1 00:00:06,919 --> 00:00:10,000 Speaker 1: I had an experience two years ago that really warped 2 00:00:10,119 --> 00:00:12,960 my brain, and I think that the time has finally 3 00:00:13,000 --> 00:00:16,120 come where I can talk about it. I'm so thankful 4 00:00:16,120 --> 00:00:18,519 that you provide a safe place where I and others 5 00:00:18,719 --> 00:00:21,719 like me can feel comfortable telling our stories. Thank you 6 00:00:21,760 --> 00:00:26,600 for that. I live in northern Ontario, in Canada. I 7 00:00:26,640 --> 00:00:29,679 heard you joking recently that we here in the Great 8 00:00:29,719 --> 00:00:33,240 White North should choose names of places that are easy 9 00:00:33,280 --> 00:00:36,479 to say. Well, not to worry, my friend, I will 10 00:00:36,520 --> 00:00:40,600 not burden you with any difficult words today. Anyway. As 11 00:00:40,640 --> 00:00:42,799 I said, two years ago, I decided to do a 12 00:00:42,799 --> 00:00:46,240 little late season camping. It was the end of October 13 00:00:46,359 --> 00:00:50,119 and the rain and the wind were wreaking havoc. I 14 00:00:50,159 --> 00:00:52,759 don't know what the temperature was, but it was cold, 15 00:00:52,880 --> 00:00:56,320 and I know that I could see my breath When 16 00:00:56,399 --> 00:00:58,439 I go out, I like to be as far away 17 00:00:58,439 --> 00:01:01,039 from people as I can get. I have a habit 18 00:01:01,079 --> 00:01:04,640 of following remote roads until I can't go any further, 19 00:01:04,840 --> 00:01:07,680 and then I look for a suitable camp site nearby. 20 00:01:08,799 --> 00:01:11,280 On this day, I had followed an old logging road 21 00:01:11,359 --> 00:01:14,840 about thirty five kilometers until I came across a very 22 00:01:15,000 --> 00:01:18,719 deep and wide wash out across the road. On the 23 00:01:18,799 --> 00:01:21,439 other side of the wash out was a bridge that 24 00:01:21,560 --> 00:01:25,159 passed over the river, and it fed an adjoining lake. 25 00:01:25,959 --> 00:01:28,519 I remember thinking that it was odd that the road 26 00:01:28,560 --> 00:01:31,040 would wash out next to the bridge, where the water 27 00:01:31,079 --> 00:01:34,879 could travel freely under. But nature will do what she wants. 28 00:01:34,920 --> 00:01:39,319 I guess. It was impossible for me to proceed any further, 29 00:01:39,400 --> 00:01:41,959 and as luck would have it, I had stopped next 30 00:01:41,959 --> 00:01:45,280 to a really nice camping area right on the shoreline 31 00:01:45,319 --> 00:01:49,359 of that beautiful lake. I wheeled into that spot and 32 00:01:49,400 --> 00:01:52,640 proceeded to set up camp. The wind and the rain 33 00:01:52,760 --> 00:01:55,200 were still blowing, but I knew that the weather was 34 00:01:55,280 --> 00:01:59,480 expected to let up late in the afternoon. A few 35 00:01:59,480 --> 00:02:02,840 hours let the weather did not let up as promised, 36 00:02:02,879 --> 00:02:06,480 and the sun started to set. I decided to turn 37 00:02:06,480 --> 00:02:09,400 in early that night, as the weather made it impossible 38 00:02:09,439 --> 00:02:12,120 to take my canoe out for an evening of fishing. 39 00:02:13,120 --> 00:02:15,879 Being alone in a canoe and strong winds as a 40 00:02:15,960 --> 00:02:19,639 losing battle, so I conceded to simply retire to my 41 00:02:19,840 --> 00:02:22,639 tent and try to get an early start the next morning. 42 00:02:23,879 --> 00:02:26,479 The cold and the noise of the wind, however, did 43 00:02:26,520 --> 00:02:29,479 their best to ruin that plan and kept me from 44 00:02:29,520 --> 00:02:34,599 falling into anything more than a half sleep. Laying in 45 00:02:34,680 --> 00:02:37,879 my tent for a few hours. In that half day's slumber, 46 00:02:38,199 --> 00:02:42,120 I could hear the blustering winds slowly easing up, and 47 00:02:42,240 --> 00:02:45,960 after a while it had slipped into a complete utter silence. 48 00:02:46,879 --> 00:02:49,719 There was not a sound to be heard. The silence, 49 00:02:49,759 --> 00:02:54,240 as they say, was deafening. It was almost surreal. I 50 00:02:54,280 --> 00:02:56,960 had awakened enough at this point to pay attention to 51 00:02:57,039 --> 00:03:00,159 the silence. It was so odd that I was on 52 00:03:00,360 --> 00:03:02,919 guard and was a little nervous because I had never 53 00:03:03,039 --> 00:03:09,240 experienced such perfect silence while camping. That did, however, change 54 00:03:09,280 --> 00:03:13,039 in a big hurry. That silence that was so disturbing 55 00:03:13,080 --> 00:03:16,599 a second ago, was dramatically broken by a near deafening 56 00:03:16,800 --> 00:03:22,240 crack and directly followed by a