WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:02.799 Welcome to Big for Society. If you have BIGFOD activity 2 00:00:02.879 --> 00:00:06.120 to report from the same areas discussed in this episode, 3 00:00:06.120 --> 00:00:09.640 please reach out to me directly after this episode. And 4 00:00:09.679 --> 00:00:12.199 if you'd like to be on the podcast to discuss 5 00:00:12.320 --> 00:00:15.359 a personal Bigfoot encounter, please reach out to me directly 6 00:00:15.400 --> 00:00:18.039 at Big for Society at gmail dot com. Do you 7 00:00:18.079 --> 00:00:20.239 wish there was more Big for Society to listen to 8 00:00:20.239 --> 00:00:22.719 you every week? Well there is now. If you become 9 00:00:22.719 --> 00:00:25.800 a supporting member over at Patreon, you get a special 10 00:00:25.879 --> 00:00:30.719 members only episode every single week on Wednesdays, and sometimes 11 00:00:30.839 --> 00:00:34.159 even more episodes. Head on over to Patreon dot com. 12 00:00:34.200 --> 00:00:37.119 Forward slash the Big for Society and now let's get 13 00:00:37.159 --> 00:00:40.840 on with the show. All right, Big for Society. I've 14 00:00:40.840 --> 00:00:45.200 got the privilege of talking to Dan today. He reached 15 00:00:45.240 --> 00:00:47.600 out to me and I was curious if you would 16 00:00:47.640 --> 00:00:52.240 be able to share some things that he experienced, and 17 00:00:52.560 --> 00:00:55.920 I said, yeah, absolutely, let's chat about it and Dan, 18 00:00:56.520 --> 00:00:59.359 I hope all is going well. I'm gonna pass it 19 00:00:59.399 --> 00:01:02.600 on right over to you and feel free to share 20 00:01:02.640 --> 00:01:03.240 what's going on. 21 00:01:03.320 --> 00:01:05.640 Brother, All right, thank you. 22 00:01:07.239 --> 00:01:10.920 So this was a twenty twenty one Elk hunting season. 23 00:01:11.519 --> 00:01:15.120 I didn't draw my usual tag in in central Idaho 24 00:01:15.200 --> 00:01:17.599 where I grew up. Usually we hunt in the frank 25 00:01:17.680 --> 00:01:21.239 Kirch Wilderness, but didn't draw early enough. 26 00:01:21.280 --> 00:01:22.799 I'm out of state now, I live. 27 00:01:22.680 --> 00:01:26.799 In Washington, so closest best choice was up in the 28 00:01:26.799 --> 00:01:32.480 Panhandle of Idaho, so we got our tags there. My 29 00:01:32.640 --> 00:01:36.959 dad headed out about half a week early before opening day. 30 00:01:37.000 --> 00:01:39.280 I still had to finish up work for the week, 31 00:01:39.400 --> 00:01:43.000 and he wanted to scout. Turns out he had actually 32 00:01:43.000 --> 00:01:46.120 fought on a wild He was a wildland firefighter for 33 00:01:46.200 --> 00:01:48.200 most of his life and he had been up there, so. 34 00:01:48.120 --> 00:01:51.879 He knew it. I hadn't, even though I grew up 35 00:01:51.879 --> 00:01:52.400 in Idaho. 36 00:01:52.719 --> 00:01:55.239 North Idaho was like a different state to us, So 37 00:01:56.480 --> 00:01:59.680 I got up there a couple of days before opening season. 38 00:02:00.480 --> 00:02:03.799 He met me at the base of the mountain and 39 00:02:03.959 --> 00:02:06.239 we just started winding our way up. It was about 40 00:02:06.280 --> 00:02:08.960 a two hour drive just to get to the top 41 00:02:09.000 --> 00:02:13.439 of this ridge line, and then from there just trying 42 00:02:13.479 --> 00:02:17.879 to find a spot to a flat spot. That's something 43 00:02:17.919 --> 00:02:20.319 you'll probably hear me say over and over. This was 44 00:02:20.560 --> 00:02:23.360 probably the most brutal terrain I've hunted in, and I've 45 00:02:23.400 --> 00:02:27.360 been hunting my entire life, straight up and straight down. 46 00:02:27.439 --> 00:02:31.759 It was just horrible, heavily wooded. So we just started 47 00:02:32.599 --> 00:02:35.479 driving along ridge lines trying to find a flat spot 48 00:02:35.520 --> 00:02:39.280 where we could fit both of our pickups and establish 49 00:02:39.360 --> 00:02:44.840 a base camp. And we eventually did pretty much hit 50 00:02:44.919 --> 00:02:47.800 the end of the road on this one