WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.040 --> 00:00:01.600 Today, I want to tell you about a journey that 2 00:00:01.600 --> 00:00:03.879 I've been on for most of my life. Ever since 3 00:00:03.919 --> 00:00:05.799 I was a kid, I've heard tales of bigfoot and 4 00:00:05.839 --> 00:00:08.320 wild men while spending time with my friends and family. 5 00:00:09.039 --> 00:00:11.439 As I grew older and read more about the paranormal, 6 00:00:11.599 --> 00:00:14.679 my interest in encryptids and other things strange only deepened. 7 00:00:15.240 --> 00:00:17.160 That's why I'm so excited to share with you what 8 00:00:17.199 --> 00:00:21.640 I've personally become involved with the Untold Radio Network. The 9 00:00:21.719 --> 00:00:25.280 Untold Radio Network is a live streaming podcast network that 10 00:00:25.359 --> 00:00:29.359 airs a new show every day across all podcast platforms, YouTube, 11 00:00:29.359 --> 00:00:32.119 and more. They have eight different shows on all sorts 12 00:00:32.159 --> 00:00:36.119 of exciting topics such as bigfoot, cryptids, UFOs, aliens, and 13 00:00:36.200 --> 00:00:39.479 much more. I even have my own show called Weird Encounters, 14 00:00:39.479 --> 00:00:42.439 where I talk about all things strange. This is more 15 00:00:42.479 --> 00:00:45.280 than just a podcast network. It's a community that allows 16 00:00:45.320 --> 00:00:47.759 me to meet so many amazing people who share their 17 00:00:47.799 --> 00:00:51.520 stories and experiences with strange. If you're interested in hearing 18 00:00:51.520 --> 00:00:53.880 more of these stories and learning more about the paranormal 19 00:00:53.960 --> 00:00:56.679 and encryptids, make sure you check out the Untold Radio 20 00:00:56.759 --> 00:01:00.640 Network for all kinds of exciting shows. It's free to subscribe. 21 00:01:00.679 --> 00:01:04.400 So what are you waiting for visit www dot untold 22 00:01:04.519 --> 00:01:06.560 radionetwork dot com today. 23 00:01:06.760 --> 00:01:09.680 Now, what are your reporting? I got a screen going 24 00:01:09.719 --> 00:01:12.120 on here. Something just kid with my dog, something to 25 00:01:12.200 --> 00:01:15.280 kill your dog? My dog. We're flying through there, over 26 00:01:15.319 --> 00:01:20.079 the tree. I don't know how it did it? Okay, Damn, 27 00:01:20.159 --> 00:01:22.640 I'm really confused. All I saw was my dog coming 28 00:01:22.680 --> 00:01:24.480 over the fence, and name was dead once you hit 29 00:01:24.519 --> 00:01:26.560 the grill. I didn't see any cars. All I saw 30 00:01:26.680 --> 00:01:45.120 was my dog coming over the fence. Sat, what are 31 00:01:45.120 --> 00:01:49.959 you reporting? We got some wonder or something crawling around 32 00:01:50.040 --> 00:01:58.640 out here? Did you see what it was? It was 33 00:01:59.359 --> 00:02:01.400 enough out here? Look him do the one down now 34 00:02:01.400 --> 00:02:03.439 and I don't need anything. I don't want to go outside. 35 00:02:05.120 --> 00:02:12.199 Its fight? Hello, hit the boddy out here? What quin? 36 00:02:12.240 --> 00:02:15.159 I'm out there? It's thought of a bitch about text nine. 37 00:02:15.240 --> 00:02:17.719 I don't know easy him out there? Yeah, I'm walking 38 00:02:17.800 --> 00:02:18.240 right heady. 39 00:02:19.599 --> 00:02:22.120 You hear it all the time, especially if you spend 40 00:02:22.199 --> 00:02:25.159 time around hunters, loggers, or anyone who works deep in 41 00:02:25.199 --> 00:02:28.080 the woods for a living. I've hunted these woods for 42 00:02:28.120 --> 00:02:32.000 thirty years. I've never seen anything. If Bigfoot was real, 43 00:02:32.360 --> 00:02:35.159 if something like that was out here, I'd know about it, 44 00:02:36.000 --> 00:02:38.919 and I get it. It makes sense on paper. A 45 00:02:38.960 --> 00:02:41.199 man who spent more time in the timber than behind 46 00:02:41.240 --> 00:02:44.919 a desk, who's tracked whitetail in the rain, climbed into 47 00:02:44.960 --> 00:02:47.360 a tree stand before first light more times than he 48 00:02:47.400 --> 00:02:51.599 can count. Well, A man like that trusts his own experience. 49 00:02:52.199 --> 00:02:55.919 It's hard not to you think, if something was out here, 50 00:02:56.159 --> 00:02:58.759 I'd have seen it. If there was something that big 51 00:02:58.800 --> 00:03:02.520 walking these woods, tracks making noise, I would have run 52 00:03:02.560 --> 00:03:05.400 across it by now. And maybe you're one of those people. 