deep, resonating splash. The 57 00:03:22,360 --> 00:03:25,560 very loud crack was at first interrupted by my brain 58 00:03:25,919 --> 00:03:29,360 as a rifle shot, but I quickly realized it was 59 00:03:29,400 --> 00:03:33,199 a large stone striking a rock face behind my tent 60 00:03:33,360 --> 00:03:37,000 and then bouncing into the lake. The rock face was 61 00:03:37,039 --> 00:03:40,919 a mere ten or fifteen meters behind me. I was 62 00:03:41,000 --> 00:03:44,439 on high alert now. I listened for any other sounds 63 00:03:44,479 --> 00:03:47,479 that would help me identify what was going on, but 64 00:03:47,520 --> 00:03:52,159 I heard nothing in that perfect silence, no footfalls, no grunts, 65 00:03:52,199 --> 00:03:57,240 no sounds at all. I was racing through scenarios. Was 66 00:03:57,319 --> 00:04:00,000 in an animal that knocked the stone off the overhead? 67 00:04:01,000 --> 00:04:04,080 Was it a bear overturning rocks looking for food along 68 00:04:04,120 --> 00:04:09,120 the shoreline. As my brain was trying to interpret this situation, 69 00:04:09,560 --> 00:04:14,360 a second large stone fell directly into the water. It was, 70 00:04:14,439 --> 00:04:17,319 by my estimate, a larger stone than the first one, 71 00:04:17,360 --> 00:04:20,360 because it created a much deeper thud as it broke 72 00:04:20,439 --> 00:04:23,560 the surface of the water. I was up on my 73 00:04:23,639 --> 00:04:27,160 feet now in my tent, deciding if I should investigate 74 00:04:27,560 --> 00:04:29,639 or at least be at the ready if things took 75 00:04:29,639 --> 00:04:33,319 a turn for the worst. And then another large stone 76 00:04:33,319 --> 00:04:37,759 fell directly into the water with a resounding thump splash. 77 00:04:38,079 --> 00:04:41,000 That was it for me. I had no intention to 78 00:04:41,040 --> 00:04:43,639 be going head to head with any forest critter that 79 00:04:43,680 --> 00:04:47,800 could throw boulders. The last thing I wanted at that 80 00:04:47,920 --> 00:04:50,759 point was to be inside that tent in the dark 81 00:04:50,800 --> 00:04:54,879 and having boulders falling on me. Whatever it was it 82 00:04:54,959 --> 00:04:57,399 was trying to send me a message, and I received 83 00:04:57,439 --> 00:05:01,800 that memo loud and clear. I promptly unzipped the tent 84 00:05:01,959 --> 00:05:05,399 flap and made a dash for my truck, started it up, 85 00:05:05,480 --> 00:05:08,600 and I removed myself from that place as quickly as 86 00:05:08,600 --> 00:05:12,199 that old beat up logging road would allow. I spent 87 00:05:12,240 --> 00:05:15,000 the night in my truck some distance from there, and 88 00:05:15,079 --> 00:05:20,120 everything was uneventful. When the sun came up the next morning, 89 00:05:20,240 --> 00:05:22,519 I returned to the camp site so that I could 90 00:05:22,519 --> 00:05:26,480 retrieve my canoe and camping gear. I looked around the 91 00:05:26,560 --> 00:05:29,920 area and I took some photos with my phone for reference. 92 00:05:30,639 --> 00:05:32,720 The rear of the camp site had a row of 93 00:05:32,759 --> 00:05:37,199 scrub brush and trees about three meters deep, and directly 94 00:05:37,240 --> 00:05:39,959 behind that was the rock face from where the rocks 95 00:05:39,959 --> 00:05:44,600 were being thrown, and yes, they were being thrown. I 96 00:05:44,639 --> 00:05:47,240 paddled out onto the lake to check out that rock 97 00:05:47,279 --> 00:05:49,839 face with my canoe, and there was no way those 98 00:05:49,959 --> 00:05:52,920 rocks could have rolled down on their own. It was 99 00:05:53,079 --> 00:05:55,759 just too shallow of an angle for that to happen, 100 00:05:56,279 --> 00:05:59,399 and there were ledges with brush on them. Even if 101 00:05:59,439 --> 00:06:02,720 the rocks had found their way rolling down, the ledges 102 00:06:02,759 --> 00:06:07,040 would have made their journey very difficult. Gravity alone could 103 00:06:07,120 --> 00:06:10,720 not drag them through those brush filled ledges. Not to mention, 104 00:06:11,360 --> 00:06:13,920 I would have heard them crashing down that rock face 105 00:06:14,040 --> 00:06:18,360 to the water, I packed my gear up and I left. 106 00:06:19,120 --> 00:06:22,040 I mentioned my experience to a few friends and learned 107 00:06:22,079 --> 00:06:25,560 that talking about such things is most definitely the wrong 108 00:06:25,639 --> 00:06:28,120 thing to do, unless you like a ridicule in being 109 00:06:28,160 --> 00:06:33,199 the butt of never ending sisquatch jokes. Yes, I do 110 00:06:33,319 --> 00:06:37,480 believe that it was a sasquatch throwing those rocks. There's 111 00:06:37,639 --> 00:06:39,920 nothing that