skyrim
Zephyr		12	1	10	670	Fires 30% faster than a standard bow	XX00CFB6	1+	Dwarven Metal Ingot	Dwarven Smithing	Archery	Dawnguard
Bow of Shadows		19		18	2500	Weapon draw is 20% faster and casts invisibility for 30 seconds.	XX000807	1+	Ebony Ingot	Arcane Blacksmith	Archery	Creation Club
Ruin's Edge		12	0.875	7	750	Randomly applies one of these effects to the target: - Demoralize, 100 pts for 20 seconds - Drain Magicka, 1000 pts for 20 seconds - Frenzy, 100 pts for 20 seconds Frost Damage, 25 pts - Paralyze, for 15 seconds Paralyze, for 1 second	FEXXXD63	1+	Daedra Heart	Daedric Smithing	Archery	Creation Club