Far Sidefans know that Gary Larson was an animal lover, and a critic of the practice of hunting, and these hilarious panels embody the best examples of how those things manifested on the page. As such, these are thebest cartoons Larson produced featuring face-offs between deer and deer hunters.
Larson’s perspective on hunting led to many laugh-out-loud cartoons over the years; animals ranging from bears to elephants got a chance to give human hunters some comeuppance.
YetThe Far Side’sdeer/hunter dynamic stands out, because real deer in the wild are particularly helpless against hunters, something that wasn’t so true in the delightfully warped reality ofThe Far Side.
10"The Trail Was False": This Far Side Deer’s Risky Hiding Spot Pays Off
First Published: August 04, 2025
Faced with a rifle-toting human in matching checkered coat and hat, the deer inthisFar Sidecartoonchooses flight over fight, but it chooses the risky tactic of going into human territory, specifically a men’s bathroom, in order to try to trick its pursuer, “Gus.“Ultimately, this gamble seems to pay off.
Here, the deer outwits the human, if not outgunning him, but at the end of the day, survival is survival.
Hilariously,Gus is depicted as looking stumped, concluding that “the trail was false,” but neglecting to check under the bathroom stall doors, where a pair of hooves is clearly visiblein the farthest occupied stall from the left. Here, the deer outwits the human, if not outgunning him, but at the end of the day, survival is survival.
9"Deer Halloween”: For The Far Side’s Deer, Hunters Were The Ultimate Boogeymen
First Published: July 31, 2025
Captioned “Deer Halloween,” thisspookyFar Sidebitfeaturesa group of adolescent deer dressed up as the scariest thing imaginable: hunters.Once again, aritst Gary Larson uses the ubiquitous red-and-black checkered coat to visually signify the hunters, as the deer whose door they’re at trick-or-treating remarks on how fearsome they are.
Granted, no actual hunter appears in this cartoon, but the humor of the joke comes from how all-pervasive the fear of hunters would be in a deer society.In this sense, it hews to the same theme of Larson’s other “deer vs. hunter” comics, while putting a different spin on it than he’d previously done.
8The Far Side Reveals The Perils Of “Screwing Around In Front Of That Window” In Deer Households
First Published: Aug 14, 2025
ThisFar Sidecartoon turns a suburban living room into a dangerous place, because its inhabitants are deer, rather than people, and they still have to worry about hunters taking pot shots at them through the window,which an exasperated deer parent once more warns its kids to stay away from.
The window in question is covered in spider-web-like cracks from bullets; again, Gary Larson humorously plays with the idea that deer have to live their lives in spite of the ominous, omnipresent possibility of being shot by a hunter for sport, in a dark mirror of human anxieties about mortality in all its different forms.
7"The Old-Fashioned Way”: Finally, The Far Side Makes The Deer/Hunter Conflict A Fair Fight
First Published: August 17, 2025
When people think aboutFar Sidecartoons pitting deer against hunters, this is among the first to come to mind. It features a true head-to-head confrontation between representatives from each side, who have “decided they would settle this the old-fashioned way” after coming upon each other “deep in the forest,” where no one else is watching.
It is a certified laugh-out-loudFar Sidecomic, one which truly makes the playing field even between deer and humans in a way that onlyThe Far Sidecould, or would.
In a brilliant touch, Larsondepicts the hunter tossing aside his gun, while the deer casts off its antlers, so it can be a truly “fair” fight.It is a certified laugh-out-loudFar Sidecomic, one which truly makes the playing field even between deer and humans in a way thatonlyThe Far Sidecould, or would.
6"He Was In Season": The Far Side Makes Light Of The Dark Reality Of Hunting
First Published: June 02, 2025
ThisFar Sidedeer cartoon highlights a critical truth about Gary Larson’s humor: his darkest jokes were often the funniest. That is certainly the case here, in a panel thatfeatures a hunter getting let go on a technicality after bursting into a deer couple’s house and murdering the husband in cold blood.
