WEBVTT 1 00:00:05.960 --> 00:00:08.919 Three years ago, my son, my brother, and I hunted 2 00:00:08.960 --> 00:00:12.960 a parcel of private land opening weekend of deer rifle season. 3 00:00:14.119 --> 00:00:18.120 We were in the woods before daylight. My brother didn't 4 00:00:18.120 --> 00:00:20.920 fill up to the physical stress of the hills we 5 00:00:20.920 --> 00:00:23.519 were about to assault, so he stayed close to the 6 00:00:23.600 --> 00:00:27.440 truck on flat ground. My son and I were going 7 00:00:27.480 --> 00:00:30.480 to walk the area to drive deer to each other. 8 00:00:31.440 --> 00:00:36.320 We called it deer kicking. Three hours later, and not 9 00:00:36.479 --> 00:00:39.840 seeing a deer, my son suggested that we get to 10 00:00:39.960 --> 00:00:43.719 a higher elevation. His idea was that the deer were 11 00:00:43.840 --> 00:00:46.799 up there and we just needed to get to him. 12 00:00:47.200 --> 00:00:49.920 We started to track up the hill and fought briars 13 00:00:49.960 --> 00:00:53.560 and brambles the whole way. We were exhausted when we 14 00:00:53.600 --> 00:00:57.560 got to the top. When we reached the top, we 15 00:00:57.600 --> 00:01:00.000 walked around the ridge trying to get a better look 16 00:01:00.000 --> 00:01:02.840 at the terrain below. When we walked up on a 17 00:01:02.960 --> 00:01:08.560 large structure, tree lambs were formed into an almost perfect shelter. 18 00:01:09.760 --> 00:01:12.799 I assumed someone had built this, but looking closer, it 19 00:01:12.840 --> 00:01:17.799 became clear this was not built by human hands. It 20 00:01:17.879 --> 00:01:20.599 was well built too, because my son crawled on top 21 00:01:20.640 --> 00:01:24.239 of it and walked around it never gave an inch 22 00:01:25.840 --> 00:01:28.280 built on the edge of a steep drop off. Made 23 00:01:28.359 --> 00:01:30.879 me a bit nervous, so I got him to jump 24 00:01:30.920 --> 00:01:33.560 down and we backed away. We sat down and we 25 00:01:33.599 --> 00:01:36.959 had a smoke. Then he asked if I could detect 26 00:01:37.000 --> 00:01:40.560 a strong odor. I couldn't smell anything due to an 27 00:01:40.640 --> 00:01:43.719 accident years ago that took away my sense of smell, 28 00:01:43.879 --> 00:01:47.959 but he said it was strong. The first guess was 29 00:01:48.000 --> 00:01:51.400 that Bigfoot had built this thing. We both laughed that 30 00:01:51.519 --> 00:01:54.040 off and decided to move on back down the hill. 31 00:01:55.519 --> 00:01:58.560 Taking a different route, we exited the thick brush and 32 00:01:58.599 --> 00:02:00.959 we stood on a ledge. It gave us a great 33 00:02:01.040 --> 00:02:04.959 view of the valley below. In the distance, on the 34 00:02:04.959 --> 00:02:09.199 opposite hillside, I saw a dark figure scaling the mountain. 35 00:02:10.360 --> 00:02:12.599 I thought it was a bear, but I've never heard 36 00:02:12.639 --> 00:02:15.919 of bear in this area. I just watched for a 37 00:02:16.000 --> 00:02:19.800 minute to see better. I raised my rifle scope to 38 00:02:19.919 --> 00:02:22.280 my eye and I could clearly see this thing was 39 00:02:22.319 --> 00:02:25.199 on two legs and it was covered in dark hair. 40 00:02:26.599 --> 00:02:28.840 I asked my son to keep it in his scope 41 00:02:28.879 --> 00:02:31.599 while I dug for a camera that I carried on 42 00:02:31.680 --> 00:02:35.080 all my hunts. It took me forever to dig this 43 00:02:35.240 --> 00:02:37.599 camera out, and while I was doing that, my son 44 00:02:37.680 --> 00:02:39.919 lowered his rifle to look at me and ask what 45 00:02:40.120 --> 00:02:42.919 was taking so long, And when he got the object 46 00:02:43.000 --> 00:02:45.520 back in his scope, it was just going over the 47 00:02:45.560 --> 00:02:49.280 top of the hill. Neither of us could believe that 48 00:02:49.280 --> 00:02:52.280 that thing made it up that hill so fast, but 49 00:02:52.400 --> 00:02:55.439 it was gone. In my mind it was a bear. 50 00:02:55.719 --> 00:02:58.879 It had to be. The day was shot, so we 51 00:02:58.960 --> 00:03:02.840 headed back to the true up. We were about halfway 52 00:03:02.879 --> 00:03:05.960 back to the truck and a rock whizzed by our 53 00:03:06.080 --> 00:03:09.919 heads and tumbled off into the brush. We stopped and 54 00:03:09.960 --> 00:03:12.360 looked around for the person who had thrown it, but 55 00:03:12.439 --> 00:03:16.080 we never saw anyone. Then I realized it had to 56 00:03:16.120 --> 00:03:18.639 be my brother messing with us, so I called him 57 00:03:18.639 --> 00:03:21.919 on the two way radio. He was close to the 58 00:03:21.960 --> 00:03:25.560 truck and emphatically insisted that he had not walked up 59 00:03:25.599 --> 00:03:29.599 that mountain. It was getting close to dark by now. 60 00:03:29.759 --> 00:03:32.719 We had not seen or heard an animal all day, 61 00:03:33.280 --> 00:03:38.319 no insects, birds, nothing. As we walked onto the truck, 62 00:03:38.400 --> 00:03:42.159 something was tracking us in the brush. While we walked. 63 00:03:42.240 --> 00:03:46.280 Whatever was in the woods walked. If we stopped, it stopped. 64 00:03:47.000 --> 00:03:51.000 Limbs and twigs broke in the distance. We stopped and 65 00:03:51.080 --> 00:03:54.680 called out, hoping to get an answer from someone, maybe 66 00:03:54.719 --> 00:03:58.680 we were on someone else's land. We got no answer, 67 00:03:59.319 --> 00:04:02.080 and then I recall our joking that Bigfoot had built 68 00:04:02.080 --> 00:04:05.080 that structure that we had found, and now I wasn't 69 00:04:05.159 --> 00:04:09.000 laughing at that idea. The whole thing gave me an 70 00:04:09.080 --> 00:04:12.039 uneasy feeling. So we wasted no more time and we 71 00:04:12.120 --> 00:04:14.360 made it to the truck and out of the area 72 00:04:14.479 --> 00:04:18.519 in a hurry. Finally back at the truck, and a 73 00:04:18.560 --> 00:04:22.240 bit unnerved, we started unloading our rifles and throwing our 74 00:04:22.279 --> 00:04:25.519 gear in the bed. We sat on the tailgate waiting 75 00:04:25.560 --> 00:04:28.839 for my brother to show up. I heard something in 76 00:04:28.879 --> 00:04:32.040 the brush off to my right. It was rustling in 77 00:04:32.120 --> 00:04:35.319 the brush, and then, like a bat out of hell, 78 00:04:35.360 --> 00:04:38.720 it took off running. And whatever it was it was big. 79 00:04:39.519 --> 00:04:42.360 It was crashing and tearing through the tangled mess like 80 00:04:42.399 --> 00:04:47.319 a bulldozer. It's hard to explain how this experience affected me. 81 00:04:47.759 --> 00:04:51.000 It really shook me up. If I heard an elephant 82 00:04:51.079 --> 00:04:53.959 crashing through the brush, I think it would sound the same. 83 00:04:55.399 --> 00:04:57.639 In the distance, I heard a sound that I will 84 00:04:57.680 --> 00:05:01.000 never be able to replicate. It was a sort of 85 00:05:01.040 --> 00:05:05.079 a howl or scream, and it was terrifying to my ears. 86 00:05:06.920 --> 00:05:09.800 The radio cracked and it was my brother asking us 87 00:05:09.839 --> 00:05:11.720 if we had kicked up a deer, to which we 88 00:05:11.839 --> 00:05:15.639 both immediately responded no, and to get back to the 89 00:05:15.680 --> 00:05:19.319 truck we needed to go. He finally walked up and 90 00:05:19.360 --> 00:05:22.519 I hurriedly pushed him in the truck. I started the 91 00:05:22.560 --> 00:05:25.480 engine and I threw gravel behind me as I sped away. 92 00:05:26.120 --> 00:05:28.879 And on the drive home, we recounted the story to 93 00:05:28.959 --> 00:05:31.720 him and he was sure that we had encountered a bear. 94 00:05:33.240 --> 00:05:36.000 My son and I we knew it wasn't a bear. 95 00:05:36.399 --> 00:05:41.000 We knew exactly what this thing was. The next year, 96 00:05:41.040 --> 00:05:43.519 we were told that this piece of land was posted 97 00:05:43.560 --> 00:05:46.480 and we no longer had permission to hunt it. That 98 00:05:46.639 --> 00:05:48.639 was fine with me. I wasn't going back to that 99 00:05:48.720 --> 00:05:52.639 place anyway. We got permission to hunt land not far 100 00:05:52.639 --> 00:05:55.800 from this location the next year. There are signs of 101 00:05:55.800 --> 00:05:58.920 bigfoot on this property too, but they never messed with us, 102 00:05:58.959 --> 00:06:03.000 so we continued to hunt it. This year, I'm staying 103 00:06:03.040 --> 00:06:05.800 out of the woods. I