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Speaker 1: Okay, I just opened my door because it's a nice

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spring day, get some warm wind blowing through here, and

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I'm covered up with chickens. Oh, they just quieted down. Okay, Hey, guys,

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I've been going about a week. I've been down with COVID,

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believe it or not, and man, this is the third

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time I've had it, and it really got me down.

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But I'm back with a really good story. I really

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hope you guys enjoy this. It's kind of long, it's

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a little drawn out, but I'm going to read the

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whole thing because I think it's a good story, So

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I hope you enjoy it. All. Right, here we go.

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Growing up, I was into all things outdoors, hunting and

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fishing and survival and all of that. My dad nurtured

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my love for hunting. But hunting the season is just that,

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it's seasonal. What's a boy to do the rest of

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the year. My dad said I could do my part

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in being a good conservationist by controlling the populations of

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nuisance animals like blackbirds and crows. So I bought a

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crow call and I went at it. The way it goes.

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Growing up, you tend to make friends with people who

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have similar interests. Had a buddy at school who was

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into hunting as well. One day he told me of

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something that was going on around his neighborhood. There had

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been some sightings of what was described as a big

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black cat or a panther, So of course we were

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going to come up with a plan to hunt it down.

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We never did follow through. It was just one of

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those things that kids fantasize about. The supposed sightings were

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one of the things that you want to believe, but

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deep down you know that this kid is probably making

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up the whole story, but you entertain the idea anyway

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because you want it to be true. Hold on, let

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me run this hen out of here. Yeah. Shoot, my

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grandparents lived in the Seymour, Tennessee, which is right on

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the Knox County line. That damn chicken came right back

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in here. Yeah yeah, yeah, yet, all right, sorry about that.

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It's like old times. My grandparents lived in Seymour, Tennessee,

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which is right on the Knox County line and close

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to where my friends lived. I stayed with them one

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weekend and was out early Saturday morning sitting on a

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fence line that overlooked a field, and I was doing

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my best to call in some crows. I had been

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there an hour, not having any luck getting anything within

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shotgun range. Most people don't know it, but crows are

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very smart and then they can see well. I was

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looking out across the field when I noticed something coming

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through the opposite fence line about two hundred yards away.

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At first I thought it was someone's dog, and as

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it was going up to a brush pile along the

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fence and sniffing for game, it was jet black, and

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in my mind it was a neighbor's lab about hunting

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around sit. It started working its way up the intersecting

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fence line where I was sitting at the corner. I

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was hidden by hunting suckles that had overtaken the fence.

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As it started getting closer, something started nagging at me

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that something wasn't right. I guess the first thing that

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triggered this feeling was its tail. It wasn't wagging or

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bobbing straight out like a happy gold lucky dog does

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when they're hunting. The tail was long and skinny and

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kind of had a slithering movement. Then I noticed the ears.

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They weren't long and floppy, but shortened upright and the

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next thing I noticed was what sent me into a

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tail spin. It was the eyes that were yellowish green

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with black pupils. This thing was not a dog. My

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mind started trying to explain what I was seeing, but

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the best I could come up with was that someone's

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exotic pet had escaped. Being as smart like, I stood

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up and I yelled at it. Here, kitty kitty, Here,

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kitty kitty, I shouted, Well, the cat jerked and said

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toward me, and then turned and took off like a shot,

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and it ducked under a fence and it was gone.

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I was left sitting there questioning myself as to whether

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or not this actually had happened. Years later, I was

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taking my little cousin to his hunter safety course and

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someone brought up a question about black panther sightings that

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were by this time all over the state. The TWR

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officer gave his rehearsed answer, which really didn't do his

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profession any favors in my opinion. He said, in just

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about every class I do, someone says they've seen one,

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so I don't want to hear it. You don't see it,

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and they don't exist, he said, as fog Horn. Leghorn

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said that boy. I say that boy is educated far

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beyond his intelligence. We do have bobcats, codes foxes, and

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other predators. Why wouldn't there be enough squirrels, rabbits and

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vons and the like to sustain a small population of

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big cats. It's just common sense, really. I just wanted

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to share this story as I can relate in a

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small way how people feel when they are told they

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didn't see a sosquatch when they know good and well

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that they did. Thanks for the indulgence, and now for

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my lame bigfoot encounter. When I was in my late twenties,

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I had a couple of real good friends who were

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eating up with turkey hunting about as much as I was.

