WEBVTT 1 00:00:04.040 --> 00:00:08.080 This is where I'm supposed to tell you how I'm a lifelong hunter and a 2 00:00:08.119 --> 00:00:12.919 hog trapper and a pretty good cowboy. Well i am, but that's not 3 00:00:13.039 --> 00:00:17.120 important. But the fact that I had recently gone through a divorce and our 4 00:00:17.199 --> 00:00:21.120 son and two foster sons are all grown up is a little more relevant, 5 00:00:21.239 --> 00:00:24.600 because that is what got me in the wrong place at the wrong time. 6 00:00:25.920 --> 00:00:30.239 Having never had an empty nest before, I got what the Canadians called the 7 00:00:30.359 --> 00:00:35.320 cabin fever. Suddenly I had extra time and extra money, and I swear 8 00:00:35.399 --> 00:00:39.840 I didn't know what to do with myself. I needed a new hobby or 9 00:00:39.880 --> 00:00:43.679 three, and I ended up following a young fellow from East Texas that likes 10 00:00:43.719 --> 00:00:48.840 to take long kayak trips on these beautiful hill country rivers and pitch a tent 11 00:00:49.039 --> 00:00:53.960 or string a hammock between two trees on a sandbar. He and his buddies 12 00:00:54.000 --> 00:00:58.000 all used go pros, and they fill their weekends and memory cards with adventure. 13 00:00:59.039 --> 00:01:02.640 They do a fine job of editing their content after each trip, and 14 00:01:02.719 --> 00:01:07.760 I figured that I would do the same. I bought a good fishing kayak 15 00:01:07.799 --> 00:01:11.879 in a three man tent. It was designed for alpine hikers and it weighs 16 00:01:11.920 --> 00:01:17.799 almost nothing. Now I hit the lower Quadaloupe, figuring a night or two 17 00:01:17.920 --> 00:01:22.680 on a sandbar eating fresh fish would teach me what else I might want out 18 00:01:22.680 --> 00:01:26.799 of life, or, better yet, what I didn't want. While kayaking 19 00:01:27.040 --> 00:01:30.599 rapids, less weight is the goals, so you don't want to get top 20 00:01:30.640 --> 00:01:36.040 heavy and find yourself upside down. It was still a little early in the 21 00:01:36.040 --> 00:01:40.159 spring of twenty twenty one, so the water was cold. But the good 22 00:01:40.200 --> 00:01:44.760 news was is that I had the entire hill country to myself. Well that's 23 00:01:44.760 --> 00:01:49.439 how it seemed at the time anyway. The first day was a blast. 24 00:01:49.000 --> 00:01:53.400 I covered a lot of miles and I camped on some private owned campground. 25 00:01:55.200 --> 00:01:57.480 It was deserted all the way down to the river. But on the other 26 00:01:57.519 --> 00:02:01.120 side of this parcel, which was a couple of hundred acres, I could 27 00:02:01.159 --> 00:02:07.560 see some fancy fifth wheel campers with more pullouts than you can count. We 28 00:02:07.680 --> 00:02:12.960 call these winter Texans. That evening, I had the river front to myself, 29 00:02:12.960 --> 00:02:15.719 and it was great. Now. I pitched camp about twenty five feet 30 00:02:15.800 --> 00:02:21.479 from the water, and I cooked up a day's catch. Just as I 31 00:02:21.560 --> 00:02:24.120 finished eating in the coals from my fire burned down. I heard a commotion. 32 00:02:25.159 --> 00:02:30.599 Some wild ducks had shared my camp site, and we're taking advantage of 33 00:02:30.639 --> 00:02:35.759 some lily pads right off the bank. I moved slowly so I wouldn't spook 34 00:02:35.800 --> 00:02:38.560 them, but a change in menu went through my mind as I observed them 35 00:02:38.599 --> 00:02:43.560 splashing away in the water. You better be happy I got a belly full 36 00:02:43.599 --> 00:02:46.120 of fish, because one good jump from the shoreline and I would have a 37 00:02:46.159 --> 00:02:51.879 waterfowl for breakfast. It would prove ironic because, as it turns out, 38 00:02:52.039 --> 00:02:57.800 someone or something must have had similar thoughts. It was right at dusk, 39 00:02:57.840 --> 00:03:00.759 and I had done a lot of kayak dragging and paddling all day, and 40 00:03:00.800 --> 00:03:04.719 about the time I got in the tent and my head hit the pillow, 41 00:03:04.800 --> 00:03:09.439 I went straight to sleep. The usual night sounds like frogs chirping and codies 42 00:03:09.479 --> 00:03:15.960 hoiling in the distance locked me like an outdoorsman's lullaby. I didn't check the 43 00:03:15.000 --> 00:03:17.560 time, but I know it was in the middle of the night. When 44 00:03:17.560 --> 00:03:22.759 I woke up. A noise had jarred me out of my deep sleep. 