have concluded that we are 104 00:06:05.839 --> 00:06:10.160 invading their territory and it must cause them stress. I 105 00:06:10.160 --> 00:06:13.319 don't want to do that to these creatures. I've studied 106 00:06:13.319 --> 00:06:16.360 the phenomenon lately and learned quite a bit and I 107 00:06:16.399 --> 00:06:19.839 think they are closer to humans than we think. This 108 00:06:19.920 --> 00:06:24.360 is not an average animal, so from now on I'm 109 00:06:24.360 --> 00:06:30.120 going to be staying out of their habitat. I have 110 00:06:30.199 --> 00:06:33.240 a few stories to tell. The first one is my 111 00:06:33.399 --> 00:06:35.680 father in law's and it was told to me by 112 00:06:35.680 --> 00:06:41.000 my wife. This occurred in Salibas, Indonesia. I think I 113 00:06:41.079 --> 00:06:45.120 pronounced the town right around nineteen seventy give or take. 114 00:06:45.959 --> 00:06:50.639 Salivas is a horseshoe shaped island near Borneo. My wife's 115 00:06:50.639 --> 00:06:53.800 father recounted this story to her, and it happened on 116 00:06:53.839 --> 00:06:57.399 a cross country motorcycle trip when he was around fifty five. 117 00:06:58.920 --> 00:07:01.839 My wife's English is not very good, so I'm translating 118 00:07:01.879 --> 00:07:05.680 this from Indonesian. Getting all the details as a bit 119 00:07:05.720 --> 00:07:09.720 of a chore. Also, her father passed away five years ago, 120 00:07:10.240 --> 00:07:12.560 so some of the story may have been lost to memory. 121 00:07:13.800 --> 00:07:16.120 He was trying to save time on this trip, so 122 00:07:16.240 --> 00:07:20.079 instead of following the highway, he cut across the wilderness. 123 00:07:20.720 --> 00:07:24.279 It really was cross country, and as he was traveling, 124 00:07:24.360 --> 00:07:26.920 the bike suddenly felt like a big weight had been 125 00:07:26.959 --> 00:07:31.319 added to it and it wouldn't move forward anymore. He 126 00:07:31.399 --> 00:07:33.319 got off the bike to see what was the matter, 127 00:07:33.360 --> 00:07:37.160 and behind him stood a huge person. In fear, he 128 00:07:37.279 --> 00:07:40.160 dropped to his knees to pray, thinking he was about 129 00:07:40.199 --> 00:07:43.879 to die. The last thing he saw before he closed 130 00:07:43.879 --> 00:07:47.759 his eyes was its feet. After a while, he opened 131 00:07:47.759 --> 00:07:52.279 his eyes and it was gone. My impression is that 132 00:07:52.319 --> 00:07:55.199 my father in law referred to this thing as a 133 00:07:55.240 --> 00:07:58.639 person because he had no other term to describe it. 134 00:07:59.560 --> 00:08:02.120 He never saw the face, nor did he describe in 135 00:08:02.199 --> 00:08:04.920 detail what the legs and feet look like, other than 136 00:08:04.959 --> 00:08:08.240 that they were huge. The fact that he was so 137 00:08:08.399 --> 00:08:11.079 close to it but didn't see the head should provide 138 00:08:11.120 --> 00:08:14.800 some idea of how big this thing was. He would 139 00:08:14.839 --> 00:08:16.560 have to look up to see the face, but he 140 00:08:16.639 --> 00:08:19.800 was too terrified to do that. I would guess it 141 00:08:19.879 --> 00:08:21.959 must have been a minimum of seven and a half 142 00:08:22.000 --> 00:08:27.000 feet tall, maybe even taller. Apparently, this thing came up 143 00:08:27.040 --> 00:08:29.560 behind his motorcycle and held on to the back to 144 00:08:29.600 --> 00:08:32.639 stop it. My father in law never saw it until 145 00:08:32.639 --> 00:08:35.279 he got off the bike, by which point it had 146 00:08:35.320 --> 00:08:39.080 to be only a few feet away. He never mentioned 147 00:08:39.159 --> 00:08:42.679 that it had an odor or made any sound. I 148 00:08:42.720 --> 00:08:45.759 believe the incident took place at dusk, so he wouldn't 149 00:08:45.759 --> 00:08:48.159 have been able to see much since there are no 150 00:08:48.360 --> 00:08:52.720 lights in the jungle. My wife said her father told 151 00:08:52.720 --> 00:08:57.960 her this story only once. I think as a cautionary tale. 152 00:08:58.000 --> 00:09:00.960 He wanted his family to know it was dangerous out there. 