WEBVTT 1 00:00:08.000 --> 00:00:10.839 I grew up in rural Alabama, in the small town 2 00:00:10.960 --> 00:00:13.960 of Northport. And I say town, but that may be 3 00:00:14.160 --> 00:00:17.839 stretching it. It was fourteen miles from my childhood home 4 00:00:17.879 --> 00:00:22.000 to the closest red light. Tuscaloosa was a major city 5 00:00:22.440 --> 00:00:27.039 and Northport was a stepchild. In nineteen seventy eight, there 6 00:00:27.079 --> 00:00:29.960 was not a lot to do on rural Highway sixty 7 00:00:30.079 --> 00:00:33.920 nine North. The summers were hot, but the fall brought 8 00:00:33.960 --> 00:00:37.000 on every young man's dream of hunting the big buck 9 00:00:37.119 --> 00:00:40.000 that ate all the peas during the last growing season. 10 00:00:41.119 --> 00:00:45.200 My job at twelve was the defender of my grandmother's garden. 11 00:00:45.840 --> 00:00:48.640 I had a carte blanche on any night to eliminate 12 00:00:48.759 --> 00:00:52.320 any deer we caught rating the pea patch, regardless of 13 00:00:52.359 --> 00:00:55.679 what hunting season it was, and God helped the game 14 00:00:55.759 --> 00:00:59.679 warden who dared question my Pentecostal grandmother on her war 15 00:00:59.840 --> 00:01:03.200 on deer or any other four legged creature who ate 16 00:01:03.240 --> 00:01:08.359 what she sweated to grow. I became exceptional with a firearm, 17 00:01:08.640 --> 00:01:11.319 having spent a lot of time practicing at two hundred 18 00:01:11.439 --> 00:01:15.040 and three hundred yards with my rifle my grandfather bought 19 00:01:15.040 --> 00:01:19.400 me for Christmas when I was eight. I preferred a shotgun, though, 20 00:01:19.519 --> 00:01:22.799 due to the massive undergrowth in the woods surrounding our land. 21 00:01:23.719 --> 00:01:26.799 So in nineteen seventy eight, when the deer have ravaged 22 00:01:26.879 --> 00:01:30.319 my grandmother's peace so badly, she made it clear to 23 00:01:30.400 --> 00:01:33.319 me to put my skills to good use or face 24 00:01:33.439 --> 00:01:37.959 dire consequences. Back then, I had none of the fancy 25 00:01:38.040 --> 00:01:40.879 stuff that you see now. I had no camo, no 26 00:01:41.040 --> 00:01:44.760 tree stand, no deer year in debate them in it 27 00:01:44.799 --> 00:01:47.959 was just me in a pair of quiet sneakers, my rifle, 28 00:01:48.120 --> 00:01:52.079 and my best friend to help me. Together, we weighed 29 00:01:52.159 --> 00:01:54.920 our options for where best to funnel the deer in. 30 00:01:55.439 --> 00:01:58.280 We decided on a place about three miles from my 31 00:01:58.359 --> 00:02:01.959 grandparents' farm. We'd have the best chance to see them 32 00:02:02.000 --> 00:02:05.400 along a well worn trail that extended into the woods 33 00:02:05.439 --> 00:02:09.280 for at least eight miles. It passed by a small 34 00:02:09.400 --> 00:02:12.800 pond that no one ever visited but us. The woods 35 00:02:12.800 --> 00:02:16.719 were all pines along the roadside, but deeper in they 36 00:02:16.800 --> 00:02:21.080 transitioned back to oak and black gum. My pine was 37 00:02:21.120 --> 00:02:24.759 cut periodically, but the hardwood has stood for one hundred 38 00:02:24.800 --> 00:02:28.039 and twenty years or more. Some of those trees are 39 00:02:28.080 --> 00:02:30.719 five feet at the base and well over one hundred 40 00:02:30.759 --> 00:02:35.560 feet tall. We got started early for us on a 41 00:02:35.599 --> 00:02:40.199 cool Saturday morning in September. Bama was playing later, so 42 00:02:40.319 --> 00:02:42.639 we wanted to be back in time to see the game. 43 00:02:43.479 --> 00:02:46.039 We let out for the hardwoods down by the creek. 