How to Complete the Bounty Hunting Questline in GTA Online

Quick facts

How to start Maude's bounty hunting questline

There's nothing to buy and nothing to launch. Load into a Free Mode session and wait for a text from Maude: "Hello stranger! I interest you in some bounty hunting?" As for how long it takes Maude to text you, back in 2018 it typically arrived about five minutes into a session.

From there, every target comes by email with the target's mugshot. Open the email and a yellow circle appears on your map. That circle is a search area, not an exact location, so you still have to hunt for the person inside it. Each later email follows a few minutes after you finish a bounty.

Maude isn't texting you? Try these fixes

A missing text is a common snag with this questline. None of these fixes come from Rockstar, but they're what players report working:

1. Leave your organization. Being a CEO, VIP or member of an organization reportedly blocks Maude's text. Resign or leave, then drive to her trailer (next step) and wait there about 10 minutes.

2. Drive to Maude's trailer. It sits on the east side of the Alamo Sea near Grapeseed, shown as a white M on the map (the map screenshot under the intro points right at it). Players report the text arriving once they get there.

3. Check the color of the M. If the M near the trailer is yellow before Maude has texted you, players report it triggers the Bail Office introduction call from Bottom Dollar Bounties instead of this questline. (Once you're delivering a captured target, the trailer is marked with a yellow M as normal.)

4. Finish the early tutorials on a new character. Brand-new characters reportedly get the text after the first few tutorial missions.

Finding each bounty target

Maude picks your five targets at random from a larger pool, and each one has its own search area somewhere between Los Santos and Blaine County. There's no fixed order and no fixed route, so your first target may be nothing like a friend's. Just follow the yellow circle from the latest email.

As you close in, a notice tells you you're near the target's last known location. Then use your ears: a bell, like a wind chime, gets louder the closer you get. Once the target is in view, a red arrow appears over their head. Approach with some care, because targets may fight back with their fists or a melee weapon such as a bat, bottle or knife.

The screenshot below shows a target with the red arrow over his head, plus the on-screen tip that a live capture pays more.

Dead or alive: capturing targets and payouts

Each bounty pays GTA$ 5,000 if the target dies and GTA$ 10,000 if you deliver them alive. The game tells you how: injure the target to make them stop and surrender.

To bring one in alive:

1. Hurt them until they put their hands up. Fists or a single low-damage shot, such as a pistol round away from the head, usually does it. Some melee weapons reportedly kill outright (a baseball bat, for one), and headshots and heavy weapons kill them too.

2. Once they surrender, they follow you and get into your vehicle.

3. Drive to Maude's trailer and stop in the yellow marker. A short cutscene plays and you're paid.

If a captured target dies on the way, it reportedly still counts, just at the kill rate. Across all five bounties that's at least GTA$ 25,000 if every target dies, and up to GTA$ 50,000 if you bring them all in alive. The next email usually lands a few minutes after each payout (players report about three).

The fifth bounty and the Stone Hatchet stash

After your fifth bounty, Maude texts to say the last bail jumper had a stash, and a yellow chest icon appears on your map. The stash isn't in one fixed spot: its location varies between players, so follow your own marker rather than someone else's directions.

Open the chest to pick up the Stone Hatchet. Grabbing it starts the Stone Hatchet Challenge, the last step of the questline.

The Stone Hatchet Challenge: 25 kills

The final step is 25 kills with the Stone Hatchet. Pedestrians and other players both count, so any busy street will do.

The hatchet's Rampage ability helps. After a kill with it, you temporarily take less damage and regenerate health faster, and chaining hatchet kills keeps Rampage going longer. There's a short delay before it can trigger again, and it reportedly works only in Free Mode.

Leave the police alone: killing cops brings a wanted level, so pedestrians away from patrols are easier. Some guides recommend a mission crowd instead. Open Pause Menu > Online > Jobs > Play Job > Rockstar Created > Missions, launch Pier Pressure (Gerald, rank 6, at Del Perro Pier) and use the hatchet on the beach crowd nearby. Kills inside a mission reportedly count, but Rampage doesn't work there, so you trade the ability for the crowd.

