Speaker 1: Have you ever shopped at Arii Sportsman's Warehouse, Bass Pro Shops,
Cabellas or a similar outdoor store. If so, take a
moment and consider what it might be like to work
at one of these stores and some of the strange
stories you might hear from customers. In a way, it's
actually a great place to engage people about their experiences
and if they ever encountered something strange or unusual while biking, boating, camping, hiking,
or hunting. This story is about a twenty eight year
old man who walked into Bass Pro Shops store in
Central Florida. He was looking for a new compound bow
for the upcoming elk season. While chatting with the store's
employee about hunting locations, the customer opened up and shared
a traumatic story that he'd never shared with anyone during
the twelve years since it happened. He only did so
after the employee admitted that he believed in Bigfoot and
actually saw one out west where he used to hunt.
In fact, they've both been to and hunted similar areas.
The man's story took place twelve years earlier, when he
was just sixteen years old and while hiking with a
friend at the Philmont Boy Scout Ranch in New Mexico.
Philmont currently covers one hundred and forty thousand acres of
wilderness near the southern end of the Rocky Mountains. And
here's how the gentleman relayed the story. During our two
weeks of hiking, we both put over one hundred miles
on our boots. We enjoyed the rugged terrain, the lush meadows,
the thick forest, trout filled streams, and hidden natural treasures.
In fact, we were having a great time. That is
until we realized that we were lost. Imagine being sixteen
years old and lost with than an area that large.
It was crazy. The ranch's land covers more than two
hundred square miles and is full of all sorts of
wild animals, namely black bear. To add perspective to their situation,
in nineteen eighty six, Philmont had five separate bear attacks
on campers during a two week period. In two thousand
four more campers reported being attacked, and most recently, in
twenty ten, a fourteen year old boy was sleeping inside
his tent when a bear climbed into the tent and
bit the boy. There was even a version of this
particular report that claimed the boy was drug out of
the tent by the butt. He'd gone to sleep with
a candy bar in his back pocket, and that attracted
the hungry bear. This man continued his story, saying, during
our second night of being lost, we had just finished
making camp and had started a small fire. It was
getting pretty cold at night, so we both wanted to
warm up a bit at the fire before collecting more
wood to get us through the night. That decision may
have actually saved our lives. While sitting next to the
fire and contemplating our situation, we both realized we weren't alone. There,
standing quietly next to a tree at the edge of
our campsite was a massive, hairy creature. Where it came
from and how long it had been watching us, we
didn't know. We didn't hear or see it walk up
as we both sat frozen in fear. I remember being
unable to rationalize a way out of our situation, and
even thought that we were going to die, and nobody
knew where we were. Besides, if we could somehow escape,
we didn't know which way to run or for how
long heck we were lost. This thing was just massive,
and we were sitting on the ground at a distance
too close for come in a manner of speaking, we
were sitting ducks. The store employee jumped in with a question,
what did you mean then, that the decision to warm
at the fire may have saved your lives? And the
storyteller said, can you imagine what might have happened if
my friend and I had left the camp in different
directions and into the darkness looking for firewood. What if
the creature or creatures were out there waiting for us.
I see what you mean, said the store attendant. Yeah,
that could have been really bad. His customer continued, I'm
not sure how long we sat there looking at it
without making a sound or making a move. Likewise, it
remained there motionless, but we could hear it breathing. It
must have had huge lungs with the sound it made
while breathing. I still can't get over how massive this
thing was. I keep using the word massive, as that's
all I can think of to describe it. So what happened,
said the store attendant. How did you get away from it?
After a while? It simply turned around and walked deeper
into the forest. Neither of us slept a wink that night.
The whole experience from our trip and everything we thoroughly
enjoyed up to that point has been for the most
part forgotten or maybe replaced as a better word. The
confusion and fear, compounded with being lost so far from home,
made us want to repress what happened. In fact, my
friend and I never talked about what happened or told
anyone until now I'm talking to you here. That's a
crazy story. You obviously found your way back to civilization.
