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Speaker 1: I'm fifty nine years old and have been an avid

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hunter for most of my life. I moved to Florida

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in nineteen seventy nine and began my life as a

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musician and a faux artist. As a young man, I

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was introduced to Florida hunting by a good friend of

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mine who has since passed away. This story takes place

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in the Three Lakes Wildlife Management Area in Oceola County, Florida.

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The year was nineteen ninety five. It was Thanksgiving Day.

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We were camping in a public camping ground with good friends.

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My friend Jim and I decided to hunt the swamp island,

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as we did many times before. It was just another day.

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We had to be back at camp before one o'clock

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for dinner, so we left the island about twelve o'clock

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in the afternoon. Now bear in mind it was gun season.

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You're required to wear five hundred inches of orange in

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a wildlife management area in Florida. Any person that would

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attempt to hunt during rifle season without orange would be

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absolutely crazy and a little bit stupid. Jim and I

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hunted this island, which is in itself extremely spooky. In fact,

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his wife would not even go out there because she

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thought there were Indian spirits of some sort, which I

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didn't argue with. The walk to the island was in

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about two and a half foot of water for about

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one hundred and fifty yards in a thick cypress swamp.

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I kept this trail cut minimally for accessibility, and I

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knew it very well. I had hunted this island dozens

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of times alone. It's funny because I'm a grown man,

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and still the Boogeyman gives me the willies, if you

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know what I'm saying. We all know there are things

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out in there that we cannot explain. When I'm in

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the woods, I'm always on a alert for anything. We

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did not see any deer or pigs during the morning

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that I can remember. We left this island to go

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back to the vehicle. Upon arrival, I opened my back

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window to my Bronco and it made the usual screeching

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sound which I could not seem to get rid of.

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We loaded our firearms into the back of the truck.

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I did this first, and then Jim followed up doing

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the same. As Jim loaded his guns in the truck,

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I walked out to the road. I looked down the

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road for game, only to see this huge, tall, lanky

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figure walking diagonally to the other side of the road

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into the thick palmadows. I said to my friend Jim,

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look at this crazy dude in the gilly suit without

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his orange vest on. By description, the hare looked the

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same color as buck hair, brown but not too long.

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Body was a lanky looking in very tall, very long

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arms and wide. It seemed to be a male, and

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did not notice us in the road looking at him

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because he was walking away at an angle. Jim made

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a remark and came to the road and looked at

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this thing. I remember saying, what a fool. Just then

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another smaller one came out holding what seemed to be

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either a baby or a pregnant belly. Now when I

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saw this, obviously to me it was a female. She

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had jet black hair from head to toe. She had

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large breasts and a big belly. My friend Jim said, dang,

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that's a gal in his twangy country boy voice. My

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next words were those or swamp apes? Man. I want

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to tell you, the hair on the back of our

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necks was up as high as it could go. Both

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of us got freaked out as this female saw us

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looking at her and hobbled off into the thick falalmatos

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very quickly. She ran very funny because of what she

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was carrying, and I distinctly remember it. Jim and I

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immediately got into my Bronco and drove down to the spot,

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which was about one hundred and fifty yards away. We

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got out and started to walk into the pal meadows,

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and Jim said to me that he felt like he

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was being watched, and he said he was not going in.

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I agreed with this completely because I had no interest

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in shooting one of these things or getting my butt whip.

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I just wanted to see one close up. Just then,

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another hunter drove up and got out of his vehicle

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and asked us what was walking across the road. He

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had been using his scope looking down the road and

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back of us when the creatures were walking across. I

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didn't know this at the time because it was way

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down the road. He said he couldn't tell what they were,

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but they didn't look normal as far as their coloration

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and the way they were walking. Anyhow, we told the

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guy what we saw and what we thought they were.

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He kind of snickered and said I'm really not surprised,

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and then he left. Meanwhile, Jim and I had to

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go back to the camp and tell our families about

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this experience. Everybody thought we were crazy, but after a

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few hours my wife knew that I was obviously upset

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and freaked out. She believed me and she got kind

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of freaked out as well. So then I went to

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the Czech station and I reported it to the game warden.