ridge line, 51 00:02:48.000 --> 00:02:50.759 found a spot set up base camp. Since we were 52 00:02:50.800 --> 00:02:53.800 still about a day out at that point from opening day, 53 00:02:54.080 --> 00:02:57.919 this we're chilling scouting around a little bit. It was 54 00:02:58.000 --> 00:03:01.039 pretty much the only time we saw people up on 55 00:03:01.159 --> 00:03:04.319 that mountain. A lot of locals driving around with their 56 00:03:04.400 --> 00:03:09.080 kids on side by sides, four wheelers, whatnot, and what 57 00:03:09.280 --> 00:03:12.000 was funny. Later on, my dad and I actually commented 58 00:03:12.000 --> 00:03:16.520 to each other. We ran into some locals and they asked, Hey, 59 00:03:16.599 --> 00:03:19.319 those are your pickups up at such and such spot? 60 00:03:19.319 --> 00:03:21.400 And we said yeah, and they said, are you guys 61 00:03:21.400 --> 00:03:25.599 gonna hunt up here? And this is what's weird. I 62 00:03:25.680 --> 00:03:28.919 talked to least three hunters separate from my dad, and 63 00:03:28.960 --> 00:03:32.280 he talked to three or four others. All of them 64 00:03:32.479 --> 00:03:35.599 chuckled and said, you got the place to yourself. 65 00:03:35.639 --> 00:03:37.560 No one hunts up on that mountain anyways. 66 00:03:37.639 --> 00:03:41.000 Yeah, have fun, And we thought, hey, great, we don't 67 00:03:41.039 --> 00:03:45.319 do the road hunting thing not that's a problem if 68 00:03:45.360 --> 00:03:49.000 people are driving around and just looking that way. It's 69 00:03:49.039 --> 00:03:51.159 just we I didn't grow up that way. The frank 70 00:03:51.240 --> 00:03:54.919 Church Wilderness. It's one road in, one road out, and 71 00:03:54.960 --> 00:03:58.719 it's actually illegal to even drive a bicycle off of 72 00:03:58.759 --> 00:04:00.960 the main If you can call at a road, we 73 00:04:01.039 --> 00:04:03.000 just get out there and hook it. Put in a 74 00:04:03.000 --> 00:04:07.319 lot of mileage scouting. So we thought that was great. 75 00:04:07.560 --> 00:04:11.400 So opening day comes as predicted, horrible weather. This is 76 00:04:11.400 --> 00:04:15.120 the first week in October. Way up north. Sleep all 77 00:04:15.240 --> 00:04:18.120 day the first day from six am to six pm. 78 00:04:18.160 --> 00:04:22.439 Then it turned to snow, but we just we struck 79 00:04:22.480 --> 00:04:24.800 out in different directions. That's how we hunt. We don't 80 00:04:24.879 --> 00:04:27.920 hunt together. It's been that way since I was probably 81 00:04:27.959 --> 00:04:31.920 eleven years old. We go one way, Dad goes another way. 82 00:04:31.959 --> 00:04:34.879 We meet back at the truck or base camp at dark. 83 00:04:35.560 --> 00:04:41.279 First day awful. Second day awful because it snowed, and 84 00:04:41.319 --> 00:04:45.879 then around the third day it was sunny and clear, 85 00:04:46.040 --> 00:04:49.839 not a cloud in the sky. We were at base 86 00:04:49.879 --> 00:04:52.279 camp to staying in our trucks. It was just too 87 00:04:52.360 --> 00:04:55.319 awful weather. I wasn't gonna biv a whack out on 88 00:04:55.360 --> 00:04:56.439 the side of that mountain. 89 00:04:56.480 --> 00:05:00.680 It was horrible. So I went east. 90 00:05:00.720 --> 00:05:04.000 I went west along the ridge line pretty much hit 91 00:05:04.000 --> 00:05:07.759 a dead end pretty quick. There's this massive rock formation 92 00:05:07.879 --> 00:05:10.040 that goes from the top of the mountain all the 93 00:05:10.079 --> 00:05:12.720 way to the bottom, and it's impassable by foot. 94 00:05:13.600 --> 00:05:15.360 So I started going. 95 00:05:15.240 --> 00:05:20.279 South a little bit, ended up coming back by base 96 00:05:20.360 --> 00:05:25.879 camp and it was roughly noon twelve thirty and decided 97 00:05:26.000 --> 00:05:28.879 I'd been all over the southwest portion of that mountain 98 00:05:28.920 --> 00:05:32.160 the previous two days, so let's just head. 99 00:05:32.399 --> 00:05:33.560 South by southeast. 