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Speaker 1: In southwest Ohio. One evening in two thousand and sixteen,

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my buddy and I were fishing at a pond in

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Sycamore State Park. We were downhill from a reservable shelter

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where a wedding reception was being held, and we started

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making our way back up the hill. When we made

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it to the top, we looked over at the shelter

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under the light. Something caught our attention and it made

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a stop in our tracks. It was a nine foot

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tall dark creature standing next to one of the trash cans.

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It stared at us for a couple of seconds, and

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then it turned around and walked into the brush line.

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We ran to the car and sped out of there,

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and we've never been back to that place. Hey, y'all,

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welcome to the podcast. My name is Cam Buckner and

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this is the Dixie Cryptid Podcast, also known as the

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what If It's True? Podcast on any podcast app that

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you have on your phone. By to it. Most of

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December and the holiday season off. Hope you guys had

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a great Christmas in New Year, by the way, But

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I took that time off and just didn't do much

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of nothing, and I am recharged and ready to get

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back and get back at this podcast and everything else

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I do during the day. Let's say we've got nine

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stories in this podcast, because I owe it to you

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been gone for about three weeks. The last story might

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be the most interesting story in this podcast. It's about

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thirty minutes long, and it is an email I got

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from a federal game warden. Read the story, thought it

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was interesting. He left his phone number, and I called

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him and asked him about this story. Normally I don't

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do that. I mean, it's like one out of a

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thousand that I'll call when people send their phone number.

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He give me a call if you want to talk

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or whatever. I don't. I don't have time for that.

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But I call this guy because the story was so

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interesting and it kind of matched up with the missing

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person's phenomenon. So he and I talked. Actually we've talked

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a couple of times. He as a partner that he

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worked with for years. He's retired now, but he as

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a partner he's worked with for years and together they

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have some amazing stories. He's written one more and he's

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promised to send me a couple more, give me a

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series of about four or five. So as I do them.

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I'll make the thumbnail. It'll be a missing person's kind

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of thumbnail, and you'll know that it's another one in

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the series. And I'm including it with a bunch of

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other stories. So you guys can all you people who

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fall asleep can listen to this over and over and

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snooze off while I read a story. Seems to be

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a popular activity when my podcast has gone going on. Anyway,

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thanks for joining me on this podcast. I'm ready to

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get into it all right, here we go. My cousin's

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husband was sitting next to me at dinner one night.

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I knew he was an outdoorsman working on wildlife conservation projects,

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so I turned to him and asked him about the

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spotted owl project that he had been working on. His

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entire demeanor changed, his skin paled and his hand trembled

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as he reached for his glass. I saw them. You

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know they're huge, he said, the owls I asked. He

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shook his head and looked away. It was never about owls,

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never about owls, he kept saying. Taking another drink, his

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hands still trembling, and he dropped his voice and leaned

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in and he whispered softly. It was about Sasquatching. It

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was always about that beast. He quit talking now after that.

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I was so taken aback by his response that I

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didn't ask him anything else. Already believed in Sasquatch as

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long as I could remember, and had so many questions

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for him, but I kept them to myself. The way

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he spoke about it to me, it pained him. His

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body language was screaming trauma. I desperately wondered what happened

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to him out there on his soul called a spotted

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owl project, but I didn't dare to ask him. He

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passed away now, and I never once doubted that he

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was telling the truth. His demeanor that night was confirmation

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enough to me that we had been deceived and there's

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something in the woods they don't want us to know about.

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Oh man, that is such a cryptic little email. You know,

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there's not a lot of background, which I kind of

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like those. I kind of like those stories where it

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just tells the story. I think it's more impact Sometimes

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the shorter stories are more impactful than the long drawn

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out I'm a I'm a he man, mountain man kind

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of stuff. But this was really good. So this guy's

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out on this spotted owl project, which I think is

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a is something that goes on in the Northwest. Well,

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I don't think we have spotted owls where I live.

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We do have some big old barn owls and other

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kind of owls. I have them land up in my

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pine trees out in front in my front yard in

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the summertime, and I'll see one of them, a big one,

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swoop up and land on a branch, and I walk

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right up but underneath them, and look up at him

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and take pictures of them, and they just kind of

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look down at me. And when they're looking down at me,

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it's kind of they are an amazing bird. But when

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they look down at me, it's like, if you were

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a little smaller, I think I'd eat you. That's the

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vibe I get from an owl. And I have two

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little dogs. I don't think they would eat my little dogs,

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but they might anyway. I love owls. But he's out

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there on his spottedt oul project and it's disguised as

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a sasquatch project, and she was afraid to ever ask

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him the question. Again. I kind of get that, you know,

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when you get that kind of response from somebody that

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doesn't talk much you just leave it alone and you

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take it for what it's worth. Anyway, this was a

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great story. I really appreciate the writer sending it. It

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was so good. Thank you. I am an active duty

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soldier stationed at Fort Stuart, Georgia. Earlier this year. My

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unit was out on training for forty five days. In

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that time, we trained day and night, and we slept

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under the stars, sometimes in the woods and sometimes out

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in open fields. On one night, we had just finished training,

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five of us were huddled together watching the clouds drift

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overhead as we talked about anything and everything. The planet

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Venus was prominent in the night sky and the Moon

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was sitting fairly low. We were able to make out

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both of them through the clouds. As we admired the view,

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large bright object appeared beneath the glow of Venus. None

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of us could figure out what it was. It had

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appeared out of nowhere and was sitting in front of

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the clouds and was shining brighter than Venus. It wasn't

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an aircraft because it wasn't moving or blinking. We got

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lost in the conversation and again about one thing or another.

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When one of our group pointed out that the light

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had disappeared and then reappeared a full ninety degrees away.

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All eyes were back on this light, and again it

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wasn't moving. As we watched it, it started releasing a

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ring of white smoke. It was circular at first, and

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then it expanded into a sideway's heart shape. It was

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big and loose at first, and then started to get

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smaller somehow, and it became more defined until poof the

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object and the shot out of sight. The strangest part

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was that all of the clouds in the sky disappeared

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in an instant, and all of the stars popped on

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this massive canvas of black, as if a switch had

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been flipped. The five of us looked at each other,

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relieved we had seen the same thing, knowing anyone else

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would have called us crazy and locked us up. The

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next day, I couldn't stop thinking about it. At least

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three other soldiers from different areas of our training site

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saw it too. It was the strangest thing I had

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ever seen, and I've never been able to explain it.

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Oh what a cool story. Now that's a UFS That

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is a UFO story. I've never heard smoke coming out

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of the UFO making some kind of shape in the

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sky and then boom, it's gone and all the clouds

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are gone. Now that is weird. I love all this

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UFO stuff, and it's actually become so the word popular.

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There's a lot of information out on these things now

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nobody still nobody knows what they are, but the so

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that the just the light sightings become less interesting. Do

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you know what I'm talking about? But these light sightings

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are exciting to me because I think I've seen something like,

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not this, but something lights in the sky. I've described

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it before. I have no idea what it was. It

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was probably all explainable, and you know, it was probably

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just a natural thing, an aircraft or something like that.

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But I've seen lights in the sky and the way

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it makes you feel is like, oh man, that is

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so cool to see something different like that. It seems

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to be nothing like in movies, you know, do you

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guys like the UFO type movies. Like one of my

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favorite movies of all time is Close Encounters of the

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Third Kind. That movie. I could watch it today and

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it still takes me back to that time when I

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was just in wonder an amazement at all the things

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that could be it's the the UFO type, alien type

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films that come out now. They're so I don't know,

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they're just I don't know if it's the writers or

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what it is. I just watched. We bought a subscription

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to Apple TV, and I got to tell you, I

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don't like anything by Apple. I don't like their phones,

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I don't like their computers. Just logging in to your account,

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your Apple account is a major pain. It's not like

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anything else anyway. We subscribe to Apple TV to watch

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a specific series. It was probably a year ago, maybe more,

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and then I was going to cancel the subscription, but

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I've kept it all this time, hoping they put something

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good back up. Well, along comes this series called Pluribus

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now Pluribus on Apple TV, A series created by a

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man named Vince Gilligan who was the I guess he

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was the creator of the was it the AMC or

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FX series Breaking Bad? Which I thought was awesome. It

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was a great series. It went on for years, so

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I thought, oh man, this is going to be good.

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And they really hyped it up to begin with. They

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really hyped up ploribis well. I watched the first episode

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one night. It was kind of late. My wife and

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I watched it and we thought, oh, this is interesting.

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Then we watched the next episode and it was pretty

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much the same thing. And I got to the ninth

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final episode and the story never changed. It was like,

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there were things happening, obviously, but it was the same

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kind of thing over and over and over again. It

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was the I was so disappointed in that series. It

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was like, is this thing? Is anything ever gonna happen?

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So I don't recommend Ploribus. That's just me. I liked

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stories that move. That was. Man, what a letdown for

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this for that series Pluribus. We did, however, watch a

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movie I think it was called The Astronaut. It was

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an alien spaceship kind of movie and it moves really

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fast and the ending was awesome. When it was over,

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I turned to my wife and I said, now that

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is a good movie. That was a good story. It

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was a cool surprise ending. It was kind of a heartwarming.

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You think it's a horror type story, but at the

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end you're kind of relieved. Not that I like any

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kind of particular ending, but it was just a perfect

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appropriate ending that just made you go, oh wow, now

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that was cool. So I recommend that. I can't. We

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must have rented it on Prime or I can't remember

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where it's showing. But if you can find a film

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called The Astronaut, I think the thought Nail or the

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Marquee for it as a woman inside, she's got a

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like a space helmet on. Anyway, The Astronaut, it's really good. Okay,

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enough you acting about UFO stuff. I just thought that

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was interesting and it made me think about the horrible

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series called Pluribus. If you liked plur of Us, make

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a comment in the comment section below what you thought

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about it. I thought it was horrible, horrible. Anyway, let

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me know what you like. What do you like in

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UFO type sci fi movies? Let me know this little story.

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I don't remember when I got this. When you first

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hear it, when the first when the story first starts,

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you're not going to get it, but you'll get it

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at the end. It seems to be just a piece

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of fun writing, is what I would call it. It's

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a sidesquat story, but I got a kick out of it,

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so I thought you guys might like it. We'll do

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this one before we get into our missing person's serious

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Bigfoot story. I think it's a bigfoot story. You'll have

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to decide anyway. Listen to this fun story. I had

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been sort of depressed for several days after talking crow

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adventure and almost getting eaten by a bear. I thought

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things couldn't get much worse, but they did. We learned

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that Aunt Myrtle and her snooty little daughters were returning

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for another visit. We figured that after the dragon's scared,

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they would never return, but we were wrong. The thought

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of having to return to sleeping in the barn and

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listening to their silly giggling made my Dame even more depressing.