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Of course, they laughed and asked me if I was

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consuming alcohol or had been smoking something. I reported my

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sighting to the Florida Bigfoot Research Organization and filed my

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sighting online. The following weekend, they did go out with

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me to the spot, but we couldn't find any evidence

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because of the drought we were experiencing. A few snap

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branches in odd trails were all we could find. Ever

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since that time, things changed for me as a hunter.

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I now carry a firearm pretty much all the time

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while hunting. Even with archery, my days in the swamp

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are limited because I do not want to run into

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a family of bigfoots in the swamp. It was enough

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for me that I had seen them once, so I

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kind of gave them that place. So My encounter is

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not violent, and it really wasn't terrifying, but it did

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freak me out. My friend Jim has since passed, and

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his wife finally believed what he saw after a few months.

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I found your stories on YouTube to be very entertaining

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and interesting, though mine does not compare to most that

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I've heard. I guess that's a matter of perspective. I reckon.

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I still enjoy hunting, but mostly traditional archery in rural areas.

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I hope you find this story somewhat entertaining, and I

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have enjoyed telling it. This was my special time and

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my place in life. Maybe one day I will go

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out there again, just to see the old swamp island.

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Most of my fondest memories as a growing up in

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central Mississippi or centered around hunting and fishing. When I

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was big enough to go hunting and fishing, mostly keeping

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up with the adults, I got to experience deer camp life. Man.

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That was an experience all on its own. When I

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was nine, my dad came home with a frosted ear

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Walker coonhound puppy. He said he'd paid the owner thirteen

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dollars for her, which was the price for registering dog

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papers in nineteen eighty one. The guy said he sold

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her cheap because frosted eer dogs won't hunt. Boy, was

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he wrong. We named her Lady. Dad and I started

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training her, and it seemed like no time before we

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had a year and a half old dog that would

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hammer out coons in just a few minutes. Around the

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time I was about eleven or twelve, my sister got married.

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I started spending time with her and her new husband,

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who it turns out, loved to hunt as much as

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me and Dad. So when Dad was at work, I

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would go hunting with my brother in law and his friend.

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We would hit the corn fields in the river bottoms

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and hunt, sometimes until the early morning hours. Back then,

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if the landowner saw us hunting, he'd stop and make

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conversation just so he could hear that frosted ear walker

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echoing through the night air. Those are the memories that

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decorate my childhood. One night in the autumn of nineteen

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eighty four, Lady and I were heading off on a

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hunt with my brother in law and his friend to

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some farm land off the Kenneybrew Road in Pocahontas, Mississippi.

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We were riding in an early seventies model two wheel

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drive Toyota that my brother in law had gotten from

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a step dad. It was just an old hunting truck

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and it had a lot of issues to prove it.

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When we turned lady out on the north side of

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Kennerbrew Road, it wasn't long before she struck and took

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a small ditch headed south to what we called Kennerbrew.

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We jumped in the truck and headed back to the pavement.

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A few minutes later, we were standing on the bridge

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the lady had just run under and listening to her

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run deeper and deeper into the swamp. Suddenly she started

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tree barking. My brother in law said, she's a long

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way back there. Man. That was trouble, and we knew it.

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The area was posted as private, but we were going

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to get dad's dog. We walked along the ditch and

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had high briars for about fifteen minutes until we came

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to the edge of the swamp. We stopped to catch

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our breath. Even though it was fall, it was still hot.

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We stood listening to lady on the tree for a

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minute before we started walking towards her. All of a sudden,

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she stopped. We stopped walking and my brother in law said, listen.

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It was so quiet we could hear an occasional vehicle

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on Highway forty nine. We waited about ten minutes or so,

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and then we started call for lady. Several minutes went by,

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and we decided we'd better get back to Kinnerbrew Road

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in case lady went back to where we turned her out.

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But instead of going back the way we came, we

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slipped out onto someone's driveway and we went out that way.

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As we walked along in the moonlight from deep in

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the swamp where we'd last heard lady on the tree,

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something screamed. It was like a cross between a pig

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squealing and a bull growling all in one. What was that?

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I asked, trying not to sound as startled as I was.

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American Werewolf in London had come out in nineteen eighty one.

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I didn't like scary movies, and my brother in law

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knew it. But he's a character, so he quipped, Oh, oh,

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that's just the American werewolf from London coming to get you.