I know of in these parts that can 112 00:06:39,959 --> 00:06:44,680 throw a stone except a human being. I'm convinced it 113 00:06:44,720 --> 00:06:47,240 was not a person up on that bluff that night, 114 00:06:47,399 --> 00:06:50,079 as they would have had to approach my campsite on 115 00:06:50,279 --> 00:06:53,519 foot in the wind and rain earlier in the day 116 00:06:53,920 --> 00:06:57,800 through many kilometers of brush, can wait there until night fall, 117 00:06:57,839 --> 00:07:02,079 in perfect silence, just a few stones into the water 118 00:07:02,240 --> 00:07:05,680 to scare me. I know that no one came up 119 00:07:05,720 --> 00:07:08,519 the road before or after me, because I looked for 120 00:07:08,680 --> 00:07:11,920 fresh tired tracks when I left that day, and my 121 00:07:12,079 --> 00:07:14,720 tires were the only ones that passed over that road 122 00:07:14,759 --> 00:07:19,439 for quite a while. Now here's where my story gets weird, 123 00:07:19,879 --> 00:07:21,959 and I come to the part that messes with my 124 00:07:22,120 --> 00:07:24,879 brain in a way that I could never have expected. 125 00:07:26,439 --> 00:07:30,959 All winter, I was bothered by this experience. I desperately 126 00:07:31,040 --> 00:07:33,160 wanted to go back there and look up on that 127 00:07:33,240 --> 00:07:35,560 bluff and check out the area and look for some 128 00:07:35,639 --> 00:07:39,560 kind of proof either for or against my experience as 129 00:07:39,600 --> 00:07:43,879 being authentic. I was obsessed with just knowing one way 130 00:07:44,000 --> 00:07:47,639 or the other whether that was a Sasquatch experience or not. 131 00:07:49,160 --> 00:07:52,120 Spring finally came and around the end of March I 132 00:07:52,160 --> 00:07:56,120 was finally able to venture into that spot again and investigate. 133 00:07:57,240 --> 00:07:59,920 Remember earlier that I said I was there at the 134 00:08:00,160 --> 00:08:04,160 end of October on the previous fall. That time of 135 00:08:04,199 --> 00:08:06,600 the year is very close to the time when snow 136 00:08:06,720 --> 00:08:10,480 starts rolling in, and when the snow starts around here, 137 00:08:10,560 --> 00:08:15,160 it's relentless. The weather coming off Lake Superior ensures that 138 00:08:15,279 --> 00:08:19,199 the snow accumulates fast early in November, and it is 139 00:08:19,279 --> 00:08:21,920 not uncommon to have a meter of snow on the 140 00:08:21,920 --> 00:08:26,199 ground in this area by Christmas. When I did arrive 141 00:08:26,279 --> 00:08:28,519 at the bridge, I was astounded to see that the 142 00:08:28,720 --> 00:08:31,839 wash shout that was their last fall was now gone. 143 00:08:32,360 --> 00:08:37,159 The road was completely normal and intact. My first reaction 144 00:08:37,399 --> 00:08:40,519 was that it must have been repaired, but when and 145 00:08:40,679 --> 00:08:44,200 how There was no logging in the area, so a 146 00:08:44,240 --> 00:08:47,320 logging company could not have done it without good reason. 147 00:08:48,039 --> 00:08:51,440 There were no properties or cottages in the area. I 148 00:08:51,519 --> 00:08:53,799 look for a spot where a large amount of material 149 00:08:53,879 --> 00:08:57,159 would have been taken for PHIL, but there was none. 150 00:08:57,240 --> 00:08:59,200 I looked up and down the road and saw no 151 00:08:59,360 --> 00:09:03,080 evidence that any heavy equipment had been in there. In fact, 152 00:09:03,480 --> 00:09:05,960 the road ended the place was so bad for a 153 00:09:06,039 --> 00:09:09,440 five hundred meters stretch just before the lake that I 154 00:09:09,480 --> 00:09:12,039 had a difficult time getting in there with my four 155 00:09:12,080 --> 00:09:17,279 wheel drive. I inspected the road where the washout was located, 156 00:09:17,440 --> 00:09:20,639 and it had grass and shrubs that were there from 157 00:09:20,679 --> 00:09:24,200 the previous years. It was as if there was never 158 00:09:24,360 --> 00:09:27,320 any wash out at all. The ground had not been 159 00:09:27,360 --> 00:09:31,360 disturbed in any way that I could see. In addition 160 00:09:31,399 --> 00:09:33,960 to that between November and when I was there in 161 00:09:34,000 --> 00:09:37,080 the spring would have made it impossible to repair the road. 162 00:09:37,120 --> 00:09:40,960 Because of the snow, there would have been no access 163 00:09:41,080 --> 00:09:45,240 to that location. I parked in the campsite and I 164 00:09:45,279 --> 00:09:49,799 looked around. There were elements of that spot that were different. Also, 165 00:09:50,879 --> 00:09:53,720 the line of shrub brush and trees that bordered the 166 00:09:53,759 --> 00:09:57,639 rear of the campsite were all gone the previous fall. 167 00:09:57,679 --> 00:10:00,919 While I packed up camp and left check that line 168 00:10:00,919 --> 00:10:03,919 of scrub it was thick enough that I had a 169 00:10:04,000 --> 00:10:07,240 moderate amount of difficulty to get through it to see 170 00:10:07,240 --> 00:10:11,159 the bluff behind it. Now it was all gone trees 171 00:10:11,200 --> 00:10:15,759 and all no stumps, no debris, nothing but mud where 172 00:10:15,759 --> 00:10:19,919 a substantial amount of trees and shrubbery had previously stood. 