44 00:02:46.360 --> 00:02:49.560 We planned on taking the long way, but after about 45 00:02:49.639 --> 00:02:52.599 an hour of walking, my best friend wasn't so keen 46 00:02:52.840 --> 00:02:55.520 on wasting his Saturday helping me have a place to 47 00:02:55.560 --> 00:02:59.800 sleep and eat. We stopped where we were and decided 48 00:02:59.840 --> 00:03:02.520 to hunt from a makeshift blind that we threw together 49 00:03:02.639 --> 00:03:05.840 on the spot. It wasn't much more than a couple 50 00:03:05.919 --> 00:03:08.759 of limbs and some well placed leaves, but it gave 51 00:03:08.840 --> 00:03:12.879 us some concealment. It also gave us a great view 52 00:03:13.039 --> 00:03:16.319 of the forty acre valley below us, and we were 53 00:03:16.360 --> 00:03:19.000 perched along an old game trail, high up on a 54 00:03:19.120 --> 00:03:23.360 natural ledge about two hundred feet above. We sat there, 55 00:03:23.400 --> 00:03:26.879 four feet apart with our rifles, something to drink, and 56 00:03:26.919 --> 00:03:30.680 a lot of AMMO for what seemed like hours. We 57 00:03:30.800 --> 00:03:33.919 traded off taking naps, but our butts were getting sore 58 00:03:33.960 --> 00:03:37.599 and our legs were starting to fall asleep. We were 59 00:03:37.639 --> 00:03:41.039 serious about our mission, but I wasn't any happier about 60 00:03:41.080 --> 00:03:45.919 spending my Saturday out there than my friend was at 61 00:03:45.919 --> 00:03:49.439 eleven That morning, I saw something moving in the valley 62 00:03:49.439 --> 00:03:52.960 at my one o'clock. It was just a brownish blur 63 00:03:53.240 --> 00:03:55.919 four hundred yards out and two hundred feet below me. 64 00:03:56.960 --> 00:03:59.800 I tapped my friend and pointed it out. He gave 65 00:03:59.840 --> 00:04:02.560 me the thumbs up and trained to scope on it. 66 00:04:03.479 --> 00:04:07.240 Before I could lift my rifle, twenty codies came racing 67 00:04:07.319 --> 00:04:10.680 out of that same direction with their tails between their legs. 68 00:04:11.840 --> 00:04:15.680 They weren't chasing anything, and they weren't fighting. They were 69 00:04:15.719 --> 00:04:19.079 in a full out run for their lives. I could 70 00:04:19.120 --> 00:04:21.439 think of only one thing in those woods that would 71 00:04:21.439 --> 00:04:24.240 cause this behavior, and I wanted no part of it. 72 00:04:25.720 --> 00:04:29.040 Years earlier, my grandfather and some neighbors had hunted a 73 00:04:29.040 --> 00:04:32.199 two hundred pound mountain lion that laid waste to some 74 00:04:32.240 --> 00:04:36.560 pretty vicious dogs they sent after it. Several had shot 75 00:04:36.560 --> 00:04:39.399 at it, but no one got it. Now a twelve 76 00:04:39.480 --> 00:04:41.759 year old boy and his buddy were going toe to 77 00:04:41.759 --> 00:04:45.040 toe with it. No thanks. I didn't want to run. 78 00:04:45.480 --> 00:04:47.879 I had visions of catching this thing out in the 79 00:04:47.920 --> 00:04:52.040 open and dropping it once and for all. I'd be famous. 80 00:04:52.720 --> 00:04:54.759 I guess I could have mounted it and been the 81 00:04:54.800 --> 00:04:58.639 big hunter. For a while, my buddy tapped my arm 82 00:04:58.680 --> 00:05:01.000 and said, you see that oak at the break in 83 00:05:01.120 --> 00:05:04.360 the pines, by that old dead stump, look through your 84 00:05:04.399 --> 00:05:08.319 scope just above it. The whole time I was straining 85 00:05:08.399 --> 00:05:11.639 to find it, I was steadying myself to take a shot. 86 00:05:12.839 --> 00:05:15.800 Finally I z rode in on it. But it wasn't 87 00:05:15.839 --> 00:05:20.279 a big cat. It had a face. Three hundred yards 88 00:05:20.279 --> 00:05:23.120 from us was something between an ape and a human 89 00:05:23.279 --> 00:05:27.959 that looked like he'd been pumping iron on steroids. He 90 00:05:28.120 --> 00:05:30.920 was down in the push up position and he was 91 00:05:30.959 --> 00:05:34.439 staring back at me. I could see his eyes plain 92 00:05:34.519 --> 00:05:37.120 as day, and his lip would curl up and he 93 00:05:37.240 --> 00:05:41.040 sniffed the air. Yeah, he sniffed the air. He was 94 00:05:41.079 --> 00:05:45.000 trying to wind us like a hound dog will do. Definitely, 95 00:05:45.160 --> 00:05:48.959 he went from prone to squatting, and he moved unbelievably fast. 96 00:05:49.639 --> 00:05:52.319 I don't think he realized I had spotted him yet. 97 00:05:52.879 --> 00:05:57.199 He was still trying to remain covert. My buddy's feet 98 00:05:57.240 --> 00:06:00.160 started trying to run, but its brain hadn't caught up 99 00:06:00.199 --> 00:06:03.120 with him yet. I was trying to keep him from running, 100 00:06:03.120 --> 00:06:05.439 and trying to explain that we weren't going to outrun 101 00:06:05.480 --> 00:06:08.519 that thing. All the while that