How did you get back? The storyteller continued. At first light,
we broke camp and headed for the nearest high point
and we started climbing. We found some landmarks which were
on our map, and that led us back to the
main buildings and the parking area. We were very happy,
but also mentally and emotionally exhausted. Neither of us have
returned to Pilmont or New Mexico. So where are you
headed now? With this new bow? I'm going on a
solo hunt with a guide up in Idaho. I hear
they have nice elf. Is your friend going with you? Then? No,
he doesn't hunt. Actually he doesn't get out that much anymore.
He's got a family, and a demanding job to keep
him busy. Well, thanks for sharing your story and I'm
glad you guys made it out safely. I don't know
what I would have done in the same situation, and
best of luck on your hunt too. This was an
amazing story. But what you don't know is that the
store employee has also been to the Philmont Boy Scout Ranch.
What are the odds of that? Having a fellow hunter
to confide in is great, but it's even easier when
they've seen one of these creatures as well, and have
even been to the location where you saw it and
then todd on to rite. All right, Cam, I know
you've heard of the Philmont Scout Ranch too. You might
not remember it, but it was mentioned in at least
two of your earlier videos by people who had encounters there.
I can't recall which videos, though. Over the years, I've
met forest service rangers, rock climbers, and a handful of
others who once worked at Filmont. I bet there are
many many other Philmont stories out there. I was born
and raised in the piny woods of deep East Texas.
Growing up and learning to hunt in East Texas would
help me home my hunting skills in other areas of
the country. I've always said, if you learn to hunt
in East Texas, anywhere else would be like hunting in
a zoo. I would grow up to hunt all over
the state. And I found that the hill country, located
just north of the desolate South Texas region, would turn
out to be my favorite destination. At the time of
this event, and then, I still am an active l
officer for a large and well known agency in the
state of Texas. I've had an interesting career over the
past thirty years, and I formed a well respected reputation
among my supervisors and peers in this community. I'm planning
to retire soon, but I have planned to enter another
venture that still involves the law enforcement community, and I'm
not willing to damage my reputation at this time by
giving my real name. In the summer of nineteen ninety eight,
I was at my dear least located just outside of Vance, Texas.
Advance is no more than a name of the area.
It's no longer a true town, and it's in a
rural area surrounded only by large ranches and agriculture. The
population of Deer by far exceeds the number of people
and livestock in the area. There are abundant white tailed
deer and axis deer, as well as wild pigs and turkey.
There's also the occasional escaped animal from a nearby game
ranch that would require some research to identify. This area
is a hunter's paradise. The property was several thousand acres
of beautiful land that had river bottom, large hills and meadows,
and thick cedar cover that was always full of critters
to hunt. One of the property lines bordered the Nwisees River,
and we're blessed to be able to hunt the river bottom.
There large cedar filled hills and all the thicket filled
ravines and dry creek beds. I don't know if I
pronounced the name of that river correctly, but that looks
like it's I think I got it right uses nwist Sees.
I'm not sure, so everybody correct me in the comments.
There were also supposed to be caves in the hills,
but we were never able to locate any of the
larger ones, only a few small caverns full of bats. Bert,
my partner of many years at work, jumped at the
opportunity to get on this hunting lease with me after
several invites and him getting to see firsthand what an
absolute paradise this property is. He and I would travel
to our lease several times a year to check and
fill all the deer feeders, and check the camp house,
and just get away from work and the stresses that
came with it. On one occasion, Bert and I even
located a makeshift of meth lab in our woods, and
it was occupied by two dumb ass meth monkeys who
were trying to hide behind cedar brush with bright clothing.
Needless to say, they were quickly arrested and we held
them until the local sheriff could come haul them away
and safely gather the evidence for later use in their trial.
