1 00:00:07,759 --> 00:00:10,119 Speaker 1: My name is Don and I have lived most of 2 00:00:10,160 --> 00:00:13,560 my life in West Virginia. I have been a hunter 3 00:00:13,679 --> 00:00:16,559 and trapper my whole life, and a hunting god for 4 00:00:16,600 --> 00:00:20,719 twenty four years. I stopped guiding people two years ago 5 00:00:20,839 --> 00:00:23,839 due to my bad legs. I still bow hunt, a 6 00:00:23,920 --> 00:00:27,399 rifle hunt deer and bear, and some small game in Turkey. 7 00:00:28,399 --> 00:00:31,519 I also still run a small trap line some winters 8 00:00:31,559 --> 00:00:35,119 when I can. When I was younger, I had a 9 00:00:35,119 --> 00:00:38,039 few strange things happened to me that I brushed off 10 00:00:38,079 --> 00:00:44,159 and ignored. Starting in twenty fourteen, though things changed. I 11 00:00:44,240 --> 00:00:46,520 used to laugh at the TV shows and joke with 12 00:00:46,560 --> 00:00:51,119 my kids about sasquatch, but that year I decided maybe 13 00:00:51,200 --> 00:00:54,200 it's not so much of a joke after all. My 14 00:00:54,280 --> 00:00:56,600 youngest son was seven years old at the time. In 15 00:00:56,840 --> 00:01:00,159 West Virginia opened an early black powder season near the 16 00:01:00,240 --> 00:01:04,000 end of September. At that time, I was living and 17 00:01:04,079 --> 00:01:08,719 working in an orchard and Upland shooting preserve, and after 18 00:01:08,760 --> 00:01:11,000 work one evening, I took my son on the four 19 00:01:11,040 --> 00:01:14,760 wheeler across the orchard seven hundred yards from my house 20 00:01:15,120 --> 00:01:17,159 and I set up to watch deer come out and 21 00:01:17,159 --> 00:01:21,599 eat apples. This spot was in four hundred acres of 22 00:01:21,640 --> 00:01:24,719 apple trees surrounded by corn and beans, but there was 23 00:01:24,760 --> 00:01:27,239 a ten acre patch of woods in the middle, and 24 00:01:27,280 --> 00:01:31,319 I would usually hunt in that area when it was 25 00:01:31,439 --> 00:01:34,760 just about dark. We still had not seen a single deer, 26 00:01:34,879 --> 00:01:38,799 which I thought was odd, and then seventy five yards 27 00:01:38,840 --> 00:01:41,000 away from the edge of the woods, something let out 28 00:01:41,000 --> 00:01:45,840 the loudest, deepest howl I had ever heard. The sound 29 00:01:46,000 --> 00:01:49,560 ended in a terrifying, guttural roar that I could feel 30 00:01:49,599 --> 00:01:52,200 all the way to my bones. It was like a 31 00:01:52,280 --> 00:01:55,920 lion or a grizzly bear, but much more intense and 32 00:01:56,040 --> 00:02:00,519 much more unnatural. My son looked at me. He was scared. 33 00:02:00,599 --> 00:02:05,359 Straight Dad, what's that, he asked me. I shook my head. 34 00:02:05,719 --> 00:02:08,080 I don't know, but I'm pretty sure we're not armed 35 00:02:08,120 --> 00:02:11,199 for whatever it is, I said, and I looked at 36 00:02:11,199 --> 00:02:16,000 my old Hawking fifty cow black powder rifle. The roar 37 00:02:16,240 --> 00:02:19,680 came a second time, so intense that it seemed to 38 00:02:19,680 --> 00:02:22,680 shake the earth. I got my son up and headed 39 00:02:22,719 --> 00:02:25,599 as fast as possible to the four wheeler, and on 40 00:02:25,639 --> 00:02:29,120 our way out there wheels spinning. That thing hit us 41 00:02:29,120 --> 00:02:33,199 with another roar. When we got back, I got my 42 00:02:33,280 --> 00:02:36,120 son into the safety of the house and I sat 43 00:02:36,159 --> 00:02:39,080 down and listened for it for over an hour. I 44 00:02:39,159 --> 00:02:41,919 never heard it again, but I knew whatever it was 45 00:02:42,039 --> 00:02:45,879 did not want us there. My girlfriend laughed at me 46 00:02:45,960 --> 00:02:48,759 at first, but seeing that I was worried, she helped 47 00:02:48,759 --> 00:02:52,960 me research animals that could have possibly made that sound. Now, 48 00:02:53,000 --> 00:02:55,599 I've spent my life in the outdoors and never heard 49 00:02:55,719 --> 00:02:59,479 anything like this. I heard a lion roar once at 50 00:02:59,520 --> 00:03:02,319 the zoo, but it was nothing compared to that thing 51 00:03:02,439 --> 00:03:06,080 in the woods. Whatever it was must have been big 52 00:03:06,120 --> 00:03:08,719 and rare, because the only sound that came close to 53 00:03:08,759 --> 00:03:14,560 that was a sasquatch scream recorded in Canada. The next morning, 54 00:03:14,599 --> 00:03:17,280 I went to work and my boss, who lived and 55 00:03:17,360 --> 00:03:19,599 worked in the orchard, asked me if I had seen 56 00:03:19,639 --> 00:03:22,879 any deer the night before. I told him that I 57 00:03:22,919 --> 00:03:26,000 had not seen a single deer, which wasn't a lie, 58 00:03:26,520 --> 00:03:30,199 but also wasn't the entire story. He told me he 59 00:03:30,240 --> 00:03:32,719 had been out two nights earlier and didn't see any 60 00:03:32,800 --> 00:03:36,479 deer either, which was strange considering all the apples on 61 00:03:36,520 --> 00:03:41,360 the ground, which usually draws a crowd of deer. And 62 00:03:41,400 --> 00:03:45,039 then he told me something strange happened. Asked him what 63 00:03:45,159 --> 00:03:47,199 it was, and He told me that he heard something 64 00:03:47,240 --> 00:03:52,280 he had never heard before, something he just couldn't explain. Now. 65 00:03:52,439 --> 00:03:55,680 He was a retired US Army ranger, and while he 66 00:03:55,759 --> 00:03:58,240 spent plenty of time in the jungles in his career, 67 00:03:58,759 --> 00:04:01,240 he said