1 00:00:06,000 --> 00:00:09,039 Speaker 1: Here's a story from Matt, and this is really, really 2 00:00:09,119 --> 00:00:12,000 a good story, he writes. I'm sixty one years old. 3 00:00:12,480 --> 00:00:16,519 I'm a retired twenty seven year law enforcement officer. I 4 00:00:16,559 --> 00:00:20,000 served ten years in the United States Army Reserves, ending 5 00:00:20,160 --> 00:00:23,879 with the rank of staff sergeant. I've only told one 6 00:00:23,879 --> 00:00:26,960 other person this story, and that was my younger brother. 7 00:00:27,920 --> 00:00:29,920 I live in West Virginia and I have most of 8 00:00:29,960 --> 00:00:34,159 my life. In nineteen seventy three, my brother, my cousin, 9 00:00:34,240 --> 00:00:36,759 my uncle, and a guy my uncle worked with at 10 00:00:36,799 --> 00:00:40,600 the time and I went on a camping fishing trip 11 00:00:40,640 --> 00:00:46,159 to Cranberry Glades, located in Pocahontas County, West Virginia. This 12 00:00:46,280 --> 00:00:50,920 area is vast and heavily forested. No motorized vehicles are 13 00:00:50,960 --> 00:00:53,759 allowed into the camp area, so we hiked about a 14 00:00:53,799 --> 00:00:56,600 mile into the camping area to set up our camp. 15 00:00:57,520 --> 00:01:00,280 At the time, I was fourteen years old, and like 16 00:01:00,359 --> 00:01:04,120 most teenage boys, I was adventurous and not afraid to explore. 17 00:01:05,200 --> 00:01:08,000 On the third day of our trip, after breakfast, I 18 00:01:08,079 --> 00:01:10,640 decided I wanted to hike one of the many trails 19 00:01:10,680 --> 00:01:14,040 that ran throughout the area instead of going fishing with 20 00:01:14,200 --> 00:01:17,439 the others. The trails are marked, and some go on 21 00:01:17,599 --> 00:01:20,519 for miles. My uncle told me to stay on the 22 00:01:20,560 --> 00:01:24,319 trail and don't go so far, so I headed out. 23 00:01:24,480 --> 00:01:27,079 I walked the trail for at least two hours, taking 24 00:01:27,120 --> 00:01:30,840 in the sights and sounds of nature. I came upon 25 00:01:30,920 --> 00:01:33,319 a meadow that I think was about a half acre 26 00:01:33,400 --> 00:01:36,079 in size, and out of the corner of my eye, 27 00:01:36,200 --> 00:01:39,239 I saw something big move across the meadow near the 28 00:01:39,280 --> 00:01:42,920 tree line. I stopped and I tried to identify what 29 00:01:43,040 --> 00:01:46,879 I saw moving. I walked a little further into the meadow, 30 00:01:46,959 --> 00:01:49,400 gazing at a group of pine trees where I saw 31 00:01:49,439 --> 00:01:53,920 the movement. I stood silently staring, and then I saw 32 00:01:54,000 --> 00:01:57,319 something move again about twenty yards from me to my left. 33 00:01:58,200 --> 00:02:01,760 I peered into the group of trees and behind a 34 00:02:01,840 --> 00:02:05,519 large pine, I saw a reddish brown hairy coat and 35 00:02:05,560 --> 00:02:09,719 it was barely visible through the brush. My first thought was, 36 00:02:09,919 --> 00:02:13,680 oh God, it's a black bear. My heart jumped. I 37 00:02:13,719 --> 00:02:16,560 thought of turning and running back to camp, but I 38 00:02:16,599 --> 00:02:20,560 stayed there looking. I was too curious. I heard a 39 00:02:20,639 --> 00:02:25,360 deep vocal ooh, and then I saw it turn behind 40 00:02:25,400 --> 00:02:28,479 the trees and I saw this huge, long, hairy arm 41 00:02:28,599 --> 00:02:31,919 making a tossing motion in my direction, and a tree 42 00:02:32,000 --> 00:02:36,280 limb came hurtling towards me. It landed about ten feet 43 00:02:36,400 --> 00:02:40,360 to my left. I began to shake. This limb was 44 00:02:40,360 --> 00:02:43,919 about five feet long and about eight inches around, and 45 00:02:43,960 --> 00:02:49,120 then I heard that sound again. Ooh. I bolted back 46 00:02:49,159 --> 00:02:51,879 towards the camp site, running faster than I ever have 47 00:02:52,080 --> 00:02:56,520 run in my life. I was crying and I was praying. 48 00:02:57,240 --> 00:03:00,240 I ran to the point where I collapsed from exhaust fust. 49 00:03:01,199 --> 00:03:04,599 I was on my hands and knees, gasping heavily for air, 50 00:03:05,080 --> 00:03:07,759 and my inner voice kept telling me to keep running. 51 00:03:08,199 --> 00:03:10,719 So I gathered as much strength as I could, and 52 00:03:10,759 --> 00:03:13,479 I got back on my feet and I ran back 53 00:03:13,479 --> 00:03:16,919 to the camp. When I arrived, the others had not 54 00:03:17,039 --> 00:03:19,599 made it back from fishing yet. I sat at the 55 00:03:19,639 --> 00:03:24,280 picnic table, panting hard, and I was still crying. A 56 00:03:24,319 --> 00:03:27,520 few hours later, the rest of the guys returned. My 57 00:03:27,639 --> 00:03:30,000 uncle looked at me and said, are you sick. You're 58 00:03:30,080 --> 00:03:33,599 pale as a ghost boy. I said yes, just to 59 00:03:33,680 --> 00:03:36,520 avoid talking about what I had countered on the trail, 60 00:03:37,199 --> 00:03:39,639 and then I went to my tent and I laid down. 