Which the police inform his wife is okay, because he “was in season.“Of allThe Far Side’sdeer/hunter jokes, this one is the most overtly critical of hunting, but at the same time it is the most grimly absurd joke of the bunch. This ability to operate on multiple levels is whatmakesThe Far Sideso enduring.
5"The Mark Of Deero”: Gary Larson Reminds Readers Where He Stands With This Far Side Homage
First Published: June 30, 2025
In this sillyFar Sidemovie reference, “Zorro” becomes"Deero,” who carves his signature “D” into the door of of “Norm’s Hunting Lodge,” before fleeing as a group of hunters gawk and point through the window from inside, unable to do anything about the vandalism. Here, Gary Larson hilariously recontextualizes the deer/hunter dynamic.
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That is, Zorro was a revolutionary, and more importantly, a heroic figure; as such, the premise of this cartoon frames the deer as the character to root for here, while the oppressive hunters get a taste of what they deserve.Of course, that is a deep reader for such a surface-level absurdFar Sidecartoon.
4"No Trade Until We Check Out Our Guy": The Far Side’s Funniest Hostage Exchange
First Published: August 12, 2025
In thisall-time greatFar SideSunday edition,a group of deer and their human hunter counterparts engage in a hostage exchange, each having taken one of the other side prisoner, resulting in a stand-off where hilarity is substituted for dramatic tension. Once more, Gary Larson puts the two sides on even footing, resulting in a laugh-out-loud cartoon.
“No trade until we check our guy out,” one of the hunters shouts across the clearing, as they prepare for the swap.Though the hunters are armed with rifles, the deer show no fear in this case, having already gotten the drop on “Frank,” and seemingly feeling confident that they are at an impasse with the humans.
3"Just Hand Me Your Gun": Cooler Antlers Prevail In This Hilarious Far Side Cartoon
First Published: July 08, 2025
Here, Gary Larson illustrates another funny stand-off between a deer and a hunter, except this time,the deer is depicted as being calm, cool, and collected, trying to talk the human, who is a terrified mess, into putting down his gun.What makes thisFar Sidecomic so great is how completely it turns the tables on the expected deer/hunter relationship.
“Relaaaaaaaax…everything’s gonna be reeal cool, son,“the deer says, as it slowly approaches the quivering hunter, seeking to literally disarm the situation.By making the deer cool in a crisis, and the hunter out of his element,thisFar Sidecomiconce more slyly shows which side of the aisle Larson leaned toward.
2"Do I Know This Guy?": The Far Side Reveals Deer Take Being Hunted Personally…Who Wouldn’t?
First Published: July 05, 2025
In lieu of a caption, thisFar Sidecartoonuses a thought bubble, which reveals to readers thatthe deer depicted hiding behind a tree is thinking, “he’s trying to shoot me…do I know this guy?” as he desperately evades a hunter, who peeks out from behind his own tree in the background, waiting for his prey to make the wrong move.
ThisFar Sidecartoon is a fan-favorite because of the hilarious way the deer character ascribes personal motivations to the hunter, seemingly not understanding that it is being hunted at best for food, or at worst for sport.Like many of the best Gary Larson jokes, it is baseline silly, but ultimately very effective on the page.
1"And Tempers Rise”: A Far Side Day In The Forest Turns Into A Shoving Match
First Published: June 27, 2025
Okay, technically speaking, the animal character here more closely resembles an elk, rather than a deer, but the joke is, in essence, the same. Here, the fed-up forest creature is tired of being hunted, so it turns around and confronts the hunter;“Carl shoves Roger,” the caption notes, amusingly naming the animal, then “Roger shoves Carl, and tempers rise.”
It is aclassicFar Sideset-up and punchline, which recontexualizes the hunter/hunted interaction in a way that is more akin to a dispute between buddies that inadvertently turns physical. This wasThe Far Side’sway of lampooning human behavior on multiple levels, while also making a point about animal intelligence, all in the service of a laugh.