that he had never heard to anything like this. 68 00:04:02,120 --> 00:04:04,840 When I told him what I heard, he clammed up. 69 00:04:05,479 --> 00:04:08,800 It was like my confirmation that there was something strange 70 00:04:08,919 --> 00:04:11,960 out there was more than he felt like dealing with. 71 00:04:12,439 --> 00:04:15,240 And he brushed it off as being coyotes, and we 72 00:04:15,280 --> 00:04:19,560 didn't talk about it again. It's been over seven years 73 00:04:19,560 --> 00:04:23,079 and I think about that experience every damn day. And 74 00:04:23,120 --> 00:04:26,720 now when I bow hunt, I carry a handgun. In fact, 75 00:04:26,839 --> 00:04:29,519 I carry while I work now because I'm in the 76 00:04:29,560 --> 00:04:32,519 middle of the woods every day of my life, miles 77 00:04:32,560 --> 00:04:36,079 deep in big hollers and high ridge tops. It never 78 00:04:36,160 --> 00:04:39,560 leaves my mind, and every day I think, Man, I 79 00:04:39,600 --> 00:04:42,399 don't want to meet whatever that was that made that sound, 80 00:04:42,959 --> 00:04:47,519 but I cannot give up these woods. Two years ago, 81 00:04:47,680 --> 00:04:51,480 I moved from the eastern Panhannel back to central West Virginia, 82 00:04:51,519 --> 00:04:55,399 where I grew up. It's much more rural and wooded, 83 00:04:55,639 --> 00:04:59,639 and there have been two sightings in my county years ago. 84 00:05:00,040 --> 00:05:03,079 I heard things here that I never really thought twice about, 85 00:05:03,319 --> 00:05:06,639 But now after what I heard, I kind of lose 86 00:05:06,680 --> 00:05:09,279 sleep over it, thinking how close they may have been 87 00:05:09,319 --> 00:05:13,759 to me. I once asked a DNR officer about them, 88 00:05:14,360 --> 00:05:17,759 and without a bit of humor or sarcasm in his voice, 89 00:05:17,879 --> 00:05:21,160 the officer told me, I can't say they're here, but 90 00:05:21,279 --> 00:05:26,000 I can't say they aren't. In twenty thirteen, I had 91 00:05:26,000 --> 00:05:28,480 a strip of woods. It was five hundred yards long 92 00:05:28,480 --> 00:05:32,000 and one hundred yards wide. A thick forest ran for 93 00:05:32,040 --> 00:05:35,360 several miles behind it, and corn and beans were planted 94 00:05:35,399 --> 00:05:38,839 on either side. One morning, my girlfriend had to go 95 00:05:38,879 --> 00:05:42,160 to work at five am, she drove past the spot 96 00:05:42,240 --> 00:05:45,319 I hunted, about one and a half miles from our house, 97 00:05:45,560 --> 00:05:47,639 and I asked her to drop me off on the way. 98 00:05:48,920 --> 00:05:50,959 I had planned to walk the four hundred yards in 99 00:05:51,000 --> 00:05:54,279 the dark before first light and hunt all day long 100 00:05:54,439 --> 00:05:58,319 until dark. That evening, it was an hour before daybreak 101 00:05:58,319 --> 00:06:00,839 and I was walking through the cornfield using a dim 102 00:06:00,879 --> 00:06:03,439 red light to see the way to my summit climber 103 00:06:03,600 --> 00:06:07,720 stand that I had pre owned days before. I reached 104 00:06:07,759 --> 00:06:11,279 my stand that was pretty high up, maybe twenty feet 105 00:06:11,680 --> 00:06:14,759 and had only been settled in for thirty minutes when 106 00:06:14,759 --> 00:06:18,639 I heard something. The darkness at that hour was so 107 00:06:18,800 --> 00:06:20,959 thick that I could barely see my hand in front 108 00:06:21,000 --> 00:06:23,600 of my face, and I turned my head in the 109 00:06:23,639 --> 00:06:26,399 direction of the sound, and I heard something walking in 110 00:06:26,480 --> 00:06:30,959 the exact same way that I walked in not long before. Well. 111 00:06:31,000 --> 00:06:33,639 I thought it was a heavy footed person because I 112 00:06:33,639 --> 00:06:36,040 could hear its two feet crunching in the leaves on 113 00:06:36,120 --> 00:06:39,279 the ground, and I figured maybe he had seen my 114 00:06:39,399 --> 00:06:42,240 stand and was coming to use it. And then the 115 00:06:42,279 --> 00:06:46,079 footsteps stopped, and it occurred to me how strange it 116 00:06:46,199 --> 00:06:48,000 was that a hunter would be out here in the 117 00:06:48,040 --> 00:06:53,519 pitch dark without a light. My mind started racing. When 118 00:06:53,519 --> 00:06:55,879 I grabbed my hall line and brought it up slowly, 119 00:06:55,959 --> 00:06:59,920 the footsteps started again, the crunching leaves with every step, 120 00:07:00,360 --> 00:07:03,199 and getting closer and closer and coming right at me. 121 00:07:04,120 --> 00:07:07,199 Now I won't lie. I was getting nervous. All I 122 00:07:07,240 --> 00:07:10,360 had was my long bow and four arrows. That's all 123 00:07:10,399 --> 00:07:14,079 I ever hunted with during the bow season. Whatever this 124 00:07:14,360 --> 00:07:17,399 was sounded big, and the closer it got, the heavier 125 00:07:17,519 --> 00:07:20,560 its footsteps sounded. And by the time it got to 126 00:07:20,639 --> 00:07:23,879 my tree, I was positive it was not another hunter, 127 00:07:24,600 --> 00:07:27,560 and then I heard what sounded like heavy breathing at first, 128 00:07:27,920 --> 00:07:30,240 and then I realized it was sniffing the base of 129 00:07:30,279 --> 00:07:34,680 my tree. As if that wasn't scary enough, I heard 130 00:07:34,720 --> 00:07:37,839 its hands running over the white oak bark under me, 131 00:07:38,600 --> 00:07:41,279 and I could hear the bark rustling and drop into 132 00:07:41,319 --> 00:07:43,839 the dry leaves on the ground, like the thing was 133 00:07:43,959 --> 00:07:47,720 scratching an itch or wiping off a scent, or doing 134 00:07:47,720 --> 00:07:50,240 whatever the hell a monster does in the pitch black 135 00:07:50,360 --> 00:07:54,800 darkness with the dry bark of a tree. The sound stopped, 136 00:07:54,800 --> 00:07:56,680 and I heard it take a few steps along the 137 00:07:56,720 --> 00:08:00,360 fence line. I'm pretty sure this thing stepped right over 138 00:08:00,439 --> 00:08:03,959 the barb wire fence and walked away. That was a 139 00:08:04,000 --> 00:08:07,519 five strand fence, putting it nearly five feet high. But 140 00:08:07,600 --> 00:08:12,439 I never heard a single wire rattle. I sat there stockstill, 141 00:08:12,800 --> 00:08:15,639 and I could barely breathe, thanking God that I had 142 00:08:15,680 --> 00:08:19,639 decided to hunt high that morning. I shower with a 143 00:08:19,720 --> 00:08:22,879 scent killing soap, and I washed my clothes and sent 144 00:08:23,000 --> 00:08:26,519 away and my boots and pack and bow and everything else. 145 00:08:26,600 --> 00:08:29,920 I hunt with a scent free. I even use a 146 00:08:29,920 --> 00:08:33,200 cover scent that morning. But whatever was sniffing under my 147 00:08:33,320 --> 00:08:37,679 stand smelled me anyway. It either followed my path or 148 00:08:37,720 --> 00:08:39,840 it was there when I walked in and watched me 149 00:08:39,919 --> 00:08:42,960 the whole time. If I had a bright light, I 150 00:08:43,000 --> 00:08:45,159 probably would have lit it up to see what it was. 151 00:08:45,240 --> 00:08:47,399 But I'm glad I didn't because if I had seen 152 00:08:47,440 --> 00:08:52,200 a bigfoot, I would have been in a world of hell. 153 00:08:52,320 --> 00:08:54,679 There are a few other things that I couldn't make 154 00:08:54,720 --> 00:08:57,600 sense of. While I was hunting and camping in Sleepy 155 00:08:57,720 --> 00:09:02,840 Creek Wildlife Management Area, which covers about twenty three thousand acres, 156 00:09:03,879 --> 00:09:05,840 I set up camp there in the middle of the 157 00:09:05,879 --> 00:09:08,480 forest with my boys and a friend of theirs for 158 00:09:08,519 --> 00:09:12,200 a five day black powder hunt. My youngest son and 159 00:09:12,240 --> 00:09:14,720 I slept in one tent, and my other son and 160 00:09:14,799 --> 00:09:18,720 his friend slept in the other. Our tents were ten 161 00:09:18,799 --> 00:09:21,679 yards apart, with our doors facing each other and a 162 00:09:21,679 --> 00:09:24,879 fire pit between us. It was in the middle of 163 00:09:24,919 --> 00:09:27,600 December and it was a bit cold at that time, 164 00:09:28,000 --> 00:09:31,799 and the leaf litter was frozen and would crunch underfoot. 165 00:09:33,159 --> 00:09:35,960 On the third night, I heard something on two legs 166 00:09:35,960 --> 00:09:40,200 walking behind our tent. My tent backed up against the woods, 167 00:09:40,200 --> 00:09:42,039 so I brushed it off as one of the boys 168 00:09:42,080 --> 00:09:45,039 getting up to the call of nature. I didn't think 169 00:09:45,080 --> 00:09:48,519 anything else about it. But the next morning, when I 170 00:09:48,559 --> 00:09:51,320 got up to start coffee, the boys asked who was 171 00:09:51,399 --> 00:09:55,080 up walking around the night before. Each of them denied it, 172 00:09:55,279 --> 00:09:58,039 and we went about our day without bringing it up again. 173 00:09:59,679 --> 00:10:03,639 On the fourth night, around midnight, I heard those footsteps again. 174 00:10:04,399 --> 00:10:07,600 It walked in a half moon shape around us, back 175 00:10:07,639 --> 00:10:12,480 and forth four times for forty five minutes. It would 176 00:10:12,519 --> 00:10:15,320 move and then stop, and I guess it was watching, 177 00:10:15,440 --> 00:10:18,879 and then it would move and stop again. When I 178 00:10:18,919 --> 00:10:21,120 mentioned it the next morning, none of the boys had 179 00:10:21,159 --> 00:10:25,080 any idea what I was talking about. That night, the 180 00:10:25,200 --> 00:10:28,399 last night of our camp out, I lay awake and 181 00:10:28,440 --> 00:10:31,679 I waited for it, and sure enough, around midnight, it 182 00:10:31,759 --> 00:10:35,000 came back. My oldest son heard it too, and grabbed 183 00:10:35,000 --> 00:10:37,039 a light and walked into the woods a few yards 184 00:10:37,039 --> 00:10:39,720 behind my tent, and he was looking for it, but 185 00:10:39,799 --> 00:10:43,360 he didn't see anything, and after that it never came back. 186 00:10:44,799 --> 00:10:48,639 I think there are things that we can't explain. Most 187 00:10:48,679 --> 00:10:51,159 of the time, I just want someone to give me 188 00:10:51,279 --> 00:10:55,080 a simple explanation so that I can laugh my encounters 189 00:10:55,080 --> 00:10:58,440 off and sleep better at night. But while part of 190 00:10:58,480 --> 00:11:02,320 me wants answers the other partners. I'm better off not knowing. 191 00:11:03,279 --> 00:11:06,679 I don't hunt the same anymore. Whether I'm in the 192 00:11:06,679 --> 00:11:09,879 woods before daylight or after dark, or even during the day, 193 00:11:10,159 --> 00:11:13,759 I feel watched. I look over my shoulder all the time, 194 00:11:13,879 --> 00:11:17,480 expecting to see something looking back. I know it isn't 195 00:11:17,559 --> 00:11:20,600 just in my head, because these things really happened to me. 196 00:11:21,840 --> 00:11:24,840 I used to feel home in the outdoors, but now 197 00:11:25,360 --> 00:11:34,240 I don't know. Howdy howdy, Welcome to the podcast. My 198 00:11:34,360 --> 00:11:38,240 name is Cameron Butner and this is the Dixie Cryptid 199 00:11:38,639 --> 00:11:42,679 What If It's True podcast. All we do is tell 200 00:11:42,879 --> 00:11:46,000 stories that are sent to me by real people. So 201 00:11:46,120 --> 00:11:49,000 if you like that kind of thing, you found your people. 