61 00:03:40,919 --> 00:03:43,319 That evening, I laid in my sleeping bag as my 62 00:03:43,400 --> 00:03:47,639 mind replayed the event over and over. My brother slept 63 00:03:47,719 --> 00:03:51,000 next to me. Finally I had to relieve myself, but 64 00:03:51,039 --> 00:03:54,240 I was too afraid to get out of the tent. Later, 65 00:03:54,439 --> 00:03:58,159 with great hesitation, I got up and slowly and as 66 00:03:58,240 --> 00:04:03,159 quietly as possible, exited my tent. I didn't go far, 67 00:04:03,439 --> 00:04:06,560 just a short distance behind my tent, and just as 68 00:04:06,599 --> 00:04:09,159 I finished and started to get back in the tent, 69 00:04:09,560 --> 00:04:13,479 I heard off in the distance that sound again. Ooh wow. 70 00:04:14,840 --> 00:04:17,560 I dove back into the tent and I started shaking. 71 00:04:18,000 --> 00:04:20,040 I didn't want to wake my little brother because I 72 00:04:20,040 --> 00:04:22,720 didn't want him to be afraid. So I sat there 73 00:04:22,800 --> 00:04:26,839 shaking until daylight, listening and hoping I would not hear 74 00:04:26,920 --> 00:04:31,160 that sound again. I stayed at camp the last two days, 75 00:04:31,240 --> 00:04:35,199 never venturing out again. My uncle kept asking me why 76 00:04:35,199 --> 00:04:37,680 I didn't want to leave the camp site. I just 77 00:04:37,800 --> 00:04:41,439 told him that I wasn't feeling well. I was never 78 00:04:41,519 --> 00:04:44,800 so glad when we returned home, and it wasn't until 79 00:04:44,839 --> 00:04:47,160 about a year later that I told my brother what 80 00:04:47,279 --> 00:04:50,240 had happened. He said that he knew at the time 81 00:04:50,279 --> 00:04:53,800 of the camping trip that something had scared me. I 82 00:04:53,839 --> 00:04:56,639 had never heard of bigfoot until I was about eighteen 83 00:04:56,759 --> 00:05:00,160 years old. That's when I saw the famous film I'm 84 00:05:00,160 --> 00:05:03,439 Showing the Creature, and I started to shake as I watched. 85 00:05:04,000 --> 00:05:07,120 I had to leave the theater, and to this day, 86 00:05:07,199 --> 00:05:11,079 when I think back on it, I get chills. Well 87 00:05:11,079 --> 00:05:16,680 that's my one and only encounter. Thanks for letting me vent, Sincerely, Matt. 88 00:05:19,879 --> 00:05:23,319 A long time ago, when I was eleven, a friend 89 00:05:23,360 --> 00:05:26,319 and I were fishing down at the creek. It was 90 00:05:26,360 --> 00:05:29,560 getting late and about time to pack up and get home. 91 00:05:30,480 --> 00:05:32,720 I got a bite, so I threw my bait a 92 00:05:32,759 --> 00:05:36,560 few more times. My buddy was all packed up and 93 00:05:36,600 --> 00:05:38,959 said that he would wait for me on the trail 94 00:05:39,199 --> 00:05:43,040 up the hill. A few more casts and no bites, 95 00:05:43,120 --> 00:05:46,399 so I was ready to get out of there. Something 96 00:05:46,519 --> 00:05:51,000 picked me up. Its arm was covered in thick hair, 97 00:05:51,279 --> 00:05:54,680 like a shaggy dog. I thought it was someone in 98 00:05:54,720 --> 00:05:58,279 a gorilla suit playing a prank on me. He put 99 00:05:58,360 --> 00:06:01,279 me over his right shoulder your dad would when you 100 00:06:01,360 --> 00:06:05,279 were little, and he started walking into the woods. I 101 00:06:05,399 --> 00:06:08,600 wasn't scared. I wasn't going to let whoever this was 102 00:06:08,680 --> 00:06:12,639 get a kick out of me being afraid, holding onto 103 00:06:12,680 --> 00:06:15,439 his head with my left hand as he held my 104 00:06:15,560 --> 00:06:20,079 legs to his chest. I relaxed and enjoyed the ride. 105 00:06:21,079 --> 00:06:23,720 When the shock of the whole thing wore off, I 106 00:06:23,759 --> 00:06:26,439 looked to the ground and saw the hair covered its 107 00:06:26,480 --> 00:06:30,160 whole body. This wasn't a gorilla suit, and I was 108 00:06:30,360 --> 00:06:34,920 very high off the ground. After several minutes of walking 109 00:06:35,000 --> 00:06:37,800 in the woods, I started to wonder who was doing 110 00:06:37,839 --> 00:06:42,240 this and where we were going. It was getting dark 111 00:06:42,519 --> 00:06:45,279 and didn't look like we were headed towards my house. 112 00:06:46,120 --> 00:06:48,959 We rounded the corner of the hillside and I saw 113 00:06:49,079 --> 00:06:53,120 three more of these creatures. One looked like a mother, 114 00:06:53,519 --> 00:06:57,439 and there were two smaller ones about my size. He 115 00:06:57,480 --> 00:06:59,920 put me down on the ground in a small new 116 00:07:00,319 --> 00:07:04,240 or entrance into a pile of trees. It was open 117 00:07:04,519 --> 00:07:07,800 in the middle. It almost looked like the trees had 118 00:07:07,839 --> 00:07:11,399 fallen that way, but after being inside, I knew this 119 00:07:11,480 --> 00:07:16,680 structure had been built. It was a hideout. The ground 120 00:07:16,800 --> 00:07:20,560 was covered in long grass. It felt comfortable in there, 121 00:07:21,120 --> 