100 00:05:33.639 --> 00:05:36.199 I knew my dad was due east on the ridge line, 101 00:05:36.240 --> 00:05:39.639 so I wasn't worried about bumping into him or anything. 102 00:05:40.240 --> 00:05:43.959 I'm just winding my way down this slope, and up 103 00:05:44.000 --> 00:05:49.120 to this point I had seen two deer and they 104 00:05:49.120 --> 00:05:52.800 were mule's actually up there instead of white tail. 105 00:05:52.959 --> 00:05:53.839 But nothing else. 106 00:05:54.000 --> 00:06:00.759 No spoor, no track, no game trails, nothing. So as 107 00:06:00.800 --> 00:06:05.160 I'm winding down this ridge, I come across the first 108 00:06:05.759 --> 00:06:08.240 or no, I'm sorry, ridge slope. I come across the 109 00:06:08.279 --> 00:06:12.959 first game trail i'd seen, and I got pretty excited 110 00:06:13.560 --> 00:06:16.240 because that meant there at least that animals across that 111 00:06:16.399 --> 00:06:17.199 awful mountain. 112 00:06:19.279 --> 00:06:22.120 So I start following it about southeast. 113 00:06:22.160 --> 00:06:25.759 So heading down the slope, a little bit and came 114 00:06:25.839 --> 00:06:29.560 into an area that was a little bit open, and 115 00:06:29.600 --> 00:06:33.079 I could see down below south of me there was 116 00:06:33.160 --> 00:06:35.600 actually some open grassy areas. 117 00:06:35.639 --> 00:06:38.279 I wouldn't call them meadows, maybe clearings. 118 00:06:39.759 --> 00:06:42.800 And that got me even more excited, because that's a 119 00:06:42.879 --> 00:06:46.000 place elk would be grazing around on or dusk. And 120 00:06:46.959 --> 00:06:51.240 at this point it's close to one o'clock and I'm thinking, Okay, 121 00:06:52.000 --> 00:06:54.759 if I get down there and I keep going, that 122 00:06:54.800 --> 00:06:57.439 means I have to go up this mountain in the dark, 123 00:06:58.360 --> 00:07:00.519 and there's grizzly and stuff up there. 124 00:07:00.519 --> 00:07:03.839 I wasn't too worried about them there. We were pretty 125 00:07:03.879 --> 00:07:04.480 high up. 126 00:07:04.319 --> 00:07:07.120 But still I just figured, you know what, let's follow 127 00:07:07.160 --> 00:07:12.240 this game trail to start. And I'd been standing there, 128 00:07:12.680 --> 00:07:15.800 I don't know, five ten minutes, just looking down and 129 00:07:16.199 --> 00:07:20.319 looking to the game trail, which went actually east by northeast, 130 00:07:20.319 --> 00:07:23.399 so back up the mountain a little bit, which was 131 00:07:23.959 --> 00:07:26.160 more or less the direction I wanted to head towards 132 00:07:26.240 --> 00:07:30.319 the last half of the day. And I'm just standing 133 00:07:30.360 --> 00:07:33.079 there and I could see all the way. There's a 134 00:07:33.120 --> 00:07:35.759 break in the tree, so I could see these grassy 135 00:07:35.800 --> 00:07:38.279 areas and they went in steps, and I just made 136 00:07:38.279 --> 00:07:41.040 a note to myself, Hey, i'll come back tomorrow. Hit 137 00:07:41.040 --> 00:07:43.759 it early, get down there and see get down there 138 00:07:43.800 --> 00:07:48.240 before even daylight and lay up somewhere. But I decided 139 00:07:48.279 --> 00:07:50.920 today I'm gonna follow this game trail and I turned, 140 00:07:52.240 --> 00:07:54.959 had only gone a few steps, and I hear these 141 00:07:55.240 --> 00:08:01.360 five distinct knocks, And the best way I could describe them, 142 00:08:01.439 --> 00:08:03.680 it's if you spelled it out in a comic book. 143 00:08:04.360 --> 00:08:12.600 Thok fuck, just five evenly spaced fuck. And it was 144 00:08:12.680 --> 00:08:17.839 coming directly from one of those. What I could tell 145 00:08:17.879 --> 00:08:23.040 at first probably the furthest clearing somewhere down there. And 146 00:08:23.120 --> 00:08:28.120 I remember stopping and looking and going, what is someone 147 00:08:28.240 --> 00:08:31.199 doing down there? Beating on a tree? There's no people 148 00:08:31.319 --> 00:08:34.799 up here. This is horrible terrain that we haven't seen 149 00:08:34.799 --> 00:08:36.159 anybody in a couple of days. 150 00:08:37.360 --> 00:08:40.399 And I just thought, okay, yeah, whatever, that's weird. 