WEBVTT 1 00:00:04.559 --> 00:00:08.759 When I was nine, our family lived in Plumber, Idaho, a small 2 00:00:08.839 --> 00:00:13.720 logging town in the Panhandle. We actually lived on ten acres of land in 3 00:00:13.759 --> 00:00:19.359 the hills several miles outside of town. My two older brothers were avid hunters 4 00:00:19.359 --> 00:00:23.719 who would go on extended hunting trips, and they'd leave from our house and 5 00:00:23.800 --> 00:00:27.280 head out to the middle of nowhere, pick a spot where they wanted to 6 00:00:27.359 --> 00:00:31.640 hunt, and then build a shelter out of fallen timber where they'd stay for 7 00:00:31.719 --> 00:00:36.719 the duration of their hunt. One year, they asked me if I wanted 8 00:00:36.719 --> 00:00:40.920 to go, I would get to stay in one of their timber shelters. 9 00:00:41.159 --> 00:00:44.600 They would cook for me over the campfire, and they'd even let me shoot 10 00:00:44.600 --> 00:00:48.159 one of their rifles. They promised it would be a lot of fun, 11 00:00:48.439 --> 00:00:52.520 and I asked my dad if it'd be okay, and after they assured him 12 00:00:52.600 --> 00:00:55.719 that they would take good care of me, he agreed to let me go. 13 00:00:57.200 --> 00:01:00.320 We had it out on a Friday evening, and I remember of the 14 00:01:00.399 --> 00:01:03.640 day because it meant I would be missing Saturday morning cartoons the next morning. 15 00:01:04.159 --> 00:01:10.920 Oh man, that, oh anything that interrupted Saturday morning cartoons was horrible for 16 00:01:11.079 --> 00:01:15.120 me to brother. I agree with that, but I digress. For a 17 00:01:15.239 --> 00:01:18.480 kid, that was a big deal, but this sounded like more fun. 18 00:01:19.079 --> 00:01:23.239 Besides, I really wanted to fire my brother's thirty thirty rifle, even if 19 00:01:23.280 --> 00:01:27.239 it would probably knock me on my butt. We crammed into the front seat 20 00:01:27.280 --> 00:01:34.079 of my brother's regular cab pickup and headed further into the mountains. It seemed 21 00:01:34.120 --> 00:01:37.280 like it took forever, so I think we must have been up there quite 22 00:01:37.359 --> 00:01:41.480 away. Of course, I was still a kid, and so the distance 23 00:01:41.560 --> 00:01:45.200 may have been exaggerated in my mind, but it seemed like it took a 24 00:01:45.239 --> 00:01:49.519 really long time. We finally parked in a clearing outside of the main tree 25 00:01:49.560 --> 00:01:53.560 line, and we hiked the rest of the way in. We went far 26 00:01:53.680 --> 00:01:57.319 enough in that one of my brothers had to carry me on his back for 27 00:01:57.400 --> 00:02:01.799 the last half of the walk to the campsite, and by the time we 28 00:02:01.879 --> 00:02:06.439 got there it was getting late, at least it was for me. So 29 00:02:06.480 --> 00:02:08.800 I sat on a log and watched as my brother set up the camp and 30 00:02:08.840 --> 00:02:15.039 started a fire. Then we went into the shelter, crawled into our sleeping 31 00:02:15.120 --> 00:02:20.199 bags, and we fell asleep. The next morning, we got up at 32 00:02:20.240 --> 00:02:23.919 the start of the day, but our food supply was gone. My brothers 33 00:02:23.960 --> 00:02:29.360 had hung it in a large pine tree the night before. I remember it 34 00:02:29.400 --> 00:02:35.000 looking impossibly high to my juvenile mind. There were broken branches all over the 35 00:02:35.000 --> 00:02:38.639 ground around that tree. These were big branches, not just little branches, 36 00:02:38.680 --> 00:02:44.520 and they were broken off way up the trunk. My older brother, who 37 00:02:44.599 --> 00:02:47.159 was six foot five inches tall, remarked that he would have had to use 