Being in the line of business that we were in,
you don't go anywhere without a side arm. It's just
a habit, like always having your wallet. We would feel
naked without it. During the summer of this event, Bert
and I split up to check corn levels and the
twenty one feeders we had placed on this property. While
checking the last feeder in my areas, I noticed an old,
grown up roadbed that continued up the hill and then
along the rocky ridge of one of those hills. Getting
up this unkept road was no small feet due to
the incline and the rocks, but I scrambled to the
top of the hill anyway. I then followed the ridge
running over the cedar and Mountain Laurel that was overtaking
the old road. I parked and then crept down the
rocky path on foot in an attempt to be as
quiet as possible. Now I found that there was an old,
dilapidated deer stand one hundred and fifty yards up the
side of the hill, and it overlooked the basin that
was full of scrub oaks. I could see that there
were game trails that twisted and turned all throughout the area.
Now this was a choke point with multiple trails converging
to this area. There was deer sign everywhere, and I
figured that this would be the perfect area for a
new deer stand location. I left the area and returned
to camp, and after explaining what I had seen, he
didn't even ask to see the location first. He just
asked what we needed to make the long trip with
the stand. So the next day we loaded up his
side by side and my four wheeler and we began
the long, slow, trip to set up the stand. We
were excited to have a new bowstand to hunt in
the upcoming season. Well archery season soon arrived and I
left camp right and early for the long four wheeler
ride and then the long walked to the new stand.
I quietly climbed in the tripod and I got settled in.
I then closed my eyes and waited for the sun
to begin to rise and provide the warm light so
that I could see the area and hopefully bag a
big buck. As the sun began to rise, I remember
hearing the birds chirping their morning songs, and I could
hear small rocks falling in the hills in the densely
covered dry creek ravine. As animals were beginning to stir
in the distance, I remember hearing an axis buck bugle.
Their bugle can be described as a cross between an
elk bugle and a woman screaming. They also bark to communicate.
It's a distinct sound and once you've heard it, you'll
never forget it. It was still twilight and hard to see,
but my ears were in tune with my surroundings, and
what I heard next I will never forget as long
as I lived. As I was sitting there quietly listening.
I heard the most god awful scream that came from
the ravine that was just to my right. The sound
came from fifty yards away, and I had goosebumps on
top of goosebumps. Now, there was no way that this
call was that of an axis buck, nor was it
the call of any other animal that I had ever
heard before. I sat petrified, with nothing but a bow
and arrow knocked and ready. It seemed like an eternity.
As I squinted to see through the brush and dark
shadows to try to see what had just made that
evil sound, I heard another axis buck bugle in the distance.
It was maybe a half mile away. The area had
become eerily silent, other than that of my heart pounding
in my chest. I slowed my breathing and gripped my bow,
and I slowly got into position to be able to
make an offensive strike. Now I began replaying that sound
in my mind in comparison to the other deer calls
I had heard, and there was no way on earth
it was a deer call. I could hear small rocks falling,
as if something was climbing up and out of the
far side of this rocky, dry creek bed, and I
saw an extremely large black and brown mass moving in
the thick cedar brush across from the ravine. By strained
my eyes to see what it was, and just as
I did, I could see this thing turn its head
and look at me as if it knew I were there.
The entire time my blood ran cold, and then it
turned and crept through the underbrush until it was out
of sight. I remembered I had my forty cow pistol
on my hip, and I drew it and frantically scanned
the area that I had last seen this creature. What
I saw will haunt me, but I have not and
will not ever repeat this story again. The creature that
looked at me had K nine features, with a short,
powerful looking muzzle and short pointed, sharply crisp looking ears
that pointed up and back. The height of the creature
would be hard to determine, due to the fact that
it was hunched over as it crept through the cedars. However,
the width of this creature would dwarf that of even
the largest NFL linemen. It had to have been three
and a half to four foot wide and I'm guessing
it weighed in at six or seven hundred pounds. I
slowly and quietly climbed out of the deer stand and
began to cautiously make my retreat back down the trail
and up the unkempt road back to my four wheeler.