pack of codies was 102 00:06:08.600 --> 00:06:12.319 bearing down on us. They were less than one hundred 103 00:06:12.399 --> 00:06:15.079 yards away, and I had no idea how they were 104 00:06:15.120 --> 00:06:19.480 going to take to discovering us there. Meanwhile, I made 105 00:06:19.480 --> 00:06:22.959 a fatal era no hunter should ever make. I had 106 00:06:23.000 --> 00:06:25.639 taken my eyes off the hairy thing by the stump 107 00:06:26.680 --> 00:06:29.399 to give my friend his due. He didn't cry or scream, 108 00:06:29.800 --> 00:06:32.439 but a slight panic over whether to choose to fight 109 00:06:32.600 --> 00:06:36.000 or flight had definitely set in. I just wanted to 110 00:06:36.000 --> 00:06:38.800 get out of there without running into whatever that thing was. 111 00:06:40.560 --> 00:06:43.920 Seconds passed and the codies came running straight at us, 112 00:06:44.000 --> 00:06:46.720 like I knew they would. But my only thought was 113 00:06:46.759 --> 00:06:50.519 that thing below and where it was now. I have 114 00:06:50.680 --> 00:06:54.560 cherished every day of my life since that moment. That 115 00:06:54.720 --> 00:06:56.839 was the day that I could have died, and it 116 00:06:56.839 --> 00:06:59.439 would have been no one's fault but my own. Because 117 00:06:59.480 --> 00:07:04.319 of the many arrows that followed we ran. We picked 118 00:07:04.360 --> 00:07:08.519 flight over fight. The chase was on. We were two 119 00:07:08.519 --> 00:07:11.240 and a half miles from the house and a mile 120 00:07:11.279 --> 00:07:14.519 and three quarters to earshot of people working on our farm. 121 00:07:15.800 --> 00:07:19.639 It began in a frenzy fueled by youth and farm living, 122 00:07:20.600 --> 00:07:23.279 the hard work that we put in every day helped 123 00:07:23.279 --> 00:07:28.000 our strengthen stamina. I assumed if we turned into an 124 00:07:28.040 --> 00:07:30.839 area of dense timber that we could out maneuver it. 125 00:07:31.399 --> 00:07:34.759 I was wrong. For the next mile we played a 126 00:07:34.800 --> 00:07:37.319 guessing game of which damn side of us it was 127 00:07:37.360 --> 00:07:40.680 going to be on. We heard footfalls on either side, 128 00:07:41.079 --> 00:07:44.160 and I convinced myself it was my heart beat pounding 129 00:07:44.319 --> 00:07:47.959 in my ears. I knew there was a small gully 130 00:07:48.040 --> 00:07:50.680 coming up that ran for about one hundred yards or so. 131 00:07:51.360 --> 00:07:54.000 It was about ten feet deep and twenty feet wide 132 00:07:54.000 --> 00:07:56.879 in places. I made up my mind that I was 133 00:07:56.920 --> 00:08:00.439 going to do my best impression of Customs Last Stand 134 00:08:00.600 --> 00:08:04.839 right there. We hit the wash with me and the lead, 135 00:08:04.959 --> 00:08:07.199 thinking that we would get to the other end, where 136 00:08:07.240 --> 00:08:09.800 there was one hell of a twelve foot climb out 137 00:08:10.680 --> 00:08:13.000 we could get back up to the top. We'd equal 138 00:08:13.000 --> 00:08:16.279 the odds on size, and then with that thing in 139 00:08:16.319 --> 00:08:19.120 the wash below, we'd fill it full of holes from 140 00:08:19.120 --> 00:08:23.319 the safety above. We reached the end, but it was 141 00:08:23.360 --> 00:08:25.800 so muddy and slimy there was no way we were 142 00:08:25.839 --> 00:08:28.959 coming out that way, and I turned and searched for 143 00:08:29.000 --> 00:08:31.519 a spot where I could grab some roots and climb out. 144 00:08:32.559 --> 00:08:34.679 I found it and made a quick work of getting 145 00:08:34.720 --> 00:08:36.720 out of there, and then I grabbed my buddy and 146 00:08:36.799 --> 00:08:40.639 helped him up. We were exhausted and breathless, and we 147 00:08:40.720 --> 00:08:44.000 sat there for a moment, thinking we'd gotten away. And 148 00:08:44.039 --> 00:08:47.480 then suddenly I looked up and there it was, less 149 00:08:47.519 --> 00:08:51.200 than sixty yards from us. It had been pacing us 150 00:08:51.320 --> 00:08:56.279 the whole time. That was the first, real, honest to God, look, 151 00:08:56.320 --> 00:08:59.279 I got it. This creature. He was seven feet tall 152 00:08:59.320 --> 00:09:02.480 and weighed full hundred pounds, and he was pure lean muscle. 