pulled the trigger. If the incident were a dream rather than a real-life experience, it could still have the same effect on the viewpoint character. He might decide to give up hunting altogether, having experienced the same feelings as those attributable to a hunted animal. They could also have the same effect on the reader, to whom the story would actually be like a bad dream rather than a real life-or-death experience. 

A parallel situation occurs in the excellent black-and-white movie The Woman in the Window (1944), starring Edward G. Robinson and Joan Bennett. Another parallel in the movies is The Deer Hunter (1978), starring Robert De Niro.

There is certainly an ironic twist to the plot when Sanger Rainsford becomes the hunted after having been a hunter for most of his life. To foreshadow this ironic twist, in the exposition of the story as Rainsford and his fellow hunter Whitney talk on board their ship as they anticipate their hunting jaguar near the Amazon. When Rainsford agrees with Whitney that hunting is exciting, he calls it the "best sport in the world."

"For the hunter," amended Whitney. "Not for the jaguar." 
"Don't talk rot, Whitney," said Rainsford. "You're a big-game hunter, not a philosopher. Who cares how a jaguar feels?"
"Perhaps the jaguar does," observed Whitney.

This remark of Rainsford that he does not care about the feelings of the jaguar is, indeed, ironic because Rainsford himself later becomes the "big-game" [jaguar] and he, too, learns the fear and pain of being prey. For, as Rainsford crouches amid the leaves of the tree in which he hides, watching Zaroff beneath him, calmly smoking and sending smoke rings up to him, Rainsford nervously watches, wondering if the general will see him. After Zaroff departs, Rainsford fearfully realizes that the Cossack has not missed seeing him: "Then it was that Rainsford knew the full meaning of terror."

The general was saving him for another day's sport!...The Cossack was the cat; he was the mouse. Then it was that Rainsford knew the full meaning of terror.

Later in the narrative, as well, Rainsford waits nervously to see if the general falls into the Burmese tiger pit that he has fashioned. As he does so, "[H]e lived a year in a minute." After one of the dogs is killed in the trap, General Zaroff returns to his castle. The next day of the hunt, Rainsford is being chased and runs for his life. "Rainsford knew now how an animal at bay feels." Further, when Rainsford escapes and turns up at the castle, he tells the general, "I am still a beast at bay."

Richard Connell’s short story "The Most Dangerous Game" is the story of a hunter whose favorite game is the hunting of humans. The word "game" is a pun. It can mean a "game" that people play, or it can mean "game" in the sense of something that is hunted.

The plot twist at the end of the story involves the survival of General Zaroff’s "game," the character known as Rainsford. The fact the Rainsford survives his jump off the cliff is a bit of a twist in itself. But perhaps the most significant twist is unstated. Having survived his plunge into the sea, Rainsford decides to go after Zaroff. In effect, this reverses the plot of the story: now Rainsford is the hunter and Zaroff is the game.  

Rainsford could have decided to avoid Zaroff and try to escape some other way. Or he could have hidden somewhere and waited for Zaroff to go to sleep. Instead, he openly challenges Zaroff, apparently wanting to extract revenge in open battle. The most dangerous "game" becomes the most dangerous predator.

This question could be referring to two points in the story.  It depends on exactly which part of the story a reader considers the resolution.  

The biggest plot twist occurs after Rainsford hurls himself off the cliff in order to escape from Zaroff.  

Twenty feet below him the sea rumbled and hissed. Rainsford hesitated. He heard the hounds. Then he leaped far out into the sea. . . .

Thinking that he no longer has to worry about or hunt Rainsford, Zaroff returns to his house for dinner.  He's a little bothered by the fact that Rainsford escaped and Ivan is dead, but Zaroff still takes comfort in his food and wine.  At ten that night, Zaroff heads to bed.  This is when the first plot twist occurs.  Rainsford is hiding in the bedroom.  The plot twist is that Rainsford has now become the hunter and Zaroff is the prey.  

A man, who had been hiding in the curtains of the bed, was standing there.
"Rainsford!" screamed the general. "How in God's name did you get here?"
"Swam," said Rainsford. "I found it quicker than walking through the jungle."
The general sucked in his breath and smiled. "I congratulate you," he said. "You have won the game."
Rainsford did not smile. "I am still a beast at bay," he said, in a low, hoarse voice. "Get ready, General Zaroff."

Readers are not told exactly what happens, but we presume that Rainsford kills Zaroff because we are told that Rainsford sleeps very soundly in Zaroff's bed.  

He had never slept in a better bed, Rainsford decided.

This isn't as definite of a plot twist as the previous twist, but the fact that Rainsford sleeps in that bed and sleeps well might indicate that he is (will become) the next "caretaker" of the island.  Some readers interpret this conclusion to suggest that Rainsford, having experienced the thrill and excitement of hunting humans, can no longer be happy hunting anything else.  