151 00:08:40.480 --> 00:08:44.399 I don't know sound carries, but sure sounds like it 152 00:08:44.440 --> 00:08:47.080 was about two hundred and fifty three hundred yards down slope, 153 00:08:48.600 --> 00:08:50.679 and I thought, I don't know what to do, but 154 00:08:51.120 --> 00:08:53.200 times daylight's burning, I'm gonna leave. 155 00:08:53.360 --> 00:08:54.840 And so I was. 156 00:08:54.919 --> 00:08:57.679 I was just gonna keep falling the trail, and then 157 00:08:57.720 --> 00:09:01.240 I hear two more fuck fuck, and they're from the 158 00:09:01.320 --> 00:09:06.440 same relative positions. I was like, Okay, you know what, 159 00:09:07.279 --> 00:09:08.519 I haven't seen anything. 160 00:09:08.759 --> 00:09:12.120 This sounds weird. Let's go see what's going on. And 161 00:09:12.200 --> 00:09:12.440 at this. 162 00:09:12.559 --> 00:09:16.720 Point I was just thinking that if these are people, 163 00:09:16.799 --> 00:09:19.879 what would they be doing down there. This doesn't sound 164 00:09:19.960 --> 00:09:23.639 like someone cutting wood. It just sounds like someone taking 165 00:09:23.679 --> 00:09:26.759 a big chunk of wood and just whacking it on 166 00:09:26.799 --> 00:09:30.639 a tree. I'm like, this doesn't make any sense, but 167 00:09:31.320 --> 00:09:33.440 all right, let's go find out what it is. I'm bored, 168 00:09:33.919 --> 00:09:36.600 so I start going down the slope and like I said, 169 00:09:37.799 --> 00:09:40.600 it would go in steps, so slope down and then 170 00:09:40.679 --> 00:09:43.840 hit a little bit of grass. In that first little catch, 171 00:09:43.879 --> 00:09:46.399 I actually saw elk sign. It was a little bit old, 172 00:09:46.440 --> 00:09:53.320 but it was there, and I stopped because I'm trying 173 00:09:53.360 --> 00:09:58.200 to listen for additional sounds. I'm looking down there to 174 00:09:58.200 --> 00:10:04.639 see if there's movement, and it's just still absolutely still 175 00:10:04.799 --> 00:10:07.240 calm day the only day up there that was even 176 00:10:07.279 --> 00:10:11.519 remotely like that. Hardly even a blade of grass was moving. 177 00:10:12.799 --> 00:10:15.399 And I went through that same thought process, what the 178 00:10:15.559 --> 00:10:18.679 heck is this? I should probably just turn around and 179 00:10:18.679 --> 00:10:23.440 go back up slope. So probably five minutes went by, 180 00:10:23.440 --> 00:10:27.279 because I'm looking and listening, and then whack. 181 00:10:27.120 --> 00:10:27.840 I hear it again. 182 00:10:29.240 --> 00:10:31.159 So now I'm like, Okay, now I have to go 183 00:10:31.200 --> 00:10:36.600 figure out what's doing this. So my brain switched from 184 00:10:37.039 --> 00:10:39.679 this might be a person down there doing who knows 185 00:10:39.720 --> 00:10:42.799 what to I don't know what type of animal I've 186 00:10:42.840 --> 00:10:46.919 hunted in the Pacific Northwest my whole life. What animal 187 00:10:47.000 --> 00:10:50.039 could do that? But I thought, that's the only thing 188 00:10:50.039 --> 00:10:52.360 that makes sense at this point. I can't imagine a 189 00:10:52.399 --> 00:10:58.480 person somehow getting up on this mountain not being visible 190 00:10:58.559 --> 00:11:01.000 to us on the only road, which we were at 191 00:11:00.720 --> 00:11:04.240 the terminal point of that road, And what would they 192 00:11:04.279 --> 00:11:06.600 be doing down there doing something like that. 193 00:11:06.639 --> 00:11:09.559 It just didn't make sense. So I'm going through animals. 194 00:11:09.639 --> 00:11:13.480 Maybe a bear's messing with a log, maybe something's kicking 195 00:11:13.519 --> 00:11:17.080 a tree, whatever, I'm gonna find out. So I start 196 00:11:17.120 --> 00:11:22.039 walking down again, and I'm stopping frequently. I had gone 197 00:11:22.039 --> 00:11:27.360 into stalking modes. So I'm walking very quietly, trying not 198 00:11:27.440 --> 00:11:30.879 to even break the crust on the snow, that little 199 00:11:30.919 --> 00:11:33.519 skiff of snow too much, and listening. 