Chapter 2-Episode 8: The Great White Hunter (With Blue Hair)

Hunting is one of my favorite skills. It can be a decent money maker (if you have the patience for it), and the higher levels have uses few people have figured out. Best part is that it's easy to train at lower and mid levels. But I'm just going to get into how to start for now, since that seems to be a sticking point for most people that are struggling.

To start with you need a bird trap, which can be bought from the hunter store in Yannelle (there are other stores, but this is the easiest one to get to). Walk south (watch out for Ogres), untill you're on a sandy penninsula. There will be a bunch of red birds hanging out here. This is where you want to set up your traps. Catch birds, drop the meat. Do that to level 20.

Yes, there are other birds you can catch that are worth more experience at higher levels. But, you will catch the red ones at a faster pace, which will only increase as your level does. Statistically speaking, you can earn more experience because you're capable of catching more birds in the same amount of time. Also you have to travel considerable distances to catch the best bird you can.

Once you hit 20, it's worth your while to walk west a bit where the Tropical Wagtails hang out (it's near the Hunting tutor). The reasons you should go now are many: short travel time, they're worth almost 3x more experience, it's less likely to be populated by bird hunters, and you can use the stripy feathers to catch Rainbow Fish (while they're noob food, they're pretty good fishing and cooking exp).

Once you get to 23, switch to deadfall, and catch the best kebbit you can (the experience is worth moving around now) untill about 31.

Tips for Hunting:

Pixelated clothes make the pixelated man. Well, to some extent. It's not a bad idea to get a noose wand and start collecting hunting camoflage. While a lot of people will tell you differently, it does affect your success rate (caught vs. escaped in other words).

Catching butterflies is as bad as it sounds. Don't bother. You don't get a lot of exp for them, and the "catch and release" process takes longer than just dropping something.

Avoid hunting in the desert. Unless you have a good Woodcutting and can get water out of cacti with a decent reliability, or have already done the "Dealing With Scabarus" quest, you're time in the desert is limited by your waterskins. The more waterskins you have, the less room you have to carry things. It's just a lot of trouble unless you've got the right skills.