Only the seigneurs were allowed to hunt, a privilege that not only deprived peasants of access to important sources of food and clothing but also caused serious damage to their crops. Deer and wild boar could roam unchecked across their land, and noble hunts sometimes charged through the fields in pursuit of their quarry, trampling on the crops in the process.
cf hunting in Britain still? the 'sport' takes priority over other uses of the land even when those other uses are claimed as justification for the sport.