It’s been a while since I played so I’m not 100% sure. Go to your map and look at the index and see if the icon is there. If so drop a pin on it and go there. I think the first place I encountered him was in New Hanover. He has 4 or 5 locations. He’s at all of them when you get there. He gets around.
If not you may have to donate several pelts to Pearson at the camp until he mentions the trapper before you can go see him.
I enjoyed it alright. There’s some memorable parts. Incredibly gorgeous. Played it in “good guy” mode right after the PC port came out. I know I missed some interesting stuff because I’ve seen some of it in YouTube.
Thinking about doing it again and going the other direction, maybe even being a serial killer. Stay off the roads a bit more. I didn’t do home invasions more than once and that would be a good reason to.
Without spoiling anything, I will say I really disliked the ending. I’ll probably stop playing after Arthur dies.
Helpful tip
When a hillbilly in a remote cabin near Saint Denis offers you to come in for some food. RUN or Shoot him on sight. Do NOT go in that cabin.
That’s one of the “missed opportunities” I saw on YouTube. 
It took me a few seconds to realize what had just happened. 
I am still nearing the end of Chapter 2 and I am kind of a wimp. I skipped two checkpoints this chapter due to frustration.
I stole an Oil filled Wagon and that freaking thing blew up every time. I read later that I had gone the complicated way out and there was a better path to get away without it blowing up. I tried killing everyone guarding it, but was overwhelmed quickly.
Micah, the moron, made me help with a coach on its way to Strawberry. We did great. I was doing awesome. But, no, I could not stop it before it ran off the cliff every time. Is it not enough I killed the guards and was approaching the drivers? After 5+ tries, I skipped it.
I do love all the shootouts when I am hiding. I have had a few deaths in those big shootouts, but I can usually pull through OK eventually.
Anyway, time is limited for me and I have no issue with skipping some checkpoints when it is frustrating or timed.
I don’t remember having that much difficulty with it. There are a few missions that I had to do a couple of times. I’m someone who would become very frustrated with timed missions in GTA and I didn’t think the timed missions in RDR2 were on the same level. Storyline missions you can’t skip. Those sound like they may be storyline missions.
I’m also kind of bad when riding on the horse and shooting at the same time. In the middle of an actions sequence, I kind of need my horse to auto-drive so I can focus on shooting.
Do you have auto aiming on?
I am on PC with Keyboard and Mouse. I don’t think it has auto-aim for that.
It might be one of those games that is just easier with a controller.
Some aspects probably are, like shooting from the horse while still controlling the horse. I just did a train robbery with John and Sean and we were caught by local police. I picked them off with tons of head-shots because the mouse makes aiming pretty easy.
For me, it’s trying to shoot and ride. I mean, I can do it, but it’s a pain.
The horse follows the road in some circumstances. I’m not sure if that was the case during a shoot out. I avoided the whole thing by either staying on the horse and escaping, or jumping off the horse, finding cover, and fighting. This led to one of my more memorable moments in the game.
I attempted to stop a robbery of a coach but was too late. I killed the robbers but not before they had shot the driver and his wife. To make the most of a bad situation, I took the coach with the intention of selling it to the fence. I had some distance to travel, as I’d had the coach robbery encounter in Strawberry, and did a few things along the way including clearing some wolves out from a forestry camp. Some time later, I was getting to the end of my journey, approaching the little town where the fence lived, and was ambushed by a rival gang.
Initially I tried to escape but I was getting shot at and not really getting away quickly enough. Seeing some good cover on the side of the road, I leaped off the coach, took cover, and dispatched the enemy.
Once the action was over, I returned to my stolen coach only to find that after I’d jumped off it, it had collided with something on the side of the road. The horses were dead and the coach ruined.
It was well over an hour of engrossing gameplay that ultimately came to nothing but was great fun and significantly better than any of the scripted events including the story missions.
Yes on the PS4 tapping the L2 button aims you right at the target. You probably won’t get a head shot but you can get a quick couple of hits while also steering the horse.
I have a wired Xbox 360 controller, but the truth is I have been playing at lunch while at work(I eat alone during Covid) and I’m too embarrassed for someone to walk in and see my on a controller gaming.
Some more thoughts. I am now in Chapter 3:
The amount of dialogue recorded is amazing. I heard a special line today. I was following a guy who was in love with a girl. Kind of the Romeo and Juliet Quest. Anyway, while following him, my horse stumbled and I patted him, saying, “Calm down boy, calm down.” The guy I was following said something like, “Calm down? I can’t calm down. I have to get to the girl I love!” Unique reactions and lines happen pretty often, actually. It’s great.
This game is gorgeous, but I don’t think it is better looking than Witcher 3, but it is impressive.
I’m mainly sticking to the story quests and enjoying them quite a bit. I shoot larger or interesting looking animals if I find them, though. I am not doing a ton of hunting or fishing.
It is a very fun game. I see it more as a Western-simulation with great story missions. There is a lot more survival-focus than I expected. I finally have the hang of cores and meters. Hey, sometimes my horse very briefly gets a red symbol on its stamina meter that looks like a bear-trap. Does this mean he can’t move for the time being? It’s very brief and I never get to see it very well.
Game is enjoyable. I would recommend quite a bit.
I won’t spoil anything but I will say near the end there are some bits that surprised me. They were able to combine visuals, voice acting and original music to create some genuine emotional moments.
I will say if you only do the main missions and don’t explore the optional side quests you will miss out on a lot of the quirkiness and humor. There are also a lot of weird little Easter eggs that do nothing for you other than maybe give you a sketch in your notebook or a unique clothing item but they really flesh out the world that’s been created.
You don’t really have to do much hunting unless you want to get the various outfits that the trapper can make you. The legendary animals also give you parts that you need to make talismans that improve your stats. Not required but some of them help. I wanted to do all the missions I could so I made sure I got every legendary animal and fish.
I don’t remember if this was mentioned up thread. I know you said you never played RDR1. I had started it and never finished then went back and played it after I finished RDR2. You can certainly play 2 without ever playing 1 but know that it is a prequel. RDR1 starts in 1911. RDR2 starts in 1899. You can go back and look at what the plot to 1 is if you want to know what a lot of other players knew going into it. Or you can just continue. I don’t think I missed anything by not knowing the plot to 1
I’m not sure what counts as a sidequest. I’ve done all the “yellow” missions. The main sidequest storyline I see is hunting down the gunslingers around the region. I haven’t done that, but what other major sidequests are there? I have had many missions that hardly contribute to the main story. Drinking in the bar, fishing, some robberies that were kind of bonus.
And, yes, the humor has surprised me. Arthur’s comments on everyone’s life are great. I loved when that lady opened the butcher’s letter and read how he portrays himself to others. It’s been very humorous at times.
When the mission icon is yellow it is required to move the story along. The white mission icons are optional.