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Speaker 1: Like most experienced hunters, we are particular who we allowed

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to join us during a fishing or hunting trip. Usually,

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our group included my father, my brothers, my brother in law. However,

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they could not hunt that year, and I was asked

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by a friend of the family he was a good

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and safe hunter, to join him in a group of

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his neighbors. Our group was going to hunt three different

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locations over the next three days, and I was comfortable

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with most of them, but one guy got so drunk

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at dinner he didn't even realize he bought us dinner.

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We took his rifle away from him the whole three

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days of hunting. The next morning, I was up at

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four thirty am, expecting to be in the woods by

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around five thirty am, but I found out that I

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was assigned to the second pickup truck. Unfortunately, they were

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going going to breakfast at six point thirty. We finally

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got to our hunting location at seven thirty am, way

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after daylight. Our first hunting location was a plateau above

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miles of timber and a waterway. There were several other

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vehicles already there. The last thing I was going to

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do was walk in on another hunter's location in broad daylight.

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The other three headed west for the timber. One guy

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I asked where I was going, so I told him

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I was going north, as no tracks in the snow

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were headed that way. He said that he had hunted

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there before and that if I went that way, I

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would be in forty square miles of timber and swamplane.

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Everyone previously that has gone there has gotten lost, and

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we had to contact the game ward and to find

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them after dark. I said, well, that's perfect. Please note

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that I will not get lost. I will hunt until dusk,

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and I'll be walking out after dark, so don't leave me.

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I walked downhill on a game trail for one hundred

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and fifty yards. To my right side was an entanglement

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of brier bushes six feet in heighth with one inch thorns.

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The brier patch ranged its size from thirty five to

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fifty yards in width all the way to the top

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of the hill, just short of the park vehicles, and

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all the way to the bottom of the hill. No

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one in the right mind would even attempt to walk

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through those loose, heavily intertwined briars, even with the heaviest

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protective hunting clothes, because they would be ripped to shreds.

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It is doubtful if even a vehicle could make it

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through there. I reached the bottom of the long hill

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and a thirty foot wide waterway had to be crossed.

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A fallen tree allowed access to the other side. It

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was about halfway across when a tree branch broke and

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I fell into the icy water. Water was four feet deep,

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and I found the river bottom to be quicksand or silk.

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Either way, I was trapped. I couldn't move and I

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was sinking. I couldn't reach the fallen tree, so now

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I was in big trouble. During the last summer, I

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had decided to add a sling to my thirty thirty,

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enabling me to use both hands as necessary. I was

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now just about chest deep, but able to throw the

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sling over a branch and get myself pulled back up

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onto the log and continue to the bank. I have

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been wet before, so once I dumped the water out

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of my boots, walking was the best way to dry off.

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I was on dry land again, and where I wanted

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to hunt was mostly snow covered, but there were some

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bare spots. I looked around, but there were not any

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tracks to my left was a hill, so I headed

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for high ground for a panoramic view. The best area

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looked north, so I trudged back down the hill where

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I crossed the log. Now there were tracks in between

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the patches of snow. At first glance, they appeared to

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be black bear tracks, still not yet in hibernation. It

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must have seen me fall in the water, and I

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figured it would check me out just in case I

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could be a free mill I was wary, but I

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couldn't see the bear, so I went back up on

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the hill again and so as to be on high

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ground in case it came my way. After looking the

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area over, I didn't see any movement and I went

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north along the ridge, but it dead ended, so I

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had to go back down the hill in order to

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continue north. In front of me it looked like a

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very wide and dense patch of wild asparagus. I didn't

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have a choice, so I decided to plow through it

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with chance of running into the bear. I loosened my

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buck knife and I lowered my thirty thirty for a

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quick shot, because it could be the only chance available

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if a bear was waiting for me. Luckily, no bear,

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so I moved back into the open and I found

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several piles of logs, and I climbed up on the

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closest one to wait for an hour because I figured

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the bear was still in the area. It was quiet,

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so I just sat still and I watched four separate

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snowshoe rabbits, which were most undetectable until they moved. I

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guess they weren't too concerned about the bear in the area. Finally,

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two hundred yards at the north end of the log piles,

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seven deer headed east and went across in front of me.

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They were mostly dozes, but the last two were bucks.

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I didn't have a good shot, so I let them go,

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also expecting something or another hunter tracking them. About thirty

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seconds later, a hunter on the trail came into view.

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He didn't see me, so I just watched in case

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the deer circled around, but they never showed, so I

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expect that they kept going east. I climbed down from

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the log pile and I headed north again, going north

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and expecting to find air tracks, but I didn't find

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any of any kind, which really did not make a

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whole lot of sense because this is a very isolated area.

