1 00:00:10,039 --> 00:00:13,439 Speaker 1: I'm a full blooded Cherokee Indian, and my father and 2 00:00:13,519 --> 00:00:16,920 my grandfather always told me never to run from trouble. 3 00:00:17,839 --> 00:00:19,839 Speaker 2: That's why when my father saw. 4 00:00:19,679 --> 00:00:22,480 Speaker 1: A bigfoot through his night scope and he told me 5 00:00:22,519 --> 00:00:25,519 to stay out of the woods, I sat myself down 6 00:00:25,600 --> 00:00:27,359 by the fire and I waited for it to come 7 00:00:27,440 --> 00:00:32,799 to camp and introduce itself. Now here's my story. In 8 00:00:32,880 --> 00:00:35,439 nineteen eighty six, I went hunting with my father in 9 00:00:35,560 --> 00:00:39,439 Nevada to a place called White House Reservoir. We drove 10 00:00:39,479 --> 00:00:42,079 our camper trailer there on a n ice day when 11 00:00:42,079 --> 00:00:46,039 the weather was pleasant not too cold. We always cooked 12 00:00:46,079 --> 00:00:48,439 out in the area where we were going to hunt. 13 00:00:48,920 --> 00:00:51,600 We built a healthy log fire and enjoyed the area. 14 00:00:52,640 --> 00:00:55,320 Everything was going fine until about two thirty in the 15 00:00:55,359 --> 00:00:59,799 morning when the dog started going crazy. I went outside 16 00:00:59,840 --> 00:01:02,280 and poked around the remains of our fire to see 17 00:01:02,280 --> 00:01:05,319 if maybe an animal had come into our camp, and 18 00:01:05,400 --> 00:01:08,519 I couldn't see anything but a smell of something awful. 19 00:01:09,159 --> 00:01:12,400 I mean, it's tank and this dog, who would normally 20 00:01:12,480 --> 00:01:16,319 jump outside at any chance, wouldn't come close to the door. 21 00:01:17,480 --> 00:01:19,840 The only way to get him outside at that point 22 00:01:19,879 --> 00:01:22,359 was to push his butt out the door. But then 23 00:01:22,400 --> 00:01:25,120 he just ran underneath the trailer and he came up 24 00:01:25,159 --> 00:01:28,680 through the floorboards. That's when I knew something was wrong. 25 00:01:30,040 --> 00:01:32,840 I could hear something moving around close to our camp, 26 00:01:33,239 --> 00:01:37,040 but in the darkness surrounding the campfire, I couldn't see anything. 27 00:01:37,920 --> 00:01:40,200 I called to my father inside the trailer, and I 28 00:01:40,239 --> 00:01:42,799 asked him to get his night scope out see if 29 00:01:42,840 --> 00:01:46,239 he could see anything. He looked through the scope, looked 30 00:01:46,239 --> 00:01:49,000 around the camp from the door of the trailer. Then 31 00:01:49,040 --> 00:01:51,359 he looked me right in the eyes. Don't go a 32 00:01:51,400 --> 00:01:55,239 step further, he whispered, what's up? I ask him, Just 33 00:01:55,280 --> 00:01:58,319 trust me, don't go any further. Don't go in the woods. 34 00:01:58,319 --> 00:02:03,079 Do you hear me? Yes, sir, I said, always listened 35 00:02:03,079 --> 00:02:05,280 to my father, so I did as he said, but 36 00:02:05,359 --> 00:02:08,599 I didn't go inside. I put another log on the 37 00:02:08,639 --> 00:02:10,879 fire and I sat down, and I stayed up till 38 00:02:10,919 --> 00:02:14,360 around four in the morning, looking around and listening to 39 00:02:14,439 --> 00:02:17,680 the strained silence of the night, waiting for whatever the 40 00:02:17,719 --> 00:02:21,400 creature was to make an appearance. It never did show 41 00:02:21,400 --> 00:02:24,240 itself to me, but I remember at one point, all 42 00:02:24,280 --> 00:02:27,639 the sounds of nature started up at once, like they 43 00:02:27,639 --> 00:02:30,599 had