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Tennessee season is kind of short compared to deer season,

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so when those few weeks rolled around, we tried to

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plan a trip every weekend to make the most of it.

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My buddy's wife would pitch a fit every time we

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were heading out, though, which tended to put a damper

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on the whole thing. One time we had a trip

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planned to go to Big South Fork for a few

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days in camp and turkey hunt and just hang out.

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As expected, when we got to my buddy's house to

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pick him up. The fight was already on. His wife's

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grandfather was in the hospital and she didn't want him

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to go hunting with us. Now, I know it sounds insensitive,

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but in his mind this was just one more of

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her many excuses to keep him on the apron strings. Well,

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I talked her into letting him go, and if things

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got worse with her grandfather, she could call and he

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would come back home right away. I was pretty proud

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of myself because I came up with a solution and

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if she said no to that, well, it just looked

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too much like she was just hard to get along with,

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which she was. One factor I didn't plan on, however,

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was that we drove in one vehicle. Big South Fork

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is pretty vast, and I had found a spot that

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was so far in the boonies that I figured we

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wouldn't be bothered by other hunters. Our camp was at

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the end of a six miles of a narrow, twisting,

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curving rival road that dead ended at an old cemetery.

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It was twenty miles to the nearest town. We were

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so excited about having the spot all to ourselves and

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being able to get away for a guy's trip, and

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we didn't plan on his wife actually calling him to

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come back home. The first morning, we were on birds

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but just couldn't close the deal. And when we returned

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to our camp, we found a female cop waiting for us.

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She didn't say why she was there, but she did say,

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isn't it kind of weird to camp next to a cemetery? Well,

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it doesn't bother us, I say, in my mind, those

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dead folks weren't going anywhere until the Lord returned. Anyway,

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we kind of got the feeling she didn't like us

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being there, but we had a camping permit, so she

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left us alone. Well, now, wouldn't you know it, my

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buddy got the call. His wife's grandfather had gotten a

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little worse. My buddy, whose vehicle we drove in, said

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he would take him back, but that I could stay,

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and since it was so late in the day, it

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meant that he wouldn't be back until the following morning.

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That was okay with me. I didn't mind staying by

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myself there. That all sounded good until dark, and then

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all those werewolf horror movies I shouldn't have watched when

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I was a kid started creeping up on me, and

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it was boring with no one to talk to, so

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I decided to turn in early. I did have my

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turkey gun loaded and sitting beside my sleeping bag, you know,

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just in case. I will also admit that when I

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was a kid, I was infatuated with Bigfoot and I

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read every book from the library that I could get

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my hands on. One of my high school friends and

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I even had a plan to go to the Pacific

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Northwest sometime after graduation and hunt isquatch. Well, that never happened,

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but I would be lying if I said that thoughts

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of the old Skunk Ape didn't cross my mind that

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night as I drifted off to sleep. Sometime later in

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the night, something woke me up. It was a sound

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of something outside my tent moving around. It wasn't a

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small scurrying type noise, but something big and heavy. You

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could hear gravel crunching under the load as whatever it

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was stepping on and the foot rolled forward. I had

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hunted my whole life, and I knew the difference between

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two and four footed things and what they sounded like

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when they walked. This had the cadence of a bipedal movement.

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I knew it was something or someone. My brain cleared

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from the fog of sleep, and I thought that maybe

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my buddy had decided to come back early. But the

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more I thought about it, I would have heard the

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truck pull up, and he would have known better than

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to slink and creep around outside the tent without letting

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me know he was there. He knew me well enough

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to know that I would also have a twelve gage

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in there with me, loaded with three inch magnum turkey loads.

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Plus the fact that I was camped next to a

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cemetery didn't do much in helping me relax. I reached over,

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and he's my shotgun over onto my chest, you know,

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just in case. About the time that I did that,

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I heard whatever it was walk away. The next thing

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I knew, I was awakened by the sound of my

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buddy pulling up in his truck at daylight. I told

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him about my night. We had a good laugh about

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it and went on to finish our trip. No more

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bigfoots or turkeys, unfortunately, but we had a great time

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just being out there. I'll never know what it was,

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but it was the closest I can say I ever

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came to an encounter. When I was growing up, my

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dad owned his own painting business for a little while.

