JIM GRANT (Gary Clark), brings his bride, Lori (Jeannine Riley), to a National Forest Service Station, combining their glorious honeymoon in the wilderness with his summer job as a Ranger.

Their bliss is terrifyingly interrupted when Jim witnesses the cold-blooded murder of one hunter by another. The killer spots Jim and begins stalking him through the forest, flinging shot after shot at the desperately running figure. Jim races through the most rugged terrain in a frantic effort to elude the searching eyes of the telescopic lens on the killer’s rifle. He narrowly escapes, and, thinking he has outwitted the killer, Jim makes his way back to the Forest Service cabin.

Frantically, Jim tries to explain to Lori what has happened, as he places a call for help. But, before the phone call is completed, the killer appears in the doorway, rifle in hand, trapping the young lovers.

Meanwhile, a forest fire has raged to gigantic proportions, heading toward the cabin. The killer forces Jim to answer a phone call from the fire fighters, and to confirm that everything is all right at the cabin. The killer softens slightly at the thought of killing Lori, so young, so pretty and alive. As he ponders, Jim looks at his terrified bride, remembering how happy and carefree she was a few hours ago.

In a flashback, we see Lori’s sweetness and understanding of Jim’s younger brother, Bobby, as the boy leaves the cabin for a hunting trip. Jim then recalls a night he and Lori were in town, dancing and joking with the tenderness of all lovers. The flashback shows a half-forgotten scene from the nightclub, in which a crazed man accused another man of stealing his wife. In a fight, the accuser is revealed as the killer.

At the cabin, Jim and Lori are forced around the fire toward the lake, where the killer plans to murder them. Crossing a deep creek, Jim throws him off balance and the couple desperately attempt to escape. The killer overtakes them trapped on a high cliff with a waterfall below. Lori becomes hysterical, the killer levels his rifle and Jim jumps him in one final effort to save Lori.

A rifle blast and the shock in Jim’s eyes give the impression he has been hit, until Bobby is seen across the creek, lowering his hunting rifle. The shaken boy is comforted by Jim and Lori as they leave the scene of their nightmare.