all been hiding and holding their breath until the 44 00:02:30,680 --> 00:02:35,319 monster in the woods went away. When daylight crept over 45 00:02:35,400 --> 00:02:38,719 our camp, I went inside and got some sleep. A 46 00:02:38,759 --> 00:02:42,319 couple of hours later, I went back outside and saw tracks, 47 00:02:42,680 --> 00:02:45,840 and I measured nineteen inches long and twelve inches wide 48 00:02:46,199 --> 00:02:50,159 all around the trailer. I told my father, but he 49 00:02:50,199 --> 00:02:52,759 didn't want to talk about it, so I pressed him 50 00:02:52,759 --> 00:02:56,560 on until he told me what he saw in the scope. 51 00:02:56,719 --> 00:02:59,400 He finally gave in and told me he saw something 52 00:02:59,479 --> 00:03:02,840 big moving out there in the darkness, through the forest 53 00:03:02,919 --> 00:03:06,120 and trying to hide between trees, but he said that 54 00:03:06,240 --> 00:03:09,680 I didn't need to worry myself over it. Well, I 55 00:03:09,719 --> 00:03:12,439 saw the footprints with my own eyes, and I smelled 56 00:03:12,520 --> 00:03:16,000 that famous horrible smell you hear about, and I heard 57 00:03:16,039 --> 00:03:19,680 the seriousness in my proud father's voice when he warned 58 00:03:19,719 --> 00:03:22,159 me not to go any further. And I saw that 59 00:03:22,280 --> 00:03:25,719 dog act like it was scared for its life. I'm 60 00:03:25,800 --> 00:03:28,319 positive it was a bigfoot out there, which, in my 61 00:03:28,400 --> 00:03:31,919 humble opinion, is something we should have been worried about. 62 00:03:35,800 --> 00:03:38,080 I used to be a mountaineering guy, and I hiked 63 00:03:38,080 --> 00:03:41,960 a lot in Arkansas, where I'm from. I remember hearing 64 00:03:42,039 --> 00:03:45,360 heavy footed people walk around my campsite at night, but 65 00:03:45,439 --> 00:03:48,639 I always assumed they were nearby campers getting up to 66 00:03:48,759 --> 00:03:54,280 use the bathroom. After several unusual experiences, though, I started 67 00:03:54,280 --> 00:03:58,680 to become more convinced about the bigfoot subject. I was 68 00:03:58,759 --> 00:04:02,400 hiking around mina ark Saw in bear country with a friend. 69 00:04:03,120 --> 00:04:05,439 We were going along when we both noticed that the 70 00:04:05,479 --> 00:04:09,120 trail had become eerily silent. It was so silent that 71 00:04:09,240 --> 00:04:12,000 my ears started to rain. Well. 72 00:04:12,039 --> 00:04:14,439 Speaker 2: I thought it was cool, but as we went to 73 00:04:14,479 --> 00:04:16,839 bed that night, I was kept awake by the sound 74 00:04:16,920 --> 00:04:21,000 of something massive walking in the forest around us. Naturally, 75 00:04:21,040 --> 00:04:24,920 I was alarmed, thinking it might be a bear. We 76 00:04:25,000 --> 00:04:27,920 both sat up and turned on our headlamps and looked around, 77 00:04:28,000 --> 00:04:30,160 ready to see a bear in the light, but there 78 00:04:30,240 --> 00:04:34,399 was nothing there. Neither of us saw anything but a forest. 79 00:04:35,079 --> 00:04:37,759 I will never forget it. It was too loud of 80 00:04:37,800 --> 00:04:40,439 a sound and too close to our camp for us 81 00:04:40,480 --> 00:04:43,680 not to see what it was. None of it made sense. 