Animal AI is broken and spawn rate is miserable. How about introducing hunting grounds for different types of animals? Mountains - bears, woods - deer etc. It should not be allowed to build homesteads or anything else there (I know it wrecks the sandbox a bit but who in the right mind would settle in bears cave? Animals would ransack through a camp over night anyway), just allow that area to be for animals. And make it a bit further away from starting area (prelude map) so that going hunting is fun and time consuming. Also allow full pvp in that area so that hunting parties make sense and wannabe pvpers can get some action they have been moaning about (after combat rehaul of course).

No junkyards in that area to allow focus on the hunt. Logging would be allowed but what would be the point with being so far from your home. Basketry would be allowed but animals should be allowed to attack and destroy unattended baskets (baskets should have hitpoints in that case).

Make it so that animals would spawn at high rate, packs of coyotee would roam and hunters would be facing a challenge and not just single animals every 10 minutes. This would make hunting a profession and crafters would be forced to trade with hunters and hunters would be forced to focus on combat skills since someone with blades 5 and armed combat 25 should not be able to solo 5 animals. Hunting should be a profession and not a sidejob.

Also make several hunting areas, preferably at same distance from the center of the map to prevent camping and blockage of one area. Maybe one big hunting area each in the south and in the north of the map?

Imho.