153 00:09:02.000 --> 00:09:04.600 He told her that the story scared him as much 154 00:09:04.759 --> 00:09:08.000 now as it had years later. It was like it 155 00:09:08.080 --> 00:09:13.799 only happened yesterday. My next story comes from my wife's grandfather, 156 00:09:14.080 --> 00:09:16.759 and it happened on the same island, but a different 157 00:09:16.799 --> 00:09:20.320 part of it. I'm not sure on the time, maybe 158 00:09:20.360 --> 00:09:23.240 the early nineteen hundreds, and it may have happened as 159 00:09:23.279 --> 00:09:28.240 recently as nineteen twenty. My wife's grandfather and some friends 160 00:09:28.240 --> 00:09:31.440 of his were going hunting. It was a large hunting 161 00:09:31.519 --> 00:09:35.320 party of about ten people, and they decided to explore 162 00:09:35.360 --> 00:09:39.000 a cave they'd found at the bottom of a ravine. 163 00:09:39.080 --> 00:09:43.000 They were looking for bird droppings or guano. They heard 164 00:09:43.039 --> 00:09:45.840 something from inside and it startled them enough to make 165 00:09:45.879 --> 00:09:49.559 them start running. Most of them scrambled up and out 166 00:09:49.559 --> 00:09:53.360 of the ravine, but one person fell back down. They 167 00:09:53.360 --> 00:09:55.320 threw a rope down to him to help him, but 168 00:09:55.399 --> 00:09:58.639 he told them he couldn't climb out. Something was holding 169 00:09:58.679 --> 00:10:03.519 his foot. They heard more noises, like people scurrying around. 170 00:10:04.120 --> 00:10:07.440 They were loud, marching noises. It wasn't just one or 171 00:10:07.440 --> 00:10:10.799 two people or whatever they were, It sounded like a 172 00:10:10.799 --> 00:10:15.120 whole group of them. The others fled in fear, leaving 173 00:10:15.159 --> 00:10:18.240 the man to fend for himself, and he was never 174 00:10:18.519 --> 00:10:23.799 seen again. This story, like my father in laws, was 175 00:10:23.840 --> 00:10:26.799 told to warn the children of the dangers of the jungle. 176 00:10:27.840 --> 00:10:31.200 These men apparently stumbled on a bunch of or a 177 00:10:31.240 --> 00:10:35.919 society of some kind of creature. They never actually had 178 00:10:36.000 --> 00:10:39.879 visual contact, but what they heard terrified them so much 179 00:10:40.000 --> 00:10:43.519 that ten well armed men ran like helpless children and 180 00:10:43.600 --> 00:10:48.639 abandoned one of their own to die. Getting these stories 181 00:10:48.639 --> 00:10:52.720 and getting accurate details was difficult. I would think I 182 00:10:52.840 --> 00:10:55.919 had it and then ask another question, and her answer 183 00:10:55.919 --> 00:10:57.879 to it would shed a whole new light on what 184 00:10:58.000 --> 00:11:01.639 she was trying to describe. I think I finally got 185 00:11:01.639 --> 00:11:07.039 all the pertinent information. Though these last encounters are my own, 186 00:11:07.799 --> 00:11:10.159 and at the time I was in the wilderness working 187 00:11:10.279 --> 00:11:14.639 as a paramilitary contractor, it was over a decade ago, 188 00:11:14.799 --> 00:11:17.639 so some of the minor details may be hard to recall, 189 00:11:17.799 --> 00:11:21.720 but I will do my best. I was part of 190 00:11:21.759 --> 00:11:25.279 a four man teams sent to prep camp for training 191 00:11:25.360 --> 00:11:29.879 exercises that were being held near the California Oregon border. 192 00:11:31.120 --> 00:11:33.399 The first night, it was just the members of the 193 00:11:33.440 --> 00:11:38.120 advanced team. Our intel told us that bears were unheard 194 00:11:38.159 --> 00:11:42.200 of here. Mountain lions were becoming common, but not to 195 00:11:42.240 --> 00:11:45.759 the point that we expected to see any I don't 196 00:11:45.799 --> 00:11:49.320 recall any information on non predators, but I'm sure there 197 00:11:49.320 --> 00:11:52.679 were deer and probably wild boar in the area as well. 198 00:11:54.320 --> 00:11:57.120 I was sleeping in a small one man dome tent, 199 00:11:57.279 --> 00:12:00.879 barely big enough to hold me. Head and feet were 200 00:12:00.960 --> 00:12:04.720 lightly touching the walls. I had covered the tent with 201 00:12:04.840 --> 00:12:08.919 camo panels and placed a sheet of clear plastic underneath 202 00:12:09.080 --> 00:12:13.559 that extended eight inches beyond the tent walls. The weather 203 00:12:13.720 --> 00:12:16.559 was damp and drizzly, and this kept the muddy, wet 204 00:12:16.559 --> 00:12:20.919 ground from soaking into the tent floor. In the field, 205 00:12:21.159 --> 00:12:23.960 I would normally not even use a tent, much less 206 00:12:23.960 --> 00:12:26.840 a sheet of plastic. It didn't take long for the 207 00:12:26.840 --> 00:12:30.279 falling pine needles to cover the plastic, making it invisible. 