Charlie Gilson (Robert Taylor), a mean-spirited hunter, joins reserved Sandy McKenzie (Stewart Granger) on a great government-sanctioned buffalo hunt that will keep the buffalo population under control and make the men rich. Joining them are Woodfoot, an old, one-legged skinner (Lloyd Nolan), and Jimmy (Russ Tamblyn), a half-Indian boy. But trouble begins to break the team apart when Charlie kills a group of Indians whom he accuses of stealing his horses. Charlie's subsequent mistreatment of the lone survivors – an Indian woman and her child – forces Sandy to realize that his partner is consumed with hate...and that he enjoys killing more than just buffalo.