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I worked for him during the summers to earn money

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and keep me out of trouble. I guess at the

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peak of his career. He had a crew of guys

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that worked for him, and one fellow was from Louisiana.

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I was infatuated with Bigfoot as a kid, I guess

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ever since I saw the six million dollar Man and

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Woman episode with Bigfoot in them. Any show or movie

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or book that had to do with Bigfoot, I was

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all about that. This guy from Louisiana found out about

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it and shared his own story with me, And it

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began with his uncle, who was a renowned big game hunter.

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This man had been all over the world to take

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every sort of big game animal known to man. It

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made a living guiding brown bear and Kodiak bear hunts

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in Alaska. So it goes without saying that the man

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was an alpha, a man's man. He was also from

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Louisiana and he had moved back after getting tired of

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his hunting exploits and he needed a break. There was

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a certain swamp in Louisiana that was legendary for bigfoot activity.

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All the locals knew it and considered it as part

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of normal life. They didn't bother this creature, and it

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didn't bother them. And the uncle heard of it, and

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he decided that a bigfoot was one trophy he had

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never taken, so he set out to go into the

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swamp and try to bag himself a sasquatch. They found

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him three days later on the outskirts of the swamp,

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and he was nearly dead. He had had a heart

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attack or a stroke. His gear was gone, and his

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clothes were all torn and ragged. They said it looked

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like he had aged twenty years and his speech was

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slurred from then on from one side of his face

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being paralyzed. It turns out that he had become the

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hunted instead of the hunter, and a bigfoot had nearly

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claimed himself a trophy. His nephew, my dad's employee, decided

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he and a few of his buddies were going to

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go back in for some revenge and possibly bag a

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nice buck. At the same time, it was deer season

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and this particular swamp was also known to be a

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great area for big bucks. I guess everyone being afraid

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to go into the swamp took a little hunting pressure

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off and allowed the deer time to mature. The uncle

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tried to talk him out of going, and he warned him.

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When he was telling the story, he did his best

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impression of his uncle's slurred, stuttered speech. Don't go in there.

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That thing will get you is once alpha man's man.

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Uncle begged. But he looked up to his uncle and thought,

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if he could go in there and get the job done,

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he would be impressed. So he decided to go in

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spite of the warning. The day came when they planned

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on leaving, and they loaded their swamp boats with gear

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and they headed in. He thought, in all reality, a

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bigfoot wouldn't mess with a group of men. In a

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worst case scenario, they would come out of the trip

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with some nice deer and plenty of tall tales that

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they could reminisce about for years to come. But little

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did he know the first night in camp would be

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one to remember. He said, after the tents were all

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set up and it was starting to get dark, the

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bonfire was built and the beer started to flow, and

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a good time was being had by all. Then things changed,

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he said. The swamps were pretty noisy, with frogs and crickets,

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and this one was no different. But all of a sudden,

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an eerie silence fell over the area. Everyone noticed and

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looked at each other, wondering what the hell was going on.

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And that's when the smell hd them. Some god awful

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rank odor filled the area. Now I realized that this

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is a classic symptom of we're about to see sasquatch,

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and most stories happened like this. And I also realized

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I would be really easy to copycat these things and

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fabricate a story. But this was in the middle of

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the eighties, when you couldn't just hop on the internet

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and find out this kind of information. It was also

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before everyone was a researcher and there were groups groups

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around every corner that investigated this kind of stuff. Oh god,

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he is so right. After the foul odor smacked them,

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Bigfoot just walked right into camp. He said. There was

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a brief moment when everyone froze, and he could remember

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the orange glow of the firelight reflecting off its eyes,

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and then mass pandemonium erupted. Guys were running and diving

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in boats, and shots were fired at the animal and

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blind panic. It was truly a scene to behold. But

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everyone made it to the swamp boats and the chaos,

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and they lit out of there, some of them still

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in their underwear. He said he didn't know if it

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ran off as soon as the first shot was fired,

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or if it was ever even hit with a round.

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He was too busy trying to get down to where

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the boats were beached. They did go back a couple

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of days after they had gathered their courage up to

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see if they could get their gear. He said. The

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camp site was totally destroyed, but they salvaged what they could.

