Hunter is one of the skills available only for pay-to-play players. It is not the most popular of skills, but worth training nonetheless. In this OSRS hunter training guide, we will tell you everything you need to know to improve this skill fast.

Who hasn’t ever had an idea of getting rid of one or two pesky critters?

Or maybe you enjoy the vast open fields, beautiful forests, or dark marshes unspoiled by civilization, but could never enjoy them to the full extent because you worried about your experience per hour ratio?

With Hunter, you can catch two birds with one stone.

Well, in truth, more various critters, not only birds and rarely, if at all with stones, but you see what we’re getting at. Most people hate training hunter because you can't just buy OSRS gold, to increase your exp rates, so the grind is slow even if you're the richest guy on RuneScape.

Hunter Training For Beginners

Preparation is key in many areas, but when training Hunter in Old School RuneScape it’s essential. In fact, it’s most of what you do. Preparing traps, laying them, and then waiting in ambush eyes always open for any unsuspecting little critter that might fall into your trap. Preparation includes obtaining knowledge, necessary information, and there are plenty of things to know about the Hunter skill.

There are many different tools required for Hunter and almost as many methods. Some of them require you to be actively catching animals, while others involve laying traps.

Additionally, you can’t just catch any animal anywhere. In most situations, there are dedicated Hunter areas where you can practice your primal instincts. Note that you can lay multiple traps at once. This depends on your Hunter level and Hunter area.

Hunter level	Traps	Traps in Wilderness
1	1	2
20	2	3
40	3	4
60	4	5
80	5	6

Hunter Training Methods and Tools

Tracking

Tracking involves probably the most work as a detective. To start tracking an animal, you must inspect its dwelling and habitat. Once you do that, you will uncover the animal’s tracks.

Follow the tracks until you find the tracked animal and right-click it with Noose wand equipped. A useful item for tracking is Ring of pursuit which provides a 25% chance to reveal the tracks. Ring of pursuit can be made by using Lv-1 Enchant on an Opal ring.

Bird House Trapping

Bird house trapping is a passive Hunter training method practiced on the Fossil island. It requires you to set up Bird houses that act as traps. They can be looted every 50 minutes, so this training method resembles Farming training.

Bird houses can be set up in their designated spots. To “activate” this type of trap, you must fill it with 10 Hop and Herb seeds. Once a trap is set, the only thing for a Hunter to do is to wait until it is filled with birds completely and then loot it.

After you loot the filled Bird house you receive Hunter XP and loot. The loot includes raw bird meat, bird nests, feathers and sometimes a ring or two. Don’t be surprised, Magpies do love shiny things. The chance of obtaining a Bird nest depends on your Hunter level and the level of Bird house used.

Bird houses can be crafted or bought. To craft Bird houses you must have the appropriate Crafting level, a Hammer, Chisel, Clockwork (can be made in player-owned house), and Logs. The higher your Crafting level, the better Bird house you can construct.

birdhouses osrs

Bird houses require Crafting to make, but only require Hunter to place them, meaning that you can opt to purchase those from your non-hunter friends or on the Grand Exchange. Once again, the higher your Hunter level, the better Bird houses you can place.

Note that Bird houses are single-use and will be destroyed upon looting. The Clockwork will be left unharmed, but it’s a little strange that Jagex assumes every player to be so clumsy as to destroy Bird houses by checking them.

old school runescape fossil island

Nets

Butterfly net, Butterfly jars, and Impling nets are used to catch said critters and Bats. The latter being somewhat controversial during these troubled times. Catching these critters requires different Hunter levels.

The process itself is simple – equip the necessary item and left-click on the critter. All these Hunter tools can be purchased from Hunter shops, Aleck’s Hunter Emporium in Yanille being one of such shops.

Bird Snares

Bird houses are not the only kind of traps used for catching winged animals. Bird snares are used to catch birds in a particular Hunter area. Different from Bird houses, Bird snares either catch or fail to catch a bird.

If a bird flies onto the trap and is caught, you can “check” the trap. If it successfully flies away, you will have to reset the trap. Bird snares are used at low Hunter levels.

