The Sheep and the Goats is the 22nd main story mission in Red Dead Redemption 2 (RDR2). This walkthrough will guide you through all objectives of The Sheep and the Goats Main Quest including all Gold Medals for 100% completion.
The Sheep and the Goats is unlocked after completing Pouring Forth Oil – IV.
Quest Giver: John Marston
Chapter: 2
Region: New Hanover
Gold Medal Requirements:
- Herd all the sheep in to the pen in Valentine
- Get 25 headshots
- Complete with at least 70% accuracy
- Complete the mission without taking any health items
Starting Location: Valentine, New Hanover
Talk to John
John has a plan to steal a herd of sheep that are being driven to auction. You need more money, and he thinks this could be a quick and easy score. Before you turn sheep rustler, John tells you that there’s something you need to pick up at the gunsmith: a sniper rifle!
The price is right, and having a sniper rifle will make Arthur’s life so much easier going forward. Buy the rifle and meet John back outside by the horses.
Follow John out to the ambush site, all the while having a conversation full of metanarrative.
John will spot the ranchers, and tell you to spook them by putting a bullet in the ground near them.
The first shot scares two of the ranchers away, leaving one who stands his ground. Put another round in the ground near him. Closer maybe.
Round up the Sheep
That worked, but it looks like the commotion has scattered the sheep. Get back on your horse and round them up.
The key is to approach the sheep from the opposite direction you want them to travel, so that they move away from you and towards their destination. While driving them onward, sweep back and forth across their path behind them so that they always go forward and don’t stray left or right.
Stragglers on the map are marked in yellow, and will change to grey when they rejoin the herd in the center.
Herd any stray sheep back to the herd until Marston announces that you have them all.
Drive the Herd
There are a total of 15 sheep that you have to manage. Its time to drive the herd using the same techniques; keep the herd between you and the waypoint, and sweep back and forth behind them to keep them going in the right direction. You can also shout to get them moving faster, or fire your gun in the air though that may scatter them instead.
- GOLD MEDAL: Herd all the sheep in to the pen in Valentine
If any break away from the herd, immediately move to drive the stray back into the herd.
Luckily once you hit the edge of town, it is a straight shot into the auction pens. Also lucky that no trains came through at exactly that moment.
Arthur and John make a shady deal with the equally shady auctioneer to sell the sheep, for a very reasonable bribe.
Arthur shows that he’s not happy with the deal with a couple more meta jokes at Marston’s expense.
Arthur and John head to Keane’s Saloon in Valentine to meet Dutch and Strauss for a drink. Dutch sends John and Strauss out to oversee the auction to protect their investment, while he and Arthur share a much needed drink in peace.
Just when you think you can relax, trouble comes looking for you.
Well that’s not good.
And that’s even worse.
Save John and Strauss
- GOLD MEDAL: Get 25 headshots
- GOLD MEDAL: Complete with at least 70% accuracy
- GOLD MEDAL: Complete the mission without taking any health items
Arthur’s plan is to let Dutch draw attention while Arthur picks his moment to strike. You will go into a quickdraw mode, so slowly, slowly squeeze the R2/RT to fill the Dead Eye meter. When the meter is full, squeeze R2/RT fully to draw and save John and Strauss.
Might as well start getting the headshots now. There will be a lot of targets for the rest of the mission, you will need to get headshots (accurately!) which will make you vulnerable to attack, and you won’t be able to use Health items to restore your life. This will be a bit of a challenge.
Use Dead Eye to get headshots as much as possible when there are multiple targets in close proximity. It will maintain your accuracy, and limit your chances of taking return fire for the gold medal requirements.
After you kill the five henchmen out front, more will arrive from the west, down the main street. Make sure to stay down behind cover while you pick your moments.
Eliminate them quickly, because some more henchmen will be circling around from the south to catch you in a crossfire.
When you can, push up the street to the north, keeping an eye out for return fire. Strauss will take fire and go down. It will be up to you to provide covering fire from the cart while Dutch and John push Strauss down the street in it.
Walk behind the cart, using it as mobile cover while killing henchmen on the street and sidewalks to the left and right.
Watch out for shooters on the balconies of Smithfield’s Saloon, and the Saints Hotel.
Use Dead Eye whenever possible to make your job easier.
At the end of the street, Dutch and John will run for the horses, leaving you to carry Strauss. Before you pick him up, be sure to take out the sniper on the roof of the stables, as well as the four guys who run in from the street to the north.
Once they’re dead, pick up Strauss and make a run for it. He will ride with John while Dutch provides cover.
At this point you can clean up however many henchmen you still need to make up 25 headshots, because there will be no shortage of targets.
Whenever you’re ready, or can’t hold out anymore, jump on your horse and ride in any direction to escape the search zone. Once you evade the law, the mission will be over.
This finishes The Sheep and the Goats main mission in Red Dead Redemption 2. Now the next quest An American Pastoral Scene starts.
Next Up: An American Pastoral Scene
For more Walkthroughs with all gold medals, check out the complete Red Dead Redemption 2 Story Walkthrough.
Just had a serious issue on this mission right now. It may be a random issue but you may be literally stuck at the point where you’re suppose to save Marston & Strauss by entering into Dead Eye mode.
Nothing appears on the screen & the character is stuck without any possibilities to use the inventory/guns/bag… (R2/RT doesn’t work neither)
Guess you’ll have to load your last save at this point.
Odd. Sounds like a one-off glitch to me. Did you try reloading your last checkpoint?
Yes, it works well after that, i think it may be an isolate glitch.
Hi!
In some missions its not allowed to take health times. Does Dead-Eye counts too?
Thanks
Dead Eye doesn’t count, just avoid anything that restores your health core or health bar.
How do you get the money?
Stating the obvious here: just shout at the sheep, don’t shoot your gun it’ll take away from your accuracy. You can also shoot the horses/riders instead of the ground as well to pad your accuracy.
Additionally, make sure your dead eye core doesn’t diminish fully. If it does you’ll get shaky aim.
So does this get you locked out of going into Valentine without a shoot to kill bounty? I use Valentine a lot to stock up on items and sell stuff to the butcher. Sort of hesitant to start this mission.