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Speaker 1: Here in the Northern Rockies, hunting and fishing have always

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been a big part of my life. Archery hunting in particular,

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has been a family tradition since I was a child.

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My dad would take me and my brother along to

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watch until we were old enough to take part in

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the sport. Over the years, archery has grown in popularity

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in our state, so finding a good spot to hunt

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has gotten harder and harder to do, and more importantly,

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to keep it a secret. As a result of the

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increased hunting traffic, the elks seemed to move around more.

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My friends and I have adopted a rotation method for

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spots we hunt, changing from year to year to keep

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the pressure off the game animals and to encourage less

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movement from them. Even with this method, cow calling in

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another hunter is just as likely to occur as calling

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in a well. It's frustrating to watch this happen, especially

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in the last couple of years. I'll just add a

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little commentary here. You can blame YouTube and social media

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for all the bowhunters running your areas, but it's a

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big country. Everybody has a right to hunt, and I

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don't have a problem with it. But that's what happened

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last ten years. There's been so many videos Cam Cameron Haynes.

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He's one of my heroes. He's probably the best bowhunter

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I've ever seen, and he has a dad gone beast

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of physical condition. I've never seen anybody like him. But

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I digress back to the story. This last fall, my

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friend and I decided to hunt a spot we hadn't

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been for a couple of years, and we met at

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the trailhead at three am to begin our four mile

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height into the point where the service trail split off

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and took us up a ridge to the high alpine basins.

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Getting an out out of a place that remote can

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be quite a chore, but that's all part of the experience.

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By daylight, we reached the area where we decided to

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make camp. It was a flat spot on a ridge

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that separated two basins, allowing us easy access to either basin.

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We dropped the bare minimum of supplies we'd brought to

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get us through the next few days, and we tired

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our food bags in a tree. Bears used to not

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be something we worried about, but the Fish and Game

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likes to drop the problem bears from various national parks

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in that area, so these days it comes as no

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surprise when we encounter a collared bear. We also carried

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the other necessary precautions for being in bear country. Each

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hunt begins with a coin toss. The loser is responsible

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for carrying both the bugle and the bear gun. We

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both carried side arms, and that day I won the toss,

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and we tested the wind and began our slow and

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careful approach. Periodically we'd give a cow call to see

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if we could locate any animals, and on this day

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things were quiet. That wasn't surprising. Elk will jump across

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the ridge sometimes even if they're not being pressured by hunters.

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We made it down to the wallows, but there didn't

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seem to be much sign. What little sign there was

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looked old. We weren't discouraged, though There was the other basin,

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or we could hike down to another ridge at another

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fork of the river. Back at camp, we ate and

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went to bed. We don't like to build a fire

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if we don't have to, so our meal was the

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hydrated food made with water heated in a bunsen burner.

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At night, we would expect to hear cows calling, and

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if the moon was full, we would hear bulls bugling,

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but that night it was dead quiet and we slept

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really well. The next day was my turn to carry

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the bugle and the shotgun. My friend carried the bow,

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and after a quick breakfast of rehydrated coffee and granola bars,

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we headed for the second basin. It was much larger

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than the first, with more wallows and meadows, and the

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minute we left camp, I had an eerie feeling come

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over me. Everything was too quiet, everything felt off. I

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wrote it off as nerves. Though. We made it down

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to the bottom wallow and we found more signs than

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the day before, but again they didn't look fresh. We

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moved on to the top of the ridge and on

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towards the next wallow, and at one point we stopped

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and I gave a short chuckling bugle. A cow responded,

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we were on the elk. One cow meant there would

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be more, and that meant there would definitely be a bull.

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It was going to be a good day. We waited

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a few minutes before I gave another bugle, and once

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again a cow answered. I had a rough idea of her location,

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so we worked our way down the side of the

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ridge and we found an area where we could stay

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in the timber. It overlooked a nice little grassy area

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that was between us and where we thought the elk were.

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I positioned myself ten yards from the edge of the trees,

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where I'd continue bugling and cow calling, and my buddy

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moved ten yards up from me at the tree line

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where he could conceal himself. There he would have a

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nice broadside shot at whatever came in on us, And

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as soon as he was set, he gave me the

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go ahead to start calling. Since we were hoping for

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a bull, I started with a cow call. A few

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minutes later we heard another bull bugle. It didn't sound

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like a larger mature bull, but sometimes it's hard to tell.