153 00:09:03.320 --> 00:09:05.360 You could plow a lot of corn with a mule 154 00:09:05.399 --> 00:09:09.360 belt like that. He had a metallic smell of old 155 00:09:09.399 --> 00:09:13.159 blood mixed with rotten meat. He was breathing slow and 156 00:09:13.240 --> 00:09:16.440 with a purpose. And there he stood for us to see. 157 00:09:17.080 --> 00:09:20.399 Was he an ape, a man? Or was it a bigfoot? 158 00:09:21.039 --> 00:09:24.120 I had no clue, and I knew nothing about bigfoot 159 00:09:24.159 --> 00:09:27.559 at that time. He had a thick brow, but his 160 00:09:27.720 --> 00:09:32.279 nose was skinnier than a Neanderthal. His hands were huge, 161 00:09:32.600 --> 00:09:37.440 and his breastbone was thick. Large joints connected his limbs, 162 00:09:37.600 --> 00:09:40.679 and the muscles at the top of his legs stood out. 163 00:09:41.320 --> 00:09:44.159 His lights and pecks were well defined, and he was 164 00:09:44.200 --> 00:09:47.720 covered in coarse hair that reflected light like an old 165 00:09:47.759 --> 00:09:53.320 hound's furwell sometimes, and the mouth didn't fit the creature whatsoever. 166 00:09:54.000 --> 00:09:57.480 It protruded because of the teeth, giving the impression that 167 00:09:57.559 --> 00:09:59.960 it came out a few inches more than it should out. 168 00:10:01.799 --> 00:10:04.480 We were taking all this in when something in the 169 00:10:04.519 --> 00:10:06.600 back of my mind told me that he wanted us 170 00:10:06.639 --> 00:10:11.840 to focus on him. Footfalls were coming from somewhere behind us, 171 00:10:12.000 --> 00:10:15.440 and it broke through the dumbfounded trance that we were in. 172 00:10:16.399 --> 00:10:19.000 We heard limbs breaking too close to us, and I 173 00:10:19.039 --> 00:10:21.159 turned to get a glimpse of his buddy doing his 174 00:10:21.240 --> 00:10:24.480 best to hide behind a tree one hundred yards from us. 175 00:10:24.840 --> 00:10:27.600 And he was smaller and had a lighter coat. But 176 00:10:27.720 --> 00:10:31.919 beyond that, I couldn't say. I had enough of being chased. 177 00:10:32.799 --> 00:10:35.200 I decided that people were going to know which one 178 00:10:35.240 --> 00:10:37.720 of these things ate me, because he'd be the one 179 00:10:37.799 --> 00:10:42.279 bleeding the most. Put all your bullets into him, was 180 00:10:42.320 --> 00:10:46.720 all I whispered to my friend while I fired on Johnny, 181 00:10:46.759 --> 00:10:49.440 come lately behind us. My friend opened up on the 182 00:10:49.519 --> 00:10:52.240 big one. I laid down a line of fire that 183 00:10:52.320 --> 00:10:54.639 knocked huge chunks out of the tree that he was 184 00:10:54.720 --> 00:10:57.759 hiding behind, and then I turned and fired on the 185 00:10:57.799 --> 00:11:01.879 big one too. He was running down the wash. It's 186 00:11:01.960 --> 00:11:04.919 time to go, I shouted, and we did a hundred 187 00:11:04.960 --> 00:11:09.120 yard swap out, run cover, run, cover. We'd stop every 188 00:11:09.200 --> 00:11:12.159 so often to listen and catch our breath, and then 189 00:11:12.279 --> 00:11:14.480 we'd go right back to it until we had the 190 00:11:14.519 --> 00:11:18.759 big barn in sight. We hit the long gravel road 191 00:11:18.960 --> 00:11:22.000 and walk from there, and we decided before we got 192 00:11:22.080 --> 00:11:24.840 to the house that this was a story that we'd 193 00:11:24.879 --> 00:11:28.120 never tell anyone, not if we had any hope of 194 00:11:28.159 --> 00:11:32.759 every deer hunting again. For months, we didn't go back 195 00:11:32.759 --> 00:11:35.559 out there, and every time we looked in that direction, 196 00:11:36.120 --> 00:11:39.840 we would decide to play football or something, anything but 197 00:11:39.960 --> 00:11:43.840 go into those woods. I managed to put it all 198 00:11:43.879 --> 00:11:46.159 in the back of my mind, and as the years 199 00:11:46.159 --> 00:11:49.360 have passed, I haven't given it much thought, mainly because 200 00:11:49.399 --> 00:11:53.639 I no longer go in the woods. So there I 201 00:11:53.879 --> 00:11:56.440 was eighteen months ago, and I was sitting in my 202 00:11:56.600 --> 00:11:58.879 yard waiting for my dog to go to the bathroom 203 00:11:58.960 --> 00:12:01.480 in my neighbor's yard at twelve thirty in the morning, 204 00:12:02.080 --> 00:12:05.360 when a fear I haven't known in years ran up 205 00:12:05.399 --> 00:12:09.840 my spine. I live across from a three thousand acre 206 00:12:09.960 --> 00:12:15.519 protected wilderness area. I recognized immediately that I was being stalked. 