Rabbit Snare

Rabbit snares work in a similar way to Bird snares. Unlike Bird snares, hunting with Rabbit snares also requires a special “item” – a Ferret. Set the Rabbit snare up and flush those poor creatures out of their hole with a Ferret.

Deadfall Trap

The Deadfall trap is a kind of trap you probably saw in Tom and Jerry cartoon. It is used to catch Kebbits and Maniacal monkeys, and just as in Tom and Jerry, there must be a lure put under the huge rock.

To use this Hunter method, you need a knife and logs and banana as bait for Maniacal monkeys. You can also simply bring an axe and chop down logs on the spot. The boulder will fall on the critter if the trap is triggered.

Success means you get the loot, failure means you have to set up your trap anew.

osrs deadfall trap by hunters

Box Traps

Box traps work similarly to other passive traps. You need to set them up in the appropriate area and wait. Your Hunter level increases the chances of catching innocent critters.

Falconry

Now, this is a noble way of catching animals. Falconry was a popular pastime and hunting method of the nobility in the Medieval Era and in some places of the world still is. Unlike in reality, however, you cannot just let loose your Falcon anywhere you desire.

Falconry requires Piscatoris falconry area and a Falcon (duh). Gyr falcon can be rented from Matthias in the Falconry area for mere 500 coins.

osrs falconry

Net Traps

Net traps require a Rope and a Small fishing net to set up. Click on a Young tree in the required Hunter area to set it up. Patience now. The prey will walk into it eventually. In case of failure or success, the drill is the same as with other traps of this kind.

Pitfall Trap

Forget everything you knew about Vietnam, this type of trap can actually be fun in OSRS. To set up a Pitfall trap you must have logs and a knife in your inventory. You also need a Teasing stick to lure the angered critters onto your masterfully placed trap.

While it’s always fun to tease animals, note that they can and will sometimes attack you, causing damage for up to 7 Hitpoints.

Aerial Fishing

Similarly to Falconry, you will be using an animal to hunt other animals for you, thus avoiding doing all the dirty work yourself. This method is of more use when training Fishing, especially because it is a way of acquiring Angler’s Outfit along with other Fishing paraphernalia.

You need a Cormorant’s glove equipped, a Cormorant, and King worms for bait. The first two can be acquired from Alry the Angler.

After some time spent fishing, you will no longer need King worms, because you can’t cook the fish you catch, but you can chop it into Fish chunks using a knife. Fish chunks can then be used as bait instead of King worms.

Drift Net Fishing

Drift Net Fishing is mostly used for Fishing training, but it gives XP in Hunter as well. Drift net fishing can be practiced in the underwater area of Fossil Island. All you need is a Drift net to cast at Fish shoals and some patience.

Magic Box Trap

magic box trap in osrs

Are you annoyed by all those pesky Imps walking around Gielinor like they own every inch of this wondrous land as well?

Stop chasing them with a sword like an amateur! Instead, set up Magic box traps to catch them. Magic box trap can be used wherever there are Imps. They are everywhere, for Saradomin’s sake!

Hunter Improvements

You can increase the effectiveness of your traps by using bait or a smoking trap. While this definitely enhances the role-playing part of OSRS, the success chance is increased by a small fraction, and setting it all up takes time.

In the end, this makes it not worth the trouble, though you can try it out if you wish to.

Quests that Reward Hunter Experience

Quest	Experience	Other requirements	Level
Natural history quiz (miniquest)	1,000	-	-
The Ascent of Arceuus	1,500	20% Arceuus favor	12
Eagles' Peak	2,500	-	27
Monkey Madness II	15,000	55 Agility 70 Crafting 69 Slayer 55 Thieving	60
Song of the Elves	20,000	70 Agility 70 Construction 70 Farming 70 Herblore 70 Mining 70 Smithing 70 Woodcutting	70

Quests that Require Hunter

Quest	Level
Cold War	10
The Ascent of Arceuus	12
Eagles' Peak	27
Monkey Madness II	60
Song of the Elves	70