173 00:10:20,960 --> 00:10:24,759 The photos that I had taken were unfortunately gone. Also, 174 00:10:25,600 --> 00:10:28,200 the phone on which I had taken the pictures had 175 00:10:28,240 --> 00:10:32,879 been stolen during the winter. I don't have any explanation 176 00:10:33,080 --> 00:10:36,320 for any of this. I just know that this event 177 00:10:36,480 --> 00:10:40,879 fundamentally changed my view of the world around me. The 178 00:10:41,000 --> 00:10:44,759 roight throwing was one thing, but the change landscape made 179 00:10:44,840 --> 00:10:47,519 no sense to me at all. And my poor brain 180 00:10:47,759 --> 00:10:51,320 just did not know how to process this information. And 181 00:10:51,440 --> 00:10:54,639 I still don't know what to do with it. I 182 00:10:54,679 --> 00:10:58,480 think about this often, I think about it daily, but 183 00:10:58,559 --> 00:11:01,240 I'm not able to reconcile what I know was there 184 00:11:01,279 --> 00:11:03,799 in the fall and what I saw in the spring. 185 00:11:04,960 --> 00:11:08,639 Well that's my story. I'm no longer looking for answers 186 00:11:08,679 --> 00:11:12,799 because I'm afraid this will just get more weird. I'm 187 00:11:12,840 --> 00:11:15,799 smart enough to know when i'm beat, and the Maasthma 188 00:11:16,200 --> 00:11:18,480 just does not want me to know the answer to 189 00:11:18,559 --> 00:11:25,279 this one right now. And I'm okay with that. My 190 00:11:25,360 --> 00:11:28,799 story isn't about a specific encounter, but more where my 191 00:11:28,919 --> 00:11:33,240 fascination for the creature comes from. My father was a 192 00:11:33,279 --> 00:11:36,559 man's man. He was a World War II veteran and 193 00:11:36,639 --> 00:11:40,159 an avid outdoorsman. He worked in the old Fields of 194 00:11:40,200 --> 00:11:43,240 America and drove a truck, and he was generally a 195 00:11:43,360 --> 00:11:47,799 tough guy. He taught me and my brothers, all six 196 00:11:47,879 --> 00:11:51,320 of us, about hunting and fishing, among other life lessons. 197 00:11:52,200 --> 00:11:55,559 He grew up in great Depression America and knew how 198 00:11:55,639 --> 00:11:58,679 to make the most out of very little. He was 199 00:11:58,960 --> 00:12:03,279 all in all a good man. In the nineteen eighties, 200 00:12:03,320 --> 00:12:06,320 he was working for an oil company checking wells in 201 00:12:06,440 --> 00:12:12,240 southwest Oklahoma. This region isn't known for bigfoot sidings or encounters. 202 00:12:12,840 --> 00:12:16,320 It was just becoming knowledgeable that eastern Oklahoma may have 203 00:12:16,440 --> 00:12:21,519 bigfoot type creatures. Dad had come home one afternoon excited 204 00:12:21,679 --> 00:12:25,200 and began telling us about what he found. He had 205 00:12:25,240 --> 00:12:27,759 had extra time on his hands and was going to 206 00:12:27,840 --> 00:12:30,320 check out a pond near one of the oil leases 207 00:12:31,039 --> 00:12:35,120 he had been given permission to fish there. While walking 208 00:12:35,159 --> 00:12:37,279 the bank of the pond, he found a log that 209 00:12:37,360 --> 00:12:41,200 had been ravaged by something. Dad said the log was 210 00:12:41,320 --> 00:12:43,919 hollow and it looked like a rabbit or a critter 211 00:12:44,120 --> 00:12:47,759 had made the log its home. But what excited Dad 212 00:12:47,840 --> 00:12:51,879 was the log being destroyed the way it was. He said, 213 00:12:51,919 --> 00:12:55,759 the log was completely torn apart and inside was a 214 00:12:55,759 --> 00:12:58,240 pile of fur from what he could only assume was 215 00:12:58,279 --> 00:13:02,519 a rabbit. Investigating the log, he also found a few 216 00:13:02,600 --> 00:13:07,559 strands of coarse, long hair. My father was a rational man, 217 00:13:08,000 --> 00:13:10,360 and he knew a code. He would not have destroyed 218 00:13:10,440 --> 00:13:14,519 a log like that. There were no significant tracks around 219 00:13:14,519 --> 00:13:18,200 the log, even in the soft dirt. He told us 220 00:13:18,240 --> 00:13:21,720 and most anyone who would listen about this. The story 221 00:13:21,879 --> 00:13:25,600 never changed each time he told it. He was known 222 00:13:25,679 --> 00:13:28,600 to tell a tall tailor too usually for a life, 223 00:13:28,639 --> 00:13:31,399 and you could always tell when my father was joking. 