Plot

With the world as their playground, players will explore a vast expanse of mountains and valleys with unprecedented choices in direction never before seen in a Cabela's hunting game.

Players can climb an area to get a better angle for the shot but risk being spotted, or they can take a low elevation route with poor visibility but plenty of concealment. Nature doesn't always wait for you to make the first move as the dynamic weather and natural hazards make the hunt even more challenging. The challenge doesn't end there. Cabela's Big Game Hunter 2012 ups the ante with the most realistic animals ever seen in the Cabela's series. Every animal's unique movement gives clues on what the animal will do next. In order to bag the trophies, players will have to avoid detection through cunning, skill, and deception. They must also utilize master hunting skills such as advanced stalking techniques so they can quickly move through cover and close in on their targets.—Metacritic

Twenty-five-year-old John Sharp, a rookie big game hunter, is invited to participate in the Cabela's 2012 International Safari hosted by John Hathcock, a high-ranking member of the Order of Orion, an elite club of world-class big game hunters from all over the world. The player starts in Montana, Sharp's homeland, where he hunts red deer, white-tailed deer, pronghorn, and hunt an elk before wolves scare it away. The next day a wounded mountain lion terrorizes the area, and Sharp must kill it. The player heads to Mexico, where he hunts whitetail, bighorn sheep, pronghorn, and mule deer. After taking shelter in an arroyo during a sandstorm, Sharp finds boot tracks, confident that someone trespassed into his zone. Just as he's approaching a bison herd, a rifle fires and misses, scaring them off. It's revealed Matisse fired, trying to make Sharp miss his chance. The two argue, but Hathcock shames them.

Then the player goes to Hathcock's private ranch in Texas, hunting white-tailed deer, mule deer, elk, wild boar, bison, and moose. The radio gets a distress call from Freidkin, with Hathcock telling Sharp to check it out. Sharp finds that Freidkin's stand was knocked over by a startled bison, making him fall 70 feet down into a gorge. Sharp must then defend him from meat-craving boars until medical assistance arrives. Freidkin is taken to a hospital, where his left leg is amputated, making him drop out. The player goes to Namibia, where he hunts blackbuck, impala, zebra, wildebeest, greater kudu, White rhino and Cape buffalo. Sharp comes across lion tracks, confirming that a hunting pride is scouring the area. Sharp hears as Cassidy alerts everyone that he and his kill are surrounded by lions. As Cassidy starts to panic, Sharp instructs him to abandon his trophy and jump into a nearby ravine. There are several roars and a scream as several birds are flushed from the trees. Sharp runs to the site, finding nothing but Cassidy's rifle and pack with smears of blood. Sharp sees the male lion in the distance, and must dispatch the lionesses. He's then ambushed by the lion, and as he's about to kill Sharp a shot fires, and the lion pauses and falls to his side. Sharp sits up and sees Matisse, revealing he shot the lion for himself, saving his life. Authorities scour the area, but Cassidy's body is never found.

The player and Matisse finally go to Kodiak Island in Alaska, the final location as an approaching Arctic blizzard threatens the cancel the tournament. Meanwhile, a man-eating grizzly bear named Bloody Ben has been terrorizing the island for the last decade, and poses a huge threat to the hunters, spectators, and game animals in the area. The player hunts red deer, Sitka deer, elk, Dall sheep, caribou, and moose. In the midst of the blizzard, Sharp finally finds Ben's tracks, and just as he's about to shoot, a man jumps in front of his scope, revealed to be Matisse. He aggravates the bear by shooting twice, but is mauled. Sharp runs to Matisse, badly injured and passed out. Sharp is then startled by the bear, and jumps to the ground for his rifle as Bloody Ben closes in for the kill. Sharp kills Ben after shooting him 6 times in his vitals. Matisse wakes up, only to see Sharp looking at him with a confident smirk and Bloody Ben dead behind him. Matisse admits defeat to Sharp and apologizes for everything he's done. Sharp then sells Ben's skin to the Order, and he uses the money to go to Hawaii the next summer. The game ends.