What do hunting levels do?

[shian]

I'm level 5 in hunting. I noticed at some point, I gained an arrow that points me in the direction of prey when crouching.

But I can't seem to get closer to my prey to get a better chance of catching it.
I also seem to have to same % of success of catching or not catching the animal.
The arrow isn't that useful to me. So what does each level do? Seems to be a very subtle skill per each level up as opposed to say, swimming or combat which is more noticeable at each level.
I know in WCUT, hiding in grass made it so prey did not notice you. This seems to not be a function in this game?

[Heathcliff]

The prey notice you always if you get to close.
The Skill only improves your "Bounce Distance". So you can bounce from far away to the prey and get it.
At the Beginning you bounce about 2 Fields. At Lv10 you can bounce 5-6 Fields. (I have tested it)

I hope I could help you

[shian]

Thanks, that does help. And after using it for a bit, the arrow really does help if you're looking for specific prey.

[Falcon Development]

Catching prey is based on two major factors:

1. The proportional distance between you and the prey, ranging from 100% (as near as possible to the prey without scaring it off) to 0% (as far away from the prey as possible.) This accounts for the majority of your success chance.
2. Your hunting skill. It's a smaller factor but still an important one!

Ranking up your hunting skill does give you an increased passive chance to catch prey when you pounce, but distance is still more important.