The big tawny dog named Smoky refused to hunt with the pack, so old Bill Tolliver gave the 'no-good hound' to Tom Rainse, the new Game Warden. Tom discovered that Smoky's keen bloodhound nose tracked men, not animals, and soon he was hot on the trail of a ring of poachers whose mysterious leader was called 'Black Elk.' These illegal hunters swore they'd kill anyone who got in their way, and now Warden Tom had a special partner who could smell trouble coming. Would this tough mountain man and his fighting hound be able to stop the dangerous Black Elk gang? Or would the gentle elk, deer, and beaver disappear forever from this beautiful wild land?

Young game warden Tom Rainse had two prized possessions; a pinto pony, and Smoky, the dog with a bloodhound's "nose for trouble." When the pinto was stolen, Tom put Smoky on the trail, only to find that it led them straight into a baffling wilderness mystery. Who was the rustler, and what lay behind the theft? Buck Brunt, Tom's fellow game warden, thought in was poaching. Tom himself was sure that it was something bigger. But Smoky's nose was what finally found the answer.