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The cow responded next. It was on. We went back

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and forth several times, and the bugle didn't seem too hot,

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but he was moving in. With every bugle, we heard

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him raking trees several times. The cow seemed to be

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staying in place. A few more bugles and he started

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getting into the right sword of mood. He was getting

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angrier and he was gaining more ground on us. We

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knew it was going to be a matter of time now,

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and in an instant, everything shut off like a switch.

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Everything went quiet. I gave a couple more cow calls,

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but we got no response. We sat and listened for

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a few minutes and still nothing, and then the sound

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of a herd of elk taking off through the timber

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broke through the silence like a thunderclap. We'd spooked them,

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But how had we done that? Did the wind shift?

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Did they pick up our scent? Did one sneak in

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and see my buddy set up without noticing him. My

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buddy moved back over to me and we discussed what

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could have scared him off. We decided the wind had shifted,

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but that's the way it goes and hunting. These things

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happen and you never know exactly what cost it. We

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moved out of that spot and scouted at another location

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for the next day, and that's when we heard it.

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It sounded like a cow call, but it had a low, grunting,

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deep growl at the end. We have heard olk make

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some strange noises over the years, so we weren't really surprised,

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and it was coming from the same direction where the

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bull was. We decided to set back up once he

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was back in position. My buddy gave him the sign

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to start calling. The response was immediate, and it was close.

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I answered with another call. My buddy shifted his position

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and he rose up a little bit, and he drew

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his bow. I was thinking, I hope you're not going

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to shoot a cow. It was perfectly legal, and it

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would have been good eating, but we were a long

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way back in to be packing something out that didn't

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have antlers. I watched him whole for a few seconds,

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and then he let off, and he turned around and

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he started making his way back to me. His face

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had turned pale white, and his hand shook as he

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nervously attempted to put the arrow back in its quiver.

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Once he got it in, he looked up at me

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in stark despair written all over his face. It was

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a bear. It was a big bear, a big grizzly,

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he muttered. I picked up the shotgun, and he grabbed

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his backpack and secured his bow to it, and then

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I handed him the gun while I put on my

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backpack and I pulled out my laskin four fifty four

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cassoule rugger, and I stepped a little to my right

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to try to find a lane where I could clearly

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see into the meadow. I got a glimpse of something big,

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and if it was a bear, it was one heck

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of a big bear. I've never seen my buddy so

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shook up before. All he wanted to do was get

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the heck out of there. I kept trying to calm

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him down and to slow him up a bit, and

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I told him the last thing we needed to do

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was to take off running out of there. Let's pick

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our way out nice and quiet, I said, We'll back

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out and make sure we get out of this situation safely.

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This wasn't the first time we'd encounter the bear while hunting.

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I was more than a little surprised by his behavior,

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and I never seen him react this way. As we

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began to pick our way out, we started hearing something

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that sounded like a growling grunt coming from the other

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side of the meadow. And it would start with a

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couple of low, almost inaudible grunts, and then it would

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gradually build and finish with a growl. I've never heard

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anything make a sound like that before, least of all

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a bear. I'm no bear expert, but I've encountered enough

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of them to know how they act, and no one

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I know would ever say that they had seen a

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bear behave this way. We continued to pick our way

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out with a commotion going on behind us, and the

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grunts and growls were joined by the sounds of limbs

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breaking and trees snapping. Whatever it was, and I know

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it wasn't a bear, it was keeping a cushion of

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about fifty yards between us. We weren't running, but we

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weren't exactly moving at a snail's pace either. We were

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doing our best to get out of there as quietly

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as possible, but no matter what, it stayed right with us.

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We couldn't put any significant distance between us. It followed

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us for a half a mile before it finally stopped

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and there was no more grunning or growling, and no

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more tree snapping or bush shaking. I expected my friend

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to be relieved, but he was still acting scared and

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I kept asking him what did you see? His response was,

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I don't know. It had to be a big bear.

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We made it back to base care, where we decided

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to build a big fire. It was too late in

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the day to pack out of there, but I couldn't

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get easy with our situation. We felt better for having

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made it another two and a half miles without hearing

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the growling and tree breaking, But I kept second guessing

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our decision to stay one more night. That uneasy feeling

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I had since we left camp that morning was still

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with me. Before we could build the fire, we had

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to gather the wood. Normally, this meant one would head

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off in one direction while the other went the other.

