Layton Lake District — Complete Guide: All 9 Animals, Need Zones, Best Weapons & Tips

Layton Lake District is one of the two original base-game reserves in theHunter: Call of the Wild, modelled on Pacific Northwest, USA (Washington). An open-world hunting game built around realistic tracking and unscripted animal encounters, playable solo or with friends.

This page covers everything about Layton Lake District: all 9 species with their class, trophy thresholds and need-zone clocks, the weapons that cover every class here, our illustrated interactive map, the official screenshots, our hunting tips, and answers to the questions players ask most.

Layton Lake District in Pictures

Moose by a mountain marsh Lookout tower on a rocky crag Deer in a pine meadow Black bear standing in a meadow Mallard over a mountain lake Hunter on a hillside above the valley Bull elk in the crosshairs Elk herd below the mountains Log cabin lodge in the forest Hunter on a ridge, rifle in hand

10 official images from the game's store page. Tap any image to enlarge.

About Layton Lake District

Base-game reserve of spruce, larch and aspen forest, rocky mountain slopes and marshland between them, surrounded by snow-capped peaks; ‘untamed wild with few traces of civilization’.

What you get with the base game:

• Simulation: complex animal behaviour, dynamic weather, full day/night cycle, realistic acoustics, wind-carried scent.
• Weapon classes: rifle, sidearm, shotgun, bow; loadout and ammo chosen per prey.
• Animals named: jackrabbits, mallards, black bears, elk, moose.
• Trophy lodge for displaying harvests.
• Online multiplayer for up to 8 players, co-op or competitive; DLC reserves playable if one party member owns them.

Interactive Map of Layton Lake District

Toggle the layers. Pick a species to light up where it’s found, and tap any marker for its name and grid reference.

Illustration, not a copy of the in-game map. Positions are approximate and scaled from published coordinates to a 10 × 10 grid. Layton River and High Lake from our data; the smaller lakes are decorative. Use the in-game map for navigation.

Regions at a Glance

Outposts and Lookouts

Outposts are fast-travel points; climbing a lookout reveals the map around it. Grid references match the map’s grid layer (columns A–J west to east, rows 1–10 north to south).

All 9 Animals on Layton Lake District

Every species on the reserve, heaviest class first. Each card shows the class, the hardest difficulty it can reach, the diamond threshold, any Great One, and the published feed, drink and rest times. For full trophy data see our animals page.

Need-zone times are the published in-game windows (24-hour clock). Zone locations differ between saves, so find and mark your own.

Trophy Thresholds on Layton Lake District

The trophy rating you need for each medal. Diamonds only drop at the top difficulty levels, so check an animal’s level with your binoculars before you shoot.

Best Weapons for Layton Lake District

The smallest base-game kit that covers every class here (1–8), so whatever walks into a zone you have legal ammo:

• Caversham Steward 12G: classes 1, 2, 4, 7, 8 (12 GA Birdshot, 12 GA Buckshot, 12 GA Slug)

Good DLC upgrades for the bigger game here: Bearclaw Lite CB-60 (Free DLC/download), Crosspoint CB-165 (Weapon Pack 1), Houyi Recurve Bow (Weapon Pack 1), Grelck Drilling Rifle (Weapon Pack 2), Solokhin MN1890 (Weapon Pack 2), Eckers .30-06 (Weapon Pack 3). See every pack in our weapon pack guides.

Hunting Tips for Layton Lake District

• Climb lookout points to reveal nearby outposts on the map, then use outposts for fast travel.
• High Lake’s fish-shaped island (about 600 m north of Highlake Southern Outpost) is a reported crossing for elk, moose and blacktail; set up ESE of the ’nose’. Activity reportedly dips around 19:00, moose/blacktail cross later at night.
• Moose around High Lake are reported to be aggressive; a tripod or tent gives safety.
• Shallow river crossings near Calburn look like water on the map but are walkable - deer and elk use them.
• Calburn Canyon elk: a need zone NW of the right-hand canyon was reported active roughly 00:30-05:30.
• Work the drink zones. Most species here have a published drink window (see the cards above). Sit near water in that window, downwind, and let the animals come to you.
• Bird hunting: Mallard, Merriam Turkey live here. Bring a shotgun with birdshot, and use decoys and callers where you can.
• Dangerous game: Moose, Black Bear can charge or attack. Carry a heavy calibre, keep a tent or tripod for safety, and don’t take marginal shots.
• Great One grind: for Moose, Black Bear, Whitetail Deer, harvest steadily on this reserve. Every kill of that species counts toward the Great One. See the diamond guide.
• Fabled furs: only level-10 animals of Moose, Black Bear, Whitetail Deer can carry a Fabled fur. Glass every herd for top-level animals.
• Diamonds: only take max-level animals when chasing trophies, use in-class ammo, and make a clean one-shot kill to keep the harvest bonus.

Similar Reserves

These reserves share the most species with Layton Lake District:

New Hampshire, USANew England Mountains5 shared species

Alberta, CanadaAskiy Ridge4 shared species

FinlandRevontuli Coast3 shared species

Sources: official store page for theHunter: Call of the Wild (base game), our species database (class, thresholds, need zones and furs compiled from community trackers and checked in game where possible), and published game-file coordinates for the map. Compiled October 2026.