82 00:04:45,399 --> 00:04:47,399 A couple of years ago, while I was hunting on 83 00:04:47,439 --> 00:04:50,680 a friend's property, I was outside getting the fire going 84 00:04:50,800 --> 00:04:53,959 late at night when I heard a loud and long woop. 85 00:04:54,240 --> 00:04:56,800 It was such an unnatural sound to hear coming out 86 00:04:56,800 --> 00:05:00,920 of the dark that it startled me. My flashlight on 87 00:05:01,079 --> 00:05:04,040 and looked around for whatever person was playing a trick 88 00:05:04,120 --> 00:05:07,759 on me, but I saw nothing. Just as I started 89 00:05:07,800 --> 00:05:10,519 to relax, I heard a loud growl come from the 90 00:05:10,519 --> 00:05:13,839 same spot in the dark. Well, my courage left me 91 00:05:13,920 --> 00:05:16,600 at that moment, and I quickly retreated to the cabin. 92 00:05:17,240 --> 00:05:20,279 My friend and I came out together a little while later, 93 00:05:20,399 --> 00:05:24,240 but we didn't hear another sound. Later that weekend, my 94 00:05:24,319 --> 00:05:27,160 friend said that there had been another strange call coming 95 00:05:27,199 --> 00:05:31,160 from the woods. It sounded like something huge had pounced 96 00:05:31,199 --> 00:05:34,879 on an animal and killed it. Now, that's not such 97 00:05:34,879 --> 00:05:37,079 a strange thing to hear out in the while, but 98 00:05:37,160 --> 00:05:41,519 my friend swore there was something unnatural about it. Another time, 99 00:05:41,600 --> 00:05:44,079 I was driving down the Interstate and I was about 100 00:05:44,079 --> 00:05:46,920 to pass over a country lane in the middle of nowhere, 101 00:05:47,560 --> 00:05:50,120 and as I approached, I saw two men walking down 102 00:05:50,160 --> 00:05:53,360 the center of the lane. They were black as night 103 00:05:53,480 --> 00:05:56,680 from head to toe, and they were huge. Together they 104 00:05:56,720 --> 00:05:58,959 would have taken up half the road if they were 105 00:05:59,000 --> 00:06:02,920 standing shouldered shoulder, which put them at at least three 106 00:06:02,959 --> 00:06:07,040 feet wide each. Unlike most people, I was not looking 107 00:06:07,079 --> 00:06:10,399 for bigfoot signs, and I didn't believe anything like this 108 00:06:10,600 --> 00:06:14,160 existed at the time. But that said, I do not 109 00:06:14,360 --> 00:06:17,800 doubt that a bigfoot could have encountered me during those years. 110 00:06:18,600 --> 00:06:21,519 I just know I would not have been observant enough 111 00:06:21,800 --> 00:06:27,680 to see it. In nineteen eighty I was a twelve 112 00:06:27,800 --> 00:06:31,079 year old kid growing wild in the mountains of Montana. 113 00:06:32,040 --> 00:06:35,680 Our home was thirty miles outside of Missoula, nestled smack 114 00:06:35,720 --> 00:06:38,879 in the middle of the woods. My best friend Ron 115 00:06:39,000 --> 00:06:42,560 lived two miles east, and his place was practically my 116 00:06:42,680 --> 00:06:45,560 second home. I'd often get off the bus at his 117 00:06:45,680 --> 00:06:48,800 house or rush back home, grab my gear, and head 118 00:06:48,839 --> 00:06:52,839 straight to his house. Our kind of normal meant being 119 00:06:53,000 --> 00:06:56,879 latchkey kids in the wilderness. We'd pack sandwiches and grab 120 00:06:56,879 --> 00:06:59,680 a fishing pole. We'd take a twenty two rifle or 121 00:06:59,720 --> 00:07:04,600 it's sixteen gage shotgun, and we'd head out fall Afternoons 122 00:07:04,639 --> 00:07:07,480 were for hunting ducks and grouse, and we had our 123 00:07:07,519 --> 00:07:10,639 fair share of close encounters, like that time a mama 124 00:07:10,720 --> 00:07:15,279 bear charged us. It's not something we mentioned to our parents. 