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The boys decided it was time for us to do

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something so they would never want to come back. After

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reading about a half animal and half human creature that

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roam the woods in Oregon, we devised a plan that

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was surely scared the snooty girl so bad that they

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would never want to visit us again. The creature was

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called sasquatch, stood about eight feet tall and was covered

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in thick black hair. What seemed amazing was it walked

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upright like a human. If we could create a creature

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that resembled a sasquatch and scare the girls they would

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never come visit again. Using a picture from a magazine

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as a model, we made our sasquatch costume. We used

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burlap sacks covered with some black moss for the body,

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and an old cowskull made the perfect head. This costume

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was really scary looking. Now we had to figure out

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how to use it for the best results. When that

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Myrtle and the girls arrived, we were all nice and polite,

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and we carried their bags to their room and brought

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some lemonade for refreshments. Grandma was so surprised at our

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good manners she gave us a big smile, and Grandpa

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was not fooled by our actions and cast a cynical look.

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Our way suggested the girls should get out and enjoy

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the fresh air and sunshine, and we would be happy

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to show them the farm. Everyone thought this was a

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swell idea, so we invited the girls to go doberry picking.

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It was decided the following morning would be the ideal

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time to pick berries. We found the perfect spot for

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our sisquatch trick. It was sounded by thick bushes where

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we could hide waiting the berry picking girls. Jake escoreded

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the girls to the berry picking spot, while Reuben hid

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in the nearby bushes wearing the sasquatch costume. I was

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Reuben's assistant in case he needed any help. On their

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way to the berry patch, Jake told the girls a

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story about a wild man that roam the river bottoms nearby,

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and he would occasionally be seen by folks. The girls

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got scared and wanted to return to the house, but

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Jake assured them that he would protect them if the

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wild man was to appear. When the girls started picking dewberries,

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they soon forgot about the wild man and started giggling

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and talking their girl talk. Reuben waited a while before

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walking out of the bushes wearing the wild man costume.

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The girls didn't notice him at first, but after he

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made a loud grunting sound, they saw him and they

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screamed in terror. Now one might not think girls wearing

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skirts and petticoats could run fast, but these girls raced

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off through the woods like gus elves. One girl fell

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down in a mud hole and was covered from head

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to toe and gooey slime. The other tore her dress

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00:17:39,720 --> 00:17:43,440
on a thorn bush, lost a shoe, and even managed

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to step in some bull nettles after a good long life.

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We realized we might have gone too far with our

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wildman trick and probably had some tall explaining to do

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when we returned home. The story we finally decided on

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was that our old black Shad and Gorara goat had

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probably followed us to the berry patch, and this is

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what the girls had seen. I don't think anyone believed

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our story, but we were not punished. That same afternoon,

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Aunt Myrtle and the girls left for home. Good riddance. Okay,

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that's probably just a fun story, but it's a good story.

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I hope you guys like that, and I appreciate the

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writer taking time to do this. I don't know this

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00:18:26,680 --> 00:18:31,240
story could be true, but it's not necessarily a Bigfoot story.

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It's a bigfoot hoak story, and it's a good one

305
00:18:34,240 --> 00:18:37,039
at that. But anyway, thanks to the writer for sending it.

306
00:18:37,039 --> 00:18:45,039
It was really really entertaining. Thanks. Okay, I think Rebecca

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00:18:45,160 --> 00:18:47,799
labeled this a Bigfoot story. I'm reading it cold. It's

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00:18:47,799 --> 00:18:50,000
a short, little story, but it looks kind of good.

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00:18:51,000 --> 00:18:53,279
One night in nineteen sixty nine, I got up to

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get a glass of water in the kitchen. I saw

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a huge auburn colored furry face looking at me through

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the glass, and I screamed. My family laughed at me,

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but I remember it clearly to this day. The round,

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00:19:07,640 --> 00:19:11,359
soulful eyes and the large head and the beautiful colors

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stand out in my mind. Since that night, I have

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experienced one strange thing after another. Animals of all kinds

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come right up to me, and strange lights follow me home,

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and objects in my house seem to move on their own.

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My relatives think I'm crazy, and if it weren't for

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my children, who have witnessed every event, I might think

321
00:19:34,079 --> 00:19:37,400
I was losing my mind too. I still live in

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00:19:37,440 --> 00:19:40,519
the same area that I grew up in. At night,

323
00:19:40,599 --> 00:19:43,240
when the motion lights flicker on and off, I hear

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00:19:43,359 --> 00:19:48,720
slaps at my bedroom window and strange howls from the woods. Personally,

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I believe there are many things we humans don't understand.

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I trust that my Lord is King, and I fear

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nothing because he promised to protect me and mine. I

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00:19:59,119 --> 00:20:02,640
don't know why I was chosen to witness these strange things,

329
00:20:03,119 --> 00:20:06,839
but I feel very blessed. Love your podcast. And she

330
00:20:07,039 --> 00:20:10,000
signs off, and I know it's a she because of

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00:20:10,039 --> 00:20:13,799
her Uh, well, that could be a guy name. Anyway,

332
00:20:13,880 --> 00:20:17,359
it's a great story. And that's exactly how I would

333
00:20:17,400 --> 00:20:21,000
feel if I saw Bigfoot or I saw, you know,

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00:20:21,079 --> 00:20:24,200
one of these cryptids that didn't kill me or eat me.

335
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But I would feel so lucky. And I can see

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00:20:29,720 --> 00:20:33,559
why people say it would change my life, change their lives,

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because you know, to see something you've never seen, something

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that you think could there's no way it could exist,

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would be life changing. And it would. And what I

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00:20:44,279 --> 00:20:47,000
like about this story is, all of a sudden, I

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00:20:47,119 --> 00:20:50,319
the blue wild animals come up to her. I'm assuming

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00:20:50,359 --> 00:20:53,079
she means deer, and probably some of the other smaller

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00:20:53,119 --> 00:20:56,400
wildlife where she lives. But this was a great story.

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00:20:57,000 --> 00:20:59,160
It's a short one, but it was really good. Man.

345
00:20:59,240 --> 00:21:03,079
There's a lot of gunpowder in these short stories, and

346
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I love them. So you guys keep sending them. I

347
00:21:05,400 --> 00:21:12,240
really appreciate it. Thank you to the writer. Okay, this

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is a show enough Bigfoot story. I was raised in

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the small town of Eldriche, Alabama. One night in the

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summer of nineteen ninety, my family and I were watching

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TV with the windows open. Out of nowhere, my father

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jumped up and grabbed the remote and he shouted did

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y'all hear that? My mother and I shrugged, and he

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told us to wait and listen. We got up off

355
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the couch and walked out the front door, and we

356
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looked outside, right across from us as my grandfather's and

357
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cousins trailer. As we looked toward their home, we saw

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an eight foot tall bigfoot standing at my cousin's window,

359
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staring at him as he slept. My dad got on

360
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the phone and called my grandfather and told him what

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was happening. And my grandfather grabbed U thirty thirty Winchester

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rifle and walked quick but quietly to my cousin's bedroom.

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When he opened the door, he caught the bigfoot reaching

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in the window toward my little cousin. And when he

365
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realized what he was looking at and what this big

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brute was trying to do, we heard him yell out,

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I don't think so, you stinking s hope. He opened

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00:22:19,519 --> 00:22:22,319
fire on it and shot it straight in the chest.

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00:22:23,799 --> 00:22:26,559
The bigfoot roared and hit the side of my grandfather's

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trailer so hard that the force knocked it off its

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brick foundation. And there we were in our home right

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across from it, watching it all happen. My dad and

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I were in protective mode at that point. We grabbed

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our rifles and joined our grandfather outside and unloaded into

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the beast. That thing roared and tore through the trees

376
00:22:47,279 --> 00:22:51,079
like a D nine bulldozer. My mother called the police

377
00:22:51,119 --> 00:22:54,279
while we checked on my cousin. He was unaware of

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00:22:54,319 --> 00:22:58,400
anything happening. The gunshots in the same room barely woke

379
00:22:58,480 --> 00:23:00,880
him up. I swear that kid could sleep through a

380
00:23:01,000 --> 00:23:05,880
raging hurricane. Betty was drunk. Thirty minutes later, two deputies

381
00:23:05,960 --> 00:23:09,160
showed up and we told them what had happened. After

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00:23:09,200 --> 00:23:12,640
hearing everything, one of the deputies took us flashlight out

383
00:23:12,920 --> 00:23:15,079
and shined it in our eyes and asked us where

384
00:23:15,119 --> 00:23:18,559
the drugs were. I thought my grandfather and dad were

385
00:23:18,559 --> 00:23:22,000
about to whoop his ass till the other deputy stepped in.

386
00:23:23,160 --> 00:23:25,559
He told his partner to open his eyes and look

387
00:23:25,599 --> 00:23:28,599
at the condition of the trailer. There was no man

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00:23:28,680 --> 00:23:31,279
who could cause that kind of damage to a mobile

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00:23:31,279 --> 00:23:35,240
home and knock it off its foundation. Then he pointed

390
00:23:35,240 --> 00:23:37,880
his flashlight a few feet away and lit up a

391
00:23:37,960 --> 00:23:42,640
massive track this beast had made. There were complete right

392
00:23:42,720 --> 00:23:46,440
and left prints in the dirt, and then another right print.

393
00:23:46,559 --> 00:23:49,839
Three steps. That's all it took for Bigfoot to reach

394
00:23:49,920 --> 00:23:53,799
the woods. We measured the tracks and they were seventeen

395
00:23:53,839 --> 00:23:58,400
inches long and six inches white. The deputy with common

396
00:23:58,559 --> 00:24:02,200
sense said it looked like foot. He took the report

397
00:24:02,319 --> 00:24:05,519
and took pictures, and right before he left, he looked

398
00:24:05,519 --> 00:24:08,079
at us and said, I don't let nobody tell you

399
00:24:08,119 --> 00:24:11,720
that was a bear, and then he left. We love

400
00:24:11,799 --> 00:24:14,519
your show, and we've been listening for six years now.

401
00:24:14,559 --> 00:24:17,880
It's okay to use my name. I know what I saw.

402
00:24:17,920 --> 00:24:22,640
The writer's name is Elvis Man. What an action packed story.

403
00:24:23,160 --> 00:24:27,119
I can't believe your cousin didn't wake up. That was crazy. Hey,

404
00:24:27,119 --> 00:24:29,200
at least you had a deputy on your side and

405
00:24:29,200 --> 00:24:32,559
nobody thought you were crazy. I love this story. It

406
00:24:32,640 --> 00:24:35,480
seems really familiar to me. It's almost like I've done

407
00:24:35,480 --> 00:24:39,079
it before. But I don't think. I'm thinking. Maybe sometimes

408
00:24:39,079 --> 00:24:42,079
I read these and I've just read them before, I

409
00:24:42,119 --> 00:24:45,359
hadn't really narrated them. I have so many to do that,

410
00:24:46,200 --> 00:24:49,000
and I do so many of these stories that it's hard.

