Open Season

Joe leaves on horseback for Crazy Woman Creek in the early morning and arrives at the elk camp at midday. He puts food out for his horse, Lizzie, and rests. The camp has been almost entirely dismantled by investigators. Joe looks at a topographical map and identifies a nearby canyon that leads to a unique basin at the mouth of the creek. Few hunters have been to the area because it’s so difficult to get to, but Joe suspects Ote, Kyle, and Calvin explored the canyon on one of their many visits to the camp.

Sheridan lies to her mother that she has a book report to write and needs some books she left at home. Marybeth thinks something is wrong with Sheridan, who hasn’t been eating and has been distracted, but she vaguely agrees to take her home later. Sheridan sits with Lucy to watch cartoons, but fear occupies her mind. The night before, she had nightmares about the man hurting her family, and she felt like he was in the house watching her. Sheridan stayed up all night. She wrote down two resolutions to ease her mind: to check on the animals, and to tell her dad everything when he gets home. Sheridan hugs Lucy and closes her eyes, trying to contain her guilt and anxiety.

Joe rides Lizzie through the canyon but dismounts and walks in front of her when the walls narrow. In a particularly slight section, Lizzie panics and jerks Joe into the creek. She sits down, and Joe soothes her and coaxes her into moving on. The canyon eventually widens, and Joe arrives at the hidden basin. He takes in the nearly untouched landscape, but as he keeps riding, he realizes there are no signs of animal life. Joe finds abandoned weasel burrows, as well as shotgun casings, poison, and illegal cyanide-laced M-44 cartridges. Joe dejectedly collects the evidence and some bones, and he takes pictures of the scene.

On the ride out of the canyon, Joe considers his discovery. He feels responsible for the terrible act that occurred in his jurisdiction, and he is angry about the weasel colony’s extermination. Joe worries that whoever is behind the killings isn’t finished yet. At the bottom of the mountain, Joe packs Lizzie into the horse trailer and drives back into Saddlestring.

On the drive to the house, Marybeth asks Sheridan what’s wrong, since Sheridan hasn’t been acting like herself. Sheridan explains that she doesn’t like living in a stranger’s house, but she feels guilty for lying. When they pull into the driveway, they see Wacey’s truck parked out front. Marybeth enters the dark house with Sheridan, but she pauses before turning the light on. She sees a strange yellow light in the backyard and a man kicking apart the woodpile.

Sheridan realizes it’s the man who has been threatening her, but before she can stop her mom, Marybeth turns on the light and yells at the man. The man shoots Marybeth through the window, which sends her flying to the floor. Sheridan rushes to her mother as the man tries to get into the house. Marybeth tells Sheridan to run, hide, and wait for Joe and Wacey. Sheridan suddenly recognizes that the man outside is Wacey, but as she makes her hurried confession, Marybeth loses consciousness. Sheridan runs out the front door and Wacey breaks through the back.

Sheridan runs to the road but changes her mind and returns to the car. She pauses to make a plan and decides to hide in the backyard where Wacey is less likely to look first. As Wacey steps out the front door, Sheridan crawls under the car, grabs a horse blanket from the corral, and runs into the foothills. She runs as far as she can before coming to a stop. Out of breath, she hides behind a boulder, pulls the blanket around her, and sobs quietly.

Wacey calls to Sheridan and entreats her to come back to the house to be with her mother. Wacey starts out apologetic, but he soon becomes angry and threatens Sheridan. He couldn’t find the weasels in the woodpile, and he accuses Sheridan of revealing their secret. Wacey called an ambulance while inside, and he tells Sheridan to stay hidden when they arrive. From her vantage point, Sheridan sees Wacey light the woodpile on fire, and she worries about her mother.

Joe drives down Bighorn Road and sees his worst nightmare: police lights in front of his house. Joe imagines possible scenarios for the scene, since his family is supposed to be at Eagle Mountain. He runs up to the house, but Wacey prevents him from going inside. Joe sees the pool of blood, and Wacey lies that Marybeth was likely shot by a drunk hunter. He claims he saw the fire and called for help. Joe conceals where he was all day, too shocked to explain the conspiracy he discovered.

A helicopter airlifted Marybeth to Billings, Montana for surgery, so Joe asks Wacey to help unhitch the horse trailer and to call Missy at Eagle Mountain. Wacey also offers to take Joe’s saddle, but Joe keeps it, not wanting to part with the evidence he collected. Joe is suspicious of Wacey’s emotional investment in the shooting, but he brushes off his feelings as paranoia. As he drives to Billings, Joe prays for Marybeth.

Joe races to the operating room at the Billings hospital. A nurse stops him in the hall and retrieves the surgeon. Joe hates hospitals because they bring up bad memories of his childhood when his mom was admitted after a bad fight with his father. The head surgeon bluntly informs Joe that Marybeth’s baby was lost. Marybeth is stable, but since the gunshot grazed her spine, she may be paralyzed. Joe slumps against the wall, stunned. The doctor expresses his condolences and returns to the operating room. Joe rushes into a bathroom and wails.

Sheriff Barnum leaves Wacey to watch the crime scene until Deputy McLanahan can relieve him in the morning. Wacey remembers an interaction with two telephone company engineers he once helped when they were charged by a moose near the Saddlestring microwave station. After finding the stillborn calf that prompted the moose’s erratic behavior, the engineers showed Wacey where all the telephone lines converged. Wacey figures Saddlestring’s telecommunications can be cut off at that point with a single gunshot, and he decides to visit the station before Sheridan realizes he’s gone.

Joe accidentally calls his house when he tries to call Missy, and he gets angry that Sheriff Barnum didn’t leave someone at the crime scene overnight. When Missy answers at Eagle Mountain, she complains that Joe and Marybeth ruined her dinner by not coming home. Joe is shocked that Wacey didn’t call Missy, so Joe breaks the news about the shooting. Missy doesn’t answer, and Joe realizes the line went dead. The phones are out around the county, so Joe can’t call Sheriff Barnum either.

Joe impatiently waits for Marybeth to arrive at her private room and starts wandering around the hospital. He mournfully watches a new mother and her baby and walks through a hospice wing, suddenly happening upon Clyde Lidgard’s room. He sneaks into the room when the patrol officer isn’t looking. Joe pleads with Clyde to tell him what he knows, and to Joe’s surprise, Clyde opens his eyes. Joe helps Clyde drink water and identifies himself as the game warden.

Clyde laments that he won’t get to see the pictures he took of the Miller’s weasels. Joe consoles Clyde, who fears his imminent death. Clyde passes away as Joe leaves. Joe returns to Marybeth’s room when she gets out of surgery. He holds her hand, and Marybeth temporarily wakes. Marybeth doesn’t know who shot her and cries when she learns about her baby. She frantically asks about Sheridan, who she told to run before passing out.