45 00:03:23.560 --> 00:03:27.120 The frogs and the bugs and the codies must have run out of breath and 46 00:03:27.199 --> 00:03:30.960 gone to bed too, because it was as silent as a graveyard. Suddenly 47 00:03:31.000 --> 00:03:37.039 I heard something that clearly was very large take a couple of running steps and 48 00:03:37.159 --> 00:03:42.400 splash into the river. It sounded like a cow hitting the water. Well. 49 00:03:42.439 --> 00:03:46.199 The ducks panicked and they took flight, and then suddenly let out one 50 00:03:46.240 --> 00:03:51.000 of the most god awful noises I've ever heard. It was like a combination 51 00:03:51.120 --> 00:03:57.800 of a giant venting frustration like Homer simps and on steroids spouting doe, mixed 52 00:03:57.800 --> 00:04:00.639 with the roar of a lion in the sand out of a passing freight train. 53 00:04:02.080 --> 00:04:08.000 That sound vibrated the fabric on my tent. I cannot even begin to 54 00:04:08.080 --> 00:04:11.879 replicate what I heard, but I was sure I will never forget it either. 55 00:04:13.120 --> 00:04:16.560 At this time, every hair on my body and head and everywhere else 56 00:04:17.040 --> 00:04:23.040 was standing on in Think of the silhouette cut out of the Halloween Cat. 57 00:04:23.519 --> 00:04:27.839 That's about how confident I felt at that moment, and I'm generally a confident 58 00:04:27.920 --> 00:04:31.519 guy. In Texas City said that God created all men, but it was 59 00:04:31.560 --> 00:04:36.199 actually Samuel Coate who made them all equal. Well, my fight or flight 60 00:04:36.319 --> 00:04:41.680 instinct kicked in and it must have agreed with that little saying, because I 61 00:04:41.720 --> 00:04:46.000 didn't even have a conscious thought about what I was doing. I tilted my 62 00:04:46.079 --> 00:04:49.240 ears in the direction of the river while my hand went for the three P 63 00:04:49.319 --> 00:04:54.360 fifty seven mag that I travel with, and once it was in my hand, 64 00:04:54.480 --> 00:04:57.839 I held my breath and I cocked the hammer back as silently as one 65 00:04:57.839 --> 00:05:01.560 can cock a hammer back. I was trying to be quiet, but whatever 66 00:05:01.600 --> 00:05:06.040 it was heard me. It was walking out of the water toward my tent. 67 00:05:08.240 --> 00:05:12.519 I was hearing twin footsteps hitting the ground, not four of a typical 68 00:05:12.560 --> 00:05:15.639 forest animal. It got so close I could hear it breathing, and it 69 00:05:15.680 --> 00:05:20.959 sounded enormous. I was all nerved up, and I was trying to call 70 00:05:21.120 --> 00:05:27.680 myself by rationalizing that this thing was only trying to score some supper and as 71 00:05:27.720 --> 00:05:30.800 long as I wasn't on the menu. I squeezed my buddy sam coat with 72 00:05:30.920 --> 00:05:34.879 my shooting hand, and I told myself that my visitor was just that, 73 00:05:35.480 --> 00:05:40.319 just a visitor at this point. But if he did so much as poke 74 00:05:40.360 --> 00:05:43.639 a paul through the door flap of my tent, I was going to put 75 00:05:43.639 --> 00:05:46.319 two in the chest and one in the head. That would still leave me 76 00:05:46.399 --> 00:05:49.439 with three shots, and I could do the same thing again if I needed 77 00:05:49.480 --> 00:05:55.600 to. I was hoping in praying it wouldn't come to that. Well, 78 00:05:55.600 --> 00:05:59.600 thankfully it didn't, and after what seemed like an eternity, it shuffled his 79 00:05:59.720 --> 00:06:02.839 feet and started to walk away. It must have been big, by judging 80 00:06:02.920 --> 00:06:09.759 its great thudding footsteps that reverberated through my tent, that thing was just one 81 00:06:09.839 --> 00:06:15.319 itchy trigger finger away from having a bad night. The next morning, I 82 00:06:15.360 --> 00:06:18.560 looked around for tracks, and I could see some deep impressions, but that 83 00:06:18.759 --> 00:06:24.040 was it. I packed up my outfit and I set sail, thinking about 84 00:06:24.120 --> 00:06:28.079 last night's little battle of wits. And I didn't know who or what it 85 00:06:28.199 --> 00:06:30.759 was for sure, but I had places to go, and I accepted this 86 00:06:30.879 --> 00:06:36.600 standoff as a draw. Even as I was floating into the sunrise, and 87 00:06:36.720 --> 00:06:41.319 in my mind I was sitting on a great horse and riding off into the 88 00:06:41.360 --> 00:06:46.079 sunset. I wasn't coming back anytime soon either. I can assure you of 89 00:06:46.160 --> 00:06:50.720 that, and it still gives me the hebgbis to this day. Well, 90 00:06:50.759 --> 00:06:55.319 I made it back to civilization, and curiosity got the best of me, 91 00:06:55.839 --> 00:06:59.759 and I got online and I listened to every wildlife recording that I could find. 92 00:07:00.800 --> 00:07:02.920 I knew nothing else that could make a sound like what I heard that 93 00:07:03.040 --> 00:07:08.160 night by the river, let alone walk upright and hunt ducks without a twelve 94 00:07:08.240 --> 00:07:14.879 gage. That is until I stumbled onto some of Ronald Moorehead's Sierra sounds. 