A pack of hounds surges forward in the lower right, their bodies twisting and overlapping as they close in on a fallen deer. The hunted animal lies on its side at the center, its pale body stark against the earth-toned ground, while another deer bounds away to the left, its head thrown back in alarm. A hunter in a reddish garment appears at the far right, his arm extended and his body angled forward as he rushes into the fray, his face turned toward the struggling animals.

Trees with loose, feathery foliage rise in the background, their trunks forming a vertical screen that partly encloses the action and casts dappled shadows on the ground. Beyond the wooded area, a broad landscape stretches into the distance, rendered in soft greens and ochres that fade into the hazy blue of the horizon. The sky is filled with muted clouds, brushed in with sweeping strokes that echo the energy of the chase below.

Light falls from the upper left, illuminating the backs of the animals and catching the hunter’s sleeve, while the foreground remains in partial shadow. Rubens uses rapid, visible brushwork throughout, especially in the foliage and the animals’ fur, giving the scene a sense of movement and immediacy. The composition is tightly packed in the lower right, where the action culminates, then opens out to the left and back, creating a dramatic contrast between the chaos of the hunt and the calm of the distant fields.

Touches of red and pink in the hunter’s clothing and the wounds of the prey punctuate the otherwise earthy palette. Small details, such as the splayed legs of the deer and the snarling mouths of the dogs, are rendered with swift, expressive lines.