208 00:12:31.720 --> 00:12:34.679 It was a rocky, forested terrain with lots of trees 209 00:12:34.759 --> 00:12:38.679 and pine needle covering the ground. Large mossy boulders stuck 210 00:12:38.720 --> 00:12:41.879 out here and there between the trees. Once I was 211 00:12:41.919 --> 00:12:46.200 finished camouflaging my tent. It looked like one of those boulders. 212 00:12:47.320 --> 00:12:49.320 A few of us who were there did not make 213 00:12:49.360 --> 00:12:53.320 our camps together. We were maybe two hundred feet apart. 214 00:12:53.879 --> 00:12:56.679 Due to the heavily wooded terrain, we were completely out 215 00:12:56.759 --> 00:13:00.720 of sight of each other. We were running twenty four 216 00:13:00.720 --> 00:13:03.159 hour watch, so in the middle of the night, when 217 00:13:03.200 --> 00:13:05.399 I was done with my turn, I headed back to 218 00:13:05.440 --> 00:13:09.639 my tent. I found it with difficulty. It was camoed 219 00:13:09.720 --> 00:13:13.639 up really good, and I fell asleep. Some time later, 220 00:13:13.720 --> 00:13:16.039 I was awakened by the sound of something stepping on 221 00:13:16.080 --> 00:13:20.919 the plastic sheeting right by my head. This thing's foot 222 00:13:21.000 --> 00:13:24.440 and my head couldn't have been more than twelve inches apart. 223 00:13:25.080 --> 00:13:28.080 There was nothing between us except a wall of fabric. 224 00:13:29.240 --> 00:13:32.840 Maybe two seconds later I heard two very strong sniffs. 225 00:13:33.399 --> 00:13:37.799 Something with huge nostrils was sniffing me. Its nose was 226 00:13:37.879 --> 00:13:41.480 just a few inches from my ear. These nostrils were 227 00:13:41.480 --> 00:13:45.879 definitely larger than man's sized. At that time, I didn't 228 00:13:45.879 --> 00:13:49.360 believe in bigfoot, and I never heard of dog Man. Also, 229 00:13:49.519 --> 00:13:51.960 I slept with a loaded forty five pistol on my 230 00:13:52.080 --> 00:13:55.559 right hip and a marine k bar knife on my left. 231 00:13:56.559 --> 00:13:58.799 Plus I was well trained in how to use both 232 00:13:58.840 --> 00:14:02.840 of them, and I wasn't scared. I was, however, very tired, 233 00:14:03.600 --> 00:14:05.679 so I just closed my eyes and I went back 234 00:14:05.679 --> 00:14:09.720 to sleep. Looking back, I realized that it should have 235 00:14:09.919 --> 00:14:13.200 made the same noise when it removed its foot as 236 00:14:13.200 --> 00:14:16.159 it did when it stepped on the plastic. I never 237 00:14:16.240 --> 00:14:19.480 heard it make that noise, so it must have still 238 00:14:19.519 --> 00:14:23.360 been standing there when I fell back to sleep. The 239 00:14:23.360 --> 00:14:25.919 next day, I looked around for a bit of tracks, 240 00:14:25.960 --> 00:14:28.799 but there were none. Now I ask around the morning 241 00:14:28.960 --> 00:14:32.120 fire who was snooping around my tent, but everyone denied it. 242 00:14:33.039 --> 00:14:34.879 I knew it couldn't be any of them because I 243 00:14:34.960 --> 00:14:38.559 wasn't in the type of group to joke around. Everyone 244 00:14:38.679 --> 00:14:42.480 was armed and very serious about their job. We don't 245 00:14:42.480 --> 00:14:47.720 play silly pranks like that. People could get killed. Whatever 246 00:14:47.759 --> 00:14:50.000 it was that sniffed at me that night didn't fit 247 00:14:50.120 --> 00:14:52.799 anything in my reality, so I just pushed it out 248 00:14:52.840 --> 00:14:56.840 of my mind. It wasn't until years later, when a 249 00:14:56.919 --> 00:15:00.679 friend started sending me tons of stories on bigfoot encounters, 250 00:15:01.080 --> 00:15:05.039 that I started noticing similarities between many of them and 251 00:15:05.159 --> 00:15:09.799 some of the aspects of my own strange encounter. Meanwhile, 252 00:15:10.000 --> 00:15:12.399 I couldn't attribute it to being a bear because there 253 00:15:12.440 --> 00:15:15.039 were none in that area and it seemed way too 254 00:15:15.039 --> 00:15:18.799 big to be a mountain line. The next day the 255 00:15:18.840 --> 00:15:23.240 trainees arrived and I was part of the opt for opfoor. 