Hal Wolkowski leaves his mute and orphaned grandson, Petey, at the Halloween party of his neighbor, Helen, before heading out for several days on a trip. As Helen calls her guests to the table, her husband, Ken, and his friends, Greg and Arty, joke about their upcoming hunting excursion to upstate Michigan. Sometime later, the three Vietnam veterans drive a station wagon into the woods and eye beautiful women as they stop for food and ammunition. Delighted by the opportunity to resume a game from their past hunting trips, the men decide to stalk an attractive couple, Nancy Stillman and Marty, who are having an adulterous rendezvous. Driving alongside the couple’s car in their station wagon, the hunters signal for Marty to pull over and hold the lovers at gunpoint. After taking Marty’s wallet and forcing the couple into the station wagon, Ken and Greg drive the hostages to a remote campground as Arty takes command of Marty’s car and pushes it into a pond. Although Marty attempts to escape by boat, the men corner him in a boathouse and sink his vessel. The couple is escorted by raft to an island lodge that Ken, Greg and Arty built themselves. Ken chains Nancy to a kitchen table and orders her to cook and clean while Marty is instructed to act as a servant. At dinner, the men force Marty to drink, and when he inquires the price of their ransom, the hunters claim that Marty and Nancy are “guests.” Later, when Marty and Nancy are alone, Nancy suggests that she pursue a friendship with Ken to spark compassion for their release, but the next evening the hunters become intoxicated and molest Nancy while relegating Marty to the kitchen. The following morning, Marty provokes a fight with Nancy, accusing her of active participation in her sexual exploitation, and the men set the couple free with a bag of supplies and a compass. Nancy realizes that Ken, Arty and Greg intend to hunt them as the men scare the couple off with gunshots and promise to permit them a half hour head start. The couple runs to the river and finds a raft, but as Marty starts the engine and gets away, Nancy falls overboard and is left behind. As the hunters steer their own raft and follow Marty to a nearby riverbank, Marty jumps on Ken and takes control of his rifle. During a gunfight with Arty and Greg, Marty is shot dead and Nancy returns to the lodge to steal a weapon. When Greg and Arty arrive home, they notice the front door is open and prepare for an attack. However, after a brief gunfight, Nancy runs out of bullets and begs for her life. As Greg prepares to execute her, a mysterious shooter fires, killing Greg and wounding Arty in the arm. Although Nancy attempts to escape, she is killed by Ken, who is surprised to learn from Arty about the unexplained gunman. Ken returns to the lodge to seek out his new adversary while Arty goes to the riverbank and swims away, apologizing to his friend for leaving. Meanwhile, Ken hears movement and fires, but is shocked to discover that he has only shot at Greg’s body, which is hanging from a rafter. Back at the river, Arty is shot dead by the mysterious gunman. Inside the lodge, a reel-to-reel tape recorder plays a message for Ken; a man’s voice describes himself as the father of Alisha, a young woman who committed suicide after she was raped by Ken and bore his child. The man explains that he changed his name and sought to track Ken down as the child grew. He eventually followed Ken and his friends to the lodge a year ago, where he witnessed the hunter’s game. Vowing to put an end to the mens’ murderous contest, the man warns Ken that he has only one minute to live. Just then, Hal Wolkowski appears, admonishing Ken that his “license to kill ran out after the war” as he shoots him dead. Sometime later, Wolkowski collects young Petey from Ken’s home.