Open Season

Local hunters, media, and volunteers crowd the police command post at Crazy Woman Creek. The young Deputy McLanahan arrives late with a small arsenal of weapons and hundreds of pounds of camping equipment. Sheriff Barnum invites Joe and Wacey to take guns from the county supply, but Joe feels more comfortable with his government-issued sidearm and the bird-hunting rifle he’s had since his youth. Joe is a skilled sharpshooter of moving targets, but he has never wielded his rifle against a human. Before Joe, Wacey, and McLanahan leave on horseback, Barnum informs them that Vern Dunnegan is coming to the camp to observe the operation.

The party makes its way through the woods, but McLanahan’s overpacking forces him to take circuitous routes. Wacey and Joe know they won’t reach the elk camp in the daylight because McLanahan is making them move too slowly. The men set up a camp, eat, and pass around a bottle of bourbon. McLanahan starts talking about his family, but Wacey sends him to radio Sheriff Barnum. Wacey and Joe discuss Ote Keeley. Joe thinks Ote coming to his house is significant, but Wacey dismisses this belief. McLanahan returns with news that Vern Dunnegan is at the command post. Vern’s legendary reputation looms over Twelve Sleep County, and Joe resents that he’s still stuck in Vern’s shadow. Joe learned that Vern retired from being a game warden to chase a higher salary at an energy company.

Joe lays awake in the night and thinks about how Ote’s death will impact his daughters. He worries that the girls will think he can’t protect the family, and he dreads the day they stop seeing him as a hero. Joe fears his love for his job is complicating his family life. Before getting married, Marybeth wanted to become a lawyer, and Joe senses that his low-paying government job isn’t giving her the life she envisioned. He is at once ashamed and proud that he followed his childhood dream. Joe sits up to look at the stars and sees McLanahan walk away to relieve himself. Wacey sleeps deeply.

Joe and Deputy McLanahan silently follow Wacey in the early morning toward the camp. When the men come upon the camp, Wacey instructs them to separate and surround the tents. Joe sneaks around to his position, and when he is sure he won’t be seen, he looks out at the scene. The camp has evidently been used for several years, and it is outfitted with crossbeams for processing elk carcasses.

A bulge of movement in one of the tents catches Joe’s attention and he aims his rifle at it, but it’s only a badger. The badger walks closer to Joe, and he sees blood on its mouth. Suddenly, a man emerges from the central tent with a rifle, and McLanahan and Wacey both shoot at him. A stray bullet from McLanahan’s gun ricochets and strikes Joe in the face. The man from the tent falls after being shot in the chest. Wacey yells for the others to come out, but no one responds. He approaches the tent nearest Joe and discovers the corpses of Kyle Lensegrav and Calvin Mendes—Ote’s friends—in their sleeping bags.

Sheridan sits in the backyard after returning home from the motel. She liked the motel, but she is glad to be back with her secret pets. Sheridan was surprised when she returned to school and the kids who previously made fun of her now wanted to talk about the man found in her backyard. Someone calls Marybeth to inform her that Joe is staying overnight in the hospital, and Marybeth relays the news to Sheridan’s grandmother, Missy.

Sheridan’s attention is drawn to the woodpile when she sees a pair of black eyes peering out at her. She tosses a handful of Cheerios on the wood, which causes the creature to briefly hide before returning to take the cereal. Happy with the outcome, Sheridan throws the rest of her Cheerios on the wood. This time, three small animals venture out to collect the food, which makes Sheridan laugh with glee.

Lucy bounds over to her sister, and her noises make the animals retreat. She asks about the animals, and Sheridan reluctantly tells her about the unusual pets. She makes Lucy promise to keep the animals a secret because she fears if her parents know about them, the animals will go away.

Sheriff Barnum airlifts the shooting victim, Clyde Lidgard, from the elk camp to the hospital where he is placed into intensive care. Joe met Clyde before when investigating a wounded deer, and the disabled man hid from Joe when he visited his trailer. Joe speaks to several investigators, who all consider the shooting justified. Wacey visits Joe in the hospital after talking to the media, who are hailing the men as heroes. Joe asks why Wacey shot Clyde since he wasn’t aiming his gun at him, but Wacey claims he was simply protecting the other men.

Later that night, Vern Dunnegan visits Joe. Vern congratulates Joe for making him proud and offers him bourbon. Marybeth didn’t like when Joe and Vern used to drink together, so Joe refuses. Vern and Joe talk about their families, and Vern reveals he left his wife. Vern asks Joe if he ever considered being with other women, like Aimee Kensinger, but Joe avoids the question and asks the true purpose of Vern’s visit.

Vern draws a diagram of Wyoming and the routes of two competing pipelines on a napkin. The company he works for, InterWest, wants to beat its competitor, CanCal, to California, and it’s Vern’s job to help secure the fastest route through Twelve Sleep County. Vern thinks the pipeline will revitalize the economy, and he hints that InterWest may have a high-paying job available for Joe. He implores Joe to consider the opportunity for the sake of his family, and he hands him his business card before leaving.

Joe checks himself out of the hospital early and drives home. He thinks about his conversation with Vern, which left him bewildered. Joe arrives home and sees Marybeth’s mother, Missy Vankeuren, on the couch surrounded by magazines. Missy is visiting from Arizona, where she lives with her rich boyfriend. Joe tiredly greets her and Marybeth, then he says goodnight to Sheridan and Lucy.

Joe pours himself a bourbon and searches for a bottle of wine for the women. Joe dislikes how Marybeth changes when her mother is around, especially because Joe knows Missy is dissatisfied with her daughter’s life choices. Marybeth finds Joe stalling in the pantry and sends him to bed. When Marybeth comes upstairs at midnight, she wakes Joe from a dream about the elk camp. Joe watches Marybeth in her underwear and gets aroused, but Marybeth feels uncomfortable being intimate while her mother is in the house. Joe relents, and he recounts his discussion with Vern about the elk camp and the job at InterWest. Marybeth doesn’t trust Vern, but she is interested in the new opportunity for Joe.