200 00:11:34.200 --> 00:11:36.440 I hear nothing. The wind's not blowing. 201 00:11:36.559 --> 00:11:40.200 I started thinking, maybe it's a tree that's bumping into 202 00:11:40.240 --> 00:11:44.000 another tree, but I would stop and look in a 203 00:11:44.120 --> 00:11:47.440 slight breeze, maybe five mile an hour breeze would come up, 204 00:11:47.600 --> 00:11:51.559 but hardly enough to even wiggle, like I said, grass, 205 00:11:52.200 --> 00:11:55.519 So okay, that's weird, that's not it. But I'm not 206 00:11:55.600 --> 00:11:58.639 hearing anything. So I'm like I, once again, maybe I 207 00:11:58.639 --> 00:12:00.960 should just turn around for a gain this happened and 208 00:12:01.759 --> 00:12:02.639 come back tomorrow. 209 00:12:03.399 --> 00:12:05.360 And then I get another single knock. 210 00:12:05.919 --> 00:12:08.600 Okay, whatever it is, it's still down there doing whatever 211 00:12:08.600 --> 00:12:09.039 it's doing. 212 00:12:09.679 --> 00:12:10.639 I'm gonna keep going. 213 00:12:12.320 --> 00:12:16.399 And this repeats itself again, and I get a third knock, 214 00:12:18.200 --> 00:12:24.360 and I'm repeating the same process. I started moving so 215 00:12:24.600 --> 00:12:28.399 quietly and slowly because I wanted I started getting this 216 00:12:28.559 --> 00:12:32.559 weird feeling that these knocks were only coming when I 217 00:12:32.799 --> 00:12:35.320 was stopped, and that didn't make any sense. 218 00:12:35.480 --> 00:12:38.960 But I wasn't hearing them while I was walking. 219 00:12:38.960 --> 00:12:42.679 And once again, this whole distance was about two hundred 220 00:12:42.679 --> 00:12:46.799 and fifty maybe three hundred yards, And this whole time 221 00:12:46.919 --> 00:12:49.399 me closing on where I thought the sound was coming 222 00:12:49.399 --> 00:12:52.559 from ended up being about fifty minutes. So you can 223 00:12:52.639 --> 00:12:55.960 see that I wasn't rushing and bashing through trees and 224 00:12:56.000 --> 00:12:57.159 obscuring any sound. 225 00:12:57.240 --> 00:12:58.919 I'm listening and. 226 00:12:58.759 --> 00:13:03.799 It I I'd never heard that sound until I had 227 00:13:03.799 --> 00:13:08.440 been stopped for minutes, and then I would get a 228 00:13:08.480 --> 00:13:15.639 single sound and that would keep me going. And by 229 00:13:15.679 --> 00:13:18.960 the time I had gotten the fourth knock and it 230 00:13:19.279 --> 00:13:23.440 once again disrepeated itself like that whole pattern. I was 231 00:13:23.519 --> 00:13:26.679 now getting down off the slope and into level ground 232 00:13:26.720 --> 00:13:32.960 towards that grassy area. And now I'm probably fifty fifty 233 00:13:33.000 --> 00:13:37.840 sixty yards out from this grassy area, and at the 234 00:13:37.960 --> 00:13:41.799 end of it was basically a wall of young trees 235 00:13:41.919 --> 00:13:47.360 of different height. And as I got I heard that 236 00:13:47.480 --> 00:13:51.639 last single fourth knock, it really sounded to me like 237 00:13:51.679 --> 00:13:57.279 it was coming from somewhere behind that screen of trees. Okay, 238 00:13:57.399 --> 00:14:01.639 it's totally obscured for me. What's behind there's a I'm like, Oka, right, 239 00:14:01.679 --> 00:14:04.080 I guess I'm gonna have to go right up to 240 00:14:04.120 --> 00:14:05.000 it and figure out. 241 00:14:04.840 --> 00:14:05.399 What this is. 242 00:14:05.480 --> 00:14:13.000 Somehow, I'm level, I'm walking, and to my right there's 243 00:14:13.120 --> 00:14:17.600 this little I describe it as a long halfpipe in 244 00:14:17.639 --> 00:14:18.080 the ground. 245 00:14:18.159 --> 00:14:19.440 It's just it. 246 00:14:20.000 --> 00:14:22.840 If it was runoff, boy, it cut a nice smooth 247 00:14:23.159 --> 00:14:28.039 little gulch there. But I knew that in order to 248 00:14:28.080 --> 00:14:30.279 get into this clearing, I'd have to cross that, and 249 00:14:30.320 --> 00:14:33.240 once I crossed that, all the trees that I thought 250 00:14:33.279 --> 00:14:36.399 I was using as cover there was intermittent trees that 251 00:14:36.480 --> 00:14:40.360 I was trying to move behind a little bit because. 