00:07:25,680 almost a warm, welcoming feel to it. The thing that 122 00:07:25,800 --> 00:07:29,360 had taken me entered the structure and sat down looking 123 00:07:29,439 --> 00:07:33,279 back out the opening. The mother started feeding us all 124 00:07:33,399 --> 00:07:36,639 some berries and some kind of root. None of it 125 00:07:36,720 --> 00:07:40,839 was very good. It was dark now. The creatures began 126 00:07:40,920 --> 00:07:43,639 to settle in the middle of the hideout, and they 127 00:07:43,680 --> 00:07:47,600 all laid down and went to sleep. I was glad 128 00:07:47,639 --> 00:07:51,519 to see this. I waited a few more minutes, then 129 00:07:51,639 --> 00:07:54,800 climbed out of the tangle brush pile and started home 130 00:07:55,040 --> 00:07:58,759 in the pitch black. It took all night to find 131 00:07:58,800 --> 00:08:00,680 my way out of the woods woods, and when I 132 00:08:00,720 --> 00:08:05,360 finally made it home, it was just getting daylight. When 133 00:08:05,399 --> 00:08:08,839 I walked into our yard, I saw several men standing 134 00:08:08,879 --> 00:08:12,560 there talking to my father. The police were there too. 135 00:08:13,439 --> 00:08:17,040 They were relieved to see me and started asking questions. 136 00:08:18,079 --> 00:08:21,480 The evening before, my buddy had gone back to find 137 00:08:21,519 --> 00:08:23,839 me when I had not shown up on the trail. 138 00:08:24,720 --> 00:08:28,000 He found my fishing gear lying on the bank. He 139 00:08:28,120 --> 00:08:30,720 rushed to get my father, and they returned to look 140 00:08:30,759 --> 00:08:34,320 for me in the woods. The men now standing in 141 00:08:34,360 --> 00:08:37,159 our yard were gathering at my house to go hunt 142 00:08:37,200 --> 00:08:41,559 for me again. Some of them had tracking dogs. I 143 00:08:41,639 --> 00:08:44,840 told my dad and the police what had happened. One 144 00:08:44,840 --> 00:08:47,360 of the policemen looked at my father and said that 145 00:08:47,440 --> 00:08:51,559 he believed me. The crowd dispersed and we went inside 146 00:08:51,799 --> 00:08:54,679 and my mother fed me. The rest of the day 147 00:08:54,840 --> 00:08:59,320 was hard to remember. After that, no one ever asked 148 00:08:59,360 --> 00:09:03,440 me about it again, not my dad, my mom, or 149 00:09:03,480 --> 00:09:07,720 the police. It was so long ago that it seems 150 00:09:07,799 --> 00:09:10,879 like a dream, but I know it happened. I don't 151 00:09:10,919 --> 00:09:13,639 think my dad ever believed me, and there is still 152 00:09:13,679 --> 00:09:17,360 this nagging feeling all these years later that it really 153 00:09:17,480 --> 00:09:21,120 was a prank. I also wonder if there was something 154 00:09:21,200 --> 00:09:24,559 they knew and were not telling me. But what I 155 00:09:24,639 --> 00:09:27,200 know for sure is that something picked me up that 156 00:09:27,360 --> 00:09:30,759 day and carried me through the woods for a long time. 157 00:09:31,679 --> 00:09:34,720 I don't know what it was, but I think I do. 158 00:09:38,440 --> 00:09:41,399 Here's an email from a woman who goes by the 159 00:09:41,440 --> 00:09:45,679 handle of camping Turtle. She didn't want her real name revealed, 160 00:09:46,279 --> 00:09:48,279 but she got She said I could use the camping 161 00:09:48,360 --> 00:09:52,279 Turtle handle, which I think is really neat Here's what 162 00:09:52,360 --> 00:09:55,759 she writes, and this is a kind of a spooky story. 163 00:09:56,399 --> 00:09:58,840 I wanted to write to you after months of listening 164 00:09:58,919 --> 00:10:01,639 to your channel on YouTube and give you my own 165 00:10:01,799 --> 00:10:06,519 unsettling accounts of the two run ends I believe are Bigfoot. 166 00:10:07,279 --> 00:10:10,279 After talking to my younger sister, she agreed that I 167 00:10:10,320 --> 00:10:13,679 should tell you my stories. I grew up in a 168 00:10:13,759 --> 00:10:17,600 religious family and there were six of us kids We 169 00:10:17,759 --> 00:10:20,080 lived on a lake not even a half a mile 170 00:10:20,159 --> 00:10:25,000 from the state line of Michigan, just inside Indiana. The 171 00:10:25,080 --> 00:10:28,480 lake even then was fairly well developed, and since my 172 00:10:28,600 --> 00:10:31,320 father had grown up there, he wanted us to enjoy 173 00:10:31,399 --> 00:10:34,720 our childhood in much of the same manner that he had. 174 00:10:35,759 --> 00:10:38,960 The lake at that time was surrounded by farm fields 175 00:10:39,000 --> 00:10:42,799 and enough country to not feel too much like suburbia. 