202 00:11:50,000 --> 00:11:52,480 I got an email a couple of maybe a couple 203 00:11:52,519 --> 00:11:55,679 of weeks ago, and the it was a very nice 204 00:11:55,720 --> 00:11:58,320 email and they said they enjoyed the channel all that 205 00:11:58,440 --> 00:12:00,639 jazz and I appreciated the email, but one of the 206 00:12:00,759 --> 00:12:03,440 questions was, how do you have time to write all 207 00:12:03,440 --> 00:12:07,399 these stories? And it struck me that we have a 208 00:12:07,519 --> 00:12:10,679 whole lot of new listeners and I haven't really talked 209 00:12:10,679 --> 00:12:14,039 about this, so that you know that I don't write 210 00:12:14,080 --> 00:12:17,840 these stories. These are emails sent to me years ago. 211 00:12:18,120 --> 00:12:21,639 I asked I wrote the first five stories of this 212 00:12:21,840 --> 00:12:25,240 podcast because there are stories that I remember people had 213 00:12:25,279 --> 00:12:28,200 told me. And after that I ran out of steam 214 00:12:28,240 --> 00:12:33,039 and I said, hey, I can't continue this channel because 215 00:12:33,039 --> 00:12:36,559 I can't write all these stories. If you have a story, 216 00:12:37,120 --> 00:12:40,840 email it to me to dixiecrypt It at gmail dot com. 217 00:12:41,039 --> 00:12:44,879 My email's in the description below, And if you've had 218 00:12:44,879 --> 00:12:47,200 an encounter, send me an email and I'll share it 219 00:12:47,279 --> 00:12:51,080 on the podcast. And that is basically what we've done 220 00:12:51,120 --> 00:12:56,360 for the last six years, and I have thousands left 221 00:12:56,440 --> 00:13:00,720 to do. The material is never ending. People's still send 222 00:13:00,759 --> 00:13:04,240 me stories. Some of the stories you'll hear today go 223 00:13:04,399 --> 00:13:08,840 back to twenty twenty. That's how far behind I am 224 00:13:09,039 --> 00:13:11,559 on some of these stories. So I want to let 225 00:13:11,600 --> 00:13:13,679 you know I don't write these. We do edit them. 226 00:13:13,720 --> 00:13:16,480 We clean them up a little bit. We don't change 227 00:13:16,600 --> 00:13:19,480 the stories. We just make them a little more pleasant 228 00:13:19,480 --> 00:13:22,919 to hear, because not everybody's a writer, and that's cool, 229 00:13:22,960 --> 00:13:25,519 and that's good for you because you don't have to 230 00:13:25,559 --> 00:13:28,360 be a great writer to send a story in and 231 00:13:28,360 --> 00:13:32,240 have it heard on the podcast. You just write it 232 00:13:32,279 --> 00:13:35,519 as best you can. I mean, we edit stories that 233 00:13:35,600 --> 00:13:40,639 have zero punctuation. We edit stories that kind of ramble, 234 00:13:40,960 --> 00:13:43,559 you know, people I do that when I write, I 235 00:13:43,600 --> 00:13:46,039 tend to ramble. I have to go back and go 236 00:13:46,080 --> 00:13:48,519 well that I don't need to write this, I don't 237 00:13:48,559 --> 00:13:51,080 need to include this in the story because it doesn't 238 00:13:51,080 --> 00:13:53,600 have anything to do with the events of the story. 239 00:13:53,639 --> 00:13:56,279 And but some people don't have a lot of time, 240 00:13:56,320 --> 00:13:59,360 and they'll just rattle a story off and email it 241 00:13:59,399 --> 00:14:02,120 to me, and we do every one of them. There 242 00:14:02,200 --> 00:14:05,519 are that probably one percent that we kick out because 243 00:14:05,600 --> 00:14:08,240 we cannot make heads or tails out of them. But 244 00:14:08,320 --> 00:14:11,480 for the most part, we read every story on this channel. 245 00:14:11,480 --> 00:14:13,799 We don't change the stories. We just clean them up 246 00:14:13,840 --> 00:14:16,480 a little bit. So if you're new to the channel 247 00:14:16,519 --> 00:14:19,360 and you're wondering how I write all these I don't. 248 00:14:21,159 --> 00:14:24,960 I go through my email about once, emails my inbox 249 00:14:25,000 --> 00:14:27,679 about once a week, and I pick out ten or 250 00:14:27,720 --> 00:14:32,000 twelve stories and I'll send them to my editor and 251 00:14:32,120 --> 00:14:34,440 she'll clean them up and vet them and make sure 252 00:14:34,519 --> 00:14:37,480 that they and when I say vet that means that 253 00:14:37,600 --> 00:14:41,720 they make heads or tails, that there is a story there. 254 00:14:42,000 --> 00:14:45,120 She sends them back to me. I pay her anyway. 255 00:14:45,159 --> 00:14:47,360 That's the way this channel works. So if you're new 256 00:14:47,399 --> 00:14:49,679 to the channel, now you know what's going on, and 257 00:14:49,720 --> 00:14:52,840 I apologize for not making that clear. A lot of 258 00:14:52,879 --> 00:14:55,399 you who have been listening to the channel for a 259 00:14:55,440 --> 00:14:57,559 long time you know this, but there are some people 260 00:14:57,600 --> 00:15:00,279 who don't. So I'll shut up, quit and run my 261 00:15:00,360 --> 00:15:04,600 mouth about nothing. I can take a thirty second explanation 262 00:15:04,759 --> 00:15:08,279 and turn it into thirty minutes because I'm always trying 263 00:15:08,320 --> 00:15:12,080 to be clear so that people understand. That's basically all 264 00:15:12,120 --> 00:15:14,879 I'm doing. All right. I got two more stories in 265 00:15:14,919 --> 00:15:18,679 this podcast. That first one was awesome. It was so scary, 266 00:15:18,720 --> 00:15:21,159 it just about I don't know. I got about halfway 267 00:15:21,200 --> 00:15:22,600 through it and I was like, man, this is the 268 00:15:22,600 --> 00:15:25,440 way this guy wrote This is so creepy. But we've 269 00:15:25,440 --> 00:15:32,480 got two more. Hang on, here we go. My name 270 00:15:32,559 --> 00:15:36,240 is Dave, and you can use my name. I'm from Maryland. 