53 00:03:05.919 --> 00:03:08.280 Maybe you've said the same thing. I know I have. 54 00:03:08.960 --> 00:03:11.120 I spent the first half of my life believing that, 55 00:03:11.800 --> 00:03:15.360 believing that the woods were known territory, that I understood 56 00:03:15.360 --> 00:03:18.159 the sounds and the shadows, that if there was something 57 00:03:18.199 --> 00:03:21.599 strange out there, I'd have found it already. But what 58 00:03:21.639 --> 00:03:24.680 I've come to understand is this. It's easy to say 59 00:03:24.719 --> 00:03:28.120 something doesn't exist when you've never seen it. It's easy 60 00:03:28.120 --> 00:03:30.400 to be confident when you've never had to question what's 61 00:03:30.439 --> 00:03:33.599 watching you from the trees. It's easy to act brave 62 00:03:33.639 --> 00:03:37.039 about something you've never faced. That changes real fast when 63 00:03:37.080 --> 00:03:41.280 you do, and when it happens, you realize something. All 64 00:03:41.280 --> 00:03:44.479 the years you spent walking the woods with certainty. All 65 00:03:44.520 --> 00:03:48.159 the tracks you followed, all the miles you hiked, they 66 00:03:48.159 --> 00:03:51.240 don't prepare you for when something breaks the rules, when 67 00:03:51.240 --> 00:03:54.800 something steps out of the tree line that shouldn't be there. Now, 68 00:03:54.919 --> 00:03:57.439 for the men in the encounter stories, I'm about to share, 69 00:03:57.960 --> 00:04:00.919 that moment came when they were already put to the edge, 70 00:04:01.439 --> 00:04:04.719 when they were hunting, not for sport, not for a trophy, 71 00:04:05.159 --> 00:04:08.080 but for survival. And when you're hunting to put food 72 00:04:08.159 --> 00:04:11.000 on the table for your kids, When you're out there 73 00:04:11.039 --> 00:04:13.719 because you have to be, because you've got mouths to 74 00:04:13.800 --> 00:04:17.600 feed and nowhere else to turn, Turning back isn't an option. 75 00:04:18.480 --> 00:04:21.480 Even when things don't feel right, even when you hear 76 00:04:21.519 --> 00:04:24.879 something out there you can't explain. A sound that makes 77 00:04:24.920 --> 00:04:26.800 the hair stand up on the back of your neck, 78 00:04:27.600 --> 00:04:30.319 a whistle that echoes through the holler but there's no 79 00:04:30.360 --> 00:04:33.680 one there, A howl that doesn't belong to any animal 80 00:04:33.720 --> 00:04:36.240 you've ever heard in all your years out in the woods. 81 00:04:36.879 --> 00:04:39.920 You press on, even when you come across a footprint, 82 00:04:40.399 --> 00:04:45.240 big barefoot, five toes, but way too big for a man, 83 00:04:45.600 --> 00:04:49.319 too wide, too deep. You tell yourself there's got to 84 00:04:49.360 --> 00:04:52.639 be an explanation. You've got work to do, You've got 85 00:04:52.639 --> 00:04:55.839 a family back home waiting on you, a freezer that's empty, 86 00:04:56.319 --> 00:04:59.240 a promise you made before you left. You press on 87 00:05:00.120 --> 00:05:02.680 even when you feel like you're being watched. When the 88 00:05:02.720 --> 00:05:05.759 woods go quiet, not the kind of quiet that happens 89 00:05:05.800 --> 00:05:08.319 when the sun's going down or a deer's about to 90 00:05:08.319 --> 00:05:12.639 step out, but dead quiet, like something heavy is settled 91 00:05:12.639 --> 00:05:15.720 over the trees and every living thing knows to stay still. 92 00:05:16.560 --> 00:05:19.160 You press on because you have no choice. 93 00:05:19.759 --> 00:05:19.920 Now. 94 00:05:19.959 --> 00:05:22.199 What happens when that something steps out of the dark, 95 00:05:22.720 --> 00:05:24.879 when it takes what you killed to feed your family, 96 00:05:25.439 --> 00:05:27.399 When it comes into your camp and lets you know 97 00:05:27.439 --> 00:05:30.199 you don't belong there anymore, What do you do? Then? 98 00:05:31.040 --> 00:05:33.000 That's what happened to one man on a three day 99 00:05:33.040 --> 00:05:35.839 solo hunting trip in northern Alabama during one of the 100 00:05:35.879 --> 00:05:38.879 hardest times of his life. A man who didn't go 101 00:05:38.920 --> 00:05:41.720 out there