411
00:24:49,079 --> 00:24:50,960
Sometimes it's hard to keep up with and when there

412
00:24:50,960 --> 00:24:54,440
are duplicates, so if they are, I'm sorry, But it

413
00:24:54,440 --> 00:24:57,160
does seem kind of familiar, but it's heck, it's worth

414
00:24:57,200 --> 00:24:59,960
doing again. It's so good it's worth doing again. All Right,

415
00:25:00,319 --> 00:25:06,920
thanks for the story, Elvis. All right, here's a story

416
00:25:06,920 --> 00:25:11,720
about a ghost that I thought was fantastic. My experience

417
00:25:11,799 --> 00:25:15,599
starts out like any other great adventure, a summer trip

418
00:25:15,680 --> 00:25:19,599
to Silverwood Themed Park in North Idaho. I've been to

419
00:25:19,680 --> 00:25:23,000
Silverwood many times, and I reserved a beautiful cabin there

420
00:25:23,039 --> 00:25:25,480
for my birthday weekend, with a view of the lake

421
00:25:25,519 --> 00:25:28,720
and the woods. My sister and I left the west

422
00:25:28,720 --> 00:25:31,640
side of Washington State in the wee hours and we

423
00:25:31,720 --> 00:25:34,640
made the five and a half hour road trip. We

424
00:25:34,680 --> 00:25:37,400
had a great day checking out the park, and we

425
00:25:37,480 --> 00:25:40,160
walked some easy trails and hung out near the lake,

426
00:25:40,200 --> 00:25:45,160
and we toured the on site historic military museum. At

427
00:25:45,200 --> 00:25:48,160
the museum, we were in the brig which displayed the

428
00:25:48,319 --> 00:25:52,279
history and daily life of this World War II naval

429
00:25:52,319 --> 00:25:56,039
training station, when I was overcome with a cold chill

430
00:25:56,160 --> 00:25:59,640
and a sudden urge to leave later that night in

431
00:25:59,680 --> 00:26:02,559
the cab, I went outside and walked a short distance

432
00:26:02,640 --> 00:26:05,599
to the sheared bedroom. I was in a hurry and

433
00:26:05,680 --> 00:26:07,960
eager to get back to the warm bunk in the cabin.

434
00:26:08,039 --> 00:26:12,319
When I realized I was being watched, I stopped and

435
00:26:12,359 --> 00:26:15,240
looked toward the restroom, and I got the same cold

436
00:26:15,359 --> 00:26:19,240
chill as I had in the brig. Right in front

437
00:26:19,240 --> 00:26:21,759
of me, it was a full body apparition of a

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00:26:21,920 --> 00:26:25,720
soldier wearing a dark button up uniform and a flat

439
00:26:25,799 --> 00:26:30,200
style hat, holding a rifle over his left shoulder. He

440
00:26:30,279 --> 00:26:32,920
was a bit out of focus and not totally solid.

441
00:26:33,559 --> 00:26:36,039
I could not make out his facial features, and I

442
00:26:36,200 --> 00:26:39,440
saw through him as if through a thick cloud of smoke.

443
00:26:41,079 --> 00:26:43,240
I ran it full sprength the rest of the way

444
00:26:43,319 --> 00:26:46,759
back to the bathroom, where I realized I was totally alone.

445
00:26:47,640 --> 00:26:51,559
My cell had no signal. By this time, my sister

446
00:26:51,720 --> 00:26:54,279
was fast asleep, and I knew that this thing was

447
00:26:54,319 --> 00:26:57,720
still out there. After I got the nerve to exit

448
00:26:57,759 --> 00:27:01,839
the outer house, it was even darker outside. I looked

449
00:27:01,880 --> 00:27:05,559
around and I didn't see anything. Thinking I was just

450
00:27:05,640 --> 00:27:09,240
being paranoid or that I was imagining this thing, I

451
00:27:09,279 --> 00:27:12,079
headed back to the cabin, feeling a little bit dumb.

452
00:27:13,640 --> 00:27:16,039
When I got to about the halfway mark, I heard

453
00:27:16,039 --> 00:27:19,079
a large crack and a thud, the same sound of

454
00:27:19,160 --> 00:27:21,920
branch makes as it snaps off a tree and hits

455
00:27:21,960 --> 00:27:25,920
the ground. Straight ahead of me, I saw a figure again.

456
00:27:26,519 --> 00:27:30,440
This time it was more defined, standing at the trailer head,

457
00:27:30,559 --> 00:27:35,160
just inside the darker shadow of the night. This time

458
00:27:35,440 --> 00:27:38,920
I wasn't afraid of him. I couldn't explain it. I

459
00:27:38,960 --> 00:27:41,279
got the feeling that he was trying to protect me.

460
00:27:42,319 --> 00:27:44,440
He was telling me that I was safe and that

461
00:27:44,519 --> 00:27:47,599
he was there to watch over us. I wasn't as

462
00:27:47,720 --> 00:27:51,720
afraid as before, but I was still shaking. After all,

463
00:27:51,799 --> 00:27:55,039
I had just seen a ghost. I went back into

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00:27:55,039 --> 00:27:58,160
the cabin and I stayed awake the entire night. When

465
00:27:58,200 --> 00:28:00,680
I woke my sister up the next morning, I had

466
00:28:00,720 --> 00:28:03,200
already packed the car and I was ready to leave.

467
00:28:04,599 --> 00:28:08,400
The front desk ladies reaction when I checked out that

468
00:28:08,519 --> 00:28:11,920
morning still makes me wonder how often people leave this

469
00:28:12,079 --> 00:28:16,400
place early. I walked in looking more than a little frazzled,

470
00:28:16,400 --> 00:28:18,640
and I told her we wanted to check out early.

471
00:28:19,640 --> 00:28:21,920
The woman took one look at me and asked very

472
00:28:22,000 --> 00:28:26,119
hesitantly how our stay was, and I guess my facial

473
00:28:26,279 --> 00:28:30,880
expression was all the answers she needed. Days later, I

474
00:28:31,000 --> 00:28:33,559
noticed that a full refund for the stay had been

475
00:28:33,680 --> 00:28:36,759
issued to me. Thank you for giving me an out

476
00:28:36,839 --> 00:28:40,200
that to share this encounter. I've been enjoying your podcast

477
00:28:40,279 --> 00:28:42,359
for a couple of years now, and I appreciate your

478
00:28:42,400 --> 00:28:46,200
content and your comforting voice. Well you're welcome. Thank you

479
00:28:46,240 --> 00:28:48,960
for listening. If it wasn't for you guys listening, I

480
00:28:49,720 --> 00:28:51,960
might be doing a little bit of this. But I

481
00:28:52,680 --> 00:28:56,279
it's all because you listen, that's the reason, and people

482
00:28:56,440 --> 00:29:00,200
enjoy it. But this was a great story. She you know,

483
00:29:00,279 --> 00:29:03,640
these stories are so believable to me. Some of them

484
00:29:03,680 --> 00:29:07,039
are packed with a little bit of corny stuff, but man,

485
00:29:07,160 --> 00:29:10,799
every story I've read in this podcast tonight has been

486
00:29:11,519 --> 00:29:15,279
I don't know, everything rings true to me. I really

487
00:29:15,319 --> 00:29:18,559
appreciate these things. So thank you for sending the story

488
00:29:18,599 --> 00:29:21,440
as a great story. And I wonder how your life

489
00:29:21,519 --> 00:29:25,200
changed and your outlook on life change after seeing this

490
00:29:25,799 --> 00:29:31,480
apparition at that World War II naval facility. It's unbelievable, unbelievable,

491
00:29:31,480 --> 00:29:35,359
a real ghost. Oh. I love these stories. Thank you

492
00:29:35,400 --> 00:29:43,119
again to the writer. Last fall, six of my girlfriends

493
00:29:43,119 --> 00:29:45,839
and I were on a self guided mule deer and

494
00:29:46,000 --> 00:29:50,119
elk hunt. We are all ice hockey players from Minnesota

495
00:29:50,160 --> 00:29:53,880
who have been friends since we were ten. Every year

496
00:29:53,960 --> 00:29:56,680
since we graduated high school, we get together for a

497
00:29:56,759 --> 00:30:00,920
hunting trip. Whether it's for Hoggs in Texas, Antelope on

498
00:30:01,000 --> 00:30:05,680
the Plains, black bear in Canada. We used long bows,

499
00:30:05,799 --> 00:30:09,920
compound bows, or rifles. This year, we decided to do

500
00:30:10,000 --> 00:30:13,720
a second season rifle hunt in Colorado, so we packed

501
00:30:13,720 --> 00:30:17,079
our ATVs in side by sides on our trailers and

502
00:30:17,119 --> 00:30:20,559
took off into the mountains. We had reserved a site

503
00:30:20,559 --> 00:30:23,640
through an outfitter named Scott, who we had gotten to

504
00:30:23,759 --> 00:30:27,720
know over the past few years. We got to the

505
00:30:27,759 --> 00:30:31,440
camp site three hours from the nearest road, and we

506
00:30:31,480 --> 00:30:34,279
found that Scott had already set up a large outfitter's

507
00:30:34,319 --> 00:30:37,720
tent and installed a wood burning stove for us and

508
00:30:37,759 --> 00:30:41,079
stacked a cord of firewood in there with us. That

509
00:30:41,319 --> 00:30:44,200
gave us extra time to do some scouting and find

510
00:30:44,240 --> 00:30:48,839
what was lurking around nearby that we could harvest. That night,

511
00:30:48,960 --> 00:30:52,119
we built a campfire and we sat around eating fried

512
00:30:52,160 --> 00:30:57,279
maloney sandwiches. Wait a minute, where are you from? Who

513
00:30:57,599 --> 00:31:02,519
else in this audience loves fried blowney sandwiches. I like

514
00:31:02,599 --> 00:31:06,119
it about three eighths of an inch stick, a big

515
00:31:06,279 --> 00:31:08,920
water slong on top of it, and some mustard on

516
00:31:08,960 --> 00:31:12,359
a Hamburger. Vun just had to throw that in back

517
00:31:12,400 --> 00:31:16,000
to the story. They were drinking red wine and catching

518
00:31:16,079 --> 00:31:18,640
up on each other's lives. Now, I don't drink red

519
00:31:18,680 --> 00:31:23,480
wine with my blowney sandwiches, but that doesn't matter. Late

520
00:31:23,519 --> 00:31:26,960
at night, Brent grabbed her flashlight and her nine millimeter

521
00:31:27,359 --> 00:31:30,400
and slipped outside to water the plants behind the tent.