207 00:12:15.840 --> 00:12:18.840 I was being hunted, and their eyes were on me, 208 00:12:19.080 --> 00:12:22.799 watching my every move. I walked back inside and got 209 00:12:22.799 --> 00:12:26.200 my pistol. I came out and pessed on my mailbox post, 210 00:12:26.559 --> 00:12:29.879 all the while shouting at the woods. I been running 211 00:12:29.919 --> 00:12:32.120 for forty three years, and I ain't gonna do it 212 00:12:32.159 --> 00:12:37.039 no more. Make no mistake, these things mean you harm. 213 00:12:37.759 --> 00:12:40.960 I do not subscribe to the theory that they are harmless, 214 00:12:41.039 --> 00:12:48.759 because they are not. Back in nineteen eighty four, my 215 00:12:48.879 --> 00:12:51.519 family lived on a farm on the edge of town 216 00:12:51.720 --> 00:12:55.360 in the heart of Kentucky. The house sat on a 217 00:12:55.440 --> 00:12:58.720 hilltop with a big black barn behind it in a long, 218 00:12:58.879 --> 00:13:03.039 narrow valley. Beyond that, the house set well above the 219 00:13:03.120 --> 00:13:07.000 roadway and even higher above the valley. The valley sat 220 00:13:07.039 --> 00:13:11.559 even lower and was surrounded by woods. I was sixteen 221 00:13:11.679 --> 00:13:14.919 and feeling pretty low. My girlfriend had just called me 222 00:13:14.960 --> 00:13:17.840 on the phone and broken up with me after two months. 223 00:13:18.679 --> 00:13:21.840 She didn't even give me a reason. It was February, 224 00:13:21.879 --> 00:13:24.840 but the weather was beginning to show signs of spring 225 00:13:25.120 --> 00:13:28.879 after a long winter. The temperature was somewhat in the 226 00:13:28.919 --> 00:13:31.600 mid forties, and there were only a few patches of 227 00:13:31.639 --> 00:13:35.639 snow here and there. I needed to get away and think, 228 00:13:35.799 --> 00:13:38.840 so I headed for my favorite spot, and for me, 229 00:13:39.360 --> 00:13:42.200 that was the woods. I spent a great deal of 230 00:13:42.279 --> 00:13:46.679 time there, and sometimes with friends, but usually alone. My 231 00:13:46.759 --> 00:13:49.279 father had left my mother when I was young, so 232 00:13:49.360 --> 00:13:52.200 the male role models in my life were my two uncles. 233 00:13:52.919 --> 00:13:55.399 They taught me to hunt and fish and to appreciate 234 00:13:55.440 --> 00:13:59.279 the beauty and wonder of nature. In those woods, there 235 00:13:59.279 --> 00:14:01.600 were a couple of gas right guys, and looking back, 236 00:14:01.639 --> 00:14:06.480 I really missed those times that we spent together. I 237 00:14:06.519 --> 00:14:08.559 walked down to the bottom of the valley, like I 238 00:14:08.679 --> 00:14:11.879 generally did. I was deep in thought about why my 239 00:14:11.960 --> 00:14:14.440 girl would break up with me, and I wasn't paying 240 00:14:14.480 --> 00:14:18.559 attention when I heard a thumping sound. It was something 241 00:14:18.639 --> 00:14:22.399 solid hitting the grass covered ground. I looked around and 242 00:14:22.440 --> 00:14:25.840 saw a rock about twenty feet from me rolling uphill. 243 00:14:26.919 --> 00:14:29.360 I figured it was either my sister or my brother 244 00:14:29.440 --> 00:14:32.039 playing a trick on me, so I turned to look 245 00:14:32.120 --> 00:14:34.960 back the way I came, expecting to see one of them, 246 00:14:35.519 --> 00:14:40.080 and I scanned around looking, but they weren't there. As 247 00:14:40.080 --> 00:14:42.960 I turned to my left, still looking for my siblings, 248 00:14:43.039 --> 00:14:45.720 I saw a twenty foot patch of snow with four 249 00:14:45.919 --> 00:14:49.919 human shaped footprints in it. It was a little unnerving 250 00:14:49.960 --> 00:14:53.600 to see the footprints because first, whoever made these prints 251 00:14:53.720 --> 00:14:57.720 wasn't wearing shoes. It wasn't freezing out, but it was 252 00:14:57.759 --> 00:15:00.879 still