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Fallout 76 Bounties: Grunt Hunts, Head Hunts, and Wanted Players

Start Burning Springs Grunt Hunts at Highway Town’s Last Resort saloon, then use premium posters to launch Head Hunt public events. Older Wanted-player rules are a separate PvP system.
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For current NPC bounty hunting in Fallout 76, go to the Last Resort saloon in Highway Town, Burning Springs, and take a Grunt Hunt poster from the table. Follow the assigned target to a random location, then use a premium Bounty Poster on the board outside the saloon to start a Head Hunt public event. “Bounty” can also mean the older Wanted-player PvP mechanic; those historical rules are separate from Burning Springs hunts.

How to start a Grunt Hunt in Fallout 76

  1. Go to Highway Town. The Last Resort saloon is the contract hub, where The Ghoul provides bounties.
  2. Take a Grunt Hunt poster from the table. This starts a repeatable hunt.
  3. Travel to the assigned location in Burning Springs. Each hunt selects a random location and gives the target a mutation. Nearby enemies receive that mutation too, so adapt your build or use stealth as the situation calls for.
  4. Defeat the target. Grunt Hunt enemies begin as one-star Legendary targets. As you complete more hunts, targets eventually progress to two- and three-star Legendaries, according to Bethesda’s Burning Springs release notes.

The release notes do not specify a separate level requirement for picking up an individual Grunt Hunt contract.

How to start a Head Hunt

  1. Get a premium Bounty Poster. Grunt Hunt quest rewards may grant one; Bethesda says these posters are quest rewards, not items found directly on the defeated target’s body.
  2. Check whether a Head Hunt is already active. Only one can be active at a time.
  3. Place the poster on the bounty board outside the Last Resort saloon. This announces a Head Hunt public event to everyone on the server.
  4. Join the event and face its target and posse. Bethesda describes Head Hunt targets as three-star Legendaries accompanied by two-star posse members. Targets have distinct loadouts and protective posses, and completions are tracked in Challenges with unique rewards.

Bethesda’s launch notes describe dozens of unique Head Hunt targets across several locations. These enemy and star-level details reflect those notes and could change in later updates.

Where to enter Burning Springs

Bethesda says players can reach Burning Springs by crossing the bridge in Point Pleasant. To start the region’s questline, reach level 30 and tune in to the Ohio Distress Signal. That is the stated entry condition for the questline—not a confirmed level requirement for each bounty contract. Once Highway Town is unlocked, you can fast-travel directly to the Last Resort saloon.

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Burning Springs hunts and Wanted-player bounties are different

Question Burning Springs NPC hunts Wanted-player PvP status
Who or what is the target? NPC enemies: Grunt Hunt targets or Head Hunt targets and their posses. A player marked Wanted under older PvP rules.
How does it begin? Take a Grunt Hunt poster, or place a premium poster on the saloon’s bounty board to launch a Head Hunt public event. Bethesda’s historical materials describe Wanted status arising from PvP-related actions, including killing non-combatants or being targeted after a PvP death.
Where and when do the cited rules apply? Burning Springs activity described in Bethesda’s release notes. Older Bethesda material, including a March 2019 Survival Mode description; it should not be treated as a verified guide to current rules.
What reward or payment is established here? The cited notes describe unique Head Hunt rewards but do not establish a general Caps payout for these hunts. The 2019 Survival Mode notes said half the Caps spent became the reward and described a 200-Cap minimum cost in that historical context. The launch-era overview separately said the offender’s Caps stash funded the bounty.

Bethesda’s 2019 Survival Mode notes said a player could place a bounty on a killer after dying in PvP, the target would appear as Wanted on other players’ maps, and the bounty could be claimed by another player. Its launch-era overview also described Wanted status for killing non-combatants and said it cleared through death at another player’s hands. These are historical descriptions, not verified current procedures. Do not apply their Caps figures or steps to the Burning Springs NPC hunts.

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What has been announced for Skyline Valley

In a September 2026 update, Bethesda announced plans to expand bounty hunting into Skyline Valley, with The Trading Post as a bounty hub and Marshal Canton—a reprogrammed Robo-Brain—tracking dangerous visitors. The announced enemy groups include Super Mutants, Mothman Cultists, and The Lost. Bethesda described this expansion as coming in winter; that announcement is not confirmation that the content is live.

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