History Main / TheGrandHunt

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[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

%%* In the remake/prequel ''Film/RiseOfThePlanetOfTheApes'', the humans are seen capturing Caesar's mother, Blue Eyes, and other chimps this way. It was a deliberate homage to the original film.

* In ''Film/RunWildRunFree'', a party of hunters on horseback appears twice with their pack of baying dogs. In their first appearance, they startle Philip's falcon Lady, who tries to fly away. [[spoiler:Her injured wing can't support her, and she is killed.]] Later on, the hunters spook Philip's horse into running away into the bog with Philip on his back.

* In the ''Literature/TheStormlightArchive'' book ''Literature/{{The Way of Kings|2010}}'':
** Dalinar organizes a greatshell hunt to entertain his nephew, the king, and provide a chance for the king to prove his courage despite his fears of assassins. The beast--[[{{Kaiju}} which is about fifty feet tall and at least as long]]--eats the bait early and manages to climb onto the plateau before anyone is ready. It's theorized that it was an intentional assassination attempt, but no one is sure how such a thing would be arranged.
** The plateau battles are not ''quite'' hunts, as they involve two enemy armies clashing, but as they're both fighting over the gemhearts the pupating chasmfiends hide in their shells, the idea is similar. The nobles definitely ''treat'' it like a game, to the annoyance of their soldiers, who are fighting and dying for nothing but the glory of winning money for their lords.
** Roshone, the citylord of Kaladin's town, takes his son out on a whitespine hunt, [[spoiler:which ends up crippling Roshone and killing his son]]. Kaladin's father mentions that he and the old citylord used to mock the type of men who would go out on hunts, but he still patches Roshone up as best as he can.
* In ''Literature/PlanetOfTheApes'' an organized expedition of apes (mostly gorillas) go out hunting humans. They kill a bunch but keep a few for medical experimentation. After the hunt they pose for pictures with some of their kills. This doesn't count as HuntingTheMostDangerousGame because (a) the prey humans aren't intelligent and (b) the hunters aren't human.
* Creator/IsaacAsimov's "Literature/TheMayors": The former King of the planet Anacreon was accidentally killed during a hunt to kill a giant flying animal called a Nyak. In the story, Prince Regent Weinis hints to the current King Lepold I that he had the previous king murdered and could do the same to Lepold during a royal hunt if he doesn't go along with Weinis' plans. It is mentioned that in the old times, when Anacreon was prominent enough for Emperors to visit it, every single one tested his own skills in the hunt.
* ''Literature/{{Deryni}}'':
** ''Deryni Rising'' opens with King Brion Haldane's household on a deer hunt, with a mortified Duke of Claibourne frustrated with his master of hounds (the dogs keep losing the scent). Brion's brother Nigel is using the occasion to instruct his pages in the proper forms of address for the various courtiers.
** In ''King Kelson's Bride'', Kelson Haldane plays host to the Ramsays (the last descendants of the old Mearan royal line) on a hawking expedition in the days before the Ramsay heir marries one of Kelson's cousins. Nigel and his sons are also along (Nigel is specifically described working a gerfalcon), and more [[AltarDiplomacy matrimonial diplomacy]] is discussed on the hunt's periphery.

* Unsurprisingly, medieval literature has a lot of these. Perhaps the most famous is the series of them in ''Literature/SirGawainAndTheGreenKnight'', where the host's deer, boar, and fox hunts are intercut with his wife's attempts to seduce Sir Gawain. (The dismemberment and preparation of the quarries are also described in great detail.)
* There's a lengthy (and very historically accurate) depiction of a medieval boar hunt in ''Literature/TheOnceAndFutureKing''
* Literature/XandriCorelel participates in a game hunt, despite her hatred of violence and animal cruelty, in order to avoid a diplomatic incident. She plans to stay near the back and try to avoid the action; instead, she and an injured councilor end up being cornered by the animal, and she is forced to shoot it to save the councilor's life.

* ''Literature/TheBlackFoxOfBeckham'': Arabella's parents and Finn's father were all killed during one of Beckham's yearly fox hunts. Most of the book takes place during the lead-up to the next hunt, with both the vulpine and human protagonists trying to get fox hunting banned.

* ''Literature/Mermaid2011'': After Lenia transforms into a human, Prince Christopher takes her along on a hunting expedition. She loves riding her horse because it reminds her of swimming in the ocean, but she's horrified by the violence of the kill. The stag seems nearly human, unlike the fish and sea plants Lenia used to eat.

* ''Series/TheCrown2016'' has a few hunting episodes. A few particular standouts:
** The very first episode, "Wolverton Splash", is named for [[UsefulNotes/TheHouseOfWindsor George VI]]'s favourite spot to shoot ducks, where (while shooting) he informs Sir UsefulNotes/AnthonyEden in no uncertain terms that while Albert Windsor is sympathetic to Eden's complaint, His Majesty George VI will ''not'' remove UsefulNotes/WinstonChurchill as Prime Minister.
** A key episode in Season 4, "The Balmoral Test", centers much drama on the royals' efforts in stalking a large stag that had wandered onto the Balmoral estate after having been wounded by an inept tourist on a neighbouring property.

[[folder:Live Action TV]]

* ''Series/MidsomerMurders'': In "Death of a Stranger", Barnaby investigates a murder that takes place during a fox hunt, and has a village full of toffs as suspects.