256 00:15:23.720 --> 00:15:27.159 I'm not sure what that means. My job was overwatched, 257 00:15:27.200 --> 00:15:29.320 so I set up my sign grid and picked out 258 00:15:29.360 --> 00:15:32.200 a spot with a good view of the area. I 259 00:15:32.279 --> 00:15:35.600 only had to watch in one direction. If they were coming, 260 00:15:35.759 --> 00:15:39.039 I knew from which direction it would be. I was 261 00:15:39.080 --> 00:15:42.360 well camouflaged, and plus I found a small depression in 262 00:15:42.399 --> 00:15:44.759 a few inches deep, big enough for me to lay in, 263 00:15:45.240 --> 00:15:47.559 and I dragged a dead branch over the top of me. 264 00:15:48.320 --> 00:15:50.480 And as long as I didn't move, I wasn't going 265 00:15:50.519 --> 00:15:55.519 to be seen. We used throat mics and earpieces for communication, 266 00:15:56.039 --> 00:16:00.480 so radio noise was never an issue. I was lying 267 00:16:00.519 --> 00:16:02.639 on my belly on the ground. I could feel someone 268 00:16:02.679 --> 00:16:06.360 walking up behind me. I thought maybe it was someone 269 00:16:06.440 --> 00:16:09.720 from the training exercise and had gotten around me and 270 00:16:09.879 --> 00:16:13.679 was coming up on my position. I kept still so 271 00:16:13.759 --> 00:16:17.360 as not to give myself away. I knew from experience 272 00:16:17.440 --> 00:16:19.759 that people can almost be standing on top of me 273 00:16:19.840 --> 00:16:22.320 and not see me. As long as I didn't move, 274 00:16:23.639 --> 00:16:27.519 I waited for what felt like an eternity, nothing moved. 275 00:16:28.440 --> 00:16:30.960 I didn't feel the movement anymore, so I finally looked 276 00:16:31.000 --> 00:16:35.039 back and there was nothing there. Looking back on that event, 277 00:16:35.159 --> 00:16:37.519 I don't think I could have felt a man walking 278 00:16:37.600 --> 00:16:40.639 up behind me. I later found out that there was 279 00:16:40.720 --> 00:16:43.440 never anyone from our group in that area beside me. 280 00:16:44.879 --> 00:16:48.559 The whole thing was just very odd. I definitely felt someone, 281 00:16:49.039 --> 00:16:53.159 that is, something by petal coming up on me. I'm 282 00:16:53.200 --> 00:16:55.679 not sure what to make of all that. That general 283 00:16:55.720 --> 00:16:59.360 area is, as everyone knows, a place where cryptid sightings 284 00:16:59.360 --> 00:17:04.319 are comparedatively more common than most. One strange take from 285 00:17:04.359 --> 00:17:07.000 this is how I was willing to ignore my instincts 286 00:17:07.000 --> 00:17:11.960 in these situations that defied rational explanation, and according to 287 00:17:11.960 --> 00:17:17.759 my worldview at the time, as I've been a hunter 288 00:17:18.039 --> 00:17:21.599 all my life, of both man, not only in times 289 00:17:21.599 --> 00:17:26.119 of war and beasts, though the lines between both seemed 290 00:17:26.119 --> 00:17:29.640 to get blurred. I was a middle aged man once 291 00:17:29.680 --> 00:17:32.680 in the prime of my life. I was always outdoors, 292 00:17:33.039 --> 00:17:37.440 enjoying the seasons. I find the woodlands, even with what 293 00:17:37.599 --> 00:17:41.000 I know to be a peaceful place, do I fear 294 00:17:41.039 --> 00:17:44.240 the woods well? A man can be peaceful when he 295 00:17:44.359 --> 00:17:47.720 is scared of something. You learn this on the battlefield 296 00:17:47.799 --> 00:17:52.640 given time. I know courage is facing one's fear head on. 297 00:17:52.839 --> 00:17:56.359 But still I say, I'm not courageous. I'm just ignorant 298 00:17:56.400 --> 00:18:01.200 of the times. My stories start. As I said, in 299 00:18:01.240 --> 00:18:04.640 the prime of my life was in the nineteen seventies, 300 00:18:05.440 --> 00:18:08.799 A hundred for money, good money, and when not doing 301 00:18:08.880 --> 00:18:12.319 something for Uncle Sam, I was a guide and a tracker. 