to find monsters, A man who went into 102 00:05:41.759 --> 00:05:44.360 the woods because he had to, and came out with 103 00:05:44.399 --> 00:05:47.079 a story he never wanted to tell. These are the 104 00:05:47.120 --> 00:05:50.360 kinds of stories that make you stop and think, that 105 00:05:50.439 --> 00:05:53.000 make you wonder about the things we say aren't possible 106 00:05:53.560 --> 00:05:56.519 until they are, and they just might change your mind 107 00:05:56.519 --> 00:05:59.959 about what's really out there. I'm not sure why I'm 108 00:06:00.120 --> 00:06:02.600 doing this. I don't like talking about it, and I 109 00:06:02.680 --> 00:06:05.560 sure as hell don't go looking for attention. But this 110 00:06:05.639 --> 00:06:07.759 has been eating at me for a couple of years now, 111 00:06:08.160 --> 00:06:11.079 and maybe writing it down will help. Maybe someone out 112 00:06:11.120 --> 00:06:13.360 there has been through something similar and can tell me 113 00:06:13.360 --> 00:06:15.839 how to live with it, because I haven't figured that 114 00:06:15.879 --> 00:06:20.040 part out yet. My name's Chris. I'm thirty eight years old, 115 00:06:20.319 --> 00:06:24.079 live in northern Minnesota. I've been hunting, fishing, and trapping 116 00:06:24.120 --> 00:06:26.279 in these woods since I was big enough to walk 117 00:06:26.319 --> 00:06:29.600 behind my old man. I'm not some city guy who 118 00:06:29.600 --> 00:06:32.399 spooks at shadows. I know what a bear looks like. 119 00:06:32.959 --> 00:06:36.040 I know what wolves sound like. I've tracked moose through 120 00:06:36.040 --> 00:06:38.680 the brush so thick you have to crawl. I don't 121 00:06:38.680 --> 00:06:43.199 scare easy, and I sure as hell never believed in bigfoot. Yeah, 122 00:06:43.480 --> 00:06:48.240 i'd heard the stories. Who hasn't, especially around here, there's 123 00:06:48.240 --> 00:06:51.560 always some guy who knows, a guy who saw something. Hell, 124 00:06:52.079 --> 00:06:54.399 my own granddad told me about something he saw when 125 00:06:54.399 --> 00:06:56.720 he was young, but I chalked that up to old 126 00:06:56.759 --> 00:07:00.000 timer talk. You know, a little whiskey and a good 127 00:07:00.120 --> 00:07:02.800 story makes a cold night by the fire, A lot warmer. 128 00:07:03.560 --> 00:07:06.160 I never thought twice about it, not until I saw 129 00:07:06.199 --> 00:07:10.759 it myself. This was September twenty twenty two bow season. 130 00:07:11.480 --> 00:07:13.839 I had a big buck patterned on my trail cams, 131 00:07:14.040 --> 00:07:16.519 and I'd been working hard to get in front of him. 132 00:07:16.680 --> 00:07:19.079 I was hunting a spot about thirty miles out of town, 133 00:07:19.439 --> 00:07:22.800 way back near the Chippewa National Forest. It's not a 134 00:07:22.839 --> 00:07:26.639 spot many people go anymore. The roads mostly washed out, 135 00:07:26.879 --> 00:07:29.040 and the only reason I knew about it was because 136 00:07:29.079 --> 00:07:31.639 my dad used to hunt back there, said it was 137 00:07:31.639 --> 00:07:35.480 a good place to be alone. He wasn't wrong. I 138 00:07:35.560 --> 00:07:37.920 hiked in early, around four point thirty in the morning. 139 00:07:38.519 --> 00:07:41.519 Full moon helped, but it was cold in the forties, 140 00:07:42.240 --> 00:07:44.040 the kind of cold that makes your breath hang in 141 00:07:44.079 --> 00:07:47.639 the air like smoke. Right away I noticed it was 142 00:07:47.639 --> 00:07:52.800 too quiet. No owls, no crickets, no nothing, just dead silent. 143 00:07:53.519 --> 00:07:56.079 I should have paid more attention to that, should have 144 00:07:56.120 --> 00:07:59.240 turned around, but I was focused on the buck. By 145 00:07:59.279 --> 00:08:04.600 seven am, things seemed normal again, birds, squirrels, I even 146 00:08:04.639 --> 00:08:07.759 had a fox come trotting by. Under my stand, I 147 00:08:07.800 --> 00:08:11.120 relaxed a little. Figured the cold snap was throwing things 148 00:08:11.160 --> 00:08:14.480 off texted my buddy Dean told him it was a 149 00:08:14.480 --> 00:08:17.240 perfect morning. He's the only one I've told about all 150 00:08:17.279 --> 00:08:19.680 this in person. He told me to write it down. 151 00:08:20.279 --> 00:08:26.160 So here I am. I sat there in the stand, waiting, listening, watching. 