Reuben Soady goes to the hunting camp cottage, otherwise known as deer camp, with his father Albert, brother Remnar and Jimmy "The Jimmer" Negamanee from Menominee. If Reuben, now 43, doesn't manage to shoot a buck by the end of the season, he will become the oldest Soady in recorded history not to have achieved this task, a taboo that leads people in the community to believe he is jinxed. Reuben breaks with tradition, taking advice from his Native American wifeWolf Moon Dance, who offers him spiritual remedies involving a drink made with moose testicles and scenting himself with porcupine urine to protect him from evil spirits and attract his prey to him. After various unexplainable phenomena, they meet a DNR officer, Tom T. Treado, who claims to have literally seen God on the ridge. At various times, Reuben, Jimmer, and ranger Tom all get possessed by spirits. Eventually, Reuben runs out into the cold wearing only his long underwear and a hat, and finds himself face-to-face with the ghost of his dead great-grandfather Alphonse Reid, and his great grandmother Willa Jocelyn who guides him to shooting a buck sent for him by the spirits. Reuben returns triumphantly.
A significant portion of the movie involves references to elements of "Yooper" and broader Michigan culture. Some references are obscure to viewers unfamiliar with this culture and might be considered in-jokes. Some examples include:
Pasties—the traditional foodstuff at the Soady deer camp, and food commonly associated with Yooper culture
Leinenkugel's Beer—Remnar brings a case to deer camp, a reminder of Escanaba's proximity to Wisconsin, where Leinenkugel's is produced
Mackinac Bridge—simply referred to as "the Bridge" throughout the film, the bridge that connects Michigan's peninsulas
Mackinac Island Fudge—Albert refers to tourists from the Lower Peninsula of Michigan as "those fudgesuckers," a reference to the fudge made on Mackinac Island, a considerable draw for tourism from within the state
The Superior State—used a few times to refer to the film's location; although a nickname for the state of Michigan as a whole, Superior is also the name of a once-proposed 51st state formed from the Upper Peninsula and, in some iterations, parts of Wisconsin
US Highway 41—an old shield for this highway hangs on the wall in the Soady cabin; an important north-south highway in the western to central U.P.
Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore—natural formation along lake shore mentioned briefly
Euchre—a card game popular in the Midwest, possibly introduced to the United States by the early German settlers of Michigan
M-35—a state highway starting at Menominee in the south, passing through Escanaba, and ending at US 41/M-28 between Marquette and Negaunee in the north
