Leslie tries to prove she can hang with the guys so she invites herself on Ron's annual hunting trip, but things don't go as planned. Meanwhile, April and Andy bond in the office while everyone is away.
Hunting trip grounds absurdist chaos in character friction, landing 50 jokes across midseason lows.
Directed by Greg Daniels · Written by Daniel J. Goor
WAR
112.2
Wins Above Replacement
“Hunting Trip” ranks #42 of 123 Parks and Recreation episodes on the Humor Index, scoring 93.2 — Elite. The episode packs 87 scored jokes at 4.2 per minute, averaging 7.3 on craft and 7.2 on impact, with Ron landing the most laughs. Every joke is ranked below with its individual craft and impact scores.
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Top Jokes
Ron: I need to practice spitting. My mouth is very dry.
Ron: Why would I spit? I have nothing to spit about.
Ron: What am I even doing? I can't think straight. My lips feel like... like they're not my lips.
Ron Ann Character Comedy Deadpan/Understatement ★ Rewatch Leslie · Ranger: Leslie's escalating fake confession: tripping, safety on/off, tunnel vision, icky feelings, chocolate, new bra, 'I was thinking with my lady parts', 'I want to have babies', 'when my life's incomplete I want to shoot someone'
Leslie: Leslie's increasingly incoherent alibi: mid-trip vision → shot at quail → safety was on → tunnel vision that girls get → 'I let my emotions get the best of me' → 'I was thinking with my lady parts'
Leslie Escalation Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Ron · Leslie: Leslie offers to make it up to Ron; Ron: 'Sure. How 'bout you shoot me in the head? Wait, you already did that!'
Ron Leslie Character Comedy Running Gag Callback ★ Rewatch Callback Ron: Leslie, I owe you an apology. You were right to protect Tom. He is a valuable member of this department, and I was wrong to underestimate him.
Tom: Wow, Ron, that means a lot coming from you.
Ron: Don't get excited. You're still an idiot. But you're our idiot, and that counts for something.
Ron Ann Character Comedy Absurdist ★ Rewatch All Jokes — 87 analyzed
Show all ↓ Hide ↑ Tom: Andy's been giving everyone piggyback rides around the office.
Andy: Giddy up! Giddy up!
Tom: He genuinely thinks it's improving morale.
Andy Physical/Slapstick Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Ron: We're doing a trail survey.
Tom: A trail survey? Ron, the only trail I'm interested in is the one you're leaving behind.
Ron: What are you talking about?
Tom: I'm talking about the trail of lies, buddy. Your pants are on fire and I can see the smoke from here.
Tom: Ron's taking all the guys out for a night on the town.
Tom: Well, not all the guys. I mean, he's not taking me.
Tom: He's taking all the men.
Leslie Deadpan/Understatement Character Comedy Callback Leslie: Ron, are you listening to turkey calls?
Ron: Yes. I find them soothing.
Tom: Wait, turkey calls? I thought that was the new Kendrick Lamar album.
Leslie Character Comedy Observational Ron: My joy is like a deer in the woods. It's skittish and startled. And every time someone tries to approach it, it runs away. But then you just keep following it and following it, and eventually you corner it. And then you club it to death.
Ron Leslie Irony/Sarcasm Deadpan/Understatement ★ Rewatch Callback Ron: April, I need you to call the permit office and ask about the status of our application.
April: Okay. So you want me to pick up the phone. Then I dial some numbers. Then a person answers. Then I use my mouth to make words come out. Then they use their mouth to make words come out. Then I listen to those words. Then I hang up the phone. Got it. Incredibly complex.
Leslie Deadpan/Understatement Character Comedy April: Wow. A turkey named after me. That's the dream I've been working toward my entire life.
Ron Deadpan/Understatement Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Ann: I don't hunt. I would never hunt. Why would you do this?
Ron April Character Comedy Deadpan/Understatement Tom: Whoa, whoa, whoa! What are you doing?
Jerry: I'm the pants king now!
Tom: Jerry, pull your pants up!
Jerry: No! I am the pants king!
Ron April Character Comedy Deadpan/Understatement Leslie: Wait, so if I pants someone, I become the Pants Queen?
Tom: That's the rule.
Leslie: Okay, I'm doing this.
Leslie: I am now the Pants Queen of Pawnee!
Leslie: I've prepared extensively for this hunting trip. I've studied the terrain, practiced my marksmanship, and most importantly, I've engineered a state-of-the-art anti-pantsing device.
Leslie: It's a series of titanium clips connected to a motion-sensor alarm system that will alert me to any unauthorized trouser removal attempts.
April Running Gag Deadpan/Understatement Callback Ron: Want some chewing tobacco?
Tom: Yeah, why not? I'm full of surprises.