522
00:31:31,359 --> 00:31:33,519
The next morning, as we were getting ready to head

523
00:31:33,559 --> 00:31:35,839
out in the early dark hours, she told us that

524
00:31:35,920 --> 00:31:38,880
she heard something walking around just out of sight of

525
00:31:38,960 --> 00:31:42,839
her light behind the tent. We decided to buddy up

526
00:31:42,880 --> 00:31:46,160
in pairs and set out on our hunt. Lacy and

527
00:31:46,200 --> 00:31:49,000
I hiked back along the ridge about two miles away,

528
00:31:49,039 --> 00:31:52,400
where we could look down into a long meadow. The

529
00:31:52,599 --> 00:31:54,839
entire time we were there, we felt that we were

530
00:31:54,880 --> 00:31:57,640
being watched. The hair on the back of our necks

531
00:31:57,720 --> 00:32:03,079
was standing on in. Occasionally hear twigs and sticks breaking nearby,

532
00:32:03,799 --> 00:32:10,279
strange coyote howls, and exaggerated unnatural owl hoots. We stayed

533
00:32:10,279 --> 00:32:13,519
within ten yards of each other all morning, taking turns

534
00:32:13,640 --> 00:32:18,240
watching our six while the other watched the meadow. We

535
00:32:18,279 --> 00:32:20,680
didn't see anything that day that we wanted to waste

536
00:32:20,720 --> 00:32:24,079
a tag on, and When we started walking back to camp,

537
00:32:24,440 --> 00:32:27,400
we heard something pacing us off to the right, just

538
00:32:27,480 --> 00:32:31,240
out of sight. We both had our fingers on our safeties,

539
00:32:31,319 --> 00:32:35,160
ready to turn our weapons loose if needed. We were

540
00:32:35,160 --> 00:32:37,839
the last ones back at camp that night, and nobody

541
00:32:37,839 --> 00:32:41,480
had filled a tag except Carly and Britt, who also

542
00:32:41,640 --> 00:32:46,200
mentioned that they had felt like they were watched that night.

543
00:32:46,319 --> 00:32:50,400
Britt insisted on standing guard, certain that something was out

544
00:32:50,400 --> 00:32:54,160
there watching us. The next day, Lacey shot a ten

545
00:32:54,240 --> 00:32:57,480
point mule deer. When we got back to the camp

546
00:32:57,519 --> 00:32:59,960
to get our quad to drag it out, we saw

547
00:33:00,200 --> 00:33:03,559
Britt and Carly getting their ATV ready to drag back

548
00:33:03,599 --> 00:33:06,640
an olk that was unfortunate enough to cross of Brit

549
00:33:06,680 --> 00:33:11,039
that morning. Once we had gutted Lacey's butt and corded

550
00:33:11,119 --> 00:33:14,400
it out and loaded up our quad, we headed back

551
00:33:15,319 --> 00:33:17,680
before the others got back. We had time to hang

552
00:33:17,720 --> 00:33:20,960
the meat in nearby trees fifteen feet off the ground

553
00:33:20,960 --> 00:33:23,799
to keep it out of each of the bears. It

554
00:33:23,880 --> 00:33:27,400
was almost dark when Carly and Brit rolled in, but

555
00:33:27,519 --> 00:33:31,440
they did not have an elk, which explained Britt's foul mood.

556
00:33:33,200 --> 00:33:38,119
She was almost certifiably insane. She was ranting about killing

557
00:33:38,200 --> 00:33:42,039
the thing that stole her bull elk, and insisting that

558
00:33:42,079 --> 00:33:45,160
she would find some way to track him down. She

559
00:33:45,319 --> 00:33:47,839
was so upset that the rest of us were afraid

560
00:33:47,880 --> 00:33:51,279
of her and for her. After we had eaten the

561
00:33:51,319 --> 00:33:55,240
backstraps from Lacey's deer and Brent had finished two bottles

562
00:33:55,279 --> 00:33:58,279
of wine, we got her tucked into her sleeping bag

563
00:33:58,319 --> 00:34:02,640
and took turns watching her over night. The next morning,

564
00:34:02,839 --> 00:34:05,799
Lacy and I went along with Carly and Brett to

565
00:34:05,839 --> 00:34:09,000
help find the missing bowl elk. We got to where

566
00:34:09,000 --> 00:34:11,679
the elk had fallen, but there was nothing to indicate

567
00:34:11,719 --> 00:34:14,679
that anyone or anything had been there and carried it off.

568
00:34:15,639 --> 00:34:19,360
We scoured the area in all directions for three hundred yards,

569
00:34:19,719 --> 00:34:22,599
finding not so much as a single drop of blood.

570
00:34:23,719 --> 00:34:27,960
Brett accepted that the elk must have been alive, just unconscious,

571
00:34:28,199 --> 00:34:31,199
and the wound must have clotted up. It must have

572
00:34:31,320 --> 00:34:33,599
run off and died while she and Carly went to

573
00:34:33,599 --> 00:34:38,920
fetch the ATV, which she felt horrible about. That evening,

574
00:34:39,000 --> 00:34:43,079
the two Jessicas and Chelsea came back in with another

575
00:34:43,199 --> 00:34:46,440
mule deer, and after getting it hung up, we broke

576
00:34:46,480 --> 00:34:48,840
out a bottle of bourbon to go with the fresh

577
00:34:49,000 --> 00:34:52,719
inner tenderloins and sang and carried on into the night.

578
00:34:53,719 --> 00:34:56,599
The next morning, we discovered there was an entire rear

579
00:34:56,800 --> 00:35:00,480
quarter missing that we had hung the night before. We

580
00:35:00,559 --> 00:35:02,840
decided one of us should stay at the camp to

581
00:35:02,840 --> 00:35:05,880
guard the rest of our meat while the others went hunting.

582
00:35:07,039 --> 00:35:09,760
Jessica Ti drew the short straw and the rest of

583
00:35:09,840 --> 00:35:14,639
us headed out. Luck was shining down on us because

584
00:35:14,719 --> 00:35:17,840
Britt shot a beautiful bull elk that came in on

585
00:35:17,880 --> 00:35:21,960
a string when she blew her bugle. Lacy and Chelsea

586
00:35:22,079 --> 00:35:24,199
and I headed back to get the quads when we

587
00:35:24,280 --> 00:35:26,800
heard a shot coming from the direction of the camp.

588
00:35:27,800 --> 00:35:30,360
We picked up our pace, shouting as we got nearer

589
00:35:30,400 --> 00:35:33,199
to jess so that she wouldn't shoot us. And when

590
00:35:33,199 --> 00:35:35,639
we got there, one of the other rear quarters was

591
00:35:35,679 --> 00:35:39,599
swinging from a rope. Jess was standing with her weapon pointed.

592
00:35:40,519 --> 00:35:43,599
She began rattling about a massive bear like thing that

593
00:35:43,719 --> 00:35:46,159
reached up for the meat, about to grab it, when

594
00:35:46,199 --> 00:35:50,400
she shot and scared it off. Later, we started five

595
00:35:50,559 --> 00:35:54,079
large campfires around the meat to ward off any predators

596
00:35:54,079 --> 00:35:56,480
that may want to take advantage of an easy meal.

597
00:35:57,360 --> 00:36:00,440
Brett offered to take over watch again, that night and

598
00:36:00,480 --> 00:36:04,320
the rest of us went to bed. At four am,

599
00:36:04,480 --> 00:36:07,159
she started waking us up, saying she had seen something

600
00:36:07,239 --> 00:36:10,760
moving in the shadows around the lit area of the meat.

601
00:36:11,199 --> 00:36:14,760
We slid out of our sleeping bags, grabbed our rifles,

602
00:36:14,800 --> 00:36:18,800
and looked through the tent opening. The campfire still provided

603
00:36:18,960 --> 00:36:21,239
enough light that we could see the shadows from the

604
00:36:21,280 --> 00:36:24,719
other side of the tent. A few minutes later, an

605
00:36:24,760 --> 00:36:29,400
awful smell overwhelmed the camp. I wish I could have

606
00:36:29,559 --> 00:36:32,599
bottled that smell and sprayed it on some other hockey

607
00:36:32,599 --> 00:36:37,480
teams equipment years ago. We were motionless, gazing out the

608
00:36:37,519 --> 00:36:40,400
slit of the tent flap, waiting for that bear to

609
00:36:40,440 --> 00:36:43,480
pop out. We did not have a bear tag, but

610
00:36:43,639 --> 00:36:48,519
this troublemaker was going down. All of a sudden, something

611
00:36:48,639 --> 00:36:51,519
moved along the side of our tent. We could see

612
00:36:51,519 --> 00:36:53,920
the top of the tent being pressed down, as if

613
00:36:53,960 --> 00:36:58,920
something were testing the consistency of the material. It slowly

614
00:36:59,039 --> 00:37:01,519
moved toward the open in front. When we could see

615
00:37:01,519 --> 00:37:05,639
the shadow of this creature standing on two legs and

616
00:37:05,679 --> 00:37:09,719
heading toward the fires in the meat. This was no bear.

617
00:37:10,280 --> 00:37:13,079
It was human like, standing taller than the top of

618
00:37:13,119 --> 00:37:16,119
the tent. Which must have been over seven feet tall,

619
00:37:16,280 --> 00:37:20,280
leaving its shoulders at least that high. The thickness of

620
00:37:20,320 --> 00:37:24,960
this monster was wider than a hockey goal. Two shots

621
00:37:25,039 --> 00:37:28,840
rang out. Britton Lacey both fired through the tent towards

622
00:37:28,840 --> 00:37:34,199
the creature. The swiftness of this thing's escape was unimaginable.

623
00:37:35,039 --> 00:37:37,880
It took off across the open area directly in front

624
00:37:37,920 --> 00:37:42,559
of the tent, where three more shots rang out. Seconds later,

625
00:37:42,679 --> 00:37:45,239
we were all out of the tent looking for blood,

626
00:37:45,920 --> 00:37:48,800
and we found some, but not in the quantities that

627
00:37:48,840 --> 00:37:53,960
one might expect. Just a few minutes later, roarers sounded

628
00:37:54,119 --> 00:37:58,280
all around our camp. We grabbed our gear, cut down

629
00:37:58,320 --> 00:38:01,280
our meat, and loaded up the eight ten, strapping the

630
00:38:01,320 --> 00:38:04,119
heads and meat down so they wouldn't fall off, and

631
00:38:04,239 --> 00:38:07,000
leaving one of the rear quarters from the elk hanging

632
00:38:07,039 --> 00:38:10,000
in the tree, hoping that the creature would be happy

633
00:38:10,039 --> 00:38:14,719
with the offering and leave us alone. More roars and

634
00:38:14,880 --> 00:38:18,639
screams broke the darkness, and trees and limbs and rocks

635
00:38:18,639 --> 00:38:21,840
started to rain down on the tent, smashing into the ground.