cold. Walking in the snow would have made it 253 00:15:00.919 --> 00:15:06.159 feel even colder. Second, these prints were huge. I walked 254 00:15:06.159 --> 00:15:09.240 over and compared them to my boot. They were nearly 255 00:15:09.279 --> 00:15:12.320 twice as long as my foot and much wider, and 256 00:15:12.360 --> 00:15:16.440 the stride was a lot longer than I could have made. 257 00:15:16.480 --> 00:15:19.279 I was still examining the footprints when I heard another 258 00:15:19.399 --> 00:15:22.159 rock hit the ground, and I turned in the direction 259 00:15:22.480 --> 00:15:25.080 of the sound, and I saw the rock twenty feet away, 260 00:15:25.360 --> 00:15:29.320 rolling downhill. This time it was bigger than the first, 261 00:15:29.600 --> 00:15:33.039 roughly the size of my fist, and I knew immediately 262 00:15:33.159 --> 00:15:36.720 it couldn't have been my brother or sister. I was 263 00:15:36.799 --> 00:15:39.159 far older and stronger than them, and I doubt I 264 00:15:39.159 --> 00:15:43.480 could have thrown it from any possible hiding spots. I 265 00:15:43.519 --> 00:15:45.600 then thought it might have been one of my friends 266 00:15:45.639 --> 00:15:48.480 who lived close. I knew Tommy was out of town 267 00:15:48.679 --> 00:15:52.000 visiting relatives, and Scotty had been in bed all week 268 00:15:52.039 --> 00:15:54.799 with a bad case of the flu. They were the 269 00:15:54.840 --> 00:15:58.240 only ones who ever came over, so I looked around again. 270 00:15:58.639 --> 00:16:03.120 Who was throwing rocks at me? The tracks probably should 271 00:16:03.159 --> 00:16:05.840 have sent me running home, but I honestly thought someone 272 00:16:05.960 --> 00:16:08.919 was playing a prank on me. My uncle's taught me 273 00:16:09.000 --> 00:16:12.000 that tracks made in the snow will expand when they melt, 274 00:16:12.399 --> 00:16:16.200 so I figured it was just a joke. I walked 275 00:16:16.200 --> 00:16:19.120 forward with a lot of confidence. You better knock it off. 276 00:16:19.159 --> 00:16:23.480 I'm throw rocks too, I said. Another rock was chucked 277 00:16:23.480 --> 00:16:26.399 at me, and this time I saw it in mid flight, 278 00:16:26.519 --> 00:16:28.559 so I knew it was coming from the left corner 279 00:16:28.679 --> 00:16:31.919 of the woods, near the property line. It was two 280 00:16:32.039 --> 00:16:34.919 hundred feet from me, and I thought whoever was throwing 281 00:16:34.960 --> 00:16:38.679 these rocks must have a pretty good arm. Another rock 282 00:16:38.840 --> 00:16:42.440 landed ten feet to my right. I was getting angry now, 283 00:16:42.720 --> 00:16:45.159 so I walked over and picked it up before it 284 00:16:45.240 --> 00:16:48.519 stopped rolling. It was a little bigger than I would 285 00:16:48.519 --> 00:16:51.720 have normally wanted to throw, but in my frustration, I 286 00:16:51.759 --> 00:16:55.480 threw it back. Then I screamed an insult at whoever 287 00:16:55.639 --> 00:16:59.720 this was for good measure. My throw was way off 288 00:16:59.720 --> 00:17:02.879 the It hit the ground well short of the tree line, 289 00:17:03.000 --> 00:17:06.640 so I looked around for another rock to throw. I 290 00:17:06.680 --> 00:17:09.359 found a few in the grass between the patches of snow, 291 00:17:09.599 --> 00:17:11.920 so I picked one up that fitted my hand better. 292 00:17:12.480 --> 00:17:15.599 This time. It hit a tree just inside the woodline. 293 00:17:16.720 --> 00:17:19.480 Then I saw a movement eighty feet to my left, 294 00:17:19.720 --> 00:17:22.720 in the nearest section of trees. It was a lot 295 00:17:22.759 --> 00:17:25.400 closer to me than where the rocks were coming from. 296 00:17:27.279 --> 00:17:30.240 I only got a glimpse, maybe four or five seconds 297 00:17:30.279 --> 00:17:33.359 at most. Most of it was obscured by the thick 298 00:17:33.440 --> 00:17:37.680 brushing trees. I saw a dark upper portion of a 299 00:17:37.720 --> 00:17:41.519 massive right shoulder blade and a huge moving arm about 300 00:17:41.559 --> 00:17:46.440 seven feet off the ground. Also, I saw what looked 301 00:17:46.480 --> 00:17:50.119 like thick legs as it ran behind a tree. It 302 00:17:50.160 --> 00:17:53.319 was completely covered in reddish hair that bounced as it 303 00:17:53.359 --> 00:17:57.440 disappeared into the trees. I was nearly awe struck. Its 304 00:17:57.559 --> 00:18:01.480 movements were so graceful and fluid. It was completely different 305 00:18:01.519 --> 00:18:04.559 from how a deer or a human would move. Now 306 00:18:04.559 --> 00:18:07.240 I knew immediately it wasn't a bear or a cougar. 