176 00:10:43,840 --> 00:10:46,639 There were plenty of dirt roads around those parts, and 177 00:10:46,679 --> 00:10:50,159 then houses on the outer roads were not boxed in 178 00:10:50,279 --> 00:10:53,480 one on top of the other. My father kept an 179 00:10:53,519 --> 00:10:57,000 old washing machine tub as a live well down along 180 00:10:57,039 --> 00:10:59,960 the edge of the lake near the shore we loved 181 00:11:00,080 --> 00:11:03,679 to fish. Out of all of us kids, I could 182 00:11:03,679 --> 00:11:06,919 spend the entire day on the water or the shoreline, 183 00:11:07,080 --> 00:11:11,759 drowning worms and keeping my line perpetually wet. When it 184 00:11:11,799 --> 00:11:14,759 got too hot, a simple quick dip would cool me 185 00:11:14,840 --> 00:11:17,679 off and I would go right back to fishing. Pretty 186 00:11:17,679 --> 00:11:21,799 funny for a girl, some would say. Back then, we 187 00:11:21,879 --> 00:11:25,480 hadn't gotten central air yet, and when summer came creeping 188 00:11:25,639 --> 00:11:28,440 with the humidity, there wasn't a spot I would rather 189 00:11:28,519 --> 00:11:31,600 be than in my parents' bedroom, playing a card or 190 00:11:31,639 --> 00:11:35,240 board game on their massive bed with either my dad 191 00:11:35,559 --> 00:11:39,600 or one of my sisters or brothers. The windows faced 192 00:11:39,679 --> 00:11:42,320 the lake, and by putting a box fan in one 193 00:11:42,679 --> 00:11:46,120 and opening the other, we had cool, fresh air running 194 00:11:46,159 --> 00:11:49,440 through the room. I was six and a half at 195 00:11:49,480 --> 00:11:53,320 the time, and my little sister was four. My younger 196 00:11:53,399 --> 00:11:56,360 sister and I were sitting on the bed playing checkers 197 00:11:56,799 --> 00:12:01,000 when I specifically remember a feeling of fear come over me. 198 00:12:01,960 --> 00:12:05,879 I glanced up toward the window and two huge red 199 00:12:05,960 --> 00:12:11,039 eyes were clearly staring at us. The eyes moved from 200 00:12:11,080 --> 00:12:15,360 my sister to me, and I heard and felt a 201 00:12:15,480 --> 00:12:20,200 very low growl. I urgently whispered to Nicky, there's a 202 00:12:20,240 --> 00:12:24,399 monster in the window. She looked over and screamed, and 203 00:12:24,440 --> 00:12:27,679 together in a tangle of arms and knees and legs, 204 00:12:28,000 --> 00:12:31,279 went running out of the bedroom door, screaming for my mother. 205 00:12:32,159 --> 00:12:34,480 By the time my mom went to look, the eyes 206 00:12:34,519 --> 00:12:39,559 were gone. It's probably just a raccoon, she said, no, Mom, 207 00:12:39,639 --> 00:12:42,559 it wasn't. They were too big to be a raccoon's eyes. 208 00:12:42,679 --> 00:12:45,960 We told her. She said it had probably been a 209 00:12:46,000 --> 00:12:48,320 boat out on the water, and it just looked like 210 00:12:48,399 --> 00:12:51,519 a pair of eyes. When we told her we saw 211 00:12:51,559 --> 00:12:54,960 it blink, she hushed us up gently put us to 212 00:12:55,000 --> 00:12:57,320 bed in the middle of the bedroom that we shared 213 00:12:57,360 --> 00:13:00,120 with a sister who was just a bit older than me. 214 00:13:01,559 --> 00:13:04,360 We had seen lots of wildlife by then, because we 215 00:13:04,360 --> 00:13:08,360 were always scouring the woods and fields bringing home this 216 00:13:08,519 --> 00:13:12,000 animal or that. Even one time I brought home a 217 00:13:12,039 --> 00:13:16,240 baby raccoon. Daddy made us put that one back, and 218 00:13:16,279 --> 00:13:20,639 our uncle cautioned us not to steal baby wildlife because 219 00:13:20,679 --> 00:13:24,120 oftentimes they would die if taken away from their mothers. 220 00:13:25,559 --> 00:13:28,279 It wasn't until I was in my mid twenties that 221 00:13:28,360 --> 00:13:33,240 I became familiar with what is known as bigfoot. When 222 00:13:33,240 --> 00:13:37,240 I did, that memory came flooding back. Now that I 223 00:13:37,320 --> 00:13:40,519 suspected what the eyes were, I measured the height of 224 00:13:40,559 --> 00:13:43,120 where we saw the eyes, and it was between eight 225 00:13:43,240 --> 00:13:47,679 and nine feet off the ground. When I was thirty one, 226 00:13:47,960 --> 00:13:50,399 I started bowl hunting, and I fell in love with 227 00:13:50,480 --> 00:13:53,559 the sport. By then I had been married for just 228 00:13:53,600 --> 00:13:56,799 a little over a decade and had three sons of 229 00:13:56,799 --> 00:14:00,639 my own. I'm not trying to toot my own, but 230 00:14:00,720 --> 00:14:03,720 I was damn good at it. I would practice the 231 00:14:03,879 --> 00:14:07,279 entire day after getting my chores done, and more than 232 00:14:07,320 --> 00:14:10,279 one arrogant man lost a twenty dollar bill when they 233 00:14:10,279 --> 00:14:12,960 would bet me that they could outshoot me. But I 234 00:14:13,039 --> 00:14:17,759 won't go into that right here. One afternoon during the season, 235 00:14:17,840 --> 00:14:22,320 my husband dropped me at my stand. I loved the solitude. 