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We all laughed and kept walking. Finally we got back

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to the truck, but there was no dog. We drove

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into a sage fill that went all the way to

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the edge of the swamp. As soon as we stopped

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and turned off the truck, we heard the sound again,

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coming from the same area. Nowbody said a word. It

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was disturbingly quiet. About thirty seconds went by and it

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screamed again, except now it had cut the distance between

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us in half. This time it was my brother in

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law who asked, what was that. His friend said, I

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don't know any animal that makes that kind of noise

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and moves that fast. Another thirty or forty seconds passed

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and it screamed again. It had to be within five

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hundred yards of us. Now we waited another twenty seconds.

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This time it was so loud I felt the rumble

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in my chest. It couldn't have been more than seventy

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five feet from the field. I think I almost passed out.

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At that point, my brother in law's friend crouched down

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on the floorboard and screamed, get us out of here.

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My brother in law, who had been standing beside the truck,

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jumped in and fired it up. He had gone limp,

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and he said, I melted around the gear shift. The

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truck started and then immediately died. Apparently, when I went limp,

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I turned off the toggle switch mounted to the gear

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shift for the add on twelve fuel pump. He had

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to pull me back up in the seat so he

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could turn the switch and start the truck again, and

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we didn't stop until we were back on the pavement.

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We drove around for a while, but we couldn't find lady.

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We went home and we told Dad what happened. He

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and my brother in law went back at daylight and

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called for lady from the bridge. After just a few minutes,

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she came out. Dad sure was glad to see her.

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We told different people about what had happened that night.

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We got told it was a big cat with its

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head in a hole. That's why it sounded far away

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at first. Then it pulled its head out some and

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it would sound like it was moving. Some of the

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older people said that they do this to get game

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to move. I didn't buy that old tale. It's funny

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how sounds can trigger memories. Over the past year and

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a half, I've had three shoulder surgeries. While sitting in

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my lazy boy with tons of time on my hands,

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I started watching a lot of YouTube channels. My daughter

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suggested cryptids, and that's how I found your channel I

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had binge watched all of your stories when a suggested

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channel came up with the most terrifying sounds in the

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Canadian woods. When I heard that scream, the hair stood

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up on the back of my neck. Every detail of

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that fall night when I was twelve came flooding back.

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Until then I had simply blocked it out subconsciously. It

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must have been what was drawing me to your channel.

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Thank you for not using my real name. There are

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a lot of people around here who would label me

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a crackpot. You are a crackpot. Chan. I'm just kidding, man,

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this is a great story. This kind of reminds me

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of a story I did. I think it was like

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the second or third video I did about a guy

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here who told me a story about Bigfoot killing his

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best dog, and her name was Belle. Oh Man. This

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bigfoot actually got a hold of this dog and impaled

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it on a sapling that looked like he had broken

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it off just to shove her down on. Apparently, they

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don't like dogs, and they especially don't like coon dogs

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and coon dogs when you know, when they're in the kennel,

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they're just as friendly as they can be. But you

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put them on a scent, and you turn them loose

248
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and they start getting after the coons. Man, those things

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get vicious and they they will go after since like

250
00:14:48,080 --> 00:14:51,399
that bigfoot leaves behind and heard I've heard story after

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00:14:51,559 --> 00:14:54,840
story about raccoon dogs doing that. So this was a

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great story. I appreciate you spending the time. You wrote

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it well and we all enjoy at chan. Thank you, sir.

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From a small town in Saline County, Illinois. The event

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00:15:10,080 --> 00:15:13,320
takes place a few moons ago when I was sixteen.

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00:15:13,919 --> 00:15:16,440
As a kid and a teenage boy, my friends and

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I spent our free time playing in the woods. Somewhere

258
00:15:20,240 --> 00:15:22,480
any place there was a creek to swim in, a

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tree or rocks to climb on, we were there. Our

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area was full of different legends and lore as well.