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I kept moving north for several hundred more yards until

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sitting up in a protected area with a great panoramic view,

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but nothing was moving there either, so north again to

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another area, but still no tracks of any kind, which

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again did not make sense because it is a very

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remote area and undisturbed with a lot of cover. Cloud

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cover became heavy and then snowfall became progressively heavier. It

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was getting close to dusk with heavy snowfalling, so I

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started my walk back to the plateau on high ground

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where our vehicles were parked. By the time I reached

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the falling log across the water way, snow was now

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close to blizzard stage, but I was able to cross

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the water this time without falling in. It was now

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pitch dark with limited visibility due to a very heavy snowfall,

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but I was able to reach where we left our vehicles. Unfortunately,

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now the parking area was empty as they had all

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left without me. So now I was stranded in the

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middle of nowhere, on top of an empty plateau in

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a snowstorm, in a blizzard stage. This situation was not good.

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I had waited for about twenty minutes when I heard

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a noise downhill, so I thought it must be a hunter,

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maybe the one I saw earlier in the day. I

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was glad he was able to cross the log over

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the water as well. Visibility was at most ten feet,

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so I couldn't see him. I yelled down to him,

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which might help him find his way up the hill.

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Also figured he must be stranded as well because all

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the v vehicles had left earlier. So I yelled down, hello,

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just so you know, I'm the stranded hunter waiting up

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on the plateau above you. I got no reply, so

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I yelled down again. If you're coming my way, it's okay,

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but you need to identify yourself. Still I got no reply.

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I knew he could hear me as I could hear him,

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so I tried one more time, and I told him

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that I'm a stranded hunter with a loaded rifle. Neither

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one of us need any surprises in this blizzard, So

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for the last time, will you identify yourself? I got

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no answer, But now I could hear someone or something

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heading up hill, but not along the snow covered game trail.

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I couldn't see anything, but still could hear perfectly. Whatever

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was approaching from the bottom of the hill was trying

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to come up through the brier patch. Well, I could

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hear whatever it was walking through the briers and the

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one inch thorns because the snap, snap snap of each

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briar entanglement branch being broken as it approached. It was

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now obvious that this was not a human, nor did

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I think it was a bear. And whatever it was,

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it was by peedle Well. I was now in serious trouble.

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It stranded on top of a plateau with only at

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most ten foot of visibility and no options except to

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stand my ground. I yelled down again to whatever this

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thing was, and I told him that I don't know

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whatever you are, but I do not wish you harm.

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I got no answer again, but it stopped for a

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few seconds, and then there were more snaps. I yelled

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down again. If you continue, I will be forced to

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send around downhill in your direction. It stopped again for

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ten seconds and then snap, snap, snap, here it came.

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By this time whatever it was had unbelievably walked uphill

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through fifty yards of the toughest briars that I had

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ever seen in thirty years of hunting. Also, it is

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now within one hundred yards of my location, and this

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was not good. I have had experience with three bigfoot

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before on a fishing trip. They were eight feet in height,

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totally black, but they were friendly. However, this was a

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very different experience, and seriously I could detect that this

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was not friendly. Now my back was to the wall

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and I was most likely going to have to defend

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myself before it got too close. I only had a

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thirty thirty with me, so I likely would not stop

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a bigfoot, but maybe a warning shot would change its mind.

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I'm a former eighty second Airborne Division, although not a

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trained sniper, but I was a sniper spotterer. So I

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yelled down one more time and advised, now you've given

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me no choice and no options. If you come any closer,

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I will fire. If you continue to approach my locations

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as you obviously are doing, the second round will be closer.

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I got no answer. Then I heard more snaps and

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more snaps. Even in this blizzard condition, I could still

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hear perfectly where the bigfoot was, and I fired, sending

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around to his location, most likely three feet or so

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in front of him. There was silence for a few seconds,

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and then more snaps. This was the end of my

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one sided conversation. I took careful aim, and I sent

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another round as close as possible without intentionally hitting it.

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I knew there were no rocks on the hillside, so

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there was not going to be a ricochet. But by now,

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if the bigfoot for some reason was mad before, it

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had to be furious. By now. There was silence again

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for a few seconds, and then it started coming again.

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I guessed it was now fifty to sixty yards away

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and it was closing. I fired one more round off

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to its left side, just to show that I was

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not trying to hit it, and hopefully the bigfoot recognized

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this fact. Again there was silence, but it was obvious

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that it had not changed its mind, because ten seconds

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later I heard more snapping. It now had to be

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just short of the top of the end of the briers,

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thirty yards in front of my position, meaning with visibility

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of about ten feet, I only had two to three

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seconds before the Bigfoot will be in full charge on

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my location. My only option left to live was going

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to be a headshot, so I prepared to do so,

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and I backed up a few feet for a possible

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split second. Just then I heard something on my right.

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I had backed up about three feet because of the

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pickup truck had just missed me. As it pulled up

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on top of the plateau, the driver, from a few

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feet away, rolled down his window. I said, I told

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you I'd be walking out after dark, and don't leave me.

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I jumped into the vehicle with my loaded rifle. The

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guy in the backseat asked, how come you didn't unload

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your rifle as we're supposed to do at dusk. My

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reply was, you don't want to know. I suggest we

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move out now. For me, they did not deserve an explanation. However,

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if the pickup had not returned, that would have been

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the end of the story. I escaped by just a

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few seconds of fate. So very happy to share this

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experience with you CAM and your listeners.