252 00:14:41.759 --> 00:14:43.960 My thinking is, oh, I'm gonna sneak up on. 253 00:14:43.960 --> 00:14:47.759 Some animal doing something weird, so let's be quiet and 254 00:14:47.840 --> 00:14:50.120 see what it's doing and how it's making that sound. 255 00:14:51.919 --> 00:14:54.000 And I'm getting closer. 256 00:14:55.480 --> 00:14:58.600 And when I reached the edge of that little dip 257 00:14:58.639 --> 00:15:02.879 in the ground, I stopped and go, Okay, once you 258 00:15:03.039 --> 00:15:05.960 cross this, you are now in the clearing and you're 259 00:15:06.159 --> 00:15:09.919 out in the wide open, so if something's back there, 260 00:15:10.279 --> 00:15:15.120 it can possibly see you. So I'm just okay, getting ready, 261 00:15:15.360 --> 00:15:19.440 had my rifle to my not up, but it'll low ready, 262 00:15:19.519 --> 00:15:23.919 so but stuck in my shoulder, muzzle down towards the ground, 263 00:15:26.000 --> 00:15:27.240 and I take a deep breath. 264 00:15:27.279 --> 00:15:28.600 I'm like, all right, here we go. 265 00:15:29.240 --> 00:15:32.039 Bigs A society will be right back after these messages. 266 00:15:48.159 --> 00:15:52.519 And right as I'm about to do that comes I 267 00:15:52.559 --> 00:15:55.159 can only describe it like a slow rate of fire 268 00:15:55.279 --> 00:15:58.919 machine gun, but it's the deep wood knocks just boom, 269 00:15:59.080 --> 00:16:04.360 is fast like a machine gun, and but loud, deep, 270 00:16:04.879 --> 00:16:07.919 not like a stick cracking against a tree, but the 271 00:16:08.039 --> 00:16:13.639 same deep, thick sounding knocks, but just like rapid fire. 272 00:16:15.399 --> 00:16:19.559 And I just was like, what the is going on here? 273 00:16:20.320 --> 00:16:23.320 And I'm like, okay, and I remember saying this in 274 00:16:23.360 --> 00:16:26.679 my head. I'm like, it's definitely behind those trees, because 275 00:16:26.720 --> 00:16:28.559 that's where that sound came from. 276 00:16:30.080 --> 00:16:32.840 And so I'm like, all right, oh boy. 277 00:16:33.399 --> 00:16:35.159 And now I'm getting a little nervous because I'm like, 278 00:16:35.879 --> 00:16:39.080 I can't see into those trees, so maybe I should 279 00:16:39.159 --> 00:16:43.039 skirt out into this clearing and work my way around. 280 00:16:43.080 --> 00:16:44.279 The trees went in a. 281 00:16:45.879 --> 00:16:49.320 Imagine a capital j and I was below the foot 282 00:16:49.399 --> 00:16:53.960 of the jay, and the trees arked around, and I thought, okay, 283 00:16:54.000 --> 00:16:58.159 I'll loop around and just keep some distance from these 284 00:16:58.240 --> 00:17:00.759 trees in case some animal comes back out at me. 285 00:17:02.000 --> 00:17:05.559 So take a deep breath, get the rifle Steady wants 286 00:17:05.559 --> 00:17:09.799 to get knock pointing it. Those rules of gun safety. 287 00:17:09.839 --> 00:17:12.400 I've been handling guns since I was four. I didn't 288 00:17:12.440 --> 00:17:14.839 have a target, I didn't know what was back there. 289 00:17:14.960 --> 00:17:19.519 I'm not going to point my firearm at anything. Take 290 00:17:19.559 --> 00:17:22.079 a deep breath, and I step out in the open. 291 00:17:22.440 --> 00:17:26.640 And it was like I made it maybe two three steps, 292 00:17:26.759 --> 00:17:33.599 and this thing I tried describing it to someone else, 293 00:17:33.799 --> 00:17:36.000 it was like having a bomb go off right in 294 00:17:36.039 --> 00:17:36.480 front of me. 295 00:17:37.160 --> 00:17:37.920 This thing. 