Game warden Will Jensen's years of reliable service abruptly end with the bang of his .44, which he placed in his mouth after gorging on more than four pounds of assorted game and downing a bottle of whiskey. Now fellow warden Joe Pickett assumes control of his dead friend's notoriously challenging charge: the enormous Teton district. Joe is determined to learn everything he can about what circumstances drove Will to end his life. But what he finds instead is serious trouble as the new beat begins to exact a hefty toll.