125 00:07:16,240 --> 00:07:20,120 Winter meant trapping season. Our path to riches for two 126 00:07:20,240 --> 00:07:23,720 twelve year olds, that is, we were all over the 127 00:07:23,720 --> 00:07:29,920 west fork of Petty Creek and beyond, snaring coyotes, foxes, raccoons, skunks, weasels, 128 00:07:29,920 --> 00:07:34,160 and muskrats. Bobcats were our golden ticket, though, when we 129 00:07:34,240 --> 00:07:37,680 raked in enough cash to buy motorcycles, school clothes, and 130 00:07:37,720 --> 00:07:42,240 even squirrel away some for college. In the winter of 131 00:07:42,319 --> 00:07:45,920 nineteen eighty, we thought we had encountered a sasquatch. We 132 00:07:45,959 --> 00:07:50,600 didn't have TV, and we knew zilch about bigfoot. We 133 00:07:50,600 --> 00:07:53,360 were laying a trap line on Fish Creek when we 134 00:07:53,439 --> 00:07:58,319 heard a chuffing noise, kind of like gibbering sounds. Naturally, 135 00:07:58,600 --> 00:08:02,680 we crashed through the willows to investigate. On the creek bank, 136 00:08:02,759 --> 00:08:07,040 we saw something swaying behind the tamarack, pine and raspberry bushes. 137 00:08:07,759 --> 00:08:10,079 It was too tall for a black bear, we thought, 138 00:08:10,560 --> 00:08:14,199 and without warning, Ron fired his shotgun into the air. 139 00:08:15,560 --> 00:08:19,319 This thing bolted and we stood there and adrenaline was pumping. 140 00:08:19,920 --> 00:08:23,319 I thought it was a cinnamon colored black bear, but Ron, ever, 141 00:08:23,439 --> 00:08:28,680 the comedian, insisted it was an orangutan. In Montana, sure Ron, 142 00:08:30,199 --> 00:08:33,639 spring brought early bear season, and we decided to hunt 143 00:08:33,679 --> 00:08:37,679 at our softswatch sighting spot. We set off at three 144 00:08:37,759 --> 00:08:40,960 am and reached Fish Creek by four and set up 145 00:08:41,000 --> 00:08:44,279 our stands, and by noon I was in my stand 146 00:08:44,320 --> 00:08:48,320 bottled up like a human burrito. It was a round dusk. 147 00:08:48,639 --> 00:08:51,720 When a rock came flying at me and smacked my chest, 148 00:08:52,519 --> 00:08:55,200 I figured it was Ron. Who else could it have been. 149 00:08:56,440 --> 00:08:58,919 My mind wandered to the strange pile of rocks I 150 00:08:58,960 --> 00:09:00,759 had seen on the other side side of the bank 151 00:09:00,840 --> 00:09:05,279 earlier that day. Someone had built it there intentionally. And 152 00:09:05,360 --> 00:09:09,200 right then another rock whizzed by, followed by a muffled laughter. 153 00:09:10,000 --> 00:09:12,919 I laughed to myself, and I thought, this is war. 154 00:09:14,039 --> 00:09:16,039 Ron must have built the rock pile so he could 155 00:09:16,039 --> 00:09:18,840 move and through without me being able to pin him down. 156 00:09:19,600 --> 00:09:21,679 And I climbed down from the tree stand and I 157 00:09:21,759 --> 00:09:26,159 yelled at him, and I promptly got hit by more rocks. Well, 158 00:09:26,200 --> 00:09:29,279 this made me mad. He wasn't even giving me proper 159 00:09:29,320 --> 00:09:32,639 time to arm myself. So I grabbed some rocks and 160 00:09:32,679 --> 00:09:36,759 I retaliated. My first rock zipped through the brush and 161 00:09:36,840 --> 00:09:40,759 had hit something, And then came the roar. It would 162 00:09:40,799 --> 00:09:43,320 have blown my hair back if I'd have been any closer. 163 00:09:44,440 --> 00:09:47,159 I was scared, but I stood my ground, And as 164 00:09:47,200 --> 00:09:50,480 I continued to pelt rocks at the unforeseen foe, a 165 00:09:50,559 --> 00:09:55,000 bigfoot family emerged from the bushes. There was a big 166 00:09:55,039 --> 00:09:58,639 one who would have towered over even my tallest uncle. 