271 00:15:36,559 --> 00:15:38,720 I love your channel and I listen to it every 272 00:15:38,799 --> 00:15:41,759 day at work. Oh thank you very much. I run 273 00:15:41,840 --> 00:15:44,320 heavy equipment and it's the perfect thing to listen to 274 00:15:44,519 --> 00:15:48,000 all day running dozers and excavators. I could see that 275 00:15:48,240 --> 00:15:51,840 I have to have something in my ear even while 276 00:15:52,000 --> 00:15:54,559 I'll work on a computer all day and I have 277 00:15:54,639 --> 00:15:57,360 to have something running in the background. Sometimes I'll listen 278 00:15:57,399 --> 00:16:00,000 to what's going on. Sometimes I have to pay attention 279 00:16:00,039 --> 00:16:02,759 into what I'm doing. But I get that same thing 280 00:16:02,799 --> 00:16:05,240 with the truck drivers. I got emails all the time 281 00:16:05,279 --> 00:16:08,120 from truck drivers saying our comments. Hey, I'm on the 282 00:16:08,200 --> 00:16:10,600 road all the time. I had one a comment the 283 00:16:10,639 --> 00:16:12,519 other day and a guy said, when I'm away from 284 00:16:12,519 --> 00:16:15,399 my family and I can't talk to anyone, and it's 285 00:16:15,440 --> 00:16:18,159 at two o'clock in the morning, it is so great 286 00:16:18,200 --> 00:16:21,000 to turn on these podcasts and just listen to them. 287 00:16:21,360 --> 00:16:24,759 That is such a great compliment to me. I love those. Anyway, 288 00:16:24,759 --> 00:16:28,679 back to the story, I've had a few paranormal experience 289 00:16:28,759 --> 00:16:31,279 that have turned me from a skeptic to a believer. 290 00:16:32,320 --> 00:16:35,279 My first experience was when I was sixteen and still 291 00:16:35,320 --> 00:16:39,120 living at my parents' house. I had a luvered closet 292 00:16:39,200 --> 00:16:42,960 door at the foot of my bed facing me. One night, 293 00:16:43,039 --> 00:16:45,200 out of the blue, I felt like I was being 294 00:16:45,240 --> 00:16:48,360 watched through the slights. It went on for a few 295 00:16:48,480 --> 00:16:51,240 nights until I decided to hang posters on the door, 296 00:16:51,320 --> 00:16:55,320 but things only got stranger after that. I would wake 297 00:16:55,399 --> 00:16:58,960 up each morning to find the closet cracked open. My 298 00:16:59,039 --> 00:17:02,200 dog chesters. I started refusing to come into my bedroom 299 00:17:02,240 --> 00:17:05,440 and would literally fight and struggle to stay away from it. 300 00:17:06,279 --> 00:17:09,720 A month later, my brother moved out, I moved into 301 00:17:09,759 --> 00:17:13,359 his room. I was excited, to say the least, and 302 00:17:13,440 --> 00:17:16,720 once I moved, CHESTER was suddenly all right going into 303 00:17:16,759 --> 00:17:20,039 my old room. But now I wouldn't enter the new room. 304 00:17:21,039 --> 00:17:23,440 I was on the edge because I trusted my dog, 305 00:17:23,480 --> 00:17:27,400 and I know animal have senses that we don't. The 306 00:17:27,440 --> 00:17:31,319 new closet door was solid oak, and it was lats closed, 307 00:17:31,759 --> 00:17:34,119 and no matter how hard you pulled on it, the 308 00:17:34,240 --> 00:17:38,160 door would not open without turning the knob. But when 309 00:17:38,200 --> 00:17:41,839 I moved in there, that door opened every single night. 310 00:17:43,000 --> 00:17:45,599 No one believed me until my wife, who was my 311 00:17:45,720 --> 00:17:49,279 girlfriend at the time, slept over. She woke me up 312 00:17:49,319 --> 00:17:52,480 in the middle of the night frantically saying it opened. 313 00:17:52,680 --> 00:17:56,839 I just watched it open. My second experience was in 314 00:17:56,960 --> 00:18:00,480 actual ghost sighting. I was driving my Chevy pick up 315 00:18:00,519 --> 00:18:03,440 to my friend's house one night when out of nowhere, 316 00:18:03,839 --> 00:18:07,759 my passenger seat headrest cover flew off and hit my windshield. 317 00:18:08,960 --> 00:18:11,799 At the same time, I saw a ghostly lady on 318 00:18:11,880 --> 00:18:15,119 a crosswalk in front of me. She was wearing a 319 00:18:15,160 --> 00:18:18,039 long dress and I couldn't see her feet, and as 320 00:18:18,079 --> 00:18:20,440 soon as I saw her, I slammed on my brakes, 321 00:18:20,799 --> 00:18:25,039 and as quickly as she appeared, she was gone. My 322 00:18:25,160 --> 00:18:28,880 latest experience is ongoing. I have three kids that all 323 00:18:28,920 --> 00:18:33,039 sleep upstairs. My wife works from home, and she tells 324 00:18:33,079 --> 00:18:36,480 me she hears footsteps upstairs while the kids are in school. 