636
00:38:22,760 --> 00:38:25,079
We decided to make tracks and get our butts back

637
00:38:25,119 --> 00:38:28,760
to Minnesota. That was less than twenty minutes before the

638
00:38:28,800 --> 00:38:31,400
sun started to come up, and we were hauling ass

639
00:38:31,559 --> 00:38:35,159
down the trail, with Chelsea and Jess watching our six

640
00:38:35,559 --> 00:38:38,920
and occasionally firing off a couple of rounds to discourage

641
00:38:38,960 --> 00:38:44,519
any pursuit if they saw something suspicious. During all this time,

642
00:38:44,599 --> 00:38:47,199
we could hear something crashing through the woods on both

643
00:38:47,280 --> 00:38:51,559
sides of us. As the sun rose and the visibility improved,

644
00:38:51,960 --> 00:38:54,960
we were able to open the throttle and increase our speed,

645
00:38:55,320 --> 00:38:59,639
and we began to outpace whatever was pursuing us to

646
00:38:59,760 --> 00:39:03,360
ours later and back in our trucks. We loaded and

647
00:39:03,400 --> 00:39:06,440
made our way home in one piece, with the story

648
00:39:06,480 --> 00:39:10,760
that would brand us crazier than loons. I would like

649
00:39:10,840 --> 00:39:14,400
you to envision the people's faces when we stopped to

650
00:39:14,519 --> 00:39:17,760
fill up or grab something to eat, and those three

651
00:39:17,840 --> 00:39:21,679
heads were strapped to our side by sides. The remark

652
00:39:21,719 --> 00:39:24,519
of the day was, you girls must be proud of

653
00:39:24,559 --> 00:39:28,360
your men for taking such a nice animals. We let

654
00:39:28,400 --> 00:39:32,760
Britt set them straight. We did call Scott and ask

655
00:39:32,840 --> 00:39:35,360
him why he would put us in a location where

656
00:39:35,360 --> 00:39:39,400
a family of Bigfoot was living. When he went back

657
00:39:39,480 --> 00:39:42,079
with several of his guides, they found the camp was

658
00:39:42,199 --> 00:39:46,239
destroyed with the cast iron campso smashed into the ground,

659
00:39:46,519 --> 00:39:50,440
leaving nothing more than scrap metal. Parts of the tent

660
00:39:50,480 --> 00:39:53,199
were hanging in the trees thirty feet off the ground,

661
00:39:53,239 --> 00:39:57,280
and coolers were smashed, and the rear quarter was still

662
00:39:57,400 --> 00:40:01,320
hanging in the tree. We've got decided to close that

663
00:40:01,440 --> 00:40:04,519
area for the near future and move his clients to

664
00:40:04,639 --> 00:40:09,519
other locations for a third rifle season. On our next time,

665
00:40:09,639 --> 00:40:12,880
we would do something a bit less dangerous, like gator

666
00:40:12,960 --> 00:40:17,079
hunting or hog hunting with spears. With all our love,

667
00:40:17,519 --> 00:40:20,960
and she signs off the seven she devils. I tell

668
00:40:21,000 --> 00:40:24,280
you what that is, seven she devils. Those girls are

669
00:40:24,360 --> 00:40:28,079
tougher nails. I mean they're going out by themselves and

670
00:40:28,159 --> 00:40:32,719
hunting elk and hogs and gaiters, and I guess they

671
00:40:32,840 --> 00:40:35,320
just love the outdoors and love to have fun. I

672
00:40:35,320 --> 00:40:38,679
thought this was a great story. It's a terrifying story.

673
00:40:39,360 --> 00:40:41,920
I'm sure they were scared, but they had enough sense

674
00:40:42,000 --> 00:40:45,519
to protect themselves. A couple of them got pissed off

675
00:40:45,559 --> 00:40:48,719
at these things, and I don't know. I think if

676
00:40:48,719 --> 00:40:50,639
they had their choice, they may have stayed and fought

677
00:40:50,679 --> 00:40:53,199
them out. Who knows, but this was a great story.

678
00:40:53,559 --> 00:40:56,800
You girls are You're more man than me and my book.

679
00:40:56,920 --> 00:41:04,079
How about that? Thanks for the story, she devils? Okay.

680
00:41:04,119 --> 00:41:08,079
Here is the letter from the Federal Game Warden the story.

681
00:41:08,400 --> 00:41:11,960
The events in this story apparently happened back in the

682
00:41:12,039 --> 00:41:15,719
early nineteen eighties. He doesn't give a timeline here, and

683
00:41:15,760 --> 00:41:18,679
he doesn't give a specific location. I think he's trying

684
00:41:18,719 --> 00:41:23,000
to be cryptic with us with this information because I

685
00:41:23,039 --> 00:41:25,280
don't know. Maybe it's a big secret. But let's see.

686
00:41:25,360 --> 00:41:29,159
Here's the story. It's really good. The day after Christmas,

687
00:41:29,480 --> 00:41:32,840
two college students launched their john boat into an ox

688
00:41:32,920 --> 00:41:37,039
bow of the Mississippi River. Ice crack when the trailer

689
00:41:37,239 --> 00:41:39,639
entered the water, but it was only a thin sheet

690
00:41:39,960 --> 00:41:42,320
and it would be clear when the sun warmed the

691
00:41:42,360 --> 00:41:46,159
water's surface. They had hunted since the season opened and

692
00:41:46,239 --> 00:41:50,440
had mostly good days, many days killing their limit of millards.

693
00:41:51,440 --> 00:41:54,159
The Halliday break meant they only had another week to

694
00:41:54,159 --> 00:41:57,039
get after the migrating birds, and then it was back

695
00:41:57,079 --> 00:42:01,000
to school, two hundred miles from the flyway. The next season,

696
00:42:01,119 --> 00:42:04,239
being a year away, seemed like an eternity. They were

697
00:42:04,280 --> 00:42:06,840
planning to hunt every day until they had to return

698
00:42:06,880 --> 00:42:12,079
to campus. It was probably an exciting morning. The migration

699
00:42:12,360 --> 00:42:15,559
was in full swing. Birds were in the area and

700
00:42:15,639 --> 00:42:19,840
holding due to the food available. All indications were that

701
00:42:19,880 --> 00:42:24,199
their twenty five horsepower mercury started without problems. It was

702
00:42:24,239 --> 00:42:27,079
only in its second year of use. It was new

703
00:42:27,159 --> 00:42:30,599
and well maintained, and an outboard they had bought new

704
00:42:30,840 --> 00:42:33,719
together for a john boat they had picked up and

705
00:42:33,840 --> 00:42:36,840
fixed up from the want eds of the commercial appeal.

706
00:42:37,840 --> 00:42:41,800
The hunters were experienced with sometimes wild waters and weather

707
00:42:41,960 --> 00:42:46,519
of the Lower Mississippi base and during winter. From interviews

708
00:42:46,599 --> 00:42:51,480
later with family and friends, the two hunters practiced good safety.

709
00:42:52,119 --> 00:42:55,639
They didn't take chances. Life jackets were worn in the

710
00:42:55,679 --> 00:42:58,920
boat until they had stopped tip waiters would put on

711
00:42:58,920 --> 00:43:02,000
only before they entered the water that didn't travel over

712
00:43:02,039 --> 00:43:05,440
the water. In those everyone knew the stories of hunters

713
00:43:05,480 --> 00:43:08,880
who had drowned after being dragged under with full waiters.

714
00:43:09,719 --> 00:43:12,920
The boat was always apparently left secured whenever they left

715
00:43:12,920 --> 00:43:15,880
the boat, and it was within walking distance in case

716
00:43:15,920 --> 00:43:19,519
they needed to get out fast. They did everything they

717
00:43:19,599 --> 00:43:23,480
knew to stay alive in an environment that, with any mishap,

718
00:43:23,920 --> 00:43:27,599
would kill you in minutes. Yet the young enthusiastic duck

719
00:43:27,679 --> 00:43:30,119
hunters left the ramp in the dark of that morning

720
00:43:30,639 --> 00:43:35,159
and they have never been heard from since. From nineteen

721
00:43:35,239 --> 00:43:38,519
seventy five until nineteen ninety five, I worked for the

722
00:43:38,599 --> 00:43:42,480
US Department of the Interior the US Fish and Wildlife

723
00:43:42,559 --> 00:43:46,960
Services as a federal game warden. My assignment through the

724
00:43:47,000 --> 00:43:51,159
winter was to patrol a specific wildlife refuge in the Delta.

725
00:43:52,239 --> 00:43:55,880
At this time, I reported to the refuge manager. He

726
00:43:56,000 --> 00:44:00,280
was my superior. I later became a refuge manager and

727
00:44:00,280 --> 00:44:04,159
then as zone manager, but that is another story. I

728
00:44:04,239 --> 00:44:06,679
was from the area. I had grown up hunting and

729
00:44:06,719 --> 00:44:10,000
fishing on this refuge, and I knew many of the residents,

730
00:44:10,519 --> 00:44:13,119
so the role I played during the years that I

731
00:44:13,239 --> 00:44:16,639
was assigned there came natural to me. I was in

732
00:44:16,679 --> 00:44:19,119
my second year there, and I like to think that

733
00:44:19,159 --> 00:44:22,360
I escorted the trash out the door and made an

734
00:44:22,400 --> 00:44:27,199
impact for conservation. It was never a dull day. There

735
00:44:27,239 --> 00:44:31,360
were stints where we were assigned to varying task forces

736
00:44:31,400 --> 00:44:35,599
with the DEA, the ATF, and even the FBI to

737
00:44:35,599 --> 00:44:40,239
deal with organized crime operations running drugs and weapons through

738
00:44:40,280 --> 00:44:43,599
the lowland areas that might include the refuge where I

739
00:44:43,760 --> 00:44:47,519
was assigned. It was dangerous work and we were not

740
00:44:47,639 --> 00:44:50,400
paid enough for the level of risk. We took while

741
00:44:50,440 --> 00:44:53,559
dealing with those crimes, but it was one of the

742
00:44:53,639 --> 00:44:57,920
exciting eras of the time that I served. When I

743
00:44:57,960 --> 00:45:00,960
heard the radio chatter of the two college boys who

744
00:45:00,960 --> 00:45:03,760
had not returned that night. I was heading out of

745
00:45:03,760 --> 00:45:07,039
the refuge on a rutted logging road that I frequently

746
00:45:07,239 --> 00:45:10,119
used because it gave me access to launch my boat

747
00:45:10,159 --> 00:45:13,960
into several areas. I stopped the truck when my four

748
00:45:13,960 --> 00:45:17,360
wheel drive crawled up on some solid ground, and I

749
00:45:17,480 --> 00:45:19,800
killed the engine and listened to the radio from the

750
00:45:19,840 --> 00:45:23,960
county Sheriff's department. It had been dark for an hour.

751
00:45:24,840 --> 00:45:28,000
A deputy had been dispatched to a boat ramp several

752
00:45:28,119 --> 00:45:30,840
miles north and was to meet the father of one

753
00:45:30,880 --> 00:45:34,760
of the boys and investigate the situation. I got the

754
00:45:34,800 --> 00:45:37,920
whole story of the boys being due home by two

755
00:45:38,000 --> 00:45:40,920
or three that afternoon, and it was now dark and

756
00:45:40,960 --> 00:45:44,159
they hadn't shown up. Their car was still at the

757
00:45:44,239 --> 00:45:48,519
ramp with the trailer attached. They had left that morning,

758
00:45:48,519 --> 00:45:51,159
and they should have been back. Damn right, they should

759
00:45:51,159 --> 00:45:53,960
have been back. I knew this story like I had

760
00:45:54,039 --> 00:45:57,320
written it a thousand times. I had not had the

761
00:45:57,440 --> 00:46:01,039
experience of finding drowned duck hunters, with this being my

762
00:46:01,199 --> 00:46:04,239
only second year on the job, but I knew the

763
00:46:04,320 --> 00:46:08,960
stories from growing up in the area. But over my career, however,

764
00:46:09,320 --> 00:46:13,840
I would be involved in several SAARs search and rescue missions.

765
00:46:14,519 --> 00:46:17,360
It's not a exciting or fulfilling part of my job.

766
00:46:18,039 --> 00:46:21,039
It is an urgent and stressful part of my job.