152 00:08:27.120 --> 00:08:31.360 Around nine, I heard something behind me, heavy footsteps I've 153 00:08:31.360 --> 00:08:36.519 heard bear and this wasn't that. It was deliberate, like 154 00:08:36.559 --> 00:08:41.480 a person walking slow through the woods. Thud, pause, thud. 155 00:08:42.320 --> 00:08:44.159 I could feel it through the tree I was sitting in. 156 00:08:45.000 --> 00:08:48.720 I stayed still, waited, thinking maybe it was another hunter, 157 00:08:49.360 --> 00:08:52.360 but nobody comes out that far, not without me knowing 158 00:08:52.399 --> 00:08:55.639 about it. And then I caught the smell. It was 159 00:08:55.679 --> 00:08:58.840 like wet dog mixed with garbage, like something that had 160 00:08:58.879 --> 00:09:02.600 died thence in the sun. It hit me so hard 161 00:09:02.639 --> 00:09:08.519 I gagged, my eyes watered, and then I heard breathing, heavy, raspy, 162 00:09:09.159 --> 00:09:12.200 like something with lungs twice the size of a human's. 163 00:09:12.480 --> 00:09:17.440 I turned slow, just my head fifteen yards back behind 164 00:09:17.440 --> 00:09:21.320 a big pine. There was something standing there. It was huge, 165 00:09:21.879 --> 00:09:26.600 eight feet tall, easy built like a linebacker, only leaner, 166 00:09:27.279 --> 00:09:30.679 long arms hanging way past where they should, covered in 167 00:09:30.799 --> 00:09:35.320 dark brown hair, almost black, matted in places. I couldn't 168 00:09:35.360 --> 00:09:38.360 see its face right away, but its eyes caught the light, 169 00:09:39.159 --> 00:09:44.360 not like deer eyeshine, different yellowish like headlights through fog. 170 00:09:45.159 --> 00:09:49.080 It just stood there, staring at me, not moving, not 171 00:09:49.200 --> 00:09:54.440 making a sound, just breathing heavy and slow. Then it 172 00:09:54.480 --> 00:09:57.720 made this noise, a low rumble that turned into a 173 00:09:57.799 --> 00:10:01.799 kind of clicking sound, like it was talking, but not words. 174 00:10:02.600 --> 00:10:06.480 It vibrated through my chest, made me feel sick, like 175 00:10:06.519 --> 00:10:08.759 when you stand too close to those big speakers at 176 00:10:08.759 --> 00:10:12.639 a concert and your guts shake. After a minute or 177 00:10:12.679 --> 00:10:16.360 maybe ten, I don't know, it turned and walked away, 178 00:10:17.200 --> 00:10:21.440 not in a hurry, just casual and quiet. I don't 179 00:10:21.480 --> 00:10:24.240 know how something that big moved without a sound, but 180 00:10:24.320 --> 00:10:27.799 it did. It slipped into the trees and was gone. 181 00:10:28.799 --> 00:10:32.559 I sat there until noon, couldn't move. My hands were 182 00:10:32.559 --> 00:10:35.559 shaking so bad I thought I'd dropped my bow. When 183 00:10:35.559 --> 00:10:39.960 I finally climbed down, I ran left my gear. I 184 00:10:39.960 --> 00:10:43.240 sat in the cab with the doors locked, shaking. I've 185 00:10:43.240 --> 00:10:46.000 never felt that kind of fear before, not even when 186 00:10:46.000 --> 00:10:48.440 I flipped my ATV and thought I broke my neck. 187 00:10:49.120 --> 00:10:52.720 This was different. This was primal, and the worst part. 188 00:10:53.399 --> 00:10:55.960 It made me think about my granddad. He told me 189 00:10:56.000 --> 00:10:58.639 a story once when I was about twelve. We were 190 00:10:58.720 --> 00:11:00.919 up at the cabin for deer camp, sitting by the fire. 191 00:11:01.639 --> 00:11:04.600 He'd had a couple drinks and he got real quiet. 192 00:11:04.840 --> 00:11:06.720 Told me there was something in those woods you didn't 193 00:11:06.720 --> 00:11:10.200 mess with. Said. It was nineteen fifty eight. He and 194 00:11:10.240 --> 00:11:13.480 his brother were trapping beaver along the Mississippi, not far 195 00:11:13.519 --> 00:11:16.120 from where I was hunting. They had a line that 196 00:11:16.240 --> 00:11:19.639 ran about five miles through the swamp. One day they 197 00:11:19.639 --> 00:11:21.799 found one of their traps torn out of the bank, 198 00:11:22.200 --> 00:11:26.120 steel trap chain and all just gone. Figured it was 199 00:11:26.120 --> 00:11:30.080 a bear, But then they found the tracks, big barefoot 200 00:11:30.120 --> 00:11:36.840 prints toes arch heel human but huge, way too big. 201 00:11:37.799 --> 