307 00:18:07.599 --> 00:18:11.119 It was too large. Both bears and cougars are extremely 308 00:18:11.240 --> 00:18:15.920 rare in Kentucky, and neither of them throw rocks. I 309 00:18:15.960 --> 00:18:18.799 barely had time to register what I was seeing when 310 00:18:18.839 --> 00:18:22.119 another rock landed five feet from me. It came from 311 00:18:22.160 --> 00:18:26.160 the same direction as the others. Then I heard heavy 312 00:18:26.200 --> 00:18:29.599 footfalls in the woods from that same direction. There were 313 00:18:29.599 --> 00:18:32.839 definitely more than one of them. To say I wasn't 314 00:18:32.920 --> 00:18:36.920 terrified would be a bold faced lie. I knew I 315 00:18:36.960 --> 00:18:39.839 had to get out of there. I was alone and unarmed. 316 00:18:40.319 --> 00:18:43.000 The nearest house was over half a mile away, on 317 00:18:43.039 --> 00:18:46.319 the other side of the valley and flanked by thick trees. 318 00:18:47.599 --> 00:18:50.480 I knew the elderly couple who lived there. They were 319 00:18:50.599 --> 00:18:53.079 nice people, but they wouldn't have been able to hear 320 00:18:53.119 --> 00:18:56.240 me even if they were outside, which they rarely were. 321 00:18:57.240 --> 00:18:59.599 My house was over three quarters of a mile away. 322 00:19:00.039 --> 00:19:03.160 My mom and siblings had been inside watching TV when 323 00:19:03.200 --> 00:19:07.720 I left. At that moment, I forgot all about my girlfriend. 324 00:19:08.839 --> 00:19:12.440 Survival was my priority. I wanted to run, but I 325 00:19:12.559 --> 00:19:16.119 remembered what my uncles had told me about predators. Never 326 00:19:16.160 --> 00:19:18.839 turn your back on them, and running will kick in 327 00:19:18.920 --> 00:19:24.079 their instinct to chase. Fear turned into anger as I 328 00:19:24.119 --> 00:19:26.599 picked up as many rocks as I could find and 329 00:19:26.680 --> 00:19:29.480 started throwing them back towards the woods as fast as 330 00:19:29.559 --> 00:19:33.440 I could. I at least a string of obscenities and 331 00:19:33.559 --> 00:19:37.160 foul language as I did all the while moving backwards 332 00:19:37.160 --> 00:19:41.640 a few dozen paces at a time. Years later, during 333 00:19:41.799 --> 00:19:44.519 my time in the military, I learned to call that 334 00:19:44.799 --> 00:19:49.640 a tactical retreat. More rocks are being thrown back at 335 00:19:49.640 --> 00:19:53.519 me now, and from two different directions. I switched targets 336 00:19:53.599 --> 00:19:56.279 back and forth as I slowly made my way back 337 00:19:56.319 --> 00:20:00.440 down the valley. Locked in combat with an unseen enemy. 338 00:20:01.559 --> 00:20:03.839 I was out numbered and out gun but I kept 339 00:20:03.839 --> 00:20:07.480 throwing and moving and cussing and cursing. I doubted the 340 00:20:07.519 --> 00:20:11.960 cussing helped me, but it made me feel braver. It 341 00:20:12.079 --> 00:20:15.119 was probably only five minutes before I felt the hill 342 00:20:15.319 --> 00:20:18.799 under my feet, but it felt like hours. That meant 343 00:20:18.839 --> 00:20:22.480 I was closer to the relative safety of home, and 344 00:20:22.519 --> 00:20:25.279 by now those creatures had stopped throwing rocks at me. 345 00:20:26.240 --> 00:20:30.359 My accuracy had dropped off dramatically by then, anyway, and 346 00:20:30.400 --> 00:20:33.599 I scanned the woods once more for movement and listened 347 00:20:33.599 --> 00:20:38.240 for sounds. I didn't see or hear anything, and exhausted 348 00:20:38.279 --> 00:20:41.559 and sweating like i'd run a marathon, I took off 349 00:20:41.599 --> 00:20:44.839 my coat and stood there for another five minutes before 350 00:20:44.880 --> 00:20:47.559 I felt it was safe enough to turn and high 351 00:20:47.640 --> 00:20:52.119 tailor at home. I didn't tell my mother and siblings 352 