* ''Film/TheRulesOfTheGame'' by Creator/JeanRenoir featured the most iconic rendition of this. It's set in the late thirties and the mansion has a large game reserve filled with partridges, foxes, and rabbits. The party, filled with aspiring bourgeois, appoint a gamekeeper and servants to march into the reserve to chase out the animals for their sport and the result is a shocking montage sequence of birds, foxes, and rabbits hunted in shot-after-shot, and the film averted NoAnimalsWereHarmed by having live animals killed on camera.

* This is more or less the backdrop for ''Music/WasMirBehagtIstNurDieMuntreJagd'' (a.k.a. the "Hunting {{Cantata}}"). The work's recipient, Duke Christian of Saxe-Weissenfels, had a court with a tradition of brass playing and was also a keen hunter, so the use of horns to imitate hunting calls was only natural, hence the hunting-centric work.

Frequently overlaps with UpperClassEquestrian, since only rich people could raise all these horses with which to go hunting for fun. See also HuntingTheMostDangerousGame, when the prey is human (or something else intelligent). Not related to HunterOfMonsters, whose prey is always some supernatural creature and usually done alone, but the EgomaniacHunter and the GreatWhiteHunter may take part in a grand hunt. See also TheWildHunt, which is a grand hunt conducted by a hunting party of supernatural spirits -- usually (but not always) hunting humans. Can be a {{Snooty Sport|s}} if it's done by the rich and depicted as obnoxious.

A grand hunt is when the wealthy and/or noble decide to go hunting. This is invariably done for sport, rather than for food -- often the aim is an impressive trophy to mount on their wall, but even if the hunted animal ''is'' cooked and eaten, the hunters are doing it for the entertainment value, not to put food on the table. Hunting this way generally takes a significant amount of time, equipment, and personnel. This restricts a grand hunt to usually upper class members. A grand hunt usually includes specialized weapons, animals trained specifically for the purpose, and/or experts in order to help make the hunt successful. A hunter on a grand hunt will almost always travel with an entourage -- a handful of assistants to carry the equipment and handle the animals at least, and dozens of servants and courtiers brought along to serve the hunters' every possible whim at most. (For musical purposes, count on these to include a few horn players.) Anyone who actually hunts for food often see these hunts as elaborate wastes of time and money, but to the grand hunters the point is to create a social occasion (with all the attendant opportunities for networking and politicking) rather than to just kill some animals.

* Falconry: hunting by means of trained raptors (the NobleBirdOfPrey, not the [[RaptorAttack dinosaur]]--though that would certainly be even more awesome), including not just falcons, but also hawks and eagles. Requiring the least amount of work on the part of the hunter, and being the least dangerous, it's the only sort of hunting traditionally considered appropriate for noble ladies in addition to gentlemen. That said, it was held in high regard in several society; Arab nobles in particular are noted for loving falconry (which makes sense, as it is very well suited to desert hunting). Depending on the type of bird being flown, game consists of anything from other, lesser birds to small mammals like rabbits. As such, this sort of hunt rarely produces anything the hunter actually uses.

* In a commercial for [[Advertising/EnergizerBunny Energizer batteries]], the Energizer Bunny engages in one, and comes out the victor when the dogs get tired from trying to hunt him.

* ''Film/TheRulesOfTheGame'' by Creator/JeanRenoir featured the most iconic rendition of this. It's set in the late thirties and the mansion has a large game reserve filled with partridges, foxes and rabbits. The party, filled with aspiring bourgeois, appoint a gamekeeper and servants to march into the reserve to chase out the animals for their sport and the result is a shocking montage sequence of birds, foxes, rabbits hunted in shot-after-shot, and the film averted NoAnimalsWereHarmed by having live animals killed on camera.

* Creator/IsaacAsimov's "Literature/TheMayors": The former King of the planet Anacreon was accidentally killed during a hunt to kill a giant flying animal called a Nyak. In the story Prince Regent Weinis hints to the current King Lepold I that he had the previous king murdered and could do the same to Lepold during a royal hunt if he doesn't go along with Weinis' plans. It is mentioned that in the old times, when Anacreon was prominent enough for Emperors to visit it, every single one tested his own skills in the hunt.

** In ''King Kelson's Bride'', Kelson Haldane plays host to the Ramsays (the last descendants of the old Mearan royal line) on a hawking expedition in the days before the Ramsay heir marries one of Kelson's cousins. Nigel and his sons are also along (Nigel is specifically desribed working a gerfalcon), and more [[AltarDiplomacy matrimonial diplomacy]] is discussed on the hunt's periphery.

* ''VideoGame/CrusaderKingsII'': It's available in September or October and costs 25 gold, available if Christian, Pagan or Zoroastran (and with the Way of Life DLC, only if Hunting is the active focus). There's the usual animals that appear in the hunt, sometimes there's regular hunting accidents, and events in case of low or high martial-rank characters. There's also a chance it can be exploited by assassination plots.

** On the planet Rishi you run into a trio of hunters from the Spawn Nebula who every so often, based off an unknown calendar, arrive on a world decreed by their shamans to hunt the most ferocious beasts there. The reason for this ceremonial hunt is unknown to any but themselves.