167 00:09:59,120 --> 00:10:02,240 And he was flying by two juveniles, and all three 168 00:10:02,279 --> 00:10:05,879 of them were throwing rocks at me. I threw the 169 00:10:05,960 --> 00:10:08,320 last of my rocks, and I stood there staring at 170 00:10:08,320 --> 00:10:11,879 them with my heart pounding in terror. And just then 171 00:10:11,960 --> 00:10:15,679 a gunshot rang out, and the bigfoots fled, and there 172 00:10:15,720 --> 00:10:19,039 was Ron standing a few yards away. Man, I couldn't 173 00:10:19,039 --> 00:10:22,519 figure out all that noise. He said, what were those things? 174 00:10:23,240 --> 00:10:27,399 I think there were bigfoots. I stammered, those were definitely bigfoots. 175 00:10:27,519 --> 00:10:31,399 Ron agreed. We packed up as fast as we could 176 00:10:31,480 --> 00:10:34,399 and we headed home, but the eerie feeling of being 177 00:10:34,480 --> 00:10:39,080 watched lingered. With our adrenaline still high from the encounter, 178 00:10:39,320 --> 00:10:42,200 we couldn't stop talking about it, and over the next 179 00:10:42,240 --> 00:10:45,240 few days we couldn't shake the incident from our minds. 180 00:10:46,240 --> 00:10:48,600 Every time we were out in the woods, we found 181 00:10:48,600 --> 00:10:53,039 ourselves glancing over our shoulders, half expecting to see those 182 00:10:53,159 --> 00:10:58,840 towering figures emerging from the trees. One afternoon, while we 183 00:10:58,840 --> 00:11:02,000 were fishing at Petty Creek, Ron brought it up again. 184 00:11:02,679 --> 00:11:05,519 We should go back, he said, not to hunt, but 185 00:11:05,559 --> 00:11:08,799 to see if we can find any evidence. Are you nuts, 186 00:11:08,840 --> 00:11:12,679 I said, we barely made it out last time. I 187 00:11:12,799 --> 00:11:18,120 was protesting, though part of me was just as curious. Eventually, 188 00:11:18,320 --> 00:11:21,039 my curiosity got the better of me and we planned 189 00:11:21,080 --> 00:11:25,320 another trip. This time, we armed ourselves with more than 190 00:11:25,480 --> 00:11:29,000 just rocks. We had our cameras, hoping to capture proof 191 00:11:29,080 --> 00:11:33,320 of our encounter. We set off early one Saturday morning, 192 00:11:33,399 --> 00:11:37,000 retracing our steps to the spot where it all happened. 193 00:11:37,600 --> 00:11:41,039 As we approached the area, an eerie silence fell over 194 00:11:41,080 --> 00:11:44,240 the forest. Even the birds seemed to have taken the 195 00:11:44,360 --> 00:11:49,480 day off. We moved forward carefully, I scanning the surrounding 196 00:11:49,559 --> 00:11:53,240 for any signs of movement, when Ron stopped and pointed 197 00:11:53,279 --> 00:11:57,080 at some large, fresh humanoid prints leading into the denser 198 00:11:57,120 --> 00:12:00,360 part of the woods. With followed the tracks, with our 199 00:12:00,399 --> 00:12:03,879 hearts pounding. Every crack of a twig or rustle of 200 00:12:04,039 --> 00:12:07,960 leaves made us jump. After a while, the tracks led 201 00:12:08,039 --> 00:12:10,759 us to a small stream, and there on the other 202 00:12:10,799 --> 00:12:15,039 side of the stream were the bigfoots. We crouched behind 203 00:12:15,080 --> 00:12:17,840 some bushes and tried to hide, but it was no use. 204 00:12:19,080 --> 00:12:22,519 One of the juveniles saw us and yelped, alerting the others. 205 00:12:23,200 --> 00:12:26,559 The big one turned and faced us with his eyes narrowed, 206 00:12:26,919 --> 00:12:29,559 and I felt my heart nearly burst out of my chest. 