00:11:40.559 Granddad said his brother wanted to turn back, but they 202 00:11:40.559 --> 00:11:43.919 were stubborn. They followed the tracks for a couple miles 203 00:11:44.600 --> 00:11:46.679 came to a clearing where they found the remains of 204 00:11:46.720 --> 00:11:50.679 a deer. It had been ripped apart, not eaten, just 205 00:11:50.759 --> 00:11:54.840 torn to pieces. Then they heard something a howl, but 206 00:11:54.960 --> 00:11:59.440 not like a wolf, lower, longer, like it was calling out. 207 00:12:00.159 --> 00:12:04.480 They ran left, the traps, left their gear didn't stop 208 00:12:04.559 --> 00:12:08.039 until they hit the truck. Granddad never trapped that line again, 209 00:12:08.679 --> 00:12:10.840 said he'd see things out there from time to time. 210 00:12:11.440 --> 00:12:14.600 Shadows that didn't belong, eyes in the trees where no 211 00:12:14.679 --> 00:12:18.399 animals should be. He never said the word bigfoot, but 212 00:12:18.440 --> 00:12:20.559 that's what he meant. I thought it was just an 213 00:12:20.600 --> 00:12:24.360 old man scaring a kid. But now now I'm not 214 00:12:24.399 --> 00:12:28.519 so sure. Since my encounter, things have changed. I don't 215 00:12:28.559 --> 00:12:31.840 hunt that spot anymore. Hell I barely go into the 216 00:12:31.879 --> 00:12:35.399 woods alone these days. When I do, I stay close 217 00:12:35.440 --> 00:12:38.240 to the house. My wife thinks I had a panic attack. 218 00:12:38.799 --> 00:12:41.120 I haven't told her the whole thing. How do you 219 00:12:41.159 --> 00:12:44.320 tell someone you saw something that shouldn't exist. I don't 220 00:12:44.320 --> 00:12:47.960 sleep right. I hear things at night. Sometimes I smell 221 00:12:48.039 --> 00:12:51.720 that stench even when I'm inside. I've checked every inch 222 00:12:51.759 --> 00:12:55.600 of our property, thinking maybe it followed me home. Dean says, 223 00:12:55.600 --> 00:12:59.200 I'm paranoid. Maybe I am, but I know what I saw, 224 00:13:00.039 --> 00:13:02.279 and it wasn't a bear, it wasn't a man in 225 00:13:02.320 --> 00:13:02.759 a suit. 226 00:13:03.399 --> 00:13:04.000 It was real. 227 00:13:04.720 --> 00:13:07.200 It was watching me, and I think it wanted me 228 00:13:07.240 --> 00:13:09.679 to know it was there, like it was warning me. 229 00:13:10.519 --> 00:13:13.039 I still get out in the woods sometimes, but I 230 00:13:13.080 --> 00:13:16.200 don't stay past sunset, and I never ever go back 231 00:13:16.200 --> 00:13:19.600 to that stand. If you're reading this and thinking I'm crazy, 232 00:13:20.039 --> 00:13:22.679 that's fine. I would have thought the same thing a 233 00:13:22.720 --> 00:13:25.919 couple years ago. But if you're out there in the 234 00:13:25.960 --> 00:13:31.000 deep woods and everything suddenly goes quiet, turn around, get out, 235 00:13:31.840 --> 00:13:34.840 hard to imagine, isn't it spending your whole life in 236 00:13:34.879 --> 00:13:39.240 the woods, knowing every trail, every sound, and then having 237 00:13:39.279 --> 00:13:41.840 all of that torn away in a matter of seconds. 238 00:13:42.240 --> 00:13:45.039 What he saw out there in Minnesota wasn't something he 239 00:13:45.080 --> 00:13:47.919 could explain away, And even though he made it back 240 00:13:47.960 --> 00:13:50.159 to his truck and back to town, a part of 241 00:13:50.240 --> 00:13:53.240 him never really came back from those woods. But he's 242 00:13:53.279 --> 00:13:56.080 not the only one. Sometimes it isn't just about what 243 00:13:56.159 --> 00:13:59.399 you see out there. Sometimes it's about when it happens 244 00:14:00.080 --> 00:14:03.000 you're already at your limit. Life's got you backed into 245 00:14:03.039 --> 00:14:05.559 a corner, and you're out there because you have to be, 246 00:14:06.240 --> 00:14:09.559 not for sport, not for a trophy, but because there's 247 00:14:09.600 --> 00:14:13.440 no other choice. That's where Kevin found himself, deep in 248 00:14:13.480 --> 00:14:17.000 the forests of central Oregon, far from the noise of town, 249 00:14:17.559 --> 00:14:20.840 far from the safety of people. He was looking for peace, 250 00:14:21.480 --> 00:14:25.480 maybe a little rest. What he found was something else. 251 00:14:25.639 --> 00:14:26.039 Entirely. 