00:20:52.119 --> 00:20:55.599 what had happened. I didn't want to scare them. The 353 00:20:55.640 --> 00:20:57.920 next day I told one of my uncles, who brought 354 00:20:57.920 --> 00:21:01.000 his shotgun over and slept down into the valley with me, 355 00:21:01.119 --> 00:21:05.119 to retrace my steps. I showed him the tracks in 356 00:21:05.200 --> 00:21:08.400 the snow. There were huge gouges in the hard dirt 357 00:21:08.440 --> 00:21:11.799 where the rocks and landed. We walked into the woodline 358 00:21:11.799 --> 00:21:15.119 where I had seen the one running. That's where I 359 00:21:15.200 --> 00:21:17.720 compared the size and height of the trees to the 360 00:21:17.720 --> 00:21:21.319 spot where I saw the shoulder and the arm. This 361 00:21:21.400 --> 00:21:24.799 thing must have been massive, but we didn't find any 362 00:21:24.920 --> 00:21:29.119 tracks there. We left the area, but not before I 363 00:21:29.279 --> 00:21:33.759 noticed that my uncle was being unusually quiet. After we 364 00:21:33.839 --> 00:21:36.599 got back to the house and well away from my mom, 365 00:21:37.079 --> 00:21:39.880 he told me that he'd had a strange experience there 366 00:21:39.920 --> 00:21:45.759 many years before. My eldest uncle served in Vietnam. He's 367 00:21:45.799 --> 00:21:50.440 a quiet man who rarely shows his emotions or gets upset. 368 00:21:50.720 --> 00:21:53.160 When he came home from the war, he couldn't wait 369 00:21:53.200 --> 00:21:55.680 to get back into his beloved woods where he could 370 00:21:55.759 --> 00:21:59.039 hunt and fish, And then he finally got the chance. 371 00:21:59.480 --> 00:22:04.559 It was a bit sweet experience. It isn't an easy 372 00:22:04.720 --> 00:22:08.759 transition from life of daily combat back to a peaceful 373 00:22:08.799 --> 00:22:13.359 civilian existence. The woods of Kentucky looked nothing like the 374 00:22:13.440 --> 00:22:17.279 jungles of Southeast Asia, but the oppressive feeling of the 375 00:22:17.319 --> 00:22:23.119 dense vegetation and the limited visibility are similar. It took 376 00:22:23.160 --> 00:22:25.480 him quite a while to get over the nagging fear 377 00:22:25.640 --> 00:22:30.440 of someone waiting behind every bush to kill him. Slowly, 378 00:22:30.519 --> 00:22:33.279 he worked his way back to his favorite fishing spots. 379 00:22:33.759 --> 00:22:38.200 Once he was comfortable, he began to hunt again. One day, 380 00:22:38.240 --> 00:22:41.599 he was out hunting squirrels alone with his twenty two rifle. 381 00:22:42.279 --> 00:22:45.319 He was also carrying a revolver in his hip holster. 382 00:22:46.400 --> 00:22:49.200 He walked for hours and saw a few squirrels that 383 00:22:49.240 --> 00:22:52.279 they were too small to trouble with. When he decided 384 00:22:52.279 --> 00:22:56.319 to take a break, he sat down under a large 385 00:22:56.400 --> 00:23:00.559 tree on top of a heavily wooded ridgeline. From there, 386 00:23:00.640 --> 00:23:03.400 he had a clear view down into the nearby holler. 387 00:23:04.799 --> 00:23:07.279 He'd been sitting there for about ten minutes when he 388 00:23:07.319 --> 00:23:11.160 saw movement below. He only saw bushes moving, but he 389 00:23:11.240 --> 00:23:14.519 suspected it was a deer. It was too early for 390 00:23:14.599 --> 00:23:17.799 deer season, but knowing their paths might help him decide 391 00:23:17.799 --> 00:23:20.960 where to build a stand. Later, he decided to go 392 00:23:21.079 --> 00:23:25.599 down check it out. He got up and slowly made 393 00:23:25.640 --> 00:23:28.799 his way down to the holler. The trees and underbrush 394 00:23:28.920 --> 00:23:31.920 made it impossible to get a clear view of whatever 395 00:23:32.079 --> 00:23:34.640 was moving around, but he found a little path that 396 00:23:34.759 --> 00:23:38.640 had made whatever it was. He knew it wasn't a deer. 397 00:23:40.119 --> 00:23:43.359 It looked almost like a small bulldozer had made the path, 398 00:23:43.799 --> 00:23:47.880 like six deer had walked inside by side. He never 399 00:23:47.920 --> 00:23:51.200 seen them move that way, and plus, the vegetation looked 400 00:23:51.279 --> 00:23:53.759 like it had been smashed aside and pulled out of 401 00:23:53.799 --> 00:23:57.119