224 00:13:32,679 --> 00:13:36,000 When he told this story. He never varied or changed 225 00:13:36,000 --> 00:13:41,200 his tone. It was always exactly the same. A few 226 00:13:41,240 --> 00:13:43,480 months later, he took me out to the pond to 227 00:13:43,519 --> 00:13:45,320 look at the site of the log and to look 228 00:13:45,320 --> 00:13:48,919 at the pond again for the best fishing spots. It 229 00:13:49,039 --> 00:13:54,039 was February or March. I was fourteen years old. Dad 230 00:13:54,080 --> 00:13:56,120 pointed out where the log had been, and he told 231 00:13:56,159 --> 00:13:58,519 me to go check it out look for Prince. While 232 00:13:58,519 --> 00:14:01,480 he finished checking the level on the tank battery or 233 00:14:01,519 --> 00:14:05,440 whatever he did on those wells. It was two hundred 234 00:14:05,519 --> 00:14:07,720 yards from the truck, and I held no fear of 235 00:14:07,799 --> 00:14:12,320 woodland creatures. Especially in the middle of the day. While 236 00:14:12,320 --> 00:14:14,559 I was down by the pond near the spot, I 237 00:14:14,639 --> 00:14:18,519 kept getting the feeling that I was being watched. It 238 00:14:18,639 --> 00:14:22,000 wasn't a foreboding sense of danger, just a feeling that 239 00:14:22,080 --> 00:14:26,240 I was being observed. There were no forest sounds except 240 00:14:26,320 --> 00:14:28,519 for the wind, and now I chalk that up to 241 00:14:28,559 --> 00:14:31,480 being late winter. Therefore, there wasn't a lot of creatures 242 00:14:31,519 --> 00:14:36,840 about to make noise. Dad later found in search of 243 00:14:37,240 --> 00:14:40,240 episodes and we watched them every time they came on. 244 00:14:41,200 --> 00:14:44,559 There weren't a lot of documentaries about Bigfoot on television, 245 00:14:44,919 --> 00:14:47,360 but when a story came on about the creature, he 246 00:14:47,399 --> 00:14:50,279 would watch it, and that was much to the aggravation 247 00:14:50,600 --> 00:14:55,399 of my mother. This is where my fascination about cryptid 248 00:14:55,399 --> 00:14:59,320 creatures comes from. He believed they were real, and he 249 00:14:59,480 --> 00:15:03,159 was riddy. Or people just thought old Allen was bsing 250 00:15:03,240 --> 00:15:07,679 them again. But I never questioned my dad. He knew 251 00:15:07,720 --> 00:15:10,279 that the creature passed through the area, and that was 252 00:15:10,320 --> 00:15:14,279 good enough for me. Were he alive today, he would 253 00:15:14,279 --> 00:15:17,799 be listening to every podcast he could find, every story 254 00:15:17,840 --> 00:15:21,679 he could listen to about Bigfoot. He definitely would enjoy 255 00:15:21,799 --> 00:15:26,799 Dixie Cryptid. I know this isn't much of a Bigfoot encounter, 256 00:15:27,360 --> 00:15:29,759 but this was the beginning of my journey down the 257 00:15:29,799 --> 00:15:33,879 Cryptid rabbit hole and one small bond I held with 258 00:15:33,960 --> 00:15:38,120 my dad. I believe that Dad saw or hurt something 259 00:15:38,200 --> 00:15:41,440 more than that log that day. He just never told 260 00:15:41,480 --> 00:15:48,559 anyone about it. Back in the nineteen eighties and early nineties, 261 00:15:48,600 --> 00:15:52,399 I lived in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Like many 262 00:15:52,399 --> 00:15:54,679 of the people who live up there, I was a hunter. 263 00:15:55,879 --> 00:15:58,440 When I was seventeen, I built a deer blind on 264 00:15:58,480 --> 00:16:00,559 the top of a ridge about a half mile from 265 00:16:00,600 --> 00:16:04,519 my home. Also had a bait pile consisting of apples 266 00:16:04,559 --> 00:16:08,519 and corn that the local wildlife always picked at. I 267 00:16:08,559 --> 00:16:11,799 was up there a lot. Never once felt uncomfortable or afraid. 