236 00:14:22,440 --> 00:14:25,639 The woods are a calming place for me, a place 237 00:14:25,679 --> 00:14:29,600 to unwind from the pressures of motherhood and my responsibilities 238 00:14:29,639 --> 00:14:33,080 on the farm. I sat there most of the afternoon 239 00:14:33,200 --> 00:14:36,759 watching fox kits playing as the sun went down, and 240 00:14:36,840 --> 00:14:39,320 even though I hadn't seen a deer, I felt like 241 00:14:39,360 --> 00:14:42,720 it had been a good day in the woods. Suddenly, 242 00:14:42,799 --> 00:14:46,240 the fox kits all looked in one direction at one time. 243 00:14:46,840 --> 00:14:49,399 They were looking past me as if they saw something 244 00:14:49,480 --> 00:14:53,200 behind my stand. I assumed it was a deer or 245 00:14:53,240 --> 00:14:57,840 maybe another fox. I never heard anything. The wind was 246 00:14:57,879 --> 00:15:00,000 in my face. At the edge of that corn field, 247 00:15:00,360 --> 00:15:03,360 just in the tree line. The kits bobbed their heads 248 00:15:03,360 --> 00:15:05,519 from side to side and then up and down, and 249 00:15:05,559 --> 00:15:08,840 then quickly moved in the direction of their den, which 250 00:15:08,919 --> 00:15:12,960 was only a few yards away. I waited, and in 251 00:15:13,000 --> 00:15:16,200 the last embers of light from the sun, I scanned 252 00:15:16,200 --> 00:15:20,519 the now darkened interior of the woods. Again. I saw 253 00:15:20,639 --> 00:15:24,519 and heard nothing. The lights from the exit point on 254 00:15:24,600 --> 00:15:27,720 the toll road came on and were now illuminating all 255 00:15:27,759 --> 00:15:30,240 the way down to where I would cross the short 256 00:15:30,279 --> 00:15:34,960 forty five yards to the cornfield from my stand. I 257 00:15:35,039 --> 00:15:37,840 had waited to come down until total dark so as 258 00:15:37,879 --> 00:15:40,720 not to have my stand blown and to give any 259 00:15:40,799 --> 00:15:44,120 deer that might be moving after legal shooting light a 260 00:15:44,240 --> 00:15:48,720 chance to recede back into the woods. So I moved quietly, 261 00:15:48,840 --> 00:15:51,799 making sure to take my steps carefully and roll my 262 00:15:51,919 --> 00:15:56,200 foot and not make any noise. I felt rushed all 263 00:15:56,240 --> 00:15:58,759 of a sudden, like I should be moving quicker and 264 00:15:58,799 --> 00:16:01,799 get out of there. I can't tell you for sure 265 00:16:01,840 --> 00:16:04,759 what it was, just a sudden fear that I had 266 00:16:04,799 --> 00:16:08,519 not experienced before. While I was in the woods. I 267 00:16:08,600 --> 00:16:11,320 began making my way down the edge of the field, 268 00:16:11,480 --> 00:16:14,879 keeping myself closer to the corn than the actual woods. 269 00:16:15,840 --> 00:16:19,000 I suddenly heard something paralleling me in the woodline, and 270 00:16:19,039 --> 00:16:23,799 when I stopped, it would stop. This cornfield was huge. 271 00:16:24,080 --> 00:16:26,120 I had to go down to where the field was 272 00:16:26,159 --> 00:16:29,200 sliced in half with a track large enough to drive 273 00:16:29,240 --> 00:16:32,200 down and cross eastward the entire one hundred and twenty 274 00:16:32,240 --> 00:16:34,559 five yards to get to where I knew my husband 275 00:16:34,639 --> 00:16:38,559 had parked. The second time I stopped, I had knocked 276 00:16:38,559 --> 00:16:41,919 an arrow. My hands were shaking, but at this point 277 00:16:42,000 --> 00:16:45,159 I knew not to run and stay as calm as possible, 278 00:16:45,559 --> 00:16:48,440 even though my body wanted to cook taters and get 279 00:16:48,480 --> 00:16:51,679 out of there. I got to the cutout area and 280 00:16:51,759 --> 00:16:55,879 turned to take a quick glance back. A silhouette stood 281 00:16:56,000 --> 00:16:59,519 on the path I had just come from, approximately thirty 282 00:16:59,519 --> 00:17:03,799 five yards behind me. I have never been in fear 283 00:17:04,039 --> 00:17:07,200 so bad that I could literally feel my blood turned 284 00:17:07,240 --> 00:17:11,720 to ice. My heartbeat felt very loud in my ears. 285 00:17:13,119 --> 00:17:15,799 I don't know if it was the Holy Spirit or what, 286 00:17:16,160 --> 00:17:19,880 but for some reason I yelled, Guardian of the woods, 287 00:17:20,200 --> 00:17:24,359 descendant of Esau and Kane, leave this place in the 288 00:17:24,440 --> 00:17:28,759 name of Jesus Christ, and do not come back. I 289 00:17:28,799 --> 00:17:32,279 felt its grunt, long and drawn out in my chest, 290 00:17:32,359 --> 00:17:35,559 and it slipped with one step back into the woods. 291 00:17:36,079 --> 00:17:38,359 I ran all the way to the car and screamed 292 00:17:38,400 --> 00:17:41,000 at my husband, why didn't you come get me from 293 00:17:41,000 --> 00:17:44,400 my stand. He looked at me, perplexed and said he 294 00:17:44,440 --> 00:17:47,000 hadn't wanted to leave the boys alone in the car. 295 00:17:48,119 --> 00:17:50,920 It wasn't until weeks later he finally got me to 296 00:17:51,000 --> 00:17:54,480 tell him what happened. I refused to go back into 297 00:17:54,559 --> 00:17:57,400 those woods, and I didn't really want him to go either. 