The plot of Richard Connell's "The Most Dangerous Game" is based on the role reversal of man and beast. General Zaroff, a former Cossack cavalryman who has grown bored of hunting big game, has come up with a new and more dangerous game: the hunting of the most dangerous of all prey--human beings. Zaroff has relocated to a desolate island in the Caribbean where he deliberately causes ships to crash upon an unmarked reef, using the shipwrecked sailors as the victims of his future hunts. By the time Rainsford arrives, Zaroff has already become bored with the simple sailors who offer the general little more stimulation than big game animals. Zaroff sees that Rainsford will be a worthy prey, and the Russian forces Rainsford to flee for his life--with Zaroff hot on his trail. A final reversal of roles occurs during the surprising climax, when Rainsford and Zaroff trade places--Rainsford as the hunter and Zaroff as the hunted.

Examples of Irony in "The Most Dangerous Game."

• There is the conversation between Rainsford and Whitney in which Rainsford shows no sympathy for the feelings and "understanding" of the hunted animal. Rainsford's declaration that it is "Nonsense" that animals can experience "The fear of pain and the fear of death" will come back to haunt him.
• It is ironic that the owner of the chateau on Ship-Trap Island is also a world-class big game hunter, and that he is familiar with Rainsford and has read his book.
• It is ironic that Zaroff is an aristocrat with so many cultured aspects to his personality; yet, he practices the art of murder without regret.
• It is ironic that Rainsford, the hunter, will become the human prey for Zaroff's special hunt.
• It is ironic that Rainsford, who claims he is "a hunter, not a murderer," reverts to Zaroff's position as the hunter and eventually kills the Cossack.
• It is ironic that by the end of the story, it is Zaroff who agrees to honor the rules he has proposed, congratulating Rainsford for having "won the game." He is prepared to see that Rainsford is safely returned to civilization, but it is Rainsford who refuses to comply, deciding instead that he is "still a beast at bay."
• It is ironic that Rainsford, in the end, seems to take such pleasure in the final hunt, sleeping comfortably after having killed Zaroff.

The title of "The Most Dangerous Game" refers to the "game" that General Zaroff has created.  I put the game in quotations because it really isn't a game - it is a savage hunting of a human being.  But as Rainsford himself says, Zaroff is "like all his race, a bit of a savage".  The "game" is the most dangerous because it usually ends in death for the "hunted" player - games themselves are not usually fatal.

However, the title shifts direction in the end, and this is the ironic reversal of the plot.  While Zaroff has set up Rainsford to be the hunted, and therefore the one in danger, he underestimates his prey.  Rainsford is able to elude Zaroff, mostly because of Zaroff's arrogance.  Zaroff is able to catch up to Rainsford, but because Zaroff is too into his "game", he lets Rainsford get away so that the chase can continue:

Rainsford's second thought was even more terrible. It sent a shudder of cold horror through his whole being. Why had the general smiled? Why had he turned back?

Rainsford did not want to believe what his reason told him was true, but the truth was as evident as the sun that had by now pushed through the morning mists. The general was playing with him! The general was saving him for another day's sport! The Cossack was the cat; he was the mouse. Then it was that Rainsford knew the full meaning of terror.

Unfortunately, this is Zaroff's mistake and leads to the reversal.  Rainsford does get away, back tracks, and is able to find Zaroff in his own bedroom and kill him.  Thus, the "game" has become the most dangerous for Zaroff himself, the supposed hunter.

The big irony in this short story is how the hunter becomes the hunted. In his usual life, Rainsford is a big game hunter extraordinaire. When he is placed in the "game" with General Zaroff, he becomes the prey rather than the predator. In addition, Rainsford first responded to Zaroff's invitation to the game with shock and disbelief. However, once he is forced into the "survival of the fittest" scenario, we are led by Connell to believe that Rainsford kills Zaroff and sleeps in his bed. The contrast here is that Rainsford, the very person who was so appalled by the idea of murder, has to kill Zaroff to end the plot. 

Rainsford, the protagonist, begins the story as a famous hunter with no empathy for his animal prey. After falling overboard, he meets Zaroff, who invites him on a hunt. When he discovers the nature of the hunted animal -- man -- he resists the idea. During his own hunt, as a prey animal, Rainsford uses his knowledge of a hunter's mindset to set traps and ambushes. Rainsford's eventual success is a result of his willingness to bend the rules; even Zaroff, at the end, acknowledges Rainsford's win. The irony is that Rainsford, who refused to accept the concept of the Game, must accept first his role as prey and then reverse the roles and be willing to kill a reasoning man as hunter.