The Great Hunt was essentially a contest for honor and fame. It started with the Mandalorians as a way to test their skills on Dxun, a moon covered in jungle. Eventually, anyone from across the galaxy could enter and try to win. Throughout the Great Galactic War, there were three Great Hunts. The Cold War that followed also saw three more Hunts take place.
The Great Hunt began as a trial of skill exclusively for Mandalorian warriors located on the jungle moon called Dxun. It then evolved into a competition that welcomed all warriors and bounty hunters from all over the galaxy. Hedarr Soongh holds the record for being the youngest bounty hunter to ever emerge victorious in a Great Hunt, earning the title of Grand Champion during a Great Hunt circa 3708 BBY. During the Great Galactic War fought between the Galactic Republic and the Sith Empire, three Great Hunts occurred. Shortly after the signing of the Treaty of Coruscant in 3653 BBY, Mandalore the Lesser announced another Hunt. Artus Lok, who was the Grand Champion of that particular Hunt, challenged Mandalore to a fight and killed him. Lok then took the title of Mandalore the Vindicated. During the Cold War, he organized another Hunt that was won by Jewl'a Nightbringer. A third Hunt took place around 3643 BBY, and a young bounty hunter claimed victory. Defenestrator and Bloodworthy were among those who won Hunts during the Great Galactic War. The third Grand Champion from the war acted as Huntsmaster for the most recent Hunt. During the Cold War, the Hunts involved thirty-two competitors who were backed by different sponsors. The competition was structured into four rounds to narrow down the contestants. The rules stated that contestants could only kill each other if they were competing for the same bounty. Any rule violations or attempts to manipulate the competition from the outside resulted in immediate kill-on-sight bounties being placed.