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This time, without speaking a word, we decided to gather

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wood together. I don't think either one of us wanted

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to be too far from the other, and while one gathered,

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the other stood guard with a shotgun. Once we had

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what we thought would be enough to last most of

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the night, we went back to camp and made a

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n nice supper on the Bunsen burner, and then I

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pulled out the flask of whiskey we normally reserved for

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celebrating a kill. We needed something to take the edge off.

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As it began to get dark, we realized we were

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going to need more firewood. We'd been away from the

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camp long enough to gather two good armloads of firewood.

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When the whistling started, it was almost like a person whistling,

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but a lot louder, and there was more than one.

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It came from one side of us, and then answered

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from the other side. We hurried the last hundred feet

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back to camp well. I thought maybe it was hunters.

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I couldn't explain why they'd have been whistling instead of

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calling out, but I decided to answer back. It was

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getting dark. Maybe they were lost and trying to locate

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our camp. Over Here, I yelled, and I got a

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whistle in response. Yeah, over here, I said. The whistling

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continued for a while. Each time it seemed to be closer.

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My buddy and I exchanged glances, like what's going on?

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We never had anything like this happen before. The confusion

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added to our discomfort, and then it stopped. Everything went

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dead quiet once again. We listened for a few minutes,

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but the whistler seemed to be gone. What did you

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see out there? I asked again, as I took out

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the flask of whiskey and handed it to him. He

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took the flask and drew a big swig from it

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before handing it back to me. I don't know, man,

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he said. Finally, what do you mean you don't know?

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I demanded. I want to say it was a bear,

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but now I could tell he was struggling. It wasn't

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a bear. I don't know what I saw, but it

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was big. I pressed him for more information, but all

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I got from him was I don't know. The more

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I pushed, the more upset and nervous he got, and

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I decided to let it go. We added more wood

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to the fire, and about the time we began to

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feel relaxed again, the growling. There were three of them

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triangulated around the camp. They were close enough that we

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could feel the grouls reverberate in our chests, but just

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out of sight. It was dusk by then, and what

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little light that provided and our fire was all we

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had to see with. We were high up in a

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sub alpine basin on a ridge by ourselves, and God

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only knows what those things were in the woods around us.

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It's the coldest feeling on earth. They never would let up.

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About the time we began to think they'd left, they'd

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started all again, each time from a different location and

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always too uncomfortably close. We thought about firing into the woods,

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about our supply of ammunition was limited. We'd packed for

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elk hunting, not war. I watched the firewood burn away

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and it would be hours before the sun came up.

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I knew they were still out there, just beyond our sight.

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I saw a small dead lodgepole pine laying on the

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ground at the edge of the firelight, and I figured

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if I could get it and drag it into camp,

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we could throw the whole thing on the fire and

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move it as it burned. I'm going to grab that

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tree over there, I said, come with me with the shotgun.

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I eased back the hammer on my pistol, and I

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walked over to the tree without looking down, and I

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put my boot on it and I pushed at it.

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I didn't want to reach down and pull on something

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I wasn't going to be able to lift, but I

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could move it. And with my eyes trained straight ahead

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and my right hand on my pistol, I eased down

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and wrapped my left arm around the tree. And as

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I started to stand up, I saw it. I could

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barely see it in the flickering light. One second it

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was there, and the next second it wasn't. It was

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as if it intended for me to see it, and

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through the dim shadows I could it was standing on

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two legs, and it had two arms. It must have

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been nine feet tall, and it was half again as

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wide as it was tall, and it was covered in hair.

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It was massive. Its hair was long and shaggy. It

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wasn't black, but in the dim light, I couldn't say

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exactly what color it was. The firelight danced across its face,

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distorting its features too much for me to make them

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out clearly, and I froze. I had the lodge pole

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pine wrapped under my left arm and my pistol pointing

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in the wrong direction in my right hand. I was

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halfway between standing and squatting, and I couldn't move you

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all right, I heard my buddy say. I couldn't respond.