268 00:16:12,240 --> 00:16:14,919 I never felt like anything was watching me or like 269 00:16:15,000 --> 00:16:18,279 I should leave unless the season was opened. I was 270 00:16:18,360 --> 00:16:21,440 generally up there armed only with my hunting knife, but 271 00:16:21,519 --> 00:16:24,559 I never felt a reason to carry anything bigger or 272 00:16:24,639 --> 00:16:29,279 more powerful. On the sixth day of the fourteen day season, 273 00:16:29,360 --> 00:16:32,559 I quickly finished my after school chores and headed too 274 00:16:32,679 --> 00:16:36,080 my blind. I'd been seeing a nice buck, but it 275 00:16:36,120 --> 00:16:39,720 was always after legal shooting hours. I had hopes that 276 00:16:39,799 --> 00:16:42,240 one day he would come in early and I'd get 277 00:16:42,240 --> 00:16:45,120 a shot at him. That was my main thought as 278 00:16:45,159 --> 00:16:50,600 I settled onto my stool inside the blind. After twenty minutes, 279 00:16:50,639 --> 00:16:53,000 my thoughts were drawn away from that buck when it 280 00:16:53,039 --> 00:16:56,480 occurred to me the woods were incredibly quiet. None of 281 00:16:56,480 --> 00:16:59,399 the little critters who normally feasted on the bait pile 282 00:16:59,440 --> 00:17:02,879 were around. There were no birds flying around trying to 283 00:17:02,879 --> 00:17:06,519 get their share. Not even the wind was blowing. That 284 00:17:06,680 --> 00:17:09,559 was when a feeling of utter terror came over me. 285 00:17:10,920 --> 00:17:14,440 When the woods are abnormally quiet, it usually means there's 286 00:17:14,480 --> 00:17:18,279 a predator close by. My head was turning on a swivel, 287 00:17:18,599 --> 00:17:21,079 and I began looking all around me for whatever had 288 00:17:21,119 --> 00:17:24,599 caused everything to go quiet, and for whatever had put 289 00:17:24,640 --> 00:17:28,640 that awful fear in my gut. My dad and our 290 00:17:28,680 --> 00:17:31,920 neighbor didn't get along. They had even come to blows 291 00:17:31,960 --> 00:17:34,960 at a local grocery store, which got them both banned 292 00:17:35,039 --> 00:17:39,359 for six months. Despite this, the neighbor had recently come 293 00:17:39,400 --> 00:17:42,160 to our house, risking life and limb to let my 294 00:17:42,319 --> 00:17:46,720 dad know he'd seen a lynx in the vicinity. Considering 295 00:17:46,759 --> 00:17:49,839 their intense dislike for each other, it must have taken 296 00:17:49,920 --> 00:17:51,839 quite a bit of courage for that man to come 297 00:17:51,920 --> 00:17:55,720 up and warn my dad of possible danger to our livestock. 298 00:17:57,200 --> 00:17:59,599 A few days later, one of our horses came in 299 00:17:59,680 --> 00:18:04,240 with read deep, parallel slashes on her right shoulder. The 300 00:18:04,319 --> 00:18:06,400 vat who came out to stitch her up said they 301 00:18:06,440 --> 00:18:09,759 looked like they'd been done by a large cat. They 302 00:18:09,759 --> 00:18:11,720 were each at least an inch to an inch and 303 00:18:11,759 --> 00:18:14,519 a half deep. There was a fourth wound, but it 304 00:18:14,640 --> 00:18:18,720 was just a bloody scratch. Knowing this when the fear 305 00:18:18,799 --> 00:18:22,079 hit me, I was looking for a lynx. I couldn't 306 00:18:22,119 --> 00:18:24,680 hear her, see anything, but I couldn't shake that feeling. 307 00:18:25,319 --> 00:18:27,240 I was scared out of my mind, but I didn't 308 00:18:27,319 --> 00:18:30,359 understand why. And all the time I'd spent up there 309 00:18:30,400 --> 00:18:33,680 with nothing but my hunting knife, I had never felt afraid. 310 00:18:34,839 --> 00:18:37,559 One day. I even found bear tracks around my bait 311 00:18:37,640 --> 00:18:40,839 pile and bear scat near my blind and I never 312 00:18:40,880 --> 00:18:45,039 felt as terrified as I did that moment. Suddenly it 313 00:18:45,079 --> 00:18:47,440 was like someone was telling me to leave, as if 314 00:18:47,480 --> 00:18:50,640 someone had put that fault in my head. I don't 315 00:18:50,680 --> 00:18:53,000 believe I thought it because I was too busy looking 316 00:18:53,039 --> 00:18:57,759 around and being unbelievably scared. A few minutes passed, and 317 00:18:57,799 --> 00:19:00,240 my fear was only getting worse when I heard a 318 00:19:00,319 --> 00:19:04,440 noise off to my left. Leaves rustled to the south 319 00:19:04,519 --> 00:19:07,519 of my blind, followed by a tremendous crack that was 320 00:19:07,559 --> 00:19:11,119 as loud as a rifle shot. I nearly unloaded my 321 00:19:11,240 --> 00:19:15,440 bowels into my camouflage pants. Woo, good thing you didn't 322 00:19:15,559 --> 00:19:19,759 Roy before I had time to react. To perfectly healthy, 323 00:19:19,839 --> 00:19:23,119 eight inch in diameter tree fell and landed right next 324 00:19:23,119 --> 00:19:26,079 to my blind. Some of the branches took out the 325 00:19:26,160 --> 00:19:29,119 side of it and left scratches on my face and neck. 326 00:19:29,480 --> 00:19:32,839 And all this happened with no wind. The tree was 327 00:19:32,839 --> 00:19:35,640 broken off at about eight to nine feet above the ground. 