WEBVTT 1 00:00:06.000 --> 00:00:09.039 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