Open Season

Joe leaves the cemetery to patrol the Bighorn Mountains on the opening day of antelope season. He checks hunting licenses and stamps, and he hands out a ticket to a group that shot one too many antelopes. While driving around, Joe imagines Missy’s reaction to the job offer at InterWest. He and Marybeth had celebratory sex the night before, even though Joe’s decision is still up in the air. However, the day of driving around Twelve Sleep County reminds Joe how much he loves his work.

Joe remembers the night he decided to become a game warden. He slept outside with his brother Victor while his parents got drunk and fought in the house. He tried to sneak into the house to get more batteries for his flashlight, but he stepped on broken glass. His mother tried to pull the glass out of his foot, but she left him to bandage himself so she could keep drinking. Joe brought his flashlight back outside to keep reading his Fur, Fish and Game magazine. Joe saw a game warden ad, and he and Victor made a pact to pursue that career together. However, Victor died 10 years later after a drunk driving accident.

Joe parks on a hilltop to watch a pair of hunters stalk a herd of antelopes. When he hears shots, he drives down to them. The two retired men, Hans and Jack, show Joe the new machinery that helps them process the meat. Joe respects hunters like these who hunt for meat instead of sport. Hans and Jack ask Joe if he has heard about an endangered species in the mountains. The question confuses Joe, and Hans and Jack claim they’re just joking. Joe figures the recent outfitters’ murders have the hunting community on edge. At the end of the day, Joe drives to Stockman’s Bar to meet Vern.

Joe arrives at Stockman’s Bar and walks to Vern’s usual booth. Vern sits with Aimee Kensinger, who leaves when Joe sits down. Vern brings a tray of drinks over and asks Joe if he’s decided on the InterWest job. Joe doesn’t want to “make any big moves” while the outfitter murders are, to him, still unsolved (105). Joe has unanswered questions about why Ote came to his house and what was in the cooler, and Vern presses him to forget about it.

Joe recounts the strange conversation he had with Hans and Jack, and he is shocked that Vern, a former game warden, wants him to ignore the issue. Vern thinks if an endangered animal was found in Twelve Sleep County hunters, loggers, and other locals would lose their jobs while out-of-town environmentalists took over the woods for their studies. Joe suspects that Vern is more concerned about his stakes in the InterWest pipeline.

Vern goes on a long tangent about the millions of dollars in government spending for protecting endangered animals, which he believes hasn’t helped more than a handful of species. He doesn’t think humans should intervene in the natural extinction patterns of the world. He describes a governmental “God Squad” who chooses which species live or die, which he thinks is emblematic of man’s hubris. Joe sits in silence, finishes his beer, and gets up to leave. Vern grabs his arm and presses Joe to decide about the job quickly.

Sheridan and Lucy name the three creatures Lucky, Hippity-Hop, and Elway, and pretend they’re a family unit. Sheridan hides scraps of her dinner to feed the animals, and Lucy brings them her snacks. The girls keep their secret from Marybeth and Missy, who are pleased the girls are playing together. When they aren’t feeding the animals, Sheridan and Lucy mimic how the animals move and sound. Sheridan knows she can’t keep the animals hidden forever, but she is happy while it lasts.

The next morning, Joe goes to his lookout, but he sees very little hunting activity due to the pouring rain. He returns home and calls the Game and Fish Headquarters’s Wildlife Biology Section to ask about the scat sample he sent for analysis. The chief biologist claims they never received the package, and he accuses Joe of sending it to the wrong place. Frustrated, Joe asks the biologist to check again. While on hold, Joe sees Sheridan and Lucy pretending to be animals, and Joe is happy the girls seem unfazed by Ote’s death. The biologist confirms they don’t have the parcel, and he promises to call if it arrives.

Joe gets a cup of coffee from the kitchen. Lucy crawls in and begs for a piece of waffle like a dog, though she insists she’s a different animal. Joe takes another call in his office from a woman in the Wildlife Biology Section. The anonymous woman claims she saw the package arrive, but it disappeared. She warns Joe that anything else he sends will also disappear, and she hangs up. Joe becomes concerned that someone is sabotaging his investigation. He calls his friend Dave Avery at the Montana Game and Fish Department, and he asks if Dave can look at the other scat sample he collected. He lies that his colleagues can’t determine what animal it’s from, and Dave takes up the challenge.

As Joe drives to the police station, he considers the truth behind Vern’s words about Saddlestring. Many of the region’s major industries have either completely stopped production or were bought by out-of-town outfits, driving up unemployment. The town never flourished as imagined, but the pipeline project could revitalize the population.

Joe arrives at the station and Wendy buzzes him into Sheriff Barnum’s office. Barnum sips from a to-go coffee cup from the new California-owned coffee shop in town. He laments that he’ll likely lose the election to Wacey Hedeman, and he decides to take up drinking different kinds of coffee as a hobby. Joe asks about the status of the murder investigation, and Barnum reports that all the evidence points to Clyde Lidgard as the perpetrator. Clyde is in a coma, but unless he wakes up or new evidence comes to light, the case is all but closed. Local and state investigators searched his trailer and found nothing but irrelevant photographs. Joe wants to search the trailer himself to find answers about Ote’s last actions. Barnum reluctantly agrees, but he tells Joe not to neglect his duties as game warden. Joe collects the trailer keys from Deputy McLanahan on his way out.

Joe arrives at Clyde’s trailer. He looks through the rooms with his flashlight and unbuckles his holster so he can better navigate the junk-filled space. He finds Marilyn Monroe pictures and prescription bottles in the bathroom, and boxes of photographs in the bedroom. He sees empty ammunition boxes in the closet, but none that match the supposed murder weapon. Joe looks through some of the photographs, but they are all mundane images. The most recent photos were developed two months prior at Barrett’s Pharmacy. Before leaving, Joe checks the fridge and freezer, which are putrid with rotten food and animal blood. While Joe catches his breath outside, the trailer suddenly explodes in a ball of flame. Joe sees the taillights of a Chevrolet Suburban drive away, and he wonders if it’s Vern’s vehicle.

Joe, embarrassed, returns home after calling the fire and police departments to Clyde’s trailer. Wacey is inside with Marybeth, and he offers the Picketts a house-sitting job at the Kensinger house, which they could use as a kind of vacation. Marybeth and Joe accept. Wacey sees the girls playing, and Lucy again insists she isn’t acting like a dog.

Outside, Wacey pokes fun at Joe for losing his gun again and tells him to let go of the investigation before he gets in serious trouble. Wacey plans to take a leave of absence or quit so he can run for sheriff, and he’s confident he’ll win. Wacey tells Joe to enjoy his vacation and drives away. Marybeth joins Joe outside and asks why he’s so dejected. Joe conceals the events of the day and instead says he feels bad their living situation is so poor that “house-sitting seems like a vacation” (136). Inside, Joe opens a letter from headquarters calling him in for a hearing. The department is investigating the months-old incident of Ote taking Joe’s gun away, and Joe may face suspension.