767
00:46:22,239 --> 00:46:25,960
When we get these calls, a mood of hopelessness overtakes

768
00:46:26,039 --> 00:46:29,519
the searchers because it is rare that we find anyone

769
00:46:29,559 --> 00:46:34,760
alive after a night in the freezing flooded timber. The

770
00:46:34,840 --> 00:46:37,719
ramp where they had launched was north of my refuge.

771
00:46:38,119 --> 00:46:40,559
The hunters had not told anyone where they planned to

772
00:46:40,639 --> 00:46:45,079
hunt that day. According to relatives, they never shared that information.

773
00:46:46,039 --> 00:46:48,960
Often the boys would move once or twice each day,

774
00:46:49,199 --> 00:46:51,719
so no one could verify where the boys would plan

775
00:46:51,840 --> 00:46:54,920
to hunt, if there even was a plan. But my

776
00:46:55,039 --> 00:46:57,960
guess was that they had traveled south in this direction,

777
00:46:58,440 --> 00:47:02,320
if not directly into the refuge. It would have been

778
00:47:02,360 --> 00:47:05,599
easy to get in with the high water. The refuge

779
00:47:05,679 --> 00:47:08,400
was covered up with ducks and the area was busy

780
00:47:08,440 --> 00:47:12,000
with boat traffic. I had checked eight hunting parties before

781
00:47:12,000 --> 00:47:15,800
shooting time was over that day. I had a hunch,

782
00:47:16,079 --> 00:47:18,800
so I drove one hundred yards to the gravel parking

783
00:47:18,840 --> 00:47:22,000
area and turned my rig around and went back into

784
00:47:22,079 --> 00:47:25,559
the flooded area that I had patrolled that day. On

785
00:47:25,639 --> 00:47:28,559
the way, I radioed the sheriff's dispatcher that I was

786
00:47:28,599 --> 00:47:31,360
in the area and would begin a search of the refuge.

787
00:47:31,960 --> 00:47:35,400
The years of experience, I guess I knew they were

788
00:47:35,440 --> 00:47:39,039
out there somewhere, dead or alive, and if they were alive,

789
00:47:39,320 --> 00:47:42,360
the sooner someone got to them, the better their chances

790
00:47:42,599 --> 00:47:47,039
penning they had not drowned. I radioed the refuge manager

791
00:47:47,079 --> 00:47:49,159
and told him what I was up to, and gave

792
00:47:49,239 --> 00:47:52,440
him the general area that I would search, which was

793
00:47:52,559 --> 00:47:56,440
vague because I would be constantly moving. If for some

794
00:47:56,519 --> 00:47:58,960
reason I didn't show up or radio in that I

795
00:47:59,000 --> 00:48:01,559
had stopped searching, they would know where to start looking

796
00:48:01,599 --> 00:48:05,559
for me. After reaching the furthest point south where I

797
00:48:05,599 --> 00:48:08,639
could not go further with my truck, I backed the

798
00:48:08,639 --> 00:48:11,800
boat into the shallow ditch and began slowly working my

799
00:48:11,920 --> 00:48:15,639
way south into bigger water through the flooded timber, hoping

800
00:48:15,679 --> 00:48:18,760
to find the boys shivering in the cold, their motor

801
00:48:18,920 --> 00:48:23,840
not functioning properly. Maybe it was nine fifteen pm, the

802
00:48:23,880 --> 00:48:27,039
temperature had dropped a freezing and a light, misty rain

803
00:48:27,119 --> 00:48:32,199
began to fall. I idled slowly for hours until I

804
00:48:32,239 --> 00:48:34,559
had just enough gas to get back to my truck.

805
00:48:35,320 --> 00:48:37,960
I heard over the radio that a search had started

806
00:48:38,119 --> 00:48:42,119
with a dozen boats, State Game and Fish law enforcement,

807
00:48:42,280 --> 00:48:45,800
and a couple of civilians friends of the family. The

808
00:48:45,880 --> 00:48:49,280
Coastguard would join the next morning with a helicopter that

809
00:48:49,400 --> 00:48:52,039
was being flown in from Memphis for the search the

810
00:48:52,119 --> 00:48:55,960
next morning. If the boys had not been found, The

811
00:48:56,159 --> 00:49:00,280
saar was random. The first night, boats were going where

812
00:49:00,320 --> 00:49:03,559
they thought the boys might have hunted that day. The

813
00:49:03,599 --> 00:49:07,000
next day would be different. More boats would be involved

814
00:49:07,039 --> 00:49:09,599
in the search areas would be a sign, and if

815
00:49:09,639 --> 00:49:12,440
those boys were in a reasonable travel distance for a

816
00:49:12,519 --> 00:49:15,760
john boat from the boat ramp, someone would find them.

817
00:49:16,079 --> 00:49:19,239
More than likely the helicopter crew would spot the boat

818
00:49:19,440 --> 00:49:23,159
with two cold men waving at them. I hoped that

819
00:49:23,199 --> 00:49:26,719
would be the case. I worked my way back to

820
00:49:26,760 --> 00:49:29,519
the truck through a different part of the refuge, an

821
00:49:29,519 --> 00:49:33,000
area much thicker would brush than where most hunters went.

822
00:49:33,639 --> 00:49:36,159
I didn't move as slow as I was going south,

823
00:49:36,280 --> 00:49:39,679
but I kept my light shining all around me. I

824
00:49:39,719 --> 00:49:41,960
wished I had seen them when the bow ran up

825
00:49:42,000 --> 00:49:44,840
on the bank next to my trailer, but again I

826
00:49:44,920 --> 00:49:49,039
knew they could have been anywhere. After letting my supervisor

827
00:49:49,119 --> 00:49:51,320
know that I was calling it a night and reporting

828
00:49:51,320 --> 00:49:54,199
to him the area that I had covered, I loaded

829
00:49:54,239 --> 00:49:57,639
my boat and I left. It was two thirty a m.

830
00:50:00,440 --> 00:50:04,800
At six am, later than normal, and I showered and dressed,

831
00:50:04,840 --> 00:50:08,320
and then called in to get an update. Several groups

832
00:50:08,360 --> 00:50:11,840
had searched all night and came up empty. The searcher

833
00:50:11,920 --> 00:50:15,119
was growing and spreading out, and the more people were

834
00:50:15,159 --> 00:50:17,920
showing up to volunteer in search where they were needed.

835
00:50:19,039 --> 00:50:21,400
I called the sheriff in the county north of US

836
00:50:21,440 --> 00:50:24,239
and asked if I was needed. He didn't think so,

837
00:50:24,360 --> 00:50:27,239
but since I was going to be patrolling the refuge anyway,

838
00:50:27,679 --> 00:50:30,400
he wanted me to keep my eye out. Well, no kidding,

839
00:50:30,599 --> 00:50:34,159
I thought. I stopped at the gas station and filled

840
00:50:34,199 --> 00:50:37,679
my gas tanks I put in at the busiest ramp

841
00:50:37,760 --> 00:50:41,280
on the refuge. There I checked a party of hunters

842
00:50:41,320 --> 00:50:44,519
who were getting a late start. After that, I headed

843
00:50:44,599 --> 00:50:48,760
south to my refuge, following the main channel. On each

844
00:50:48,800 --> 00:50:51,599
side of me as I travel were the lazy hunters

845
00:50:51,599 --> 00:50:54,360
who set up close to the channel. I could see

846
00:50:54,400 --> 00:50:57,199
their decoy spreads and the blinds they had thrown up

847
00:50:57,239 --> 00:51:00,800
and claimed with each stop. I pulled close and asked

848
00:51:00,800 --> 00:51:04,079
the hunters to look out for the missing boys. The

849
00:51:04,119 --> 00:51:06,159
water was high and a man could just about go

850
00:51:06,239 --> 00:51:09,559
anywhere in the refuge with a boat. I broke from

851
00:51:09,599 --> 00:51:12,119
the channel and followed a ditch until it opened up

852
00:51:12,159 --> 00:51:15,320
into a natural lake, and I trimmed the motor and

853
00:51:15,360 --> 00:51:17,679
I laid the boat flat on the water and headed

854
00:51:17,760 --> 00:51:20,239
at full throttle to the other end, where there were

855
00:51:20,280 --> 00:51:24,920
openings in the timber that hunters liked to use. It

856
00:51:24,960 --> 00:51:27,039
took some work to get to these places, and that

857
00:51:27,199 --> 00:51:28,960
is why I thought the two men may have gone

858
00:51:29,000 --> 00:51:32,039
into the area to get away from the crowd. I

859
00:51:32,119 --> 00:51:34,559
knew where the shooting holes were, and I headed to

860
00:51:34,599 --> 00:51:38,400
the closest one. A boat with a pullover blind sat

861
00:51:38,440 --> 00:51:41,719
back in a patch of buck brush. I approached the boat,

862
00:51:41,760 --> 00:51:45,679
and three heads poked above the blind. Hey, mister game warden,

863
00:51:46,000 --> 00:51:49,440
I heard a voice say, as you luck, Ben, I asked,

864
00:51:50,679 --> 00:51:52,360
we have a few in the boat here. You want

865
00:51:52,360 --> 00:51:56,079
to look at them now? Not today. There's some fellows

866
00:51:56,119 --> 00:51:58,880
that put in north of here, yesterday. That didn't show

867
00:51:58,960 --> 00:52:01,320
up last night at the rain. There's a big search

868
00:52:01,400 --> 00:52:06,079
going on. Have you seen anything or anyone back in here? Yeah,

869
00:52:06,119 --> 00:52:08,679
we heard about that. They said, you think they could

870
00:52:08,679 --> 00:52:11,760
be this far away from where they put in maybe?

871
00:52:11,880 --> 00:52:15,960
I said, have you seen or heard anything? Uh? There

872
00:52:16,000 --> 00:52:19,000
was some shooting back in the woods yesterday. Two of

873
00:52:19,039 --> 00:52:21,519
the men pointed to a place deeper in the timber.

874
00:52:22,280 --> 00:52:24,960
They were tearing the ducks up. It sounded like we

875
00:52:25,079 --> 00:52:27,639
left right at dark. We never saw them come out.

876
00:52:28,199 --> 00:52:30,440
They could have come in another way, but who knows.

877
00:52:31,119 --> 00:52:33,960
But I don't know any other way to get in here. Well,

878
00:52:34,000 --> 00:52:37,159
I doubt that helps you. Oh it helps, I said,

879
00:52:37,280 --> 00:52:39,239
keep your eyes open and give them a hand if

880
00:52:39,239 --> 00:52:43,719
you see them. There're two college kids. Sure will, they said,

881
00:52:44,239 --> 00:52:47,880
and I waved and motored off in my boat. I

882
00:52:47,920 --> 00:52:51,800
headed further into the trees. Unless they were hunting from

883
00:52:51,840 --> 00:52:54,239
the bank, this was the only way into the area.

