A murder is committed during the big game hunting season in the Talkeetna Mountains of Alaska. Retired Army Major Ben Hunnicutt and his hunting partner find the body and are drawn into the subsequent investigation. In an attempt to lure the killer into the open, officials publicly hint that Ben and his partner may be able to identify the killer. Due to bureaucratic bumbling, his partner is murdered and an FBI agent is killed.Infuriated, Ben becomes the hunter, using himself for bait and planning his own style of justice. He tries to lure the killer, identity still unknown, to the Eureka Roadhouse during a winter caribou hunt. The plan backfires when the murderer and a female accomplice trap Ben during a sub-zero blizzard and attempt to eliminate him. A freak of the arctic weather allows Ben to wound the killer and to escape in the storm.Having seen and identified the pair, Ben doggedly goes on the hunt again, determined to settle the matter personally. Needing to go to ground until the wounded man recovers, the pair commits two more murders and gains possession of an isolated cabin near Talkeetna. Ben persists, is spotted watching the cabin—the fugitives flee after again attempting to kill him. The case continues northward, each party knowing that the other will grant no quarter.