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Some stories were passed down through generations of the native

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people who walked the land before us, and some are

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00:15:38,519 --> 00:15:42,600
told by our recent ancestors. I assume that some of

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the stories I've heard are campfire stories and just for fun,

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But for a teenager back then, it didn't matter. We

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were fearless and the stories never deterred us. On the contrary,

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it made us more eager for adventure. We dreamed of

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solving an ancient mystery. My friends and I were a

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unique bunch, not that there was anything special about us,

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00:16:08,639 --> 00:16:11,679
just by how diverse our group was. And still we

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00:16:11,840 --> 00:16:15,639
always managed to get along and overcome challenges amid all

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of our differences. For example, some believed in God while

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00:16:20,000 --> 00:16:25,200
others were atheists. Some believed in ghosts and spirits while

274
00:16:25,240 --> 00:16:29,639
others didn't. We even went on missions looking for UFOs

275
00:16:29,679 --> 00:16:34,039
and aliens while others refused their existence, but they still

276
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tagged along for the ride. The area around where I

277
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live is heavily mined. One of my friends, Ricky, lived

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00:16:42,240 --> 00:16:45,480
on some old Mind property. We were all over the

279
00:16:45,559 --> 00:16:49,360
place out there, hiking and riding dirt bikes. A few

280
00:16:49,360 --> 00:16:53,240
miles from his house was an old abandoned Mind drag.

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00:16:54,120 --> 00:16:57,759
A drag is an enormous piece of equipment. Imagine a

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00:16:57,840 --> 00:17:01,440
four story building on track with a boom that reaches

283
00:17:01,519 --> 00:17:05,759
three hundred feet. It was once an operating giant, and

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00:17:05,799 --> 00:17:09,240
now it sat there, resting away. But all we saw

285
00:17:09,440 --> 00:17:13,079
was a jungle gym for big kids. The only challenge

286
00:17:13,119 --> 00:17:16,160
was how to get inside the giant beast. It had

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00:17:16,200 --> 00:17:19,599
obviously been sealed off to keep would be intruders such

288
00:17:19,640 --> 00:17:24,000
as ourselves out. But after some time, some teamwork and

289
00:17:24,240 --> 00:17:29,519
like of fear of heights and confined spaces, we got inside.

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The main objective was to get to the top of

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00:17:31,920 --> 00:17:35,200
the boom that pulled the massive bucket. There were five

292
00:17:35,240 --> 00:17:37,200
of us and we all wanted to make it to

293
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the end of the main boom. We spent the greater

294
00:17:40,519 --> 00:17:43,400
part of the day climbing and exploring the machine, and

295
00:17:43,440 --> 00:17:45,839
we eventually made it to the end of the boom,

296
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and at the end of the day we discovered more

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00:17:48,559 --> 00:17:52,599
areas to explore. From the roof, we found a way

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down to the engine room. It was through a steel

299
00:17:56,000 --> 00:17:59,359
door and into a vestibule that led to another steel

300
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door and then the engine room. We all climbed in

301
00:18:03,440 --> 00:18:06,279
at once and we shut the outside door behind us,

302
00:18:06,319 --> 00:18:09,799
but we left the inner door open. These are solid

303
00:18:09,960 --> 00:18:13,599
steel doors rested by years of exposure to the weather,

304
00:18:13,799 --> 00:18:17,319
and they're not easy to move. We were about to

305
00:18:17,359 --> 00:18:19,759
head back to the exit hole and we heard a

306
00:18:19,799 --> 00:18:23,079
bang across from us on the adjacent catwalk, and then

307
00:18:23,200 --> 00:18:27,440
clanking of feet on steal as someone ran down some stairs,

308
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across another catwalk and up the other stairs right in

309
00:18:31,000 --> 00:18:36,039
front of us, we heard another solid steel door slam shut.

310
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We were some tough guy teenagers at that point, but

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we turned pale and we took off running for our lives.

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We couldn't run fast enough to get out, and to

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get away, we had to head in the direction in

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which we heard this thing running. We had to squeeze

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through a small hatch one by one onto a two

316
00:18:54,240 --> 00:18:57,960
man platform, then down a ladder, and from there we

317
00:18:58,039 --> 00:19:01,240
had to descend the machine using the buddy system to

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get to the ground. It was not pretty or professional.

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Five terrified boys were involved here, but we got it

320
00:19:09,319 --> 00:19:14,319
done and we escaped the Mind Drag safely. Some time later,

321
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Ricky and I were talking about that day and one

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of our skeptic friends, Ted, was with us. Ted said

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that he thought that we made the whole story up

324
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about what happened at the old Mind Drag. This led

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to some debate, and so to prove to Ted that

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the story was true, we agreed to take him out there.