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They left in a hurry, and they never went back. Now,

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you could write this off as a guy trying to

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impress the boss's kid or just humoring me when he

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found out I was into bigfoot lore. But this guy

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was a true believer. My dad told me later that

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a couple of times some of the other guys on

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the crew had teased him or told him that bigfoot

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was just a bunch of crap and that this guy

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would go ballistic. He would even call them outside to fight.

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He was that serious about the subject. You typically don't

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do that if you know you were telling a lie

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or you don't believe it. Yourself. Heck, I believe there's

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something to it, but I wouldn't fight over it. Thanks

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for what you do on your channel. I look forward

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to the stories every time. God blessed. The man's name

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is James Man. What a great set of stories. This

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is so well written and put together. This intriguing secondhand story,

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the black cat, the Bigfoot, the steps around, just everything

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about it was great and I really appreciate James sending this.

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It's a pleasure to read these kind of stories. Hey,

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I wanted to let y'all know real quick that this

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year at the Smoky Mountain Bigfoot Conference, I have not

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been in two years because every time I go, I

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lose money. I buy all this these souvenirs and stuff

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to say, you have to sell something at that place

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or they won't let you have a booth. But I'd

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rent the booth, get hotel rooms. The last time I went,

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I brought my family, my wife, my granddaughter, my daughter

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in law, got all them rooms, bought all that stuff

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for the conference, and I lost about twenty five hundred bucks.

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And I swore then that I wasn't going to do

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it again. But they for the first time they called

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me and They asked if I would come and speak

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at the Bigfoot conference, and I said, no, I don't.

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I don't. I don't do that. I'm not big on

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standing up in front of people. I mean, I'll do it,

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but I don't. Uh. It's just not something that lights

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me up. And then they I said, well, if you

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did have me speak, what would you what's the what

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do you want me to talk about? They said, well,

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we want you to moderate a discussion between researchers. I said, man,

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are you crazy? Speak for researchers hate me. They think

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I make up all these stories and they think, uh, anyway,

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it's it's pretty common knowledge in the bigfoot world, which

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I'm not in that the Bigfoot researchers, the real serious ones,

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they can't stand me. And I said, I'm the worst

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person in the world to put up there between researchers.

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And he said, well, we have another thing. It's kind

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of a lesser responsibility, but you could kind of host

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when people get up and tell their own encounters. I said, man,

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that's right up my alley. This person had never listened

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to my podcast, so they don't know what I do.

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I said, that's exactly what I do on my podcast share,

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I share encounter stories by real people, and I said

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I would love to do that. And I said that

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after he said they would cover my hotel room. I

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think that's all they're covering. But still that's enough. You know,

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my wife's not coming. It's just going to be me.

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I'm trying to find somebody to go with me and

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sit at my booth with me so when I get

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up and speak, they can man my booth. And I've

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asked Da Roberts. I've asked Jeff Crawford, a couple of

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authors that you all know of that I've read on

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this channel before, and maybe one or both of them

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will show up. I hope they do. But I'm just

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going to be there by myself, and it's just a

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one day event. I don't I can't. It's at the

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end of July. Just Google or search engine Smoky Mountain

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Bigfoot Conference, Gatlinburg, Tennessee. You can buy tickets there. They

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sent me an email they wanted me to send a

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picture of myself to put on their flyer, and I

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haven't done it yet. Their flyers probably already done, but

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I'm just so slow about that stuff. I'm probably not

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the most responsible guy in the world with that stuff.

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But anyway, I'm going to be there. I'm going to

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host that as far as I know, unless they have

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changed their mind. I haven't heard from them since May,

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no since February. Maybe they've heard somebody else. I don't know.

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I'll get in touch them this week, but right now,

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as it stands, today is April fourteen, twenty twenty five.

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Gotta file taxes tomorrow, don't y'all forget that. But as

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of April fourteen, twenty twenty, twenty twenty five, I'm gonna

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be at the Smoky Mountain Bigfoot Conference in Gatlinburg and

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late you live twenty twenty five, So if you can

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be there, I'd love to see you. And I'm gonna

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have a booth. Come by and say hi. I'm gonna

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have some things to sell. I'm not sure what, but

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probably not much because I don't want to lose money

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on it. Anyway, I just want to let y'all know that.

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So I appreciate you listening to the podcast, and we

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will see you on the next one. Appreciate you