302 00:18:13.559 --> 00:18:16.839 I never had one place to call home. It's easier 303 00:18:16.880 --> 00:18:19.759 when you're not attached to leave things behind, knowing you 304 00:18:19.799 --> 00:18:23.079 may not see it again. I was working in the 305 00:18:23.160 --> 00:18:27.799 area of northeastern Alaska. I was deep in the woodlands 306 00:18:27.799 --> 00:18:31.680 along the river. Huh Okay. This story has a couple 307 00:18:31.680 --> 00:18:33.799 of words in it that I'm going to have trouble with. 308 00:18:33.880 --> 00:18:37.400 But he says he was deep in the woodlands along 309 00:18:37.480 --> 00:18:44.480 a river near Vinettai ven Tie. You guys look it up. 310 00:18:45.240 --> 00:18:48.279 I had been here for months, enjoying the weather. At 311 00:18:48.319 --> 00:18:50.720 this time it was summer, but at night you would 312 00:18:50.759 --> 00:18:54.359 still freeze if you didn't know better. I was out 313 00:18:54.400 --> 00:18:58.039 for my cabin, checking my traps and jigging for fish, 314 00:18:58.240 --> 00:19:01.640 and enjoying the day. I kept an eye out for 315 00:19:01.720 --> 00:19:06.559 grizzlies and wolves. And polar bears or any predators. Man 316 00:19:06.759 --> 00:19:08.839 is not at the top of the food chain there, 317 00:19:09.920 --> 00:19:12.359 and I didn't know of Bigfoot or believe any of 318 00:19:12.359 --> 00:19:15.960 the local legends of such creatures or others. For that manner, 319 00:19:16.480 --> 00:19:20.119 I thought it was all malarkey, bullshit, At least I 320 00:19:20.160 --> 00:19:25.079 did at one time until that day. I was hooking 321 00:19:25.160 --> 00:19:28.200 fish out of the river with a gaff hook. This 322 00:19:28.359 --> 00:19:30.920 is a large piece of steel shaped like a hook, 323 00:19:30.960 --> 00:19:33.880 as thick as your pinky finger, and attached to a 324 00:19:33.920 --> 00:19:37.319 six foot pole. I did this so I didn't have 325 00:19:37.400 --> 00:19:41.240 to go into the water as much. I had been 326 00:19:41.279 --> 00:19:44.079 catching fish most of the day. I had a good 327 00:19:44.160 --> 00:19:47.519 catch held up off the ground between two trees. They 328 00:19:47.519 --> 00:19:50.279 were twenty feet off the ground and held by a rope. 329 00:19:50.759 --> 00:19:54.519 The rope was made of thick hemp. I just caught 330 00:19:54.519 --> 00:19:56.880 a good forty pound fish and was coming back to 331 00:19:56.920 --> 00:19:59.759 my cash of fish when I noticed the line was 332 00:19:59.799 --> 00:20:03.519 no no longer where I placed it. I remember looking 333 00:20:03.559 --> 00:20:07.880 between the trees, dumbfounded they were not there, nor was 334 00:20:07.960 --> 00:20:11.759 my rope. As I came closer to the trees, a 335 00:20:11.880 --> 00:20:16.200 smell like rotten wet dirt mixed with urine and blood 336 00:20:16.640 --> 00:20:19.359 hit my nose and made me stop in my tracks. 337 00:20:20.480 --> 00:20:24.160 That copper tone of blood is what made me stop. 338 00:20:25.039 --> 00:20:28.640 It had to be wolves. Wolves are known to roll 339 00:20:28.680 --> 00:20:31.359 in the mud and blood after fighting for a place 340 00:20:31.400 --> 00:20:34.920 at a kill. My head was on a swivel as 341 00:20:34.960 --> 00:20:38.400 I looked around, and I pulled my thirty six to ready, 342 00:20:38.759 --> 00:20:41.920 but paused as I noticed the tracks around the trees 343 00:20:42.240 --> 00:20:46.319 were those of a person. Though they were bigger. They 344 00:20:46.359 --> 00:20:49.519 appeared to be barefoot, but maybe I was reading them wrong. 345 00:20:50.440 --> 00:20:54.119 It wasn't uncommon for tribal members to take fish and 346 00:20:54.240 --> 00:20:56.480 take them back to town if they found them in the 347 00:20:56.519 --> 00:21:01.599 woods unattended. Knowing that, I followed the trail to catch 348 00:21:01.680 --> 00:21:03.640 up with them and get my fish back, or at 349 00:21:03.720 --> 00:21:08.119 least be compensated well. After a few steps, I had 350 00:21:08.119 --> 00:21:12.119 to stop because none of this made any sense. The 351 00:21:12.160 --> 00:21:16.400 stride for this person was too long. I was walking 352 00:21:16.440 --> 00:21:19.279 in damp earth and the tracks were clear, but every 353 00:21:19.359 --> 00:21:23.119 three steps I took was one stride for this being. 