328 00:19:36,240 --> 00:19:40,039 It had been snapped in two. If whatever made that 329 00:19:40,079 --> 00:19:42,559 tree fall wanted to hurt me really bad, it could 330 00:19:42,599 --> 00:19:45,200 have dropped the tree on me instead of next to 331 00:19:45,279 --> 00:19:48,160 my blind. And if it wanted to kill me, there 332 00:19:48,200 --> 00:19:51,240 was nothing I could do about it. I know for 333 00:19:51,319 --> 00:19:53,839 a fact that no black bear could have broken that 334 00:19:53,920 --> 00:19:57,640 tree like that. My guess is that my stool is 335 00:19:57,680 --> 00:20:01,319 still up there on that ridge, and I've never been back. 336 00:20:03,200 --> 00:20:05,480 Many years later, I was out with a couple of 337 00:20:05,480 --> 00:20:08,480 buddies tipping a few at the local watering hole one 338 00:20:08,599 --> 00:20:12,319 night after closing time. We were on our way home 339 00:20:12,400 --> 00:20:15,920 in my nineteen seventy four Chevy Love pickup when I 340 00:20:15,960 --> 00:20:18,880 spilled my beer, which led to my truck being in 341 00:20:18,960 --> 00:20:22,440 the ditch in the middle of nowhere. We stood on 342 00:20:22,480 --> 00:20:25,079 the road for several minutes, deciding whether to walk to 343 00:20:25,119 --> 00:20:28,240 a nearby house or call for help, or walk two 344 00:20:28,279 --> 00:20:30,519 miles to my friend's house and get his truck to 345 00:20:30,559 --> 00:20:34,079 pull it out. All the conversation came to a halt 346 00:20:34,119 --> 00:20:37,279 when we heard something that sounded like chattering teeth in 347 00:20:37,319 --> 00:20:40,759 the woods behind us. We thought maybe we woke up 348 00:20:40,799 --> 00:20:44,160 an angry squirrel who was telling us off. A big, 349 00:20:44,279 --> 00:20:48,039 really big, big, big angry squirrel. I don't know. That's 350 00:20:48,079 --> 00:20:51,640 settled it. We decided to walk back to my friend's house. 351 00:20:53,000 --> 00:20:55,759 As soon as we started walking, we realized something was 352 00:20:55,880 --> 00:20:58,519 keeping pace with us just beyond the tree line and 353 00:20:58,599 --> 00:21:01,640 the woods on the north side of the road. When 354 00:21:01,680 --> 00:21:05,400 we walked, it walked with us. When we stopped to listen, 355 00:21:05,839 --> 00:21:08,720 it would maybe take another step and then stop too. 356 00:21:09,799 --> 00:21:14,519 We all three got sober really quick as it continued 357 00:21:14,559 --> 00:21:17,400 to keep pace with us, walking when we walked, and 358 00:21:17,480 --> 00:21:20,640 stopping when we stopped. We came to the conclusion that 359 00:21:20,720 --> 00:21:23,240 it must be a big man walking in the woods. 360 00:21:24,240 --> 00:21:27,079 We even tried talking to him, but we never got 361 00:21:27,119 --> 00:21:31,160 a reply. As hunters, we knew it wasn't a deer 362 00:21:31,240 --> 00:21:35,000 or any other four legged animal. It was definitely by peedle, 363 00:21:35,680 --> 00:21:39,839 so we ran. It ran right along with us when 364 00:21:39,880 --> 00:21:43,079 we stop. It stopped within one or two steps after us. 365 00:21:44,359 --> 00:21:47,519 Then we walked back towards my truck, and it turned 366 00:21:47,559 --> 00:21:51,119 around and kept pace. Two of us had been in 367 00:21:51,160 --> 00:21:53,920 the military, so I quietly said, we're going to do 368 00:21:54,000 --> 00:21:57,960 an about face. We put the non military friend in 369 00:21:58,000 --> 00:22:01,039 the middle and told him to follow our moods. The 370 00:22:01,039 --> 00:22:03,359 moon was just broad enough that we could see each 371 00:22:03,400 --> 00:22:09,039 other about face, I whispered. We performed the move perfectly. 372 00:22:10,240 --> 00:22:13,920 After three steps, we stopped over in the woods. We 373 00:22:14,000 --> 00:22:16,799 clearly heard it turn around and then stop and wait 374 00:22:16,839 --> 00:22:21,359 for our next move. This thing paralleled us inside the 375 00:22:21,400 --> 00:22:23,799 tree line until we finally came to a house with 376 00:22:23,880 --> 00:22:27,039 a yard mowed up to the woods. I guess it 377 00:22:27,079 --> 00:22:30,079 didn't want to show itself because once we rounded the corner, 378 00:22:30,480 --> 00:22:34,079 we never heard it again. When we got back to 379 00:22:34,160 --> 00:22:37,400 my truck, there were rocks laying all over the flatbed 380 00:22:37,480 --> 00:22:40,599 that weren't there when we left. We yanked my truck 381 00:22:40,599 --> 00:22:42,599 out of that ditch in record time and got the 382 00:22:42,640 --> 00:22:46,279 hell out of there. There was one other time it 383 00:22:46,359 --> 00:22:49,000 happened before the night I put my truck in the ditch, 384 00:22:49,119 --> 00:22:52,200 but well after I had the incident with the deer blind. 