252 00:14:26.919 --> 00:14:29.960 I've never told this to anyone, not my family, not 253 00:14:30.080 --> 00:14:34.799 my coworkers, and not even Jake, not really We've exchanged 254 00:14:34.799 --> 00:14:36.840 a look or two about it, but we've never sat 255 00:14:36.879 --> 00:14:39.639 down and talked about what happened. I think we both 256 00:14:39.679 --> 00:14:42.240 figure if we pretend it didn't happen, it won't get 257 00:14:42.240 --> 00:14:45.960 its claws into us any deeper. It's like ignoring a toothache, 258 00:14:46.279 --> 00:14:48.080 even though you know it's only going to get worse. 259 00:14:48.679 --> 00:14:51.720 But I can't ignore it anymore. I'm hoping that writing 260 00:14:51.759 --> 00:14:54.360 it down will help me stop carrying it around like 261 00:14:54.399 --> 00:14:58.039 a weight strapped to my back. My name's Kevin. I 262 00:14:58.080 --> 00:15:00.720 live in La Pine, Oregon. Spent all of my thirty 263 00:15:00.799 --> 00:15:03.440 nine years here, except for a brief and regrettable six 264 00:15:03.480 --> 00:15:06.120 month stint in Eugene that I don't like to talk about. 265 00:15:06.879 --> 00:15:10.679 Small town, lots of woods. You grow up around here. 266 00:15:11.120 --> 00:15:16.080 The outdoors gets in your blood. Hunting, fishing, camping. It's 267 00:15:16.159 --> 00:15:20.200 just how you live. And stay tuned for more sasquatch 268 00:15:20.240 --> 00:15:22.799 ott to see. We'll be right back after these messages. 269 00:15:26.919 --> 00:15:29.720 My dad used to say, out there, it's quiet enough 270 00:15:29.720 --> 00:15:33.320 to hear yourself. Think he wasn't wrong. At least that's 271 00:15:33.360 --> 00:15:35.919 how it used to be. Now, the quiet makes my 272 00:15:35.960 --> 00:15:39.559 skin crawl. Jake and I have been friends since junior year. 273 00:15:39.600 --> 00:15:42.120 Of high school. We met in shop class when he 274 00:15:42.159 --> 00:15:44.759 caught me looking at the wrong schematic and saved me 275 00:15:44.799 --> 00:15:48.639 from cutting through a live wire. After that, we stuck. 276 00:15:49.440 --> 00:15:51.919 We weren't the type to sit around and talk about feelings, 277 00:15:52.279 --> 00:15:55.080 but we always showed up when it counted. He was 278 00:15:55.159 --> 00:15:57.919 best man at my wedding. I was best man at his, 279 00:15:58.679 --> 00:16:01.480 though that didn't work out for him. His ex wife 280 00:16:01.519 --> 00:16:03.360 was a piece of work, but he got a great 281 00:16:03.440 --> 00:16:06.720 kid out of the deal. Boy's name is Tyler. He's 282 00:16:06.720 --> 00:16:11.519 six now, and Jake takes him everywhere hunting, fishing, snowshoeing 283 00:16:11.559 --> 00:16:14.679 in the winter. They're tight. Jake's the kind of guy 284 00:16:14.720 --> 00:16:17.879 who stays steady. When I lost my job for six 285 00:16:17.919 --> 00:16:20.799 months after the housing bubble burst, he lined up odd 286 00:16:20.879 --> 00:16:23.440 jobs for me and never made me feel bad about it. 287 00:16:24.159 --> 00:16:26.720 When his dad died, he only took one day off 288 00:16:26.759 --> 00:16:29.279 work because he said it kept his hands busy. He 289 00:16:29.320 --> 00:16:32.039 doesn't rattle. I say all that because you need to 290 00:16:32.120 --> 00:16:35.559 understand something. When Jake gets scared, it's time to get 291 00:16:35.559 --> 00:16:38.919 your ass moving. He's not a guy who spooks. He's 292 00:16:38.919 --> 00:16:41.679 a guy who handles things, or at least he was. 293 00:16:42.519 --> 00:16:45.399 The trip was his idea we'd been working on a 294 00:16:45.440 --> 00:16:48.440 house out by Bend, an ugly mansion for some tech 295 00:16:48.519 --> 00:16:52.120 money transplant who wanted the cabin esthetic without having to 296 00:16:52.240 --> 00:16:57.200 leave his gated community. Framing, siding, roofing, you name it. 297 00:16:57.519 --> 00:17:00.960 We did it twelve hour days, six days a week, 298 00:17:01.600 --> 00:17:03.639 the kind of work that makes your back hurt and 299 00:17:03.679 --> 00:17:07.119 your head empty. After three months of that, Jake said 300 00:17:07.519 --> 00:17:11.240 we need to get out, just us, no cell phones, 301 00:17:11.759 --> 00:17:15.440 no other people. I was all in. We planned the 302 00:17:15.440 --> 00:17:19.880 trip the way we always did, minimal two nights, deep woods, 