95 00:07:15.240 --> 00:07:17.680 And I'm telling you, the very skin on my body wanted to crawl off 96 00:07:17.680 --> 00:07:21.680 and go hide under the bed. That's some creepy stuff. And I don't 97 00:07:21.720 --> 00:07:26.680 mind admitting that this big, tough guy does not need to hear any more 98 00:07:26.720 --> 00:07:30.959 of that nonsense. Heck, I already could hardly sleep at night before all 99 00:07:30.000 --> 00:07:34.639 of this. Anyway, Well, one thing led to another, and I 100 00:07:34.759 --> 00:07:40.079 ended up on a website that keeps track of bigfoot sightings, and I was 101 00:07:40.120 --> 00:07:44.639 shocked to hear that there's a little hotbed of activity reported near Canyon Lake, 102 00:07:44.920 --> 00:07:48.759 close to where I was. I continued down the rabbit hole, trying to 103 00:07:48.959 --> 00:07:55.639 educate myself, and I found some interesting channels on YouTube. The more I 104 00:07:55.759 --> 00:08:00.199 learned, the more I was faced with the fact that I now know something 105 00:08:00.279 --> 00:08:05.079 exist. And worse yet, there are millions of people, some who get 106 00:08:05.079 --> 00:08:07.879 paid with tax money, no less, who have been lying to us, 107 00:08:09.680 --> 00:08:13.600 what a cow pie sandwich for all of us to munch on. Guys like 108 00:08:13.720 --> 00:08:18.800 Judge roy Bean and Sam Colt and me think suppressing the truth approaches fraud and 109 00:08:18.839 --> 00:08:24.439 criminal behavior, and I myself have not overly prone to violence, though sometimes 110 00:08:24.480 --> 00:08:30.000 I'd like to smack the smirk from the government type's face in the media, 111 00:08:30.040 --> 00:08:33.720 and of course most of the entertainers who are so vocal in ridiculing people that 112 00:08:33.799 --> 00:08:39.960 report the kind of things I experienced and now know are out there. As 113 00:08:41.000 --> 00:08:45.279 I sit here typing, I occasionally reach up and make sure that my wide 114 00:08:45.320 --> 00:08:50.960 brimmed tenfol cowboy hat is sitting on my head straight. There is so much 115 00:08:50.000 --> 00:08:54.440 I distrust now in channels like yours make me feel right at home and a 116 00:08:54.519 --> 00:09:00.200 little more comfortable with what I witnessed that night. My eyes couldn't see a 117 00:09:00.320 --> 00:09:05.960 thing, but my ears new. The old timers around here never use terms 118 00:09:05.000 --> 00:09:11.240 like bigfoot and sasquatch or skunk ape. In Texas, we call these things 119 00:09:11.279 --> 00:09:15.000 boogers. I'm not sure how to spell it, but there's a lot of 120 00:09:15.039 --> 00:09:18.559 things I can't spell, and what I can do is tossure any and all 121 00:09:18.720 --> 00:09:22.480 that there are some things that go bump in the night, but maybe it 122 00:09:22.559 --> 00:09:28.799 isn't all bad. As long as they hunt ducks and not me. That 123 00:09:28.919 --> 00:09:33.159 won't have to meet with my friend Sam Colt. He and I are basically 124 00:09:33.200 --> 00:09:37.120 insuperable now, but he's old like me. If you ever hear of some 125 00:09:37.360 --> 00:09:43.559 poor soul climbing the walls thinking they're crazy for believing in Bigfoot, you can 126 00:09:43.600 --> 00:09:46.879 give them my number. I was in that lonely place once in my mind 127 00:09:46.919 --> 00:09:50.480 and my mood were dark, and it's a place to visit, but I 128 00:09:50.559 --> 00:09:54.919 decided not to live there, and I would want anyone else to live there 129 00:09:54.960 --> 00:10:00.600 either. You are sharp and probably noticed I'm not feeling the need to discuss 130 00:10:00.720 --> 00:10:05.200 the exact location of my little campsite. I'm also going to ask you to 131 00:10:05.360 --> 00:10:11.000 use my nickname, which is Lefty. Some things are just nobody's business. 132 00:10:11.039 --> 00:10:18.240 Peace from a kayaking hippie and an old Cowpuncture from the Texas Hill Country.