Diaries that Require Hunter

Difficulty	Diary	Task	Level
Easy	Desert	Catch a golden warbler.	5
Easy	Fremennik	Catch a cerulean twitch.	11
Easy	Western Provinces	Catch a copper longtail.	9
Medium	Desert	Catch an orange salamander.	47
Medium	Fremennik	Catch a Snowy knight.	35
Medium	Karamja	Trap a Horned Graahk.	41
Medium	Kourend & Kebos	Catch a Bluegill on Lake Molch.	35
Medium	Lumbridge & Draynor	Catch an essence or eclectic impling in Puro-Puro.	42/50
Medium	Morytania	Catch a swamp lizard.	29
Medium	Western Provinces	Trap a Spined larupia.	31
Hard	Ardougne	Catch a Red Salamander.	59
Hard	Fremennik	Catch a Sabre-toothed kyatt.	55
Hard	Varrock	Trade furs with the Fancy Dress Seller for a Spottier cape and equip it.	66
Hard	Western Provinces	Catch a dashing kebbit.	69
Hard	Wilderness	Catch a black salamander.	67

OSRS Hunter Guide To Level 99

Before beginning to make the first steps on your journey to achieving level 99 Hunter and claiming that gorgeous Hunter skill cape, there are a few things to know.

First, make sure to complete the quests that are available to you.

Second, the quest Eagle’s Peak is a must-have on your completed quests list, because it unlocks the ability to set up Box traps.

Third, the first 9 Hunter levels can be skipped by doing the Natural History Quiz at Varrock Museum. Talk to NPC Orlando for this. You will not only get 1,000 XP in Hunter but also the same amount of XP in Slayer.

Another thing to remember is to equip weight-reducing gear like Graceful outfit at higher Hunter levels. This will allow you to set up and check traps faster. Stamina potions are also recommended along with Hunter potions.

Drinking a Hunter potion at specific levels will allow you to set up more traps than you normally could, thus greatly boosting your XP gains.

To maximize your Hunter training efficiency, make sure to set up and Bird houses around Bird house trapping locations around the Fossil Island. Since you need to wait 50 minutes until a Bird house fills with loot and can be checked, you can engage in active Hunter training methods during those times.

Bird house Hunter training method can be done as soon as you reach level 5 Hunter. This means that you can do it from the very start of your Hunter training.

Level 1-9 Hunter

Use a Bird snare to catch Crimson swifts if for some reason you decided to avoid going to the Varrock Museum. At the level range of 1-9 Hunter, you can only set up one trap. To be more efficient, drop all loot except for Feathers.

osrs hunter feldip hills

Level 9-12/15/20 Hunter

After completing the previous step or skipping it by visiting the Varrock Museum, you are now able to use a Bird snare to catch Copper longtails in Kourend Woodland. Bring a Hunter potion that should be used at level 17 Hunter to increase the amount of settable traps to 2 to speed up leveling.

barbarian village in osrs and surrounding cities

Level 12/15-29 Hunter

This method is available at level 12 Hunter if using potions and at level 15 Hunter if using no potions. At this level range, you will be catching Ruby harvest (butterflies) with a Butterfly net. Ruby harvests inhabit woodland areas, such as the Piscatoris Hunter area and Kourend Woodland.

osrs kourend woodland

If chasing after butterflies does not resemble Hunting to you, you can opt to hunt for Tropical wagtails in the Hunter area in Feldip Hills. At this level range, you will also be able to set two traps even without a Hunter potion.

hunter guide map

Level 29-43/47 Hunter

This level range also has more than one way of leveling. To level up Hunter all the way to level 47 you can hunt Swamp lizards in Canifis, Morytania (quest Priest in Peril required to enter Canifis) using Net traps.

Net traps are set up using a rope and a small fishing net. As always, once you are nearing another 20 levels mark, use a Hunter potion to give yourself a leg up (in this case drink a Hunter potion at level 37 Hunter). Swamp lizards can be dropped on the ground to train Hunter more efficiently.

osrs lunar isle for hunters

The humidity of the swamps is hard on your joints?