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To make things scarier, we agreed to go at night

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with no flashlights. There was half a moon, and we

329
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knew the land like the back of our hands, so

330
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it really was not a big deal. At least that

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is what we thought. We knew a short cut off

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an old black top road to save us some walking time,

333
00:19:52,599 --> 00:19:55,440
and we pulled down an old access road, leaving about

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00:19:55,480 --> 00:19:59,480
a quarter mile walk back to the mind Drag. It

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00:19:59,519 --> 00:20:02,720
was a qua walk in. None of us talked. The

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only sounds were our feet to the ground, and then

337
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we heard something in the bushes a few feet off

338
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the trail, and we stopped to listen. It was out

339
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of place, but the sound stopped and we kept going.

340
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The bushes began to shake again after a few paces,

341
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but this time it was harder and faster. Something was

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there less than fifty feet from where we stood, and

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00:20:25,839 --> 00:20:28,480
we had to see what it was, so we walked

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straight to the spot we knew the sound was coming from.

345
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We stopped a few feet from the hedge and we

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looked around. Everything became quiet once again, and we were

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about to head back to the trail and we heard

348
00:20:40,720 --> 00:20:45,680
a stick snap. We turned and looked back, and a

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00:20:45,799 --> 00:20:49,200
giant creature stood straight up on the other side and

350
00:20:49,240 --> 00:20:53,240
looked down at us. The only detail that really sticks

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00:20:53,240 --> 00:20:56,359
out in my mind, besides its height or its glowing

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00:20:56,599 --> 00:21:02,039
red eyes, and its hairy humanoid silhouette the moonlight. As

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this creature rose out of the bushes, I remember it growling.

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It was warning us, much like a dog growls low

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and deep, letting us know that it meant business. I

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don't remember being this afraid ever in my life. I

357
00:21:18,079 --> 00:21:22,359
actually felt sick. All of us stood there looking up

358
00:21:22,400 --> 00:21:26,279
at this thing, and shock paralyzed might be a better word.

359
00:21:27,000 --> 00:21:29,400
But all at once we came to our senses and

360
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we turned and we ran back to our car. Ricky

361
00:21:32,920 --> 00:21:35,279
started the engine and we were about to blaze out

362
00:21:35,279 --> 00:21:39,640
of that place, and Ted yelled stop. Ted wanted to

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00:21:39,680 --> 00:21:42,799
go back and make sure of what we had just seen.

364
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He explained in an excited tone that maybe it was

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00:21:47,079 --> 00:21:52,119
our imaginations. We had been talking about ghosts and monsters

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for weeks, and his theory was that we saw what

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00:21:55,440 --> 00:21:59,119
we wanted to see. He even said it could have

368
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been a deer. I knew that I hadn't seen a deer.

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It was too big, and I also knew that it

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could tear us apart if it wanted to. But Ted

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was persuasive, and believe it or not, we agreed to

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go back and take another look. The plan was drawn

373
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up on the spot. We would bring whatever we could

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find in the trunk for weapons and walk close together

375
00:22:22,759 --> 00:22:25,240
down the trail, and we wouldn't run back to the car.

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No matter what. We wouldn't run because somehow, in our

377
00:22:29,160 --> 00:22:32,480
minds we had convinced ourselves what we had seen was

378
00:22:32,519 --> 00:22:36,640
not real. Armed with a false sense of courage, a

379
00:22:36,680 --> 00:22:40,440
baseball bat and a tire iron, we began our journey

380
00:22:40,519 --> 00:22:44,680
back to face our fear ted carried an umbrella. It

381
00:22:44,759 --> 00:22:47,119
was the only thing left in the trunk. After Ricky

382
00:22:47,160 --> 00:22:50,920
and I grabbed the other weapons, we paced back down

383
00:22:50,960 --> 00:22:54,119
the trail, confident that we would not see this thing again.

384
00:22:55,200 --> 00:22:59,000
But it was waiting on us. On the trail, lit

385
00:22:59,079 --> 00:23:03,000
by the moonlight, still way taller and bigger than any

386
00:23:03,079 --> 00:23:07,920
of us, stood the same monster. Once again. We paused

387
00:23:07,920 --> 00:23:12,680
in amazement. No one dared run. We knew we would

388
00:23:12,759 --> 00:23:16,640
forever be called a chicken. There was pride involved here.