884
00:52:54,840 --> 00:52:58,920
It was worth taking a look. Thirty minutes later I

885
00:52:58,960 --> 00:53:02,559
came to an opening surrounded by cypress trees. I had

886
00:53:02,599 --> 00:53:05,840
actually fished this lake when I was a kid during

887
00:53:05,840 --> 00:53:08,519
the spring and summer. This was the most beautiful area

888
00:53:08,639 --> 00:53:11,679
on the refuge and any chance I got to go

889
00:53:11,800 --> 00:53:15,400
into the area I went. It was a peaceful place

890
00:53:15,440 --> 00:53:18,000
to me, and it brought memories to the surface of

891
00:53:18,079 --> 00:53:22,480
my father and I filling a cooler with fish. Soon

892
00:53:22,599 --> 00:53:25,760
decoys came into view on the far side, half the

893
00:53:25,800 --> 00:53:28,199
decoys in the open water and the other half up

894
00:53:28,239 --> 00:53:31,119
in the trees. I motored up to them and I

895
00:53:31,199 --> 00:53:34,920
killed my motor it went in there, I yelled out.

896
00:53:35,519 --> 00:53:37,760
I didn't see a boat or any sort of blind

897
00:53:38,079 --> 00:53:42,760
just decoys and no hunters. The front that I had

898
00:53:42,840 --> 00:53:46,599
experienced last night had moved through. Now it was cold

899
00:53:46,719 --> 00:53:50,360
and clear. The wind was whipping and singing through the

900
00:53:50,400 --> 00:53:54,159
cypress and oak limbs. I moved through the decoys into

901
00:53:54,159 --> 00:53:57,079
the trees, looking for whoever it had set this spread up.

902
00:53:58,119 --> 00:54:00,599
The farther I went, the more I again to think.

903
00:54:00,639 --> 00:54:03,039
These hunters had left their spread out so they wouldn't

904
00:54:03,039 --> 00:54:05,239
have to spend time setting up when they came back

905
00:54:05,280 --> 00:54:08,440
in the next day. And this was against the rules.

906
00:54:09,400 --> 00:54:12,679
Hunters were to leave the area they hunted just as

907
00:54:12,719 --> 00:54:14,639
they had found it at the end of the day.

908
00:54:15,679 --> 00:54:19,400
During that time, hunters were allowed a fixed number of decoys,

909
00:54:19,400 --> 00:54:22,920
and they were to be removed each day. I was

910
00:54:22,960 --> 00:54:25,760
about to circle around and head back out into open

911
00:54:25,840 --> 00:54:29,280
water when I saw the boat. I was one hundred

912
00:54:29,280 --> 00:54:32,800
and fifty yards past the decoys and fifty yards from

913
00:54:32,880 --> 00:54:36,039
dry land, and the boat appeared to be on the bank.

914
00:54:36,599 --> 00:54:39,599
Something was off about the scene. Though the boat was

915
00:54:39,679 --> 00:54:43,800
bent in half, it was almost doubled over. I pulled

916
00:54:43,840 --> 00:54:46,039
up to the bank and walked to what was left

917
00:54:46,039 --> 00:54:48,599
of the boat, which still sat in a foot of water.

918
00:54:49,519 --> 00:54:52,320
I backed away and raised my radio to call my boss,

919
00:54:52,400 --> 00:54:55,960
but he didn't respond. I walked closer to make sure

920
00:54:56,000 --> 00:54:58,199
I was seeing what I thought I was seeing, and

921
00:54:58,239 --> 00:55:01,840
I raised the radio again and couldn't reached my refuge manager.

922
00:55:02,840 --> 00:55:05,320
I switched to the channel of the Sheriff's office and

923
00:55:05,360 --> 00:55:09,760
I got their dispatcher. I read the boat registration numbers

924
00:55:09,760 --> 00:55:12,840
to the sheriff and he verified that this was the boat.

925
00:55:13,360 --> 00:55:15,719
He knew where I was, but it would take two

926
00:55:15,840 --> 00:55:18,760
maybe three hours to get someone out there, and could

927
00:55:18,800 --> 00:55:21,280
I stay with the boat. Well, of course I could

928
00:55:21,280 --> 00:55:24,719
stay with the boat, I told him. I walked back

929
00:55:24,760 --> 00:55:27,920
to my boat and sat on the bow. I wasn't tired,

930
00:55:28,000 --> 00:55:31,719
but in another way I was exhausted. Maybe I just

931
00:55:31,800 --> 00:55:34,119
needed to prepare my mind for what I would see

932
00:55:34,199 --> 00:55:36,639
when I walked back to the boat. It just didn't

933
00:55:36,679 --> 00:55:39,880
seem real to me at that point. To be honest,

934
00:55:39,920 --> 00:55:43,000
I was expecting to find these boys drowned in the

935
00:55:43,039 --> 00:55:48,199
water somewhere. Federal game wardens are trained as well, if

936
00:55:48,239 --> 00:55:52,519
not more so, on law enforcement tactics, rules, and crime

937
00:55:52,599 --> 00:55:56,760
scene procedures. We get the same training that the ATF

938
00:55:57,000 --> 00:56:01,440
DEAFBI agents get. We know how to handle and conduct

939
00:56:01,519 --> 00:56:05,679
ourselves on a crime scene. In my boat, I carried

940
00:56:05,679 --> 00:56:08,440
a rucksack with several items that I need to do

941
00:56:08,480 --> 00:56:13,800
my job, crime scene tools, a change of clothes, amos, etc.

942
00:56:15,039 --> 00:56:17,800
This was an age before digital cameras, and I kept

943
00:56:17,880 --> 00:56:21,920
a disposable Kodak camera in my bag. The camera had

944
00:56:21,960 --> 00:56:24,760
twenty four exposures and I burned up every one of

945
00:56:24,840 --> 00:56:28,039
them on the scene. I never got close enough to

946
00:56:28,119 --> 00:56:31,639
disturb anything around the boat, but I took pictures from

947
00:56:31,679 --> 00:56:36,119
every angle and I got images of giant tracks that

948
00:56:36,239 --> 00:56:40,800
seemed to be everywhere. I placed the disposable camera back

949
00:56:40,800 --> 00:56:43,719
into my rucksack and I waited, somewhat aware of my

950
00:56:43,840 --> 00:56:47,679
surroundings in case there was an aggressive animal still in

951
00:56:47,719 --> 00:56:52,599
the area, maybe even protecting its kill, and somewhat still

952
00:56:52,639 --> 00:56:54,760
in a bit of shock at what I had found.

953
00:56:55,880 --> 00:56:58,079
I don't know why I assumed it was an animal,

954
00:56:58,239 --> 00:57:01,320
but those tracks led me to believe that something had

955
00:57:01,360 --> 00:57:04,280
attacked these boys. I sat on the front of the

956
00:57:04,280 --> 00:57:06,800
boat for a few more minutes, getting my bearings and

957
00:57:06,840 --> 00:57:09,800
clearing my head. There wasn't much for me to do

958
00:57:09,920 --> 00:57:12,480
at this point, and I should have stayed put and

959
00:57:12,519 --> 00:57:15,840
waited for whoever was coming. But I can never sit

960
00:57:16,000 --> 00:57:20,000
still now. I'm glad that no one was around. It

961
00:57:20,079 --> 00:57:22,360
allowed me to take in the scene and try to

962
00:57:22,400 --> 00:57:26,440
imagine what had happened here. It was almost peaceful had

963
00:57:26,440 --> 00:57:29,800
I not been conscious that something had killed these men

964
00:57:29,920 --> 00:57:32,679
in the last few hours, and it could have still

965
00:57:32,719 --> 00:57:38,199
been close. Still, I'm assuming it's an animal. I knew

966
00:57:38,239 --> 00:57:40,760
that from the tracks around the boat and the tracks

967
00:57:40,760 --> 00:57:42,760
that I can make out heading up the bank into

968
00:57:42,800 --> 00:57:46,280
the trees. I looked for drag marks, like something had

969
00:57:46,360 --> 00:57:49,119
dragged the two bodies through the mud, but there was

970
00:57:49,159 --> 00:57:52,920
nothing but a single set of deep, barefoot tracks. They

971
00:57:52,920 --> 00:57:56,559
were huge tracks. I knew what it was, but I

972
00:57:56,599 --> 00:57:59,800
would not allow my mind to accept it. There had

973
00:57:59,840 --> 00:58:03,079
to be an explanation other than what I was thinking.

974
00:58:04,119 --> 00:58:06,880
But to prove all this, I had to find the bodies,

975
00:58:07,239 --> 00:58:10,159
and I hoped, like hell I would find the boys alive.

976
00:58:11,599 --> 00:58:15,000
I carried a Rugrimny fourteen ranch rifle in the boat.

977
00:58:15,400 --> 00:58:18,199
I took it out of its cover. With the rifle

978
00:58:18,239 --> 00:58:20,719
in my side arm, I walked into the trees and

979
00:58:20,760 --> 00:58:23,920
felt confident that if whatever this was came at me,

980
00:58:24,400 --> 00:58:27,840
I would have enough firepower to stop it. There was

981
00:58:27,880 --> 00:58:30,599
an open lane through the trees twenty five feet up

982
00:58:30,639 --> 00:58:33,760
the bank that ran parallel with the tracks that led

983
00:58:33,840 --> 00:58:37,400
into the tall stand of trees and brush. My tracks

984
00:58:37,440 --> 00:58:41,679
would not disturb the path of the alleged killer. I

985
00:58:41,800 --> 00:58:45,400
entered the tree slowly, looking for anything that moved or jumped.

986
00:58:46,280 --> 00:58:48,480
A few steps later, I made a three hundred and

987
00:58:48,519 --> 00:58:52,480
sixty degree survey of everything. I could no longer see

988
00:58:52,480 --> 00:58:55,960
the water. The trees opened into a clear stand and

989
00:58:56,000 --> 00:58:59,400
I could see one hundred yards in every direction. I

990
00:58:59,440 --> 00:59:02,639
made a course, changed and walked toward where I thought

991
00:59:02,719 --> 00:59:05,719
the tracks from the wrecked boat would intersect my path.

992
00:59:06,880 --> 00:59:10,639
I heard a helicopter approaching, and I stopped and looked up,

993
00:59:10,719 --> 00:59:14,159
waiting for it to peer somewhere over me. I remember

994
00:59:14,280 --> 00:59:17,480
looking into the sun, and it's the last thing I

995
00:59:17,559 --> 00:59:23,920
remember about that day. A woman in a uniform handed

996
00:59:24,000 --> 00:59:27,400
a cup of coffee to me. She was talking to me,

997
00:59:27,679 --> 00:59:29,960
I think, telling me that I could find sugar and

998
00:59:30,000 --> 00:59:32,719
all that stuff from my coffee just around the corner.

999
00:59:33,840 --> 00:59:37,360
Things were not hazy or foggy. In my mind, I

1000
00:59:37,440 --> 00:59:40,239
knew where I was, but I had no recollection of

1001
00:59:40,280 --> 00:59:43,719
how I got there. I kept my composure while wanting

1002
00:59:43,760 --> 00:59:46,639
to ask how the hell did I get here? Where's

1003
00:59:46,679 --> 00:59:48,679
the team that was on its way to the scene.

