Open Season

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of graphic violence, death, and animal death.

Game warden Joe Pickett hears a gunshot while building a rancher’s elk fence in Twelve Sleep County, Wyoming. Joe hopes he won’t hear a second shot because he would then be compelled to investigate. Since his predecessor Vern Dunnegan’s departure, Joe has been inundated with work and wants to finish his current task. When Joe hears a second shot from several miles away, he hitches his rifle to his truck’s gun rack and buckles on his holster. His dog, Maxine, jumps in the truck, and Joe drives toward the shots. On the way, he hears two more shots hitting flesh. Joe worries he’s about to encounter a dangerous poaching situation.

Joe finds a gruff man, Ote Keeley, standing over three dead deer. Ote claims he was hunting for food, but Joe suspects Ote wants to sell the prize buck antlers on the illegal market. Joe starts writing a ticket, which shocks Ote, who is used to Vern Dunnegan letting him off with a warning. Ote recognizes Joe from stories about him ticketing the Wyoming governor for fishing without a license.