389
00:23:16,759 --> 00:23:19,640
So three teenage boys stood in front of an eight

390
00:23:19,680 --> 00:23:22,799
to nine foot tall beast in the dark like we

391
00:23:22,920 --> 00:23:26,200
knew what we were doing. It was a staredown. For

392
00:23:26,279 --> 00:23:30,160
a minute, it didn't appear to be aggressive, which elevated

393
00:23:30,200 --> 00:23:33,799
our confidence. I took a step forward and my buddies

394
00:23:33,880 --> 00:23:37,279
followed me with a step of their own. The second

395
00:23:37,359 --> 00:23:40,640
step I made towards the creature only ten yards away,

396
00:23:40,799 --> 00:23:43,799
was a lunge. I wanted to startle it and see

397
00:23:43,799 --> 00:23:46,799
if it would run. Our weapons were held in front

398
00:23:46,839 --> 00:23:50,599
of us, ready to use. We had made the first move.

399
00:23:51,839 --> 00:23:54,880
Instantly the creature lunched right back at us with a

400
00:23:55,039 --> 00:23:59,440
loud roar that shook my internal organs. At that point,

401
00:23:59,480 --> 00:24:02,960
no one can about being called a chicken. Bravery went

402
00:24:03,000 --> 00:24:06,440
out the window. I'm not sure how we got out

403
00:24:06,440 --> 00:24:09,440
of that without wetting our breeches, but we turned and ran.

404
00:24:10,240 --> 00:24:14,000
The thought kept running through my head what was I thinking?

405
00:24:14,720 --> 00:24:19,240
That thought stays with me to this day. Gravel sprayed

406
00:24:19,279 --> 00:24:21,240
behind the car and we made it out of the

407
00:24:21,279 --> 00:24:25,319
mining area I live. That night, we talked about the

408
00:24:25,400 --> 00:24:28,759
event for days. At that point in my life, the

409
00:24:28,799 --> 00:24:33,119
stories of Bigfoot, the tuttle bottomed monster, boogers in the

410
00:24:33,160 --> 00:24:37,480
woods were all imaginary things I had heard but never

411
00:24:37,599 --> 00:24:41,559
dreamed were true. For years, my buddies and I messed

412
00:24:41,559 --> 00:24:47,119
around in those woods. We always heard strange sounds, wood knocks, whistles,

413
00:24:47,400 --> 00:24:50,720
and other things, and we never thought anything about it.

414
00:24:51,519 --> 00:24:54,880
The truth is we were never once alone in those woods.

415
00:24:55,559 --> 00:24:59,400
The stories are true. These things are real, and they

416
00:24:59,440 --> 00:25:03,160
existed in our world. I saw one, and I even

417
00:25:03,319 --> 00:25:07,079
challenged it. My advice is to not do that. Ever,

418
00:25:08,440 --> 00:25:11,119
it has been several years since this happened, and I

419
00:25:11,160 --> 00:25:14,240
now think the monster had no intention of hurting us.

420
00:25:15,039 --> 00:25:17,559
You would not have ever convinced me of that when

421
00:25:17,559 --> 00:25:20,079
it happened, but I think it wanted us out of there.

422
00:25:20,759 --> 00:25:23,039
It could have been on us in a split second

423
00:25:23,160 --> 00:25:25,799
and killed all three of us quickly, but it didn't.

424
00:25:26,720 --> 00:25:29,599
We finally left the area, and I will assume the

425
00:25:29,640 --> 00:25:32,839
creature got what it wanted. It probably had a big

426
00:25:32,920 --> 00:25:38,160
laugh with its buddies back at the cave, laughing at

427
00:25:38,200 --> 00:25:41,359
the kids who challenged the bigfoot. I just thought it

428
00:25:41,400 --> 00:25:43,960
was a great story. I don't know what else. I've

429
00:25:44,000 --> 00:25:47,079
never heard one where somebody actually challenged a bigfoot. I've

430
00:25:47,079 --> 00:25:49,240
heard them where they take shots at them, but I've

431
00:25:49,240 --> 00:25:51,640
never heard one where a guy actually took a lunge

432
00:25:51,640 --> 00:25:55,200
at a bigfoot. That's an awesome story, Mike. Thank you

433
00:25:55,279 --> 00:26:01,000
for the email. Can't you through it?