298 00:17:58,519 --> 00:18:01,240 I did, however, go the next next year and every 299 00:18:01,319 --> 00:18:04,200 year until about five years ago, when my health began 300 00:18:04,279 --> 00:18:07,920 to worsen. I now am too frail of health to 301 00:18:08,000 --> 00:18:11,039 do much camping or hunting, and I can't walk very 302 00:18:11,079 --> 00:18:15,200 well anymore. My sister once commented that a lot of 303 00:18:15,240 --> 00:18:19,279 people who have these encounters are in bad health. I 304 00:18:19,440 --> 00:18:25,720 was born with osteogenesis imperfecta. It's called the Brital bone disorder. 305 00:18:26,480 --> 00:18:30,759 We were called the children of Glass. At fourteen, I 306 00:18:30,839 --> 00:18:34,440 had surgery at the Shriner's Hospital to have installed two 307 00:18:34,640 --> 00:18:39,519 titanium steel rods to correct severe twisting and scoliosis of 308 00:18:39,599 --> 00:18:43,599 my spine. I have never let my health issues affect 309 00:18:43,720 --> 00:18:48,720 me much, and often relocate and dislocate joints and fix 310 00:18:48,880 --> 00:18:52,720 in secure splints for fractures that I don't deem doctor 311 00:18:52,960 --> 00:18:57,039 visit worthy. I'll tell you what, mister Crypton. If I 312 00:18:57,039 --> 00:19:00,480 get these old knees replaced before hunting season in the fall, 313 00:19:00,960 --> 00:19:07,079 I will be back in the woods. Here's a short 314 00:19:07,160 --> 00:19:11,160 email from April and Alabama. Here's what she writes. Hey, 315 00:19:11,200 --> 00:19:13,680 my name is April. I want to tell you about 316 00:19:13,720 --> 00:19:17,400 my encounter it's not much, but it left me wondering. 317 00:19:18,319 --> 00:19:20,720 My girlfriends and I had been to the movies and 318 00:19:20,759 --> 00:19:23,960 we were making our way back home. It was probably 319 00:19:24,039 --> 00:19:27,599 ten or eleven o'clock at night. We came up on 320 00:19:27,640 --> 00:19:30,359 a hill and then it dipped down into a curve, 321 00:19:30,920 --> 00:19:34,240 and as we approached the curve, my friend's headlights hit 322 00:19:34,279 --> 00:19:38,279 the figure of something crouched down like it was eating something, 323 00:19:39,240 --> 00:19:41,759 and then it turned and looked towards us. We could 324 00:19:41,759 --> 00:19:45,519 clearly see the eyes shine. It stood up on two 325 00:19:45,599 --> 00:19:48,160 legs and it walked into the woods like a human. 326 00:19:48,920 --> 00:19:51,720 Did you see that? We all said at the same time. 327 00:19:52,319 --> 00:19:56,039 It was not a bear. We don't have bears around here. 328 00:19:56,559 --> 00:19:59,440 And when we passed the point where the creature was standing, 329 00:20:00,160 --> 00:20:03,359 aw what he was interested in. A dead possum was 330 00:20:03,440 --> 00:20:07,880 laying in the road. It was eating roadkill. All the 331 00:20:07,920 --> 00:20:10,039 way home we were trying to figure out what we 332 00:20:10,119 --> 00:20:13,799 had just seen. It was scary but exciting all at 333 00:20:13,839 --> 00:20:18,039 the same time. We are convinced that we saw Bigfoot 334 00:20:18,119 --> 00:20:22,200 that night. I have been infatuated with Bigfoot ever since 335 00:20:26,200 --> 00:20:28,559 I was born in nineteen forty eight, and I grew 336 00:20:28,640 --> 00:20:34,039 up in Bapton, Rouge Louisiana, Louisiana, Louise Earner yep. I 337 00:20:34,119 --> 00:20:37,279 was a city kid, However, my dad was a country boy, 338 00:20:37,440 --> 00:20:41,599 raised in the woods in Pride, Louisiana. He was born 339 00:20:41,680 --> 00:20:46,759 in nineteen twenty six, the oldest of seven kids. He 340 00:20:46,799 --> 00:20:50,559 plowed the family garden with an old mule. I remember 341 00:20:50,720 --> 00:20:54,400 that this mule liked to eat leftover rice and gravy. 342 00:20:55,319 --> 00:20:58,039 My father had to wait until the mule finished eating 343 00:20:58,200 --> 00:21:01,480 and quickly grab the bowl. The mule would paw at 344 00:21:01,519 --> 00:21:04,440 it when it was empty. He learned to hunt and 345 00:21:04,559 --> 00:21:06,720 fish as a way to put food on the table 346 00:21:06,799 --> 00:21:11,200 because store bought meat was something they couldn't afford. They 347 00:21:11,279 --> 00:21:13,759 raised chickens and they had a milk cow, but that 348 00:21:13,920 --> 00:21:17,000 was it. Everything else came from the garden except for 349 00:21:17,079 --> 00:21:21,640 staple goods like seasonings and flour. His father would give 350 00:21:21,720 --> 00:21:24,480 him two shotgun shells and tell him to bring back 351 00:21:24,519 --> 00:21:28,720 two of something squirrels, doves, rabbits, and don't miss. Those 352 00:21:28,720 --> 00:21:32,960 shells aren't cheap. When he was seventeen, just after the 353 00:21:33,000 --> 00:21:35,680 bombing of Pearl Harbor, he dropped out of school and 354 00:21:35,880 --> 00:21:39,559 enlisted in the Navy to later become a radio operator 355 00:21:39,720 --> 00:21:43,559 on board the uss Coopahee, a tanker that had been 356 00:21:43,640 --> 00:21:48,240 converted into an aircraft carrier. As well as other training, 357 00:21:48,279 --> 00:21:51,359 he was taught the expert use of the M one rifle. 