Tom Mark Physical/Slapstick Character Comedy Tom: I swallowed it. I thought that was the point.
Jerry: You swallowed it?
Tom: Yeah, isn't that what you're supposed to do?
Leslie Character Comedy Misdirection ★ Rewatch Callback Leslie: Chewing tobacco is really bad for you. It causes cancer, heart disease, and gum disease.
Ron: I know.
Tom Character Comedy Observational Tom: A hunter must become one with the forest. We are not separate from nature—we are nature. The deer, the trees, the wind itself—we are all connected in this sacred dance of life and death.
Tom: When you pull that trigger, you're not just taking a life. You're acknowledging the cycle, the eternal return, the—
Ron: Tom, just shoot the damn deer.
Tom: To the great outdoors, to friendship, to the bonds we forge in nature's crucible...
Jerry: Tom, we're going hunting, not joining the Peace Corps.
Leslie Wordplay/Pun Deadpan/Understatement Leslie: We should do mixed doubles hunting.
Mark: You're too pretty to understand rejection. You wouldn't know what to do if someone said no to you.
Ron Donna Character Comedy Reaction Beat ★ Rewatch April: Hey Andy, can you take over? I need to pee.
Andy: Yeah, sure.
Ron Tom Character Comedy Deadpan/Understatement Leslie: Ron, I totally understand. You need to get out there and experience some real man on man on man action.
Ron: That's... not what hunting is.
Tom: You snooze, you lose.
Ron: Tom, that's not how hunting safety works.
Tom: Well, that's what my dad always said.
Ron: Your dad was an idiot.
Ann Deadpan/Understatement Character Comedy Leslie: Ron, I've been thinking about how we can bond more. I know what you need - a spa day! We'll get massages, facials, maybe some cucumber water.
Ron: Leslie, no.
Leslie: Or we could go shopping! I found this adorable boutique that just opened up downtown.
Ron: Absolutely not.
Leslie: Well what DO you want to do?
Ron: I want to be left alone with a woodworking project and a scotch.
Leslie: See? This is exactly why you need the spa day.
Ann Mark Deadpan/Understatement Character Comedy Andy: I'm on hold, I'm on hold, waiting for someone to pick up the phone. I'm on hold, I'm on hold, and I'm all alone. Hello? Hello? Is anybody there? I'm on hold!
April Running Gag Character Comedy Callback Andy: Mark's probably gonna get eaten by a deer. I'm okay with that.
Ron Character Comedy Deadpan/Understatement Leslie: I just want to say, I'm not just some girl who hunts. I'm a woman who hunts. There's a difference. And before you say anything, yes, I know I'm still a woman, but I'm also a hunter, and those two things don't have to be mutually exclusive, which is why I'm going to keep doing this forever, and if anyone has a problem with that, they can talk to my gun. Not literally. I mean, don't talk to my gun. That would be weird.
Ann: So you're telling me you don't like cake?
Tom: I like cake. I just think it's overrated. It's like... it's like a shoe that tastes good.
Ann: That doesn't make any sense.
Tom: Exactly. That's why cake is so confusing. Why would you want to eat a shoe?
Tom Character Comedy Deadpan/Understatement Tom: Yo, bird. Yeah, you. You think you're tough? You think you can just fly around my territory? Listen here, feathered friend. I'm about to send you to the shadow realm. You got two seconds to take flight before I turn you into a Christmas dinner. One... two...
Tom: Boom. Headshot.
April Running Gag Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Callback Jerry: My wife says I splash too much. She makes me sit down to pee at home.
Andy Deadpan/Understatement Running Gag Callback Leslie: Ron, you need to just breathe and try to relax. Deep breaths.
Ron: Relaxation is a government conspiracy to make us complacent. I'm going to respond to this injury the only way I know how — with pure, unbridled anger and spite.
Chris/Ben Dark/Subversive Deadpan/Understatement Ron: Did you shoot me?
Leslie: What? No! Ron, I would never shoot you. I have never shot anyone. I don't even know how to shoot a gun. I've never even held a gun. The closest I've come to a gun is when I was eight years old and my friend Katie let me hold her dad's BB gun for like two seconds before he yelled at us.
Leslie · Ron: Leslie bets Ron $100 she bags more birds than him
Ron: I'm not wasting a perfectly good scotch.
Ann: Ron, you're overdosing!
Ron: I said what I said.
Tom: Ron, on a scale of one to Chris Brown, how angry are you?
Ron: I'm going to pretend you didn't say that.
Tom: Ron shot himself in the head.
Jerry: No, he wouldn't do that. Ron loves his face.
Tom: I'm going out into the wilderness to hunt the most dangerous predators known to man. I will face down bears, mountain lions, and wolves with nothing but my wits and my courage.