296 00:17:39.960 --> 00:17:42.319 I don't know what that was swinging, but it must 297 00:17:42.359 --> 00:17:45.920 have been picked up a small tree, and just the 298 00:17:46.160 --> 00:17:51.359 force and violence behind this was just a kaboom. It 299 00:17:51.519 --> 00:17:57.880 just smashed into I don't know, it floored me. I literally, 300 00:17:58.839 --> 00:18:01.319 if someone could have caught me on video, I just 301 00:18:01.519 --> 00:18:05.359 stumbled backwards, almost tripped and fell over. I've got all 302 00:18:05.440 --> 00:18:08.200 my gear on my back, my rifle slung in, and 303 00:18:08.880 --> 00:18:15.720 I just staggered back in shock, and I look up 304 00:18:16.839 --> 00:18:26.480 and it all I could see was the chest up 305 00:18:27.200 --> 00:18:33.720 and it. Let me tell you, when I told this, 306 00:18:33.920 --> 00:18:36.720 I didn't tell my wife this for a year. I 307 00:18:36.799 --> 00:18:40.319 even told a YouTube channel about this, but I left 308 00:18:40.319 --> 00:18:43.079 out this part because I could. I'll tell you what 309 00:18:43.200 --> 00:18:48.839 happened afterwards, but it'll explain it. I when I looked up, 310 00:18:48.839 --> 00:18:51.359 because I staggered back, I'm looking at my feet tripping 311 00:18:51.440 --> 00:18:56.920 over grass, and all I can see is this massive 312 00:18:58.880 --> 00:19:04.920 shoulders neck head and this thing's just standing squared off 313 00:19:04.920 --> 00:19:07.880 to me, just glit, just looking down at me. 314 00:19:08.000 --> 00:19:10.160 What people would say, looking down your nose. 315 00:19:13.039 --> 00:19:17.799 And this is how I told people this story. I 316 00:19:17.839 --> 00:19:24.799 heard this massive explosive smash, and then it's like film 317 00:19:24.880 --> 00:19:27.359 reels of my brain got cut out, and I don't 318 00:19:27.400 --> 00:19:33.200 remember what happened except for what I did next, which 319 00:19:33.400 --> 00:19:38.319 was I see this thing maybe for one thousand and one, 320 00:19:38.440 --> 00:19:42.200 one thousand and two, maybe three, probably not more like 321 00:19:42.240 --> 00:19:47.960 two seconds, and I get off the X it's looking 322 00:19:48.039 --> 00:19:51.519 right at me. I take a diagonal out into the 323 00:19:51.519 --> 00:19:55.119 middle of that clearing. Then i'd bring my rifle up 324 00:19:55.680 --> 00:20:02.119 to my shoulder and I start out rifle pointed right 325 00:20:02.160 --> 00:20:04.279 at that tree I had. I had the scope at 326 00:20:04.279 --> 00:20:07.720 one power. I was hunting with an AR ten you know, 327 00:20:07.839 --> 00:20:13.680 chamber in three oh eight, and I'm backing up in. 328 00:20:13.720 --> 00:20:18.839 Every single fiber of my being is just screaming to run. 329 00:20:19.759 --> 00:20:25.359 I knew not to do that, But there's this other 330 00:20:25.559 --> 00:20:30.960 This is what chokes me up. Is there's that part 331 00:20:30.960 --> 00:20:33.880 of me, this an experienced hunter, that says, don't run, 332 00:20:34.000 --> 00:20:38.759 don't turn your back on it. The other part is 333 00:20:38.839 --> 00:20:42.000 like this little kid sitting in a corner in a 334 00:20:42.000 --> 00:20:45.599 ball going, this gun's not going to be enough. 335 00:20:46.119 --> 00:20:48.079 You're not going to be able to stop it before 336 00:20:48.079 --> 00:20:48.559 it gets you. 337 00:20:51.559 --> 00:20:54.880 And when I told that to someone else, they said, yeah, 338 00:20:54.920 --> 00:20:56.400 that's the the fear talking. 339 00:20:56.640 --> 00:20:58.480 That's a three oh eight. It's a powerful rifle. 340 00:20:58.519 --> 00:21:00.359 You're hunting elk with it, right, And I'm like, I 341 00:21:00.480 --> 00:21:02.279 know the capability of that round. 342 00:21:02.839 --> 00:21:07.039 That's what scares me is I could kill it. 343 00:21:07.160 --> 00:21:10.759 I was talking about stopping it, not killing it. 344 00:21:11.440 --> 00:21:12.440 Like a bear charge. 345 00:21:13.000 --> 00:21:15.000 You can kill it, but then it's got a whole 346 00:21:15.039 --> 00:21:15.960 minute to kill you. 347 00:21:16.640 --> 00:21:17.839 I meant stop it. 348 00:21:19.160 --> 00:21:23.599 Whether that minute died right instantly or it died thirty 349 00:21:23.640 --> 00:21:28.279 minutes later. I wasn't sure if maybe if I got 350 00:21:28.359 --> 00:21:31.440 all talent ten rounds in that mag into it and 351 00:21:31.480 --> 00:21:34.200 then switched mags, which I had a spare on my belt, 352 00:21:34.720 --> 00:21:38.759 maybe that would have. But at this point we're thirty 353 00:21:38.759 --> 00:21:43.039 five yards apart and I'm backing up, so I'm creating distance. 