325 00:18:37,319 --> 00:18:40,079 I've heard them too, and it's not typical house creeks 326 00:18:40,160 --> 00:18:43,440 or groans. It sounds like a grown man walking from 327 00:18:43,480 --> 00:18:48,039 room to room. Most nights, my kids come downstairs claiming 328 00:18:48,160 --> 00:18:51,039 that they can hear someone breathing up there, and they 329 00:18:51,119 --> 00:18:54,839 know it's not their siblings. So like any good father, 330 00:18:55,079 --> 00:18:57,599 I listen to them and I try to reassure them. 331 00:18:58,160 --> 00:19:00,680 But the worst part is having to lie and tell 332 00:19:00,720 --> 00:19:03,559 them that there's nothing to be afraid of, when the 333 00:19:03,640 --> 00:19:06,920 reality is that I've seen enough strange things in my 334 00:19:07,039 --> 00:19:11,440 own life to make anyone lose sleep. I'm a thirty 335 00:19:11,480 --> 00:19:15,319 one year old Army veteran with two tours. I'm an 336 00:19:15,359 --> 00:19:18,400 avid hunter and an outdoorsman who walks through the woods 337 00:19:18,400 --> 00:19:22,799 at night for fun. Even thinking about these stories as difficult. 338 00:19:23,519 --> 00:19:26,839 So here I am writing my own experiences. Feeling the 339 00:19:26,960 --> 00:19:30,759 hairs all over my body, stand up and due to 340 00:19:30,799 --> 00:19:33,799 my nature. I do not care what people think. Those 341 00:19:33,799 --> 00:19:37,440 are my experiences, and though I'm not much of a storyteller, 342 00:19:37,920 --> 00:19:43,279 I hope you enjoyed reading them. My name is Jeff, 343 00:19:43,559 --> 00:19:46,319 and when I was deployed, I saw things people shouldn't 344 00:19:46,359 --> 00:19:48,680 have to, and I did things that wake me in 345 00:19:48,759 --> 00:19:52,079 the middle of the night. On my first tour, I 346 00:19:52,160 --> 00:19:55,200 knew fear like no other, and as the years piled 347 00:19:55,240 --> 00:19:58,680 on and the battles continued, I became numb to being 348 00:19:58,720 --> 00:20:03,119 scared of things, or so I thought. I grew up poor. 349 00:20:03,559 --> 00:20:05,440 We spent many hours in the woods up in the 350 00:20:05,440 --> 00:20:08,759 mountains of West Virginia, hunting and fishing for our food. 351 00:20:09,759 --> 00:20:14,000 Unlike today's hunters, we went hunting to survive. That's kind 352 00:20:14,039 --> 00:20:17,160 of training that you can't learn in school. We spent 353 00:20:17,319 --> 00:20:19,720 enough time out there that being in the woods was 354 00:20:19,799 --> 00:20:23,759 like being at home. There wasn't a sound, sign or 355 00:20:23,839 --> 00:20:28,880 smell that we did not recognize. I remember my grandfather 356 00:20:29,079 --> 00:20:31,640 and my dad telling us to stay close to the 357 00:20:31,720 --> 00:20:34,440 camp at night because the man on the mountain was there. 358 00:20:35,599 --> 00:20:37,559 When I was young, I listened to them and I 359 00:20:37,599 --> 00:20:40,720 stayed put. But when I got older, I got smarter 360 00:20:40,960 --> 00:20:43,720 and my cousins would tell us stories of something they 361 00:20:43,839 --> 00:20:48,160 call three toes. I brushed it off as being a 362 00:20:48,240 --> 00:20:51,680 creature in the woods and never believed them. And whenever 363 00:20:51,720 --> 00:20:54,319 I heard people talking about bigfoot, I would think they 364 00:20:54,359 --> 00:20:59,119 were crackpots. I enlisted, and I made my way overseas 365 00:20:59,160 --> 00:21:02,079 for the second time in my life. I was born 366 00:21:02,240 --> 00:21:05,279 into an army family, and being a man of tradition, 367 00:21:05,599 --> 00:21:09,440 I followed in their footsteps. And then when the time 368 00:21:09,559 --> 00:21:12,920 was right, I bought an abandoned house on a small 369 00:21:13,000 --> 00:21:18,319 farm five hundred feet from the I can't pronounce this name, 370 00:21:19,160 --> 00:21:23,880 Nishnabotna Nishnabotna River. All I could think about was the 371 00:21:23,960 --> 00:21:26,480 hunting and fishing that I could do out there, But 372 00:21:26,559 --> 00:21:29,680 never once did I consider why the house had been abandoned. 373 00:21:30,880 --> 00:21:34,000 Thirteen years passed without having seen or heard anything out 374 00:21:34,039 --> 00:21:37,440 of the ordinary. At that house, we had horses and 375 00:21:37,519 --> 00:21:41,359 chickens and goats and cats and dogs. It wasn't unusual 376 00:21:41,440 --> 00:21:43,559 for a deer or turkey to come right up to 377 00:21:43,599 --> 00:21:46,599 the house and nose around for food. And when we 378 00:21:46,720 --> 00:21:48,920 left for work in the morning, they would just stand 379 00:21:48,920 --> 00:21:51,839 there and watch us go. They weren't even bothered to 380 00:21:51,920 --> 00:21:56,039 act a freight or run away. After years of peaceful 381 00:21:56,039 --> 00:22:00,839 living on that property, strange things started to happen. Every 382 00:22:00,920 --> 00:22:03,519 day or two, one or two of our chickens would 383 00:22:03,559 --> 00:22:06,519 wind up missing. I put a lock on the door, 384 00:22:06,599 --> 00:22:08,480 but when I would go out to feed them, that 385 00:22:08,559 --> 00:22:12,559 door would be wide open again. I called the police, 386 00:22:12,640 --> 00:22:16,000 but they found nothing and they couldn't help me. Now, 387 00:22:16,160 --> 00:22:19,160 looking back, that should have been my first warning. A 388 00:22:19,160 --> 00:22:23,079 canary in the coal mine type of thing. The backside 389 00:22:23,119 --> 00:22:25,880 of my land was wooded and ran down to the river, 390 00:22:26,160 --> 00:22:29,559 which always gave us good hunting coverage. But that year 391 00:22:29,799 --> 00:22:34,359 the deer were gone. My trap line was repeatedly empty 392 00:22:34,640 --> 00:22:38,279 and set off or moved. I would reset all the traps, 393 00:22:38,519 --> 00:22:40,759 go out the next day and find the same thing, 394 00:22:41,440 --> 00:22:45,200 empty traps that had been set off or moved. By 395 00:22:45,240 --> 00:22:49,359 that time, we were down to three chickens. My neighbor 396 00:22:49,440 --> 00:22:51,599 came around and he asked me if he could hunt 397 00:22:51,640 --> 00:22:54,480 part of my land. Well. I told him sure, and 398 00:22:54,559 --> 00:22:56,599 that we could walk back there and see where he 399 00:22:56,680 --> 00:22:59,599 wanted to go. I had never been to that end 400 00:22:59,640 --> 00:23:02,559 of my life land, which was near the town swamp. 