38 00:02:47.199 --> 00:02:52.919 a ten foot ladder to get up there. My oldest brother was sure it 39 00:02:53.000 --> 00:02:57.000 wasn't a bear because he chosen a branch that stuck out from the tree, 40 00:02:57.439 --> 00:03:00.439 and black bears would be too small to reach it. He figured even a 41 00:03:00.479 --> 00:03:06.280 grizzly wouldn't have been able to get up to that bag. They both looked 42 00:03:06.280 --> 00:03:09.360 pretty confused and angry. Now we would have to leave the next day, 43 00:03:09.520 --> 00:03:14.439 which meant that they would only have one day to hunt. It was just 44 00:03:14.599 --> 00:03:17.280 sad, really, and I was looking forward to having bacon and eggs cooked 45 00:03:17.319 --> 00:03:23.599 on the campfire. They brought just enough jerky and snacks to get us through 46 00:03:23.639 --> 00:03:27.719 the next morning. So my oldest brother went hunting, while my other brother 47 00:03:27.840 --> 00:03:31.520 decided to stay in camp teach me how to fire the rifle. He really 48 00:03:31.560 --> 00:03:36.520 only stayed because my legs were so sore from the long hike in, even 49 00:03:36.520 --> 00:03:42.400 though he'd carried me halfway. That evening, my oldest brother returned to camp 50 00:03:42.439 --> 00:03:46.360 empty handed. He told us that it had been a very strange day while 51 00:03:46.400 --> 00:03:51.680 he was out there. He didn't see any signs of anything. He didn't 52 00:03:51.719 --> 00:03:55.599 see any of the usual small forest animals. He didn't even see any birds. 53 00:03:57.319 --> 00:04:00.960 He couldn't find any deer tracks when they were usually tons of them, 54 00:04:00.560 --> 00:04:05.400 and plus there was a strange, horrible smell. My older brother mentioned that 55 00:04:05.439 --> 00:04:12.400 he'd smell something weird the night before too well. Disappointed that the trip had 56 00:04:12.439 --> 00:04:15.759 been a bus we crawled into our sleeping bags that night with plans to pack 57 00:04:15.879 --> 00:04:20.240 up and leave the next morning. But it wasn't long before we heard branches 58 00:04:20.319 --> 00:04:28.279 breaking and knocking sounds just outside camp. Then something started grunting, and we 59 00:04:28.360 --> 00:04:31.759 all sat up to listen. At first, my brothers thought it was other 60 00:04:31.920 --> 00:04:36.439 hunters, but the grunting got louder and it was accompanied by something really big 61 00:04:36.560 --> 00:04:42.879 stomping around. My oldest brother grabbed his rifle and stuck his head out to 62 00:04:42.920 --> 00:04:46.920 look around. He popped right back in and yelled, grab the guns, 63 00:04:46.079 --> 00:04:50.879 we're leaving now. My other brother started to pack, but my oldest brother 64 00:04:50.920 --> 00:04:55.959 told him to leave everything else and to carry me on his back the whole 65 00:04:56.000 --> 00:05:00.000 way. At this point, I was really scared, and I had started 66 00:05:00.079 --> 00:05:06.399 crying. The last thing I remember was a strange howling sound. It wasn't 67 00:05:06.519 --> 00:05:12.240 like a dog or a coyote or a wolf. This was deeper and louder. 68 00:05:13.480 --> 00:05:16.680 The height back to the truck took what felt like hours. When we 69 00:05:16.720 --> 00:05:21.319 got there, my brother threw me into the cab and we were gone. 70 00:05:21.680 --> 00:05:26.480 I don't know what it was out there that night. I never saw it, 71 00:05:26.560 --> 00:05:30.399 but neither of my brothers ever hunted that area again, and over the 72 00:05:30.519 --> 00:05:34.360 years, I've tried to get my oldest brother to tell me what he saw, 73 00:05:35.000 --> 00:05:40.079 and after all this time, he still won't talk about it.