Mark: Those are pine trees.
Craig: There's a dangerous predator out there!
Tom: Oh, that's just Jerry. He sells cars at the dealership down the street.
Craig: A car salesman IS a dangerous predator.
Ron Character Comedy Deadpan/Understatement ★ Rewatch Ron: I am a man of mystery and power.
Ron: My woodworking skills are unmatched in this county.
Ron: I have fathered a child... with Leslie Knope.
Ron: This revelation will haunt me forever.
Ron Escalation Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Ron: I need to practice spitting. My mouth is very dry.
Ron: Why would I spit? I have nothing to spit about.
Ron: What am I even doing? I can't think straight. My lips feel like... like they're not my lips.
Ron Ann Character Comedy Deadpan/Understatement ★ Rewatch Leslie: I shot Ron.
Craig: You shot my Mercedes?!
Leslie: What? No, Ron Swanson.
Craig: Oh thank God. I thought you shot my Mercedes.
Ron Character Comedy Dark/Subversive ★ Rewatch Leslie Knope: I did it. I shot Ron.
Park Ranger: Well, you know what they say — hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. Am I right, fellas?
Park Ranger: A woman with a gun is like a monkey with a machine gun. Cute, but dangerous.
Leslie Knope: I'm actually standing right here.
Park Ranger: That's what I mean — unpredictable.
Leslie: I need to confess something. I have been spending too much time on my appearance. I got a manicure, I bought expensive hand cream, and I've been reading fashion magazines.
Leslie: And that's not all. I've been thinking about shoes. A lot. Different kinds of shoes. For different occasions.
Leslie: I even caught myself wondering if my handbag matched my outfit. My handbag! Who am I?
Leslie: This morning I spent twenty minutes deciding between two shades of lipstick. And I realized... I might be a woman.
Ron Character Comedy Visual Gag ★ Rewatch Leslie: I can't cook, I can't clean, and I have no idea how a woman's body works. Also, I'm bad at driving, I cry at everything, and I'm not funny. I just realized I've become every negative stereotype about women, and I'm not even doing it on purpose!
Donna Character Comedy Escalation April: I could give you a hickey. We're friends.
Andy: What?
April: It's not gay if it's between friends. It's just a hickey.
Tom Jerry Character Comedy Deadpan/Understatement April: Look, I've dated a gay guy. His boyfriend's boyfriend tried to get with me. It's complicated, but the point is I know how to handle hickeys.
Tom Character Comedy Deadpan/Understatement Ron: Oh, you want to hang out? Sure. Why don't you come over to my house, we'll sit in my living room, watch the Super Bowl, and you can shoot me again. We'll make it a tradition.
Ron: If I were ever going to be shot, I would want it to happen in a bathroom. That way, it would look like I slipped and fell.
Ron Absurdist Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Ron: The only thing that would make being shot worse is if it happened while I was naked and crying and dialing 911.
Ron Character Comedy Escalation ★ Rewatch Ron: Leslie, I owe you an apology. You were right to protect Tom. He is a valuable member of this department, and I was wrong to underestimate him.
Tom: Wow, Ron, that means a lot coming from you.
Ron: Don't get excited. You're still an idiot. But you're our idiot, and that counts for something.
Ron Ann Character Comedy Absurdist ★ Rewatch Leslie: You know what? I think we've both learned something today.
Jerry: We really have. I'm sorry, Leslie.
Leslie: I'm sorry too, Jerry. Friends?
Jerry: Friends.
Leslie: But I'm still gonna pants you.
Jerry: What? No!
Ron · Leslie · Ann: Ron threatening to bite Leslie as she tries to force him to vomit: 'I'll bite you!'
Leslie: Leslie: 'Ron, grab his moustache!'
Leslie Physical/Slapstick Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Ann: Ann: 'I am hoping that he has some memory loss.'
Ann Dark/Subversive Deadpan/Understatement Tom: Tom: 'On a scale of one to Chris Brown, how pissed is he?'
Tom Dark/Subversive Character Comedy Tom: "On a scale of one to Chris Brown, how pissed is he?"
Tom Dark/Subversive Character Comedy Tom · Ann · Leslie: 'Maybe Ron shot himself. He has seemed really depressed lately.' 'He was shot in the back of the head.'
Tom: 'Man is the most dangerous game. To the predator.' — someone suggests they're being hunted
Tom Absurdist Dark/Subversive group: 'He was shot in the back of the head.' / 'Right, he loves the back of his head.' / 'He would never shoot himself there.'
group Absurdist Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Tom · Mark: 'I did smell something out there, and it wasn't human.' 'That was pine trees.'
Tom Mark Deadpan/Understatement Absurdist Tom: 'The predator can see heat. We should cover ourselves in mud.'
