WEBVTT 1 00:00:06.919 --> 00:00:10.000 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