When I returned to camp in record time, I might add,
Bert had a million questions about how many deer I
had seen and how wonderful a hunt I must have
had in this new locale. I merely told him that
it wasn't a good spot and that I would not
hunt it again, and I advised him not to waste
his time hunting there either. I told him that it
was not worth the trip. We still hunted that land
for many years to follow, but I would only return
to that spot wants to retrieve my deer stand and
deer feeder. I had a lot of help when we returned,
and I made sure we were all well armed. I
still hunt and fish, and I explore new woods and waterways,
but I'm always well armed. And now you know why
I haven't shared the details of this event with anyone.
I don't care if anyone believes me. I know what
I saw and that is proof enough for me, but
I would never want to take a chance in jeopardizing
my career and retirement that would jeopardize my family, and
I could not and would not allow that to happen. Ever,
on a side note, during the summer before the season,
we had a visit from a younger federal game warden
to our camp. He was a nice enough fellow, and
he had advised us that they were putting cinide traps
out for codies. Well. We quickly informed him that there
were no codes in the area anymore due to the
bounty that had been placed on them many years ago.
They were all but hunted to extinction in this area,
and we had never even heard codies at night. The
many years that my family, friends and I had hunted
these woods, we had never seen or heard signs of
a cody, even on our bone piles where we discarded
the unused portion of deer and hog carcasses that we
had taken and clean. But on the back fence line
where we had put the new tripod stand, Bert and
I could see the brightly marked danger markers. When we
initially put the stand up. We walked over to look
at these markers and we've found that they warned of
the risk of cyanide poisoning. We could also see them
for four canister traps placed in small dugout holes, and
we could see that they were set and had been baited.
The bait appeared to be pig legs and hindquarters, probably
from roadkill or pigs caught in a trap that no
one wanted. I never gave it much thought when I
saw these traps, but after seeing what I have seen,
and after hearing the many stories on your channel, it
now makes sense. I believe that the government agency that
is in charge of controlling these matters knew of this
creature's location and they were, in fact trying to kill it.
I hope they did, and had I seen that thing again,
while armed with more than a bow and arrow or
a small caliber pistol, I would have dispatched that evil
looking thing without blinking an eye. I heard the theory
about the timber industry and how acknowledging the existence of
these creatures might negatively affect this industry with ridiculous rules
and regulations to protect them. I tend to agree with
this theory. It just makes sense. I do not hunt
this property anymore, but I miss it and part of
me wishes to return to try to hunt this creature.
Thanks for providing the opportunity to finally get this off
my chest. I enjoy listening to your story so much
that I keep it on all the time. Thank you, sir.
It is definitely a lot better than listening to the
news that always seems to get my blood pressure worked up.
Your voice is kind and soothing, and it always calms
me and puts me in a good mood. Keep up
the good work, Bubba, mister CW. Thank you for that.
I'm so thankful for you and people like you who
listen to this channel. And I don't always do this,
but I hope it goes unsaid how much I appreciate
everyone who sends in these stories, especially stories like this,
because I believe the way he wrote this and talking
about his credentials and everything just fits into place. And
he was saying that he saw canines in a muzzle
and I'm wondering if this could be a dog man,
or if it's one of these gugwe's, or is it
just a standard bigfoot. I don't know. Texas, Texas has
hundreds of reports, especially East Texas and those swamp and
swampy and lowland areas. I think he said this was
in northwest Texas, which is a totally different topography, close
to the Nwisces newiss inn ue Ces River. I guess
I'll have to look that up to see exactly where
it is. But anyway, this was a great story and
I think it shook him up when he saw it.
But he's ready to go back and hunt this thing
and kill it if he ever gets a chance. And man,
this guy is a stud I appreciate that, and I
think it'd be fun to hunt with these dangerous animals.
I'm not sure how well I would do with that,
but I might give it a whirl, might give it
a world. But anyway, one story in this podcast. I
hope you guys enjoyed it, and I'll see you on
the next one. Thanks.