Tom Absurdist Character Comedy Donna: 'What's that gonna do? I'm gonna shoot under its head.' as a response to 'Shoot over his head'
Donna Character Comedy Absurdist Tom · Donna: 'It's Craig from Reinhold Mercedes!' — the terrifying predator is a car dealership employee
Tom Donna Misdirection Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Callback Ron: Ron yelling 'Attention, person who shot me in the head. I'm gonna find you and I'm gonna tear you apart!' from his sick bed
Ron Character Comedy Deadpan/Understatement April · Andy: The 'bad acting' scene — April and Andy practicing dramatic one-liners to explain the shooting
April Andy Meta/Self-Referential Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Ann · Mark: Ann and Mark killing time doing dramatic readings: 'That man wasn't my brother. He was my husband!'
Andy: Andy trying to tell a story involving a squirrel taking nuts from a kid's backpack — but needing to spit tobacco first and struggling to get a reason to spit
Andy Character Comedy Physical/Slapstick Unknown: A talking head in which someone delivers the line 'I've lived in Pawnee my whole life. That is a fact. A fact about me.' — seemingly as a cover story non-sequitur
Unknown Absurdist Deadpan/Understatement Ranger · Leslie: The ranger interrogating Leslie about the shooting: 'I find a lot of women have problems with tunnel vision.'
Safety Inspector: Safety inspector: 'Did you forget to check the entire field? I find a lot of women have problems with tunnel vision.'
Leslie · Ranger: Leslie's escalating fake confession: tripping, safety on/off, tunnel vision, icky feelings, chocolate, new bra, 'I was thinking with my lady parts', 'I want to have babies', 'when my life's incomplete I want to shoot someone'
Leslie: Leslie's increasingly incoherent alibi: mid-trip vision → shot at quail → safety was on → tunnel vision that girls get → 'I let my emotions get the best of me' → 'I was thinking with my lady parts'
Leslie Escalation Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Leslie: Leslie's final alibi statements: 'This would not happen if I had a penis!' / 'Bitches be crazy.' / 'I'm good at tolerating pain, I'm bad at math, and I'm stupid.'
Leslie Escalation Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Callback Chris/Ben: "Probably making out on top of a deer carcass. Super-romantic."
Andy · Chris/Ben: Andy suggesting he give the jealous character a hickey to make Ann jealous — and explaining 'What's weird about one friend sucking on another friend's neck?'
Andy: Andy explaining he gave his 'gay boyfriend's boyfriend' a hickey to make his gay boyfriend jealous — and it worked
Andy Character Comedy Absurdist Callback Andy: Andy's gay boyfriend story: 'I gave my gay boyfriend's boyfriend a hickey, and it totally made my gay boyfriend jealous. Really?'
Andy Absurdist Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Callback Chris/Ben: 'All right... awesome, I'm in. I'm gonna go sterilize my neck.'
Chris/Ben Character Comedy Deadpan/Understatement Callback unnamed male colleague: 'All right, awesome, I'm in. I'm gonna go sterilize my neck.'
Ron · Leslie: Ron's series of 'shoot me in the head' sarcastic invitations — Super Bowl halftime, men's restroom stall, doctor's prostate exam
Ron Leslie Running Gag Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Callback Ron: 'Or perhaps next time I'm enjoying some alone time in the men's restroom, you could invite yourself into my stall and shoot me in the head.'
Ron Character Comedy Running Gag Escalation ★ Rewatch Callback Ron · Leslie: Leslie offers to make it up to Ron; Ron: 'Sure. How 'bout you shoot me in the head? Wait, you already did that!'
Ron Leslie Character Comedy Running Gag Callback ★ Rewatch Callback Ron · Tom · Mark: Ron learns Tom shot him without a hunting license: 'What kind of moron doesn't get a license?'
Ron · Leslie · Tom: Ron to Leslie: 'You're a real stand-up guy.' Then to Tom: 'I'm sorry I lost my temper. It was because I was shot in the head by a moron.'
Tom · Ron: Tom's response to Ron's apology: 'Dude, Ron, I'm so sorry.' Ron: 'Apology not accepted, moron.'
Tom Ron Character Comedy Deadpan/Understatement Tom · Leslie: 'Pants king.' 'Pants queen.' — Leslie and Tom exchanging their earlier titles as a moment of reconciliation
Tom Leslie Callback Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Callback Unknown: A final shot of turkeys and the title card 'The turkeys are great' — apparently someone's evaluation of the trip
Unknown Deadpan/Understatement Visual Gag Ron · Jerry · Others: Ron's reaction to the 'Welcome back, Ron' banner: "'Welcome back, Ron.' That's terrific. Thanks, you guys. Let's eat!"
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