I'm not sure if this is a bug or just some aspect of the game that I'm not understanding. So far I have been using my bow and daggers almost exclusively, but I recently decided to put the Sparks spell up on my left hand. Tried to hunt a wild animal with it and could not even aggro the deer. It's as if the spell has zero effect on animals. What am I missing?

Use shouts. Fus Roh Dahing a rabbit, fox, or bear is quite entertaining. Especially when you're facing downhill.

I don't have any shouts yet :tongue: 'Been having too much fun in Riften, but I actually need to go back and start doing the main quest(s). I just found it strange that destruction spells don't work (at least on deer/elk/whatever they are).

Anyone else run into problems using magic against animals? I'm not sure if it's a bug or something I just am not understanding about how magic works. Looking for closure on this.

Destruction spells work fine for me. Maybe you aren't close enough?