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My eyes were locked on this thing. I couldn't see

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its eyes, but somehow I knew it was staring at

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me all time stopped. I didn't even know if I

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was breathing. It moved forward and souddenly. The light was

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on its face, and I was looking at the ugliest

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thing I had ever seen. It was looking back at me,

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and it began a low, demonic growl that started as

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a feeling in my chest before it grew loud enough

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for me to hear. Holy shit, I heard my buddy say,

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behind me. It was what I needed to snap me

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into motion, and I swung my pistol around and put

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it on its chest, and I squeezed the trigger as

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it stepped back into the shadows. My shot was immediately

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followed by two blasts from a shotgun. I felt my

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buddy's hand on my shirt collar as he pulled me

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back toward the fire. I never let go of the log,

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and he managed to drag me and the log back

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to the circle of light while keeping the shotgun trained

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on the spot where the creature was last seen. I

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dropped the butt of the log into the fire and

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I looked at my buddy, dead in the eye. Did

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you freaking see that? I said, I knew you saw something,

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He answered excitedly. I knew you were looking at something

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when you froze, but I couldn't see it. And then

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it stepped into the light, and you weren't moving, and

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then you shot, and it was gone, and all I

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could do was try to come and get you. I

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looked at him for a moment, and with a long sigh,

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I said, thanks for that. Man. With our backs to

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the fire, we reloaded and regained our composure. The growling

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had stopped. The pine cone and branch throwing had stopped too,

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but we weren't out of the woods yet. Was this

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what you saw today? I asked? As we stood there,

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staring out into the darkness around us. My buddy recalled

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a story we'd heard just last year from another friend

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of ours. He talked about a grizzly bear making a

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sound like a cow elk, and how he'd watched through

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his binoculars as the bear convinced the elk that it

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was another cow and was able to move in close

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enough to kill it. And then he said, yeah, once

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this thing came in, that's all I could think about,

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the grizzly bear that could fool a cow elk, except

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we were the cow elks. He said, he couldn't wrap

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his mind around it. It was moving in, but it

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stopped just short of revealing itself, and it had to

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know we were there. He said. It was big and brown,

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but it was walking on two legs. His mind couldn't

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accept what he was seeing, so we went to grizzly bear.

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We agreed that what we each had seen was no

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grizzly bear. It was a sysquatch. The rest of the

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night was stressful as you can imagine, and about the

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time we'd begin to relax, another pine cone or rock

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would come sailing into camp. There was no more growling

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or tree branches breaking. It was just enough to keep

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us on edge and to remind us that they were

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out there and they were watching. When sunlight broke over

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the mountain, we heard three of them take off. They

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weren't trying to be stealthy at that point. It was

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as if they were telling us they were leaving and

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what direction they were going. The craziest thing about it

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was they were whistling, just like a human. We packed

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up camp and we moved out as quickly as we could.

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We talked about looking for a blood trail or hair

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where we had fired at the one, but we decided

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against it. We figured that we didn't hit it. Three

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of them moved in on us, and we heard three

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of them leaving, and besides, we didn't want to be

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in that situation another minute. My buddy and I hang

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out a lot. We have barbecues together with our families,

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and we go out to dinner with our wives and

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we ice fish and the light. But this is one

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topic we don't talk about all I know is that's

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the last time all hunt that area. I won't let

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them chase me away from el Conning altogether, but I'm

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not foolish enough to go right back into the area

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where I know they are. The most surprised part of

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00:21:00,799 --> 00:21:03,960
this whole thing happened at a Christmas party this year.

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I wasn't willing to talk about what happened during the

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all count, but I didn't mention a time when my

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wife and I were on an overnight float trip and

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someone kept throwing rocks at our tent. We assumed it

364
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was someone trying to harass us. No animal in the

365
00:21:20,079 --> 00:21:23,599
woods can pick up a rock and throw it. It

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00:21:23,640 --> 00:21:28,119
was like opening Pandora's box. I sat and listened to

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00:21:28,240 --> 00:21:32,799
story after story from good, solid, no nonsense people talk

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about being chased out of the woods and hearing strange

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00:21:36,119 --> 00:21:39,920
screaming and seeing bipedal creatures cross the road in front

370
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of them in the middle of the night. Somehow it

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00:21:43,440 --> 00:21:46,039
made me feel better about what happened to me and

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my friend