358 00:21:51,880 --> 00:21:54,759 That knowledge stayed with him all of his life, and 359 00:21:54,839 --> 00:21:57,680 he passed it on to meat. That is the way 360 00:21:57,720 --> 00:22:00,160 he taught me to handle a gun and hunt. When 361 00:22:00,200 --> 00:22:03,960 I was about ten years old, I had inherited my 362 00:22:04,039 --> 00:22:08,720 mother's four to ten bolt action Ranger brand shotgun, and 363 00:22:08,759 --> 00:22:11,559 I was an excellent shot. By the time I was eleven. 364 00:22:12,480 --> 00:22:15,680 He hunted with an L. C. Smith twelve gage double 365 00:22:15,720 --> 00:22:19,960 barrel shotgun. My oldest son now has both of them. 366 00:22:20,680 --> 00:22:23,680 Most of our hunting was small game on private or 367 00:22:23,759 --> 00:22:27,720 family property until he joined the Old miss Hunting Club 368 00:22:27,920 --> 00:22:31,720 in nineteen sixty five, when I was about sixteen years old. 369 00:22:32,720 --> 00:22:36,079 He had gained a fondness for deer hunting. The club 370 00:22:36,200 --> 00:22:42,240 hunted the Raca Ro Sea Recourse Point area on the 371 00:22:42,240 --> 00:22:47,160 Mississippi River north of Morganza, Louisiana. There were twenty three 372 00:22:47,160 --> 00:22:51,359 thousand acres of land in that lease, mostly river bottom land, 373 00:22:51,839 --> 00:22:55,519 with several kinds of oaks, hickory trees, pecan, sweet gums, 374 00:22:55,680 --> 00:23:00,960 and almost no pines. It was prime deer hunting. I 375 00:23:01,039 --> 00:23:03,720 hunted with my four to ten, and I had strict 376 00:23:03,799 --> 00:23:06,680 rules that went with the use of that gun. No 377 00:23:06,839 --> 00:23:09,640 playing with it, clean it after I took it out, 378 00:23:09,680 --> 00:23:12,119 whether I had fired it or not, and if I 379 00:23:12,240 --> 00:23:16,920 wasn't hunting, it stayed put up. We spent many weekends 380 00:23:17,079 --> 00:23:20,519 at the least hunting squirrels, rabbits, and of course deer. 381 00:23:21,400 --> 00:23:24,240 The club had about two hundred and fifty members and 382 00:23:24,279 --> 00:23:28,839 there were five camps. Ours was the largest camp, built 383 00:23:28,920 --> 00:23:33,160 by expert carpenters who were members. Luckily, not all of 384 00:23:33,200 --> 00:23:36,279 the members liked the camp, so there was always room 385 00:23:36,359 --> 00:23:40,000 in the bunk house style bedroom. There were six sets 386 00:23:40,039 --> 00:23:43,440 of bunks along either wall and a walkway down the middle. 387 00:23:44,000 --> 00:23:46,440 The only other room was the kitchen that had one 388 00:23:46,519 --> 00:23:50,519 eating table that would seed about eight people. The rest 389 00:23:50,519 --> 00:23:53,480 of us would sit in folding chairs or wherever we 390 00:23:53,640 --> 00:23:56,680 could when the camp was full of hunters. There was 391 00:23:56,759 --> 00:23:59,920 no electricity, so the camp was lighted with coleman land 392 00:24:00,400 --> 00:24:04,079 and the stove was fuelled by propane. There were ice 393 00:24:04,240 --> 00:24:08,200 chests everywhere, mostly full of beer and lunch meat for sandwiches, 394 00:24:08,759 --> 00:24:12,759 and there was an outhouse. Nights were filled with the 395 00:24:12,799 --> 00:24:16,200 old men drinking beer and playing bou rat that's a 396 00:24:16,279 --> 00:24:20,119 Cajun card game. I wasn't interested in either, so I 397 00:24:20,240 --> 00:24:23,559 usually went to bed early, dreaming about the coming hunt 398 00:24:23,599 --> 00:24:27,559 the next morning. One weekend, one of the members went 399 00:24:27,599 --> 00:24:31,160 to another camp to play cards, leaving his son at 400 00:24:31,160 --> 00:24:37,400 our camp. His name was Poncho Roxy. His name, Oh 401 00:24:37,480 --> 00:24:41,720 my gosh, his name was Poncho and that was his nickname, 402 00:24:41,799 --> 00:24:44,440 and he was about my age, and we struck up 403 00:24:44,480 --> 00:24:47,920 a friendship. Neither one of us was interested in watching 404 00:24:48,000 --> 00:24:50,880 a bunch of old men drink and play cards, so 405 00:24:50,920 --> 00:24:53,799 we decided to walk to the other camp just to 406 00:24:53,839 --> 00:24:57,559 pass the time. The other camp was five miles down 407 00:24:57,559 --> 00:25:00,960 a moonlit gravel road. I didn't feel the need to 408 00:25:01,000 --> 00:25:04,839 take a gun. There had never been any sightings of predators. 409 00:25:05,160 --> 00:25:08,039 There was nothing out there to fear, just deer, squirrels 410 00:25:08,039 --> 00:25:13,000 and rabbits, or so we thought. So off we went, 411 00:25:13,119 --> 00:25:16,799 without a flashlight, but carrying a six inch blade case 412 00:25:16,839 --> 00:25:20,279 skinning knife that stayed in my pocket all the time. 413 00:25:21,400 --> 00:25:23,759 Like most young boys, we cut up and laughed and 414 00:25:23,839 --> 00:25:27,720 talked about all sorts of things, girls, cars, hunting, and 415 00:25:27,759 --> 00:25:31,400 so on. The night was bright with moonlight and The 416 00:25:31,480 --> 00:25:34,480 road was easy to see, so we didn't have any worries. 