401 00:23:02,880 --> 00:23:05,160 But when we got there, we saw an old feet 402 00:23:05,200 --> 00:23:08,720 hopper lying on its side. The bottom had been taken out, 403 00:23:08,759 --> 00:23:12,240 and it was full of leaves. While we were out there, 404 00:23:12,279 --> 00:23:16,119 we heard what sounded like a distorted bobcat crawl, and 405 00:23:16,160 --> 00:23:19,880 I decided to head back to my place. We ate dinner, 406 00:23:19,920 --> 00:23:22,480 and then we sat around the burn barrel talking about 407 00:23:22,480 --> 00:23:27,039 whatever and drinking some beer. At seven point thirty pm, 408 00:23:27,119 --> 00:23:30,680 we started to hear something like turkeys. The sound caught 409 00:23:30,720 --> 00:23:33,759 us off guard and kind of spooked us. Well. We 410 00:23:33,839 --> 00:23:36,359 laughed it off and my neighbor went home. And the 411 00:23:36,400 --> 00:23:38,880 next morning, though, I found one of my goats dead 412 00:23:38,920 --> 00:23:42,640 with a broken neck. The veterinarian said that maybe the 413 00:23:42,720 --> 00:23:45,720 horse ran over her, but I wasn't convinced of that, 414 00:23:46,400 --> 00:23:48,240 and I drove all the way to the city and 415 00:23:48,279 --> 00:23:51,440 I bought some night owl cameras, and that night I 416 00:23:51,519 --> 00:23:54,640 left my yard light on. When I went out the 417 00:23:54,680 --> 00:23:57,279 next day, one of the horses had blood on her face. 418 00:23:57,799 --> 00:24:00,720 She was scared. I thought man be a code. He 419 00:24:00,799 --> 00:24:03,720 had been arounded that she had run into it. So 420 00:24:03,839 --> 00:24:06,079 then I decided to keep them in the safety of 421 00:24:06,160 --> 00:24:10,160 the barn at night. After that. One of my dogs 422 00:24:10,240 --> 00:24:13,319 was a red healer named Zip. He would go out 423 00:24:13,319 --> 00:24:17,119 and run the game lines occasionally running into a deer turkey. 424 00:24:18,000 --> 00:24:20,400 We walked south from the highway and got into the 425 00:24:20,440 --> 00:24:23,759 tree line, and Zip was being her usual nosey self, 426 00:24:24,200 --> 00:24:26,880 running around and exploring every inch of the earth with 427 00:24:27,000 --> 00:24:30,880 her nose. It was about four point thirty pm. The 428 00:24:30,960 --> 00:24:33,240 sun was going down over the hill to the west 429 00:24:33,279 --> 00:24:36,920 of me. Zip was to my left, and I happened 430 00:24:36,960 --> 00:24:39,559 to glance down at her as the sound of a 431 00:24:39,599 --> 00:24:43,200 crack came from the distance, not from the sound of 432 00:24:43,240 --> 00:24:45,759 twigs or leaves crunching onderr foot, but the sound of 433 00:24:45,799 --> 00:24:49,839 a thick branch being snapped off the side of a tree. Well. 434 00:24:50,119 --> 00:24:53,079 Zip froze and she turned her head in the direction 435 00:24:53,240 --> 00:24:56,039 of the sound, and I followed her gaze, and I 436 00:24:56,160 --> 00:24:58,880 raised my twelve gage, and by the time I took 437 00:24:58,920 --> 00:25:03,839 the safety off, Zip was gone. The grass was three 438 00:25:03,839 --> 00:25:06,240 feet tall, and I could hear her moving through it, 439 00:25:06,799 --> 00:25:09,200 and she stopped one hundred feet or so away from me, 440 00:25:09,279 --> 00:25:11,599 and I heard her coming back at me full speed, 441 00:25:12,319 --> 00:25:15,720 and when she came into view, she looked terrified, and 442 00:25:15,799 --> 00:25:18,400 she ran behind me with her tail behind her legs, 443 00:25:18,720 --> 00:25:23,640 her body shaking, and she had soiled herself. As I 444 00:25:23,680 --> 00:25:26,920 knelt down and tried to calm her. I heard another crack. 445 00:25:27,480 --> 00:25:29,720 Now I looked in the direction of the noise, and 446 00:25:29,759 --> 00:25:32,759 I checked the area around me, and I raised my shotgun. 447 00:25:33,599 --> 00:25:35,720 I was still on one knee, and I looked left 448 00:25:35,759 --> 00:25:39,279 and right ahead of me, but I saw nothing. The 449 00:25:39,359 --> 00:25:43,720 eerie sensation that I wasn't alone was overpowering, and my 450 00:25:43,920 --> 00:25:47,599 army training kicked in. So I moved forward three steps 451 00:25:47,599 --> 00:25:50,599 and I knelt four three more steps and I knelt, 452 00:25:51,079 --> 00:25:54,160 and then I heard it move sixty feet away, and 453 00:25:54,240 --> 00:25:58,319 as I moved I saw it. It was the same 454 00:25:58,400 --> 00:26:01,319 heighth as me, just over six feet, but it was 455 00:26:01,440 --> 00:26:06,079 wider than any man could have been. I didn't smell anything, 456 00:26:06,359 --> 00:26:09,279 and I didn't hear any tree banging or growling like 457 00:26:09,359 --> 00:26:12,519 you hear about. It just turned and looked at me. 458 00:26:12,839 --> 00:26:15,559 It looked right in my eyes and raised its upper lip. 459 00:26:16,720 --> 00:26:19,519 It did not have things. It just had brown or 460 00:26:19,640 --> 00:26:23,240 yellow teeth. And I heard