General Method Description

Butterflies were part of the Hunter skill when it was released; you are supposed to catch them and use them on other players to provide a temporary stat boost. This use was never very popular, though, and butterflies were mainly ignored until Summoning came out, when the ruby harvest was made a secondary ingredient for the forge regent familiar. Catching butterflies used to also be a real nuisance because you had to click exactly on the flitting butterfly to get it, but Jagex changed this to make them far easier to catch. You can get several hundred per hour, making this a good moneymaker.

Higher Hunter level doesn't help with butterflies, so each of the methods is basically the same, but you can benefit from the high capacity of the pack yak if you have level 96 Summoning. Don't use a war tortoise pouch -- it is seriously overpriced.

You don't need camo to catch ruby harvests, just weight reducing gear and a butterfly net or preferably a magic butterfly net (a reward you can get from the Impetuous Impulses minigame.) You also need to be able to teleport easily to the hunting grounds and to bank efficiently. For this I recommend a lunar or dramen staff, ring of duelling and also a ring of Slaying (which you can buy the right to make using Slayer points.)

Since the run energy update in June 2009, run energy is effectively no longer an issue and so you do not need Tireless Run scrolls or energy potions.

Note that since the removal of infinite supply from shops, getting large quantities of butterfly jars on the GE can be difficult at times. If you enjoy catching butterflies, I recommend gathering jars over time. There is also a stock of 300 at hunting stores.