The film takes place in the Cascade Mountains of Washington. Charlie's mother lost her life when he was a cub, leaving him alone. Jess Bradley finds Charlie, takes him in and raises him. Charlie experiences some adventures growing up including some play time with a black bear cub and visits to his friend Potlatch for snacks. Potlatch, though has a Smooth Fox Terrier named Chainsaw, Charlie's nemesis, in the logging camp where Charlie grows up. This rivalry leads to problems including a wrecked kitchen and a trip down the river as part of the logging crew, which, of course, leads to more problems including another destroyed kitchen. As a result of all of this which costs the lumberjack company a great deal of money, Charlie is let go and tied up, until he hears and sees some of the employees involved with a log standing contest, in which Charlie does enter, however, when Chainsaw comes into the picture, Charlie loses his concentration and fall off the log into the water. The contest ends when the boss forces the other employees back to work, and Jess is forced to have to leave Charlie at home forever. Jess, in the meantime, has found himself a girl, who has become his fiancée. Jess is forced to lock Charlie in a cage which doesn't hold him very long. Charlie hears a call from female cougar in the distance one night and he decides to break free to investigate. The two had a good time together, but it quickly turns sour when his new friend wouldn't share a meal she had recently caught. Charlie then moves on and finds himself a free meal from a farmer milking his cows. This does not turn out well for Charlie and havoc ensues on the farm. Charlie finds himself lost and on his own. He spends the summer hunting and getting by until one day when he, himself, becomes the hunted by a pack of dogs. He manages to escape by going on a log down a flume, until he hits a bunch of bushes, he then finds himself back at the logging camp. However, after spending the summer in the wild, his natural instincts have kicked in and he's more wild than tame now. When Chainsaw discovers Charlie, Charlie runs and gets trapped in a lift on the ground, the bosses men are about to shoot Charlie, until Jess comes to the rescue, telling them not to shoot Charlie at all, and manages to go down into the lift, and rescues Charlie. Ultimately, Jess has no option but to release him back into the wild, but in a nature preserve, where the cougars and other wild animals are protected from hunters, dogs, and other predators. There he finds the same female cougar, and lives happily ever after. This cougar is loved all around the world.
