I really like the fact that you need to be extremely cautious when exploring new locations and expect stealth predators on forests and hills. However, sometimes it feels like bears can hide anywhere, and even if you kill all of them in a region, the next day there are more to deal with.
There seem to be some obvious improvements that could make hunting and exploration dangerous but still fun:
Add droppings and footprints in regions where animals spawn.
Make predators growl louder, so they can be heard from relatively long distances.
Give them audible footsteps, allowing players to detect them at short distances.
Reduce spawn frequency, so if you clear a region, you can expect at least a week of relative peace.
As a fan of hardcore gameplay, I don't want predators to be easy to flee from or easy to kill.