303 00:17:20.160 --> 00:17:23.519 rifles in case we spotted elk, some beer, some food, 304 00:17:23.839 --> 00:17:28.519 a couple of tents, no electronics, no GPS, old school 305 00:17:28.519 --> 00:17:31.599 compass and map. We both grew up doing it that way. 306 00:17:32.240 --> 00:17:35.599 He picked the area out past Paulina Lake, but off 307 00:17:35.599 --> 00:17:39.039 the beaten path. We found an old forest service road 308 00:17:39.119 --> 00:17:42.920 on a map that looked promising. No camp sites, no trails, 309 00:17:43.519 --> 00:17:47.759 just raw land. Sounded perfect. We left on a Friday 310 00:17:47.759 --> 00:17:51.440 morning in October. The air was cold, but not miserable yet. 311 00:17:52.160 --> 00:17:55.400 I drove my truck. He drove his tyler's car seat 312 00:17:55.480 --> 00:17:57.480 still clipped into the back, even though the kid was 313 00:17:57.519 --> 00:18:00.000 with his mom for the weekend. We made good time. 314 00:18:00.920 --> 00:18:03.599 The roads out there get rough after the first twenty miles, 315 00:18:03.920 --> 00:18:06.480 but our trucks could handle it. We had to clear 316 00:18:06.519 --> 00:18:09.880 a couple of downed limbs, but that was normal. Jake 317 00:18:09.920 --> 00:18:13.359 cracked jokes about how soft people had gotten. Most guys 318 00:18:13.359 --> 00:18:16.519 had called this impassable, he said, dragging a log out 319 00:18:16.519 --> 00:18:20.920 of the way. That's how Jake was always steady. We 320 00:18:20.960 --> 00:18:23.920 found a clearing near a ravine, maybe forty or fifty 321 00:18:24.000 --> 00:18:26.799 yards wide. There was a little creek at the bottom, 322 00:18:27.000 --> 00:18:30.400 and the trees around it were thick and close lodge poles, 323 00:18:30.440 --> 00:18:34.200 mostly with a few old furs mixed in. There wasn't 324 00:18:34.240 --> 00:18:38.240 a mark of other people, no old fire pits, no footprints, 325 00:18:38.440 --> 00:18:44.279 no broken bottles, just clean woods, perfect, Jake said. I agreed. 326 00:18:44.799 --> 00:18:48.000 We set up camp easy, two tents on opposite sides 327 00:18:48.039 --> 00:18:51.480 of a fire ring, food stowed in Jake's truck, rifles 328 00:18:51.519 --> 00:18:54.839 within arm's reach. We strung some para cord with wind 329 00:18:54.920 --> 00:18:58.079 chimes around the camp, about fifteen feet out knee height. 330 00:18:58.839 --> 00:19:02.519 It wasn't for decoration, it was our alarm system. You 331 00:19:02.599 --> 00:19:05.400 do enough deep woods camping in Oregon, you pick up 332 00:19:05.440 --> 00:19:09.079 habits like that. We weren't expecting trouble, but it's better 333 00:19:09.160 --> 00:19:12.880 to be cautious than stupid. The first night was textbook 334 00:19:13.319 --> 00:19:16.200 steak and beans over the fire, a couple of beers each. 335 00:19:16.599 --> 00:19:20.359 In quiet conversation, Jake told me about Tyler learning to 336 00:19:20.400 --> 00:19:23.039 tie his shoes. That week I told him about my 337 00:19:23.079 --> 00:19:27.000 old man's busted knee. We didn't say much, didn't need to. 338 00:19:27.839 --> 00:19:31.240 When you've known someone that long words aren't always necessary. 339 00:19:32.000 --> 00:19:34.480 We turned in early. No reason to stay up when 340 00:19:34.480 --> 00:19:37.640 you're dead tired and it's pitch black outside. I slept 341 00:19:37.640 --> 00:19:40.599 like a baby. Next day we hiked out to a 342 00:19:40.640 --> 00:19:43.799 burn area we'd picked off the map, about five miles 343 00:19:43.839 --> 00:19:46.839 as the crow flies. We brought the rifles, but weren't 344 00:19:46.880 --> 00:19:50.119 serious about hunting. More scouting for later in the season. 