I dont know if its a bug or not, but recently i was hunting with spear and noticed that spear range is higher than animals range. So for example, if you lure animal to edge of water or cover it with stones. You can just spam sting safely without taking ANY damage. So such animals as moose, deer or bear are totally harmless if you hunting that way. Same for taming animals. If its intended, then enjoy this small hunting trick.
P.s. you should be like 2-3 tiles away from animal, then press sting. If you press sting too far charecter will come closer than its needed.