417 00:25:35,680 --> 00:25:38,440 We walked about a mile when we heard footsteps off 418 00:25:38,440 --> 00:25:42,079 in the woods beside us. These were thick woods, not 419 00:25:42,200 --> 00:25:45,039 easy to walk through in broad daylight, much less in 420 00:25:45,160 --> 00:25:48,319 the dark. There were lots of briers and vines that 421 00:25:48,359 --> 00:25:52,160 would easily trip someone up. But someone or something was 422 00:25:52,240 --> 00:25:56,079 keeping up with our pace on the clear road. We 423 00:25:56,119 --> 00:25:59,599 stopped to listen, and so did whatever that was. We 424 00:25:59,640 --> 00:26:03,480 started walking again, and so did this person or animal. 425 00:26:04,440 --> 00:26:07,200 We talked and we walked and tried to decide what 426 00:26:07,319 --> 00:26:11,000 it was. A hunting dog that was lost, No, it 427 00:26:11,000 --> 00:26:13,720 would have come to us looking for food or friendship. 428 00:26:14,240 --> 00:26:17,079 Was it a deer, now they're not that noisy when 429 00:26:17,119 --> 00:26:19,759 they walked. Could have been a cow. There's lots of 430 00:26:19,759 --> 00:26:22,960 those free ranging out here, But it sounded like it 431 00:26:23,039 --> 00:26:26,680 was walking on two legs. Maybe one of the guys 432 00:26:26,720 --> 00:26:29,119 from the camp about to jump out and scare us. 433 00:26:29,400 --> 00:26:31,400 But if that was the case, they would have already 434 00:26:31,440 --> 00:26:36,359 done that. Once again, we stopped and it stopped. We walked, 435 00:26:36,480 --> 00:26:40,400 and it walked. We stopped, and it stopped, and on 436 00:26:40,599 --> 00:26:43,920 and on. Now I wished that I had brought my 437 00:26:44,039 --> 00:26:48,119 gun or at least a light. I needed a weapon. 438 00:26:48,960 --> 00:26:51,440 My skinning knife was not much of a weapon, but 439 00:26:51,480 --> 00:26:55,000 it's all I had. I decided to stop and cut 440 00:26:55,039 --> 00:26:58,279 down a sapling and sharpened the end. That way I 441 00:26:58,279 --> 00:27:01,559 could at least keep some distance between me and whatever 442 00:27:01,680 --> 00:27:05,279 this was. Pancho said, just what do you think you're 443 00:27:05,319 --> 00:27:07,880 going to do with this sharp stick? And I said, 444 00:27:07,880 --> 00:27:10,160 if it attacks, I'm going to stab it and run 445 00:27:10,200 --> 00:27:12,640 with the spear in my hand. So try to keep up. 446 00:27:13,480 --> 00:27:16,119 I don't know if whatever it was understood what I 447 00:27:16,240 --> 00:27:20,279 was planning, but it stopped following us. We continued walking 448 00:27:20,319 --> 00:27:22,680 the rest of the five miles to the other camp 449 00:27:22,759 --> 00:27:25,960 with no further problems, and when we got there, his 450 00:27:26,079 --> 00:27:29,200 dad was still playing cards and would be for a while. 451 00:27:29,920 --> 00:27:32,240 We didn't tell him what happened, and he said that 452 00:27:32,319 --> 00:27:34,680 we must have been nuts or really bored to walk 453 00:27:34,680 --> 00:27:37,240 that far in the dark, and that we should start 454 00:27:37,279 --> 00:27:39,759 our walk home and that he would pick us up 455 00:27:39,759 --> 00:27:43,960 when he drove back. We were mischievous boys, and as 456 00:27:44,000 --> 00:27:46,559 we heard him coming, we walked off into the road 457 00:27:46,759 --> 00:27:49,920 and he drove right by us. He was some kind 458 00:27:49,920 --> 00:27:51,960 of mad, having to wait for us to walk all 459 00:27:52,000 --> 00:27:56,160 the way back after that night. I never saw Poncho again. 460 00:27:57,559 --> 00:27:59,960 A month after this happened, I heard on a Loaan 461 00:28:00,319 --> 00:28:04,119 TV station that a towboat pilot was shining the Mississippi 462 00:28:04,200 --> 00:28:07,680 River bank at night and had seen a large, dark 463 00:28:07,920 --> 00:28:11,559 bipedal creature walking away from the river's edge in that 464 00:28:11,720 --> 00:28:16,039 same area. As a footnote, I now actively look for 465 00:28:16,200 --> 00:28:19,960 sasquatch and had a sighting about a year ago. It 466 00:28:20,039 --> 00:28:25,400 was in the Casatchee National Forest north of Alexandra, Louisiana. 467 00:28:25,960 --> 00:28:28,799 It was about seven feet tall, covered in four inch 468 00:28:28,920 --> 00:28:32,640 long black hair. It was slender built, so I believe 469 00:28:32,720 --> 00:28:36,799 that it was a juvenile. Unfortunately, it was only a 470 00:28:36,839 --> 00:28:40,519 three second profile sighting. I got to watch it cross 471 00:28:40,559 --> 00:28:42,960 the road I was on, about one hundred yards away. 472 00:28:43,559 --> 00:28:46,039 I immediately went to see where it had gone, but 473 00:28:46,119 --> 00:28:49,119 the ground was so hard that I couldn't find any tracks. 474 00:28:49,799 --> 00:28:52,799 My search will continue as long as I am able.