207 00:12:30,200 --> 00:12:34,039 Ron we gotta go now, I whispered. The big One 208 00:12:34,080 --> 00:12:36,399 took a step toward us, and we bolted back through 209 00:12:36,399 --> 00:12:39,600 the woods with the sound of pounding footsteps behind us. 210 00:12:39,960 --> 00:12:43,519 We didn't tear look back. After what felt like an eternity, 211 00:12:43,639 --> 00:12:46,840 we burst out into the road and scrambled onto our 212 00:12:46,879 --> 00:12:49,320 dirt bikes and kicked up the earth as we gunned 213 00:12:49,360 --> 00:12:54,919 the throttles. Weeks later, we received a mysterious letter from 214 00:12:54,919 --> 00:12:59,679 an anonymous observer containing sketches of the Bigfoot family and 215 00:12:59,720 --> 00:13:04,200 the keep the secret. They mean you no harm. Well, 216 00:13:04,200 --> 00:13:07,000 that wouldn't be hard. No one would believe us anyway. 217 00:13:08,519 --> 00:13:11,480 Over the years, Ron and I would often revisit that day, 218 00:13:11,639 --> 00:13:16,000 especially during our summer camping trips. We'd sit by the 219 00:13:16,039 --> 00:13:19,639 fire and recount every detail, and our friends hanging on 220 00:13:19,799 --> 00:13:23,919 to our every word. They'd laugh and they'd call us crazy, 221 00:13:24,000 --> 00:13:26,639 but we didn't think it was funny because we knew 222 00:13:26,639 --> 00:13:31,240 the truth. We had seen something extraordinary, something that changed 223 00:13:31,279 --> 00:13:35,320 our lives forever. Ron and I were like chain link 224 00:13:35,440 --> 00:13:37,799 until we had high school, and then we sort of 225 00:13:37,840 --> 00:13:40,919 grew apart. The last time I talked to him, he 226 00:13:40,960 --> 00:13:44,279 had just retired from a long Army career. I had 227 00:13:44,320 --> 00:13:46,960 gone into the Marine Corps and then later went into 228 00:13:47,000 --> 00:13:51,200 law enforcement. I eventually returned to the spot where it 229 00:13:51,240 --> 00:13:54,159 all began, hoping to find some sort of evidence of 230 00:13:54,159 --> 00:13:57,799 the Squatch family, hoping they were still around, some sort 231 00:13:57,840 --> 00:14:00,519 of evidence to take me back to that time Ron 232 00:14:00,600 --> 00:14:05,320 and I had our lives forever changed. I never found anything, 233 00:14:06,440 --> 00:14:08,600 but on my way out of the woods that day, 234 00:14:09,039 --> 00:14:12,799 the familiar feeling of fear made its way up my spine, 235 00:14:12,960 --> 00:14:16,480 and I found myself looking over my shoulder just the same. 236 00:14:18,559 --> 00:14:20,879 Thank you for listening to this podcast a little shorter 237 00:14:21,000 --> 00:14:23,799 than others. Some people say they like the shorter ones, 238 00:14:23,840 --> 00:14:25,960 some people say they like the longer ones. So I 239 00:14:26,000 --> 00:14:29,120 never know how long to make them. These shorter ones, 240 00:14:29,159 --> 00:14:32,039 probably for the next two to three weeks, will fit 241 00:14:32,120 --> 00:14:35,039 in good with my work schedule because I can knock 242 00:14:35,120 --> 00:14:37,919 short podcasts out in the morning and get back to work. 243 00:14:38,240 --> 00:14:40,039 So it's going to work good, and we get these 244 00:14:40,039 --> 00:14:43,559 great stories. I love them. These are encounters from real 245 00:14:43,639 --> 00:14:47,200 people telling real stories that really happened to them or 246 00:14:47,240 --> 00:14:49,759 they claimed they did. And I hope you guys are 247 00:14:49,840 --> 00:14:52,720 enjoying them as much as I am. That said, we'll 248 00:14:52,720 --> 00:14:58,600 see guys on the next one.