354 00:21:25.039 --> 00:21:28.359 Given the size of these tracks. I assessed my losses 355 00:21:28.400 --> 00:21:30.960 and I went back in and decided to head close 356 00:21:31.000 --> 00:21:34.119 to my cabin and fish there. I didn't want to 357 00:21:34.119 --> 00:21:37.160 meet this person or thing on the trail whatever it was. 358 00:21:38.119 --> 00:21:40.039 When I was close to my camp, I went to 359 00:21:40.079 --> 00:21:43.920 retrieve my three point fifty seven. The one thing that 360 00:21:44.039 --> 00:21:47.279 kept hitting me was the feeling of being watched. I 361 00:21:47.400 --> 00:21:50.160 learned long ago not to ignore my gut, so I 362 00:21:50.240 --> 00:21:54.079 kept looking around from time to time. The scent of 363 00:21:54.119 --> 00:21:56.680 blood and dirt kept hitting me as I went about 364 00:21:56.720 --> 00:22:00.079 my business, and I decided to smoke as many fish 365 00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:02.799 as I could. The smoke would keep the bears and 366 00:22:02.920 --> 00:22:07.519 wolves at bay for enough time. I then went into 367 00:22:07.599 --> 00:22:10.599 town in case someone was messing with me, and I 368 00:22:10.599 --> 00:22:13.039 wanted to talk to the tribal chief at the time 369 00:22:13.400 --> 00:22:17.599 and see if anyone knew what was going on. When 370 00:22:17.640 --> 00:22:20.119 I spoke to the man, he actually looked at me 371 00:22:20.359 --> 00:22:23.480 in the eyes without a blink. He said, you're lucky, 372 00:22:23.519 --> 00:22:29.440 you're alive. Okay, here's another one of those words. You're 373 00:22:29.480 --> 00:22:33.559 a yearly. You're a yearly, you are a y u 374 00:22:34.039 --> 00:22:38.000 l I will kill you, he said. I think that 375 00:22:38.119 --> 00:22:41.200 stands for Bigfoot. So he said, you're lucky, you're alive. 376 00:22:41.279 --> 00:22:45.480 Bigfoot will kill you. I asked him what do I do, 377 00:22:46.079 --> 00:22:49.599 and I will never forget his words. He said, go home, 378 00:22:49.799 --> 00:22:53.559 fish and hunt, but leave some for him. Then he 379 00:22:53.599 --> 00:22:57.319 will leave you alone. Well, I retorted, you know, I 380 00:22:57.319 --> 00:23:00.960 don't believe all this bullshit, and he said you will, 381 00:23:01.319 --> 00:23:05.319 and then he asked me to leave. After two days 382 00:23:05.319 --> 00:23:09.279 of fishing and hunting, nothing happened. I would fish and 383 00:23:09.359 --> 00:23:12.480 leave one for every two I caught, for every animal 384 00:23:12.599 --> 00:23:15.319 I hunted or trapped, and I would leave a portion 385 00:23:15.480 --> 00:23:19.319 hanging in a tree. To be honest, I didn't take 386 00:23:19.359 --> 00:23:23.079 it very seriously. But on the third day, I decided 387 00:23:23.119 --> 00:23:25.680 to start early, so I got up and had some 388 00:23:25.759 --> 00:23:29.519 pickled eggs and meat. I came out the door and 389 00:23:29.559 --> 00:23:32.359 I could smell it. It was hot copper and the 390 00:23:32.400 --> 00:23:36.519 smell of fresh blood. I looked around and thirty feet 391 00:23:36.559 --> 00:23:39.039 from my cabin, there it was as plain as day, 392 00:23:39.079 --> 00:23:42.920 looking right at me. And I'll never forget that look 393 00:23:43.119 --> 00:23:47.119 on this creature's face. I don't know why, but I 394 00:23:47.200 --> 00:23:52.039 spoke to him. For some reason. I wasn't scared, hello, 395 00:23:52.160 --> 00:23:55.920 I said, He just stared at me with a stone face. 396 00:23:56.839 --> 00:24:00.200 He was big, at least nine feet tall, if not tall. 397 00:24:01.319 --> 00:24:04.319 He was covered in shaggy hair, was white to gray 398 00:24:04.400 --> 00:24:07.640 with some black mixed in here and there. He had 399 00:24:07.640 --> 00:24:11.720 the look of a bodybuilder through all that hair. I 400 00:24:11.759 --> 00:24:14.079 know it was just a few moments, but I swear 401 00:24:14.200 --> 00:24:17.359