1004
00:59:49,159 --> 00:59:52,159
Had I passed out? I looked down at my boots

1005
00:59:52,159 --> 00:59:54,760
and they were clean or not as muddy as I

1006
00:59:54,760 --> 00:59:57,199
had gotten them in the woods, and I had on

1007
00:59:57,239 --> 01:00:02,880
my second pair of boots was clean. Apparently I had changed.

1008
01:00:03,639 --> 01:00:07,079
None of this seemed right. I kept my mouth shut

1009
01:00:07,119 --> 01:00:09,800
and acted normal, like I knew exactly where I was

1010
01:00:09,880 --> 01:00:13,920
and why I was there. The Sheriff's office was just

1011
01:00:13,960 --> 01:00:16,239
down the hall, and I could see him sitting at

1012
01:00:16,239 --> 01:00:19,360
his desk talking on the phone. I walked to the

1013
01:00:19,400 --> 01:00:21,920
door and got there when he was ending his call.

1014
01:00:22,760 --> 01:00:25,840
You have everything you need from me, I asked, I

1015
01:00:25,880 --> 01:00:28,960
thought you left. He said, yeah, I don't need anything

1016
01:00:29,000 --> 01:00:32,519
else from you. Dan sent over your report. It's the

1017
01:00:32,599 --> 01:00:35,679
hell the thing, isn't it. I left the building and

1018
01:00:35,840 --> 01:00:38,840
found my truck. My keys were in the pocket where

1019
01:00:38,840 --> 01:00:43,239
I always dropped them at home. My report lay in

1020
01:00:43,280 --> 01:00:46,639
the middle of my desk. I checked the fax machine

1021
01:00:46,719 --> 01:00:49,400
log and I had sent a fax that morning to

1022
01:00:49,480 --> 01:00:53,079
my supervisor. I had been on the water that morning

1023
01:00:53,119 --> 01:00:56,639
looking for missing duck hunters. I looked at my watch

1024
01:00:57,039 --> 01:01:01,679
and it was the next day, December twenty eighth. I

1025
01:01:01,719 --> 01:01:04,079
walked outside and my boat was where I kept it.

1026
01:01:04,480 --> 01:01:06,360
And then I turned back to my truck in the

1027
01:01:06,440 --> 01:01:09,400
driveway and opened the door, and my rucksack and my

1028
01:01:09,519 --> 01:01:13,239
rifle were neatly laid on the passenger floorboard, exactly where

1029
01:01:13,239 --> 01:01:16,320
I kept them. It's like I had come home after

1030
01:01:16,360 --> 01:01:21,199
finding the damaged boat and gone through my regular routine.

1031
01:01:21,360 --> 01:01:23,960
My wet, muddy boots were under the car port, and

1032
01:01:24,000 --> 01:01:27,039
dirty clothes were in the hamper. I even pulled the

1033
01:01:27,079 --> 01:01:29,320
towel from the hamper and found that it was still

1034
01:01:29,559 --> 01:01:32,199
damp for me drying off from a shower that morning.

1035
01:01:33,239 --> 01:01:35,920
Everything in the house was like it was supposed to be,

1036
01:01:36,800 --> 01:01:41,440
just as normal as ever. There was plenty of daylight left,

1037
01:01:41,480 --> 01:01:44,639
and the weather was good. I headed to the refuge,

1038
01:01:44,679 --> 01:01:46,679
and soon I was on the water and at the

1039
01:01:46,679 --> 01:01:49,840
place where I found the boat. The boat was not there,

1040
01:01:50,519 --> 01:01:53,039
neither were the decoys I had seen that the boys

1041
01:01:53,079 --> 01:01:56,320
had been hunting over on the bank. There were no

1042
01:01:56,480 --> 01:01:59,880
tracks other than human boot tracks. Looked like I heard

1043
01:02:00,119 --> 01:02:03,480
people had been walking up and down that pathway. Well.

1044
01:02:03,519 --> 01:02:06,039
I followed those tracks and they ended where I think

1045
01:02:06,119 --> 01:02:10,079
my memory of the day before ended. From there, I

1046
01:02:10,159 --> 01:02:12,920
followed my own tracks that ran parallel with the water,

1047
01:02:13,079 --> 01:02:15,400
and then I turned back toward the water until I

1048
01:02:15,519 --> 01:02:19,159
arrived at the bank again, water slapping the transom of

1049
01:02:19,159 --> 01:02:22,480
my boat. I stared at it, tilting with each riple,

1050
01:02:22,559 --> 01:02:25,960
trying to figure out what was going on. On my

1051
01:02:26,039 --> 01:02:28,400
way back across the lake, I ran into a search

1052
01:02:28,519 --> 01:02:31,599
team with the Coastguard. They talked about the search and

1053
01:02:31,639 --> 01:02:35,159
that had been focused now on my refuge, which made sense.

1054
01:02:35,719 --> 01:02:38,760
We had found their boat here, there was no reason

1055
01:02:38,880 --> 01:02:42,599
to search other areas, but no college boys or bodies

1056
01:02:42,599 --> 01:02:46,880
of college boys had been found. Later that evening, at

1057
01:02:46,920 --> 01:02:49,239
my desk, I read the report that I had signed.

1058
01:02:49,920 --> 01:02:52,320
It was not what I had seen when I discovered

1059
01:02:52,320 --> 01:02:56,840
that boat. There were no mention of animal tracks around

1060
01:02:56,840 --> 01:02:59,480
the boat. My description of the boat was that the

1061
01:02:59,519 --> 01:03:02,360
boys have hit something while moving fast to do that

1062
01:03:02,519 --> 01:03:06,760
much damage. A week later, of visit to the yard

1063
01:03:06,760 --> 01:03:10,400
where the County Sheriff's Department kept impounded vehicles, and I

1064
01:03:10,440 --> 01:03:13,199
looked at the boat the day I found it. It

1065
01:03:13,239 --> 01:03:15,760
looked like a huge weight had been dropped into the

1066
01:03:15,800 --> 01:03:18,519
middle of it, and it had folded in two, almost

1067
01:03:18,559 --> 01:03:22,360
like a folded piece of cardboard. But the boat I saw,

1068
01:03:22,639 --> 01:03:25,480
and I checked the numbers, it was the boat had

1069
01:03:25,519 --> 01:03:27,960
been folded back. For lack of a better way to

1070
01:03:28,039 --> 01:03:30,599
describe it, there was a lot of damage, but it

1071
01:03:30,639 --> 01:03:34,679
was flat and it still looked like a boat. Nevertheless,

1072
01:03:34,719 --> 01:03:37,599
I had no doubt that this report was mine. I

1073
01:03:37,679 --> 01:03:39,960
knew that from the way I write, and there was

1074
01:03:40,000 --> 01:03:43,880
no doubt it was my signature. After a week, there

1075
01:03:43,960 --> 01:03:47,280
was no reason to dedicate state and federal resources on

1076
01:03:47,320 --> 01:03:50,199
a search that everyone knew would not turn up anything.

1077
01:03:51,280 --> 01:03:53,679
Two shotguns had been dragged from the bottom of the

1078
01:03:53,760 --> 01:03:56,039
lake close to where the boat was found, but they

1079
01:03:56,039 --> 01:03:58,639
were in such bad shape that it was determined the

1080
01:03:58,679 --> 01:04:01,800
guns had not belonged to the missing boys and had

1081
01:04:01,840 --> 01:04:06,079
been in the water for probably years. Maybe lost overboard

1082
01:04:06,159 --> 01:04:10,800
by careless hunters. It was into July when I finally

1083
01:04:10,840 --> 01:04:13,920
stopped looking around the area for those boys while still

1084
01:04:13,960 --> 01:04:17,480
doing my regular job, And when the days got longer,

1085
01:04:17,559 --> 01:04:20,000
I would go back into that area and search the

1086
01:04:20,039 --> 01:04:23,840
water some days and walked the dry island on other days.

1087
01:04:24,239 --> 01:04:28,239
But I never found anything. By the time it had

1088
01:04:28,280 --> 01:04:32,039
been full on summer heat for three months, anything remaining

1089
01:04:32,079 --> 01:04:35,760
would be progressively harder to find. It was a month

1090
01:04:35,840 --> 01:04:39,519
after the incident that I remembered I had a disposable Kodak.

1091
01:04:39,639 --> 01:04:43,320
While digging in my bag for something else, I had

1092
01:04:43,320 --> 01:04:46,960
the images developed at a one hour photo shop. While waiting,

1093
01:04:47,800 --> 01:04:52,880
the images were blurred or completely black. Of twenty four exposures,

1094
01:04:53,119 --> 01:04:57,400
not a single one turned out. We are decades away

1095
01:04:57,440 --> 01:05:01,480
from that strange holiday season. Those kids are still missing.

1096
01:05:02,199 --> 01:05:05,039
If they died in my refuge, and what I mean

1097
01:05:05,280 --> 01:05:08,280
is if they drowned or died of hypothermia, either I

1098
01:05:08,559 --> 01:05:12,320
or someone would have found them. I think I lost

1099
01:05:12,400 --> 01:05:16,719
almost twenty four hours of my memory. I still don't

1100
01:05:16,760 --> 01:05:20,719
know anything of my activities during that time. I must

1101
01:05:20,719 --> 01:05:24,000
have driven myself home. It's obvious that I wrote the

1102
01:05:24,079 --> 01:05:27,800
report that I showered that I changed clothes and even

1103
01:05:27,840 --> 01:05:31,480
slept in my bed. I never changed my report or

1104
01:05:31,519 --> 01:05:34,360
even told anyone about the twenty four hours that I

1105
01:05:34,400 --> 01:05:38,840
cannot remember, other than one wildlife officer that was years

1106
01:05:38,960 --> 01:05:43,000
later after a few beers. He is an officer I've

1107
01:05:43,039 --> 01:05:46,679
known for thirty years and we work federal refuges in

1108
01:05:46,760 --> 01:05:50,840
the same region. Now, these are lowland delta areas that

1109
01:05:50,880 --> 01:05:55,440
are forgotten by the quote missing persons experts. They like

1110
01:05:55,519 --> 01:05:59,719
to report on the popular stories and popular areas of wilderness.

1111
01:06:00,880 --> 01:06:03,280
The lost time event has never happened to me since

1112
01:06:03,320 --> 01:06:06,360
those early days of my career. But between the two

1113
01:06:06,400 --> 01:06:09,079
of us, we have stories to tell you that have

1114
01:06:09,159 --> 01:06:12,800
flown under the radar of the people who investigate missing

1115
01:06:12,840 --> 01:06:16,719
persons cases. Thank you for listening this far. I know

1116
01:06:16,800 --> 01:06:19,639
this was a long podcast, but I thought every story

1117
01:06:19,800 --> 01:06:23,079
in this set was really good. I really hope you

1118
01:06:23,119 --> 01:06:25,480
guys enjoyed it and you can look forward to more

1119
01:06:25,679 --> 01:06:31,440
frequent stories, more frequent podcasts being uploaded weekly. Back on track,

1120
01:06:31,840 --> 01:06:34,440
I appreciate you hanging with me. Let's see you guys

1121
01:06:34,480 --> 01:06:41,800
on the next one. Thank you