Then at level 43 Hunter you can ditch hunting Swamp lizards and try your hand at being a falconer. From level 43 Hunter you can partake in Falconry and hunt for Spotted kebbits in Piscatoris falconry area.

dark altar in old school rs

Level 47-59 Hunter

We hope you brought a ton of water with you because at level 47 Hunter you are going to hunt for Orange salamanders. Their habitat is in the desert, Uzer hunter area. Salamanders can be caught with Net traps which require a rope and a small fishing net each. It is recommended to drop all Orange salamanders you catch and continue on hunting.

Remember that at level 57 Hunter you can drink a Hunter potion to be able to place more traps or simply move on to the next stage in Hunter training.

shilo village location in osrs

Level 59-70 Hunter

Red salamanders, just like their orange cousins, like heat. To the extreme, in fact, because you will be hunting for them at Ourania hunter area, near lava. Same deal as with other Salamanders, you can just use Net traps.

myths guild map

Level 70-99 Hunter

A wind of change blows over the Feldip Hills as you are going to hunt for Carnivorous chinchompas and change the type of traps you were using for so long. Carnivorous chinchompas (a.k.a. Red Chinchompas) can be hunted with Box traps in the Feldip Hunter area.

This leveling method does not only come with good XP gains but also profit as Red chinchompas are used to level Ranged and thus are in high demand. You should get rid of the habit you must have developed to release your prey and start banking as many of these little critters as possible.

These little rat looking creatures can be sold for over 1k gold each, so you can also make some money on your way to 99 hunter, if you decide to sell RuneScape gold, that you acquired.

We strongly recommend completing the hard Western Provinces Diary. This will unlock access to an exclusive subterranean area with plenty of Carnivorous chinchompas to hunt.

osrs hunter guide outfit

Alternative Hunter Training Methods

The following training methods are different in that some of them are dangerous, others can be used to make OSRS gold, or both. They are mostly for players who are well prepared for some PvP action and fully aware of the risks involved.

Level 60 Hunter

Time to make use of those boulders lying around being useless. At level 60 Hunter and after the completion of Monkey Madness 2 quest you can use Deadfall traps in Kruk’s Dungeon, Ape Atoll to catch Maniacal monkeys.

Use Kruk monkey greegree to turn yourself into Kruk and enter the Hunter area. Once there, mount Stunted demonic gorilla and use it to help you set up Deadfall traps. You will need bananas as bait for the monkeys.

With level 15 Magic you can cast Bones to bananas spell which will help you tremendously when using this Hunter training method. Bones are scattered throughout the whole Hunter area and to turn them into bananas you must leave it, change back to human form, cast Bones to bananas, and then turn yourself into Krug again.

This method is somewhat slow, however, it is the least intensive one and might be preferred by multitasking players.

ape atoll osrs hunter

Level 67-80 Hunter

Black salamanders, just like their brighter-colored cousins enjoy the heat. They also enjoy danger. Black salamanders dwell in Boneyard hunter area which is in the Wilderness.

The downside of hunting Black salamanders is obvious, but the upside is that you can place +1 traps in the Wilderness. At level 60 Hunter this mans placing 5 traps instead of 4. Like other reptiles, Black salamanders are hunted with Net traps.

osrs chaos temple

Level 80-99 Hunter

Another critter that loves luring people into danger is Black chinchompa. Black chinchompas can be hunted in the very center of the Wilderness. While it is dangerous to hunt them, note that they can bring profit for any player clever and fast enough to avoid potential PKers.

Like all Chinchompas, they fall prey to inconspicuously placed Box traps.

old school runescape hunting guide map for wilderness

Final Thoughts About Hunting In OSRS

Overall, Hunter skill is different from most other skills for its unique training method. At higher levels, it can make you a lot of OSRS GP.

The biggest payoff of training Hunter is that you can catch Implings and at level 99 Hunter you do not need Impling jars to do so.

osrs hunter skillcape

Do not sleep at your screen when hunting and catch all the Implings you spot! See you once you have that Hunter skill cape!

Need expert help with your RuneScape journey immediately? Join our Discord server and try out our OSRS questing services.

Related RuneScape Guides:

OSRS Hunter Training Guide From Level 1 to 99