my dog moving and turned 461 00:26:23,240 --> 00:26:26,240 to see her run away, scared as a chicken. And 462 00:26:26,319 --> 00:26:28,839 by the time I looked back, that thing had disappeared 463 00:26:28,839 --> 00:26:32,559 into the thicket. But I knew it wasn't gone, because 464 00:26:32,680 --> 00:26:35,319 I had that sense that its eyes were on me. 465 00:26:37,000 --> 00:26:38,920 I yelled out to it that I was a hunter 466 00:26:39,160 --> 00:26:41,480 and that I was armed, And then I backed up 467 00:26:41,519 --> 00:26:44,440 and moved slowly away, keeping my eyes on the thicket 468 00:26:44,480 --> 00:26:47,759 the whole time. The sun had set by then, and 469 00:26:47,799 --> 00:26:51,319 the only light I had came from the shadowy orange dusk. 470 00:26:52,359 --> 00:26:54,799 I couldn't see my dog, but I heard her running 471 00:26:54,839 --> 00:26:57,319 through the corn fill behind me, and I heard the 472 00:26:57,400 --> 00:27:00,000 thing tailing me, and I decided to take a shortcut 473 00:27:00,160 --> 00:27:04,839 through the corn The shortcut was a bad idea. It 474 00:27:04,880 --> 00:27:07,279 was five hundred yards of not being able to see 475 00:27:07,319 --> 00:27:10,680 anything but the corner around me, all the while hearing 476 00:27:10,720 --> 00:27:14,640 the thing tailing me the entire way. When I got 477 00:27:14,640 --> 00:27:17,559 to the horse pasture, I saw Zip standing with my 478 00:27:17,640 --> 00:27:21,039 other dogs, along with my horses and goat. She was 479 00:27:21,079 --> 00:27:23,839 looking at me and quivering, waiting on me to come 480 00:27:24,039 --> 00:27:27,720 save them or something. It was a little heartbreaking too, 481 00:27:27,799 --> 00:27:30,519 because I knew that no matter the precautions I took, 482 00:27:30,960 --> 00:27:35,599 none of them would be safe. After that, the peaceful 483 00:27:35,640 --> 00:27:38,119 life on that farm that I had gotten used to 484 00:27:38,319 --> 00:27:42,599 turned into a nightmare. Every night I heard that horse 485 00:27:42,640 --> 00:27:46,119 crying and running from something, and within a short time 486 00:27:46,240 --> 00:27:50,319 all the chickens were gone. One of my dogs disappeared, 487 00:27:50,559 --> 00:27:54,599 and the goats vanished too. That same year, in a 488 00:27:54,680 --> 00:27:57,200 town west of me, the local news channel did a 489 00:27:57,240 --> 00:28:00,839 report of a massive bare footprint in the no and 490 00:28:00,920 --> 00:28:03,079 it was a set of tracks that went on for 491 00:28:03,200 --> 00:28:07,200 three miles. I asked some of the people around me 492 00:28:07,279 --> 00:28:10,160 across the river if they were having the same problem. 493 00:28:10,640 --> 00:28:13,200 They just looked at me like I was crazy and 494 00:28:13,240 --> 00:28:17,079 said there was nothing out there but my imagination. I 495 00:28:17,119 --> 00:28:19,279 got in touch with an old man near my house 496 00:28:19,319 --> 00:28:21,599 on the west bank of the river who didn't laugh 497 00:28:21,680 --> 00:28:26,319 my experiences off. We sat down and talked about what happened, 498 00:28:26,519 --> 00:28:28,960 and I asked him what was out there in the woods. 499 00:28:30,119 --> 00:28:32,920 All he said was leave it alone and it won't 500 00:28:32,920 --> 00:28:37,920 bother you. That wasn't even the scary part. He went 501 00:28:37,960 --> 00:28:40,279 on to tell me that I lived out there longer 502 00:28:40,279 --> 00:28:44,440 than anyone had before. At first I assumed he meant 503 00:28:44,440 --> 00:28:46,440 that the other people moved out and went off to 504 00:28:46,480 --> 00:28:50,160 lift somewhere else. But something in his tone told me 505 00:28:50,200 --> 00:28:53,799 that he meant it was impressive that the property had 506 00:28:53,839 --> 00:28:57,519 not killed me yet. I talked to a buddy of 507 00:28:57,559 --> 00:29:00,720 mine at the local law enforcement agency, and he told 508 00:29:00,720 --> 00:29:04,359 me that the house had been owned and abandoned multiple times, 509 00:29:04,759 --> 00:29:08,960 and nobody stayed long. Like I said, I'm a man 510 00:29:09,039 --> 00:29:12,440 of tradition. I followed in the footsteps of the owners 511 00:29:12,519 --> 00:29:16,279 before me and I left that house too. We moved 512 00:29:16,279 --> 00:29:18,920 back to the city and after what I had experienced 513 00:29:18,960 --> 00:29:23,240 out there, I gave up hunting and camping. To all 514 00:29:23,319 --> 00:29:26,319 you non believers out there, I have a warning for you. 515 00:29:27,039 --> 00:29:31,319 There is something out there and it is not friendly. 516 00:29:32,279 --> 00:29:35,559 All right. Thanks for hanging with me on this podcast. 517 00:29:36,039 --> 00:29:40,000 Those were three really good stories, especially the two Bigfoot stories. 518 00:29:40,079 --> 00:29:44,039 Good grief, man, those are two of the best bigfoot 519 00:29:44,079 --> 00:29:47,039 stories that I think I've read in the last year. 520 00:29:47,279 --> 00:29:50,839 There was nothing really violent about them or anything like that. 521 00:29:50,880 --> 00:29:54,480 They were just spooky, spooky stories. And that's what we 522 00:29:54,519 --> 00:29:57,880 do here. We do spooky, creepy, weird stories that are 523 00:29:57,880 --> 00:30:01,160 written to us by real people. Those are real emails 524 00:30:01,200 --> 00:30:04,559 from real people. I appreciate you listening, and we will 525 00:30:04,599 --> 00:30:07,039 see you guys on the next podcast. Thank you.