385 00:22:53,000 --> 00:22:55,640 I saved it for last because it's the experience that 386 00:22:55,799 --> 00:22:59,640 made me a knower. After that, I lost every doubt 387 00:22:59,640 --> 00:23:04,440 that these sasquatch really do exist. I had gone up 388 00:23:04,519 --> 00:23:07,000 to the up to get some poles to make a 389 00:23:07,079 --> 00:23:10,720 fork for my young sons. We didn't have any trees 390 00:23:10,759 --> 00:23:13,680 big enough, so I cut some sixteen foot cedar poles 391 00:23:13,720 --> 00:23:16,160 and strapped them to the top of my nineteen eighty 392 00:23:16,200 --> 00:23:19,960 eight Dodge caravan to bring home. I got up to 393 00:23:20,000 --> 00:23:23,160 my buddy's place on Friday night. Since he was in 394 00:23:23,240 --> 00:23:25,880 college and living in the dorm, he wasn't going to 395 00:23:25,920 --> 00:23:30,319 arrive until Saturday morning. It was about ten PM when 396 00:23:30,359 --> 00:23:33,279 I got there, so I rolled out my sleeping bag 397 00:23:33,319 --> 00:23:35,680 in the back of the van and watched the stars 398 00:23:35,759 --> 00:23:40,240 through the sun roof until I fell asleep. I don't 399 00:23:40,240 --> 00:23:42,759 know what woke me, but around one point thirty I 400 00:23:42,880 --> 00:23:46,200 was suddenly wide awake. I could see out of most 401 00:23:46,240 --> 00:23:49,880 of the windows. The moon was bright, but I couldn't 402 00:23:49,880 --> 00:23:54,440 see the stars through the sun roof. My friend lived primitively. 403 00:23:54,680 --> 00:23:58,319 He had no electricity on the place. The nearest street light, 404 00:23:58,519 --> 00:24:01,440 along with the nearest neighbor, was a good three miles away. 405 00:24:02,440 --> 00:24:06,759 Light pollution was not an issue. That's when I noticed 406 00:24:06,880 --> 00:24:09,880 the face. It was looking down at me through the 407 00:24:09,920 --> 00:24:13,319 sun roof. It looked like a giant human, but a 408 00:24:13,319 --> 00:24:17,240 lot harrier. It had dark hair all around its face. 409 00:24:18,279 --> 00:24:21,039 By three point fifty seven, magnum was under my pillow. 410 00:24:21,440 --> 00:24:23,559 I wanted to feel it in my hand, but it 411 00:24:23,559 --> 00:24:26,799 felt like something was holding me down. I couldn't move. 412 00:24:28,000 --> 00:24:30,799 I thought immediately of an accident i'd had while I 413 00:24:30,880 --> 00:24:35,079 was in the Navy that left me temporarily paralyzed. My 414 00:24:35,200 --> 00:24:37,519 brain was telling my arms to get the gun, but 415 00:24:37,640 --> 00:24:42,640 my body would not obey. Finally, the face pulled back 416 00:24:42,680 --> 00:24:46,480 and disappeared from my view. I watched as a large, 417 00:24:46,480 --> 00:24:50,839 hairy torso past the side windows of the van. It 418 00:24:50,920 --> 00:24:54,480 walked across the driveway behind me and disappeared into the woods. 419 00:24:55,519 --> 00:24:57,920 As soon as it was gone, I could move again. 420 00:24:58,880 --> 00:25:02,240 I unzipped my sleepy bag, grabbed my gun, opened the 421 00:25:02,279 --> 00:25:05,680 side door, and shine my spotlight all around, but I 422 00:25:05,720 --> 00:25:09,880 never saw anything. I figured it was safe to crawl 423 00:25:09,880 --> 00:25:12,480 out of the van and relieve myself. But I listened 424 00:25:12,519 --> 00:25:17,079 closely as I did so, I couldn't hear anything. The 425 00:25:17,119 --> 00:25:21,079 woods were completely silent. I don't even think the mosquitoes 426 00:25:21,119 --> 00:25:25,519 were buzzing. My hair was standing on in but there 427 00:25:25,599 --> 00:25:28,440 wasn't much else I could do, so I crawled back 428 00:25:28,440 --> 00:25:31,200 into my sleeping bag, and I started thinking about what 429 00:25:31,319 --> 00:25:34,680 had just happened. For a long time, I tried to 430 00:25:34,720 --> 00:25:38,160 convince myself it was just a nightmare. But the next 431 00:25:38,240 --> 00:25:40,960 morning I could see where something had leaned up against 432 00:25:41,000 --> 00:25:45,240 my van and left an imprint in the dust. There 433 00:25:45,240 --> 00:25:47,839 were other places where the dust had been brushed off 434 00:25:47,880 --> 00:25:51,400 all down the side. It had also left a trail 435 00:25:51,559 --> 00:25:53,960 through the dew and the grass and the weeds leading 436 00:25:54,000 --> 00:25:57,880 to the woods. I can still see that face in 437 00:25:57,880 --> 00:26:01,599 my mind's eye like it was yesterday. I now know 438 00:26:02,160 --> 00:26:05,319 there is something out there. It's big, it's Harry, and 439 00:26:05,400 --> 00:26:07,599 it'll scare the crap out of you if you ever 440 00:26:07,640 --> 00:26:13,920 get to see one.