345 00:19:50.880 --> 00:19:53.839 We found old elk tracks in some bedding areas, but 346 00:19:53.960 --> 00:19:57.960 nothing fresh. Jake found an old antler shed, cracked and 347 00:19:58.079 --> 00:20:01.680 gray with age. I little think it's a dinosaur bone, 348 00:20:01.720 --> 00:20:05.319 he said, tossing it in his pack. On the way back, 349 00:20:05.359 --> 00:20:07.960 we stopped by the creek. Jake dropped a line in 350 00:20:08.000 --> 00:20:10.759 and pulled out two brook trout in twenty minutes. We 351 00:20:10.880 --> 00:20:14.160 let them go. It wasn't about the fish. We got 352 00:20:14.160 --> 00:20:17.359 back to camp just before sunset. The light was golden, 353 00:20:17.640 --> 00:20:21.160 filtering through the trees, and for a few minutes everything 354 00:20:21.200 --> 00:20:25.400 felt perfect. I remember sitting by the fire later that night, thinking, 355 00:20:25.880 --> 00:20:28.519 this is what it's all about. Just two guys in 356 00:20:28.559 --> 00:20:32.480 the woods, no noise, no pressure. It was around nine 357 00:20:32.440 --> 00:20:35.319 point thirty when it all changed. We were sitting by 358 00:20:35.359 --> 00:20:38.960 the fire, sipping coffee laced with whiskey, talking about hiking 359 00:20:39.039 --> 00:20:41.759 up to the ridge at first light. Then we heard it. 360 00:20:42.319 --> 00:20:45.880 A scream. It was faint at first, so faint I 361 00:20:45.880 --> 00:20:49.440 thought I imagined it, but Jake heard it too. He 362 00:20:49.519 --> 00:20:52.480 froze mid sentence and looked at me, his face blank. 363 00:20:53.319 --> 00:20:55.920 That's when I knew it was real. Then we heard 364 00:20:55.920 --> 00:21:00.519 it again, closer, a long, high pitched scream that dropped 365 00:21:00.559 --> 00:21:05.079 into a deep, choking moan. I've heard cougar scream. This 366 00:21:05.240 --> 00:21:09.400 wasn't a cougar. It was worse. It sounded human, but 367 00:21:09.480 --> 00:21:13.039 it wasn't. There was something wrong in the tone, like 368 00:21:13.079 --> 00:21:17.119 a person screaming underwater. Jake stood up, slow, set his 369 00:21:17.160 --> 00:21:20.039 coffee down, without taking his eyes off the dark beyond 370 00:21:20.039 --> 00:21:23.559 the firelight. He walked to his truck, popped the door, 371 00:21:23.839 --> 00:21:28.240 and pulled out his rifle. I followed grabbed mine. We 372 00:21:28.319 --> 00:21:31.000 need to put the fire out, he said. His voice 373 00:21:31.039 --> 00:21:34.799 was tight, controlled, but I could see the sweat starting 374 00:21:34.799 --> 00:21:37.960 on his forehead, even though it was cold out. We 375 00:21:38.079 --> 00:21:41.319 doused the fire fast, covered the coals with dirt until 376 00:21:41.359 --> 00:21:44.440 the glow died out. Then we sat against his truck, 377 00:21:44.759 --> 00:21:48.720 rifles across our laps, watching the tree line. The scream 378 00:21:48.799 --> 00:21:53.599 came again, closer, then again, this time from a different direction. 379 00:21:54.400 --> 00:21:58.240 It was circling us. The forest was dead, silent, The 380 00:21:58.319 --> 00:22:02.240 creek didn't make a sound. Even the wind stopped, and 381 00:22:02.279 --> 00:22:08.200 then we heard the footsteps, heavy slow, crunch crunch, crunch 382 00:22:08.240 --> 00:22:11.759 through the pine needles and dead branches, fifty yards out, 383 00:22:11.960 --> 00:22:15.559 circling wide. We couldn't see anything yet, but we could 384 00:22:15.599 --> 00:22:19.160 feel it. It wasn't afraid, it was checking us out. 385 00:22:20.160 --> 00:22:23.319 I glanced at Jake. He was breathing slow through his nose, 386 00:22:23.400 --> 00:22:26.480 his rifle trained on the dark. If it comes in, 387 00:22:26.559 --> 00:22:30.680 he said, shoot, I nodded, but I knew neither of 388 00:22:30.759 --> 00:22:33.079 us wanted to pull the trigger. It didn't feel like 389 00:22:33.119 --> 00:22:35.480 it would do any good. That's when we saw the 390 00:22:35.519 --> 00:22:40.920 eyes high up nine feet easy, glowing faint orange. They 391 00:22:40.920 --> 00:22:45.079 didn't blink, just stared, and then They shifted side to side, 392 00:22:45.160 --> 00:22:48.720 swaying like something balancing its weight. We watched for what 393 00:22:48.839 --> 00:22:52.079 felt like an hour, could have been five minutes, could 394 00:22:52.079 --> 00:22:55.799 have been two hours. Time didn't work right then, and 395 00:22:55.839 --> 00:23:01.279 then the eyes vanished, no sound, no movement gone. We 396 00:23:01.359 --> 00:23:05.519 didn't move, not until dawn, when the sky turned gray. 397 00:23:05.640 --> 00:23:08.079 We packed what we could and left the rest. We 398 00:23:08.160 --> 00:23:11.920 didn't talk. We didn't need to. Jake's hands were shaking 399 00:23:11.920 --> 00:23:15.640 when he put his rifle away. I pretended not to see. 400 00:23:15.680 --> 00:23:19.279 We drove back in silence, didn't even stop to piss. 401 00:23:19.720 --> 00:23:22.680