354 00:21:43.160 --> 00:21:45.640 What I'm trying to say that was the part of 355 00:21:45.640 --> 00:21:49.440 my brain that I didn't think about any of that. 356 00:21:49.599 --> 00:21:52.200 I've I've trained with firearms a lot and done some 357 00:21:52.319 --> 00:21:57.400 of that stuff. So I'm just thinking I need distance 358 00:21:57.759 --> 00:22:00.519 because if it comes barreling out of those trees at me, 359 00:22:01.240 --> 00:22:05.880 I need time to get rounds on it, enough rounds 360 00:22:05.920 --> 00:22:09.839 hopefully to stop it. And but there's that little part, 361 00:22:09.920 --> 00:22:14.799 there's that little kid in terror just going. It's not 362 00:22:14.839 --> 00:22:17.799 gonna it's not gonna work. It's not gonna be enough gun. 363 00:22:20.240 --> 00:22:24.680 And right when I'm just at that breaking point, I 364 00:22:24.799 --> 00:22:27.680 make a decision that I do need distance and I 365 00:22:27.720 --> 00:22:29.880 need to create it quickly. But I can't just turn 366 00:22:29.920 --> 00:22:33.920 my back and run. So I made the decision as 367 00:22:33.920 --> 00:22:37.279 I'm backing up, I'm gonna turn, I'm gonna lunge like 368 00:22:37.400 --> 00:22:40.680 three steps how many yards that is, I'm gonna lunge, 369 00:22:40.759 --> 00:22:43.960 and then I'm gonna pivot back, bring my rifle up back, 370 00:22:44.200 --> 00:22:46.519 and then rinse and repeat until I got to the 371 00:22:46.599 --> 00:22:51.759 mountain slope just enough time to create a gap, but 372 00:22:51.920 --> 00:22:53.960 not turn my back long enough that if it comes 373 00:22:53.960 --> 00:22:56.000 out that I'm not gonna be just have this thing 374 00:22:56.039 --> 00:23:01.160 on me. And I got to the slope and just man, 375 00:23:01.319 --> 00:23:04.400 I just I went as hard as I physically could. 376 00:23:04.440 --> 00:23:07.119 I thank god I trained so hard for these hunts 377 00:23:07.799 --> 00:23:11.640 because this I just went straight up, just crashing through stuff. 378 00:23:11.680 --> 00:23:16.599 But I still told myself, you have to stop. Let's 379 00:23:16.640 --> 00:23:20.759 double the distance whatever that is, double what you thought 380 00:23:20.799 --> 00:23:25.759 you were doing in the clearing. Every twenty feet or so, pivot, 381 00:23:26.200 --> 00:23:28.319 put that rifle down range to make sure it's not 382 00:23:28.480 --> 00:23:32.240 right on your button coming. I did that repeatedly up 383 00:23:32.279 --> 00:23:36.960 this mountain. Probably took me about half an hour to 384 00:23:37.000 --> 00:23:42.079 get up to the top. And when I saw that road, man, 385 00:23:43.599 --> 00:23:46.000 I just saw this weird flat spot in front of 386 00:23:46.000 --> 00:23:49.160 me as my nose is almost touching the slope in 387 00:23:49.160 --> 00:23:49.519 front of. 388 00:23:49.519 --> 00:23:51.119 Me, and it was the road. 389 00:23:52.000 --> 00:23:55.720 And I hit that road, went crashing into the embankment 390 00:23:55.759 --> 00:23:59.319 on the other side, pivoted, put the rifle between my legs, 391 00:23:59.720 --> 00:24:02.880 and sat there just waiting for something, this head, to 392 00:24:02.960 --> 00:24:05.279 this huge head to come popping up over the edge 393 00:24:05.319 --> 00:24:10.640 of the road, and just and I it didn't. And 394 00:24:10.680 --> 00:24:15.079 I never heard a single sound ever again after that. 395 00:24:15.359 --> 00:24:18.920 I was so I was so shook up. I was 396 00:24:19.000 --> 00:24:21.640 less than a quarter mile from our trucks, and I 397 00:24:21.680 --> 00:24:25.720 didn't I couldn't figure out what to do. And I 398 00:24:25.759 --> 00:24:28.240 looked down in the snow that was left, and I 399 00:24:28.279 --> 00:24:31.440 saw my dad's bootprints from the day before. I'm forty 400 00:24:31.799 --> 00:24:34.799 at the time, I was forty years old, and I'd 401 00:24:34.799 --> 00:24:38.400