On the 25th kill you get the "Stone Hatchet Challenge complete" message: GTA$ 250,000 goes into your Maze Bank account, and the hatchet becomes an exclusive discoverable weapon in Red Dead Redemption 2. That puts the whole questline at GTA$ 275,000 to GTA$ 300,000, depending on how many targets you brought in alive.

Unlocking the Stone Hatchet in Red Dead Redemption 2

The cash needs nothing extra, but the Red Dead unlock does: log into Red Dead Redemption 2 with your linked Social Club account. The hatchet is reportedly a Story Mode weapon rather than a Red Dead Online one, and you'll find it at a Native burial site north of Owanjila. Our Stone Hatchet pin on the Red Dead map shows the spot. One player still got it unlocked in late 2024, but only after Rockstar Support fixed it on their account, so contact Rockstar Support if it never appears.

This was the second Red Dead tie-in in GTA Online. The first, the Treasure Hunt, rewards the Double-Action Revolver, and the Los Santos Slasher hunt for the Navy Revolver is another Red Dead unlock. Our collectibles hub lists Stone Hatchet Bounties alongside the other hunts.

Maude's questline vs the Bail Office

Many bounty searches now land on the Bail Office, which is a different thing. Bottom Dollar Bounties (June 2024) added the Bail Office, a business you buy: Maude retires and hands her bail business to you, along with her daughter Jenette, and the office has its own list of bounty targets to pick from. Maude's 2018 questline is separate: free, with no purchase, and a one-off chain of five targets.

It isn't the player bounty feature either. Maude's targets are NPCs, while placing a bounty on another player is a separate GTA Online feature with nothing to do with this questline.

FAQ

How long does it take for Maude to text or email you?

The opening text typically arrived about five minutes into a Free Mode session when the questline launched in 2018. After each bounty, the next email follows within a few minutes (players report about three). Over the whole run, expect around 20 minutes of waiting.

Why isn't Maude texting me?

Players report a few causes. One is being a CEO, VIP or in an organization: leave it, then drive to the white M at her trailer and wait there about 10 minutes. If the M is yellow before Maude has texted you, that's reportedly the Bail Office call, not this questline.

How much does Maude pay?

GTA$ 5,000 per target killed and GTA$ 10,000 per target delivered alive, so GTA$ 25,000 to GTA$ 50,000 for the five bounties. The Stone Hatchet Challenge adds GTA$ 250,000 on top.

How many Maude bounty missions are there?

Five. After the fifth comes the stash with the Stone Hatchet, then the 25-kill challenge that pays out the big reward.

Where is Maude's first bounty target?

There's no fixed answer. Targets are picked at random and each has its own search area, so open Maude's email and head for the yellow circle on your map. The bell sound and the red arrow over the target's head take it from there.

Where is Maude's trailer?

On the east side of the Alamo Sea near Grapeseed, marked with a white M before you start (it shows as a yellow M while you're delivering a target). It's where you drop off live targets.

Can you do the bounty hunting questline again on another character?

It's unclear. Reports differ on whether finishing it on one character unlocks the hatchet for your other character or whether each character runs it separately.

Is Maude's bounty hunting the same as the Bail Office?

No. The Bail Office is a business you buy, added in June 2024 with its own bounty targets. Maude's questline is a free, one-off chain from 2018.

Does the Stone Hatchet Challenge give RP or only cash?

The completion message lists GTA$ 250,000 to your Maze Bank account and the Red Dead Redemption 2 unlock. It doesn't show an RP amount, so count on the cash and the hatchet as the reward.

Is this how you set a bounty on another player?

No. Maude's bounties are NPC targets she sends you. Putting a bounty on another player is a separate GTA Online feature.

Do you need to own a business to start Maude's missions?

No. The questline is free, needs no property or business, and runs in Free Mode.