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<v Speaker 1>It was late summer of two thousand and nine in

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<v Speaker 1>a small Minnesota town north of the Twin Cities. I

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<v Speaker 1>was staying in my buddy John's house on ten acres

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<v Speaker 1>of forested land. We were just seventeen at the time.

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<v Speaker 1>John's dad built a million dollar home on that plot

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<v Speaker 1>of land, with more rooms and doors and windows than

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<v Speaker 1>you could count. He even had a gun room. John's

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<v Speaker 1>parents were out of town on vacation in Mexico, and

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<v Speaker 1>his sister was at a friend's house for the week.

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<v Speaker 1>So John came and picked me up in his maroon

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<v Speaker 1>Grandmarquee and we went to his house. Nothing was out

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<v Speaker 1>of the ordinary, but I remember when I got out

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<v Speaker 1>of the car, I smelled something rank in the air.

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<v Speaker 1>I don't really know how to describe this smell, but

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<v Speaker 1>it made me sick to my stomach. John said there

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<v Speaker 1>was probably a dead animal somewhere, not to worry about it. Inside,

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<v Speaker 1>threw a couple of steaks on the grill and enjoyed

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<v Speaker 1>the view from his million dollar back patio, which faced

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<v Speaker 1>the vast wilderness and the ponds surrounded by trees. Now

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<v Speaker 1>I could hear the frogs sounding out different calls, but

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<v Speaker 1>otherwise there was no noise but the gentle breeze and

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<v Speaker 1>the leaves, But there was that smell again. It was

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<v Speaker 1>so bad that I had to go inside to find

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<v Speaker 1>a handkerchief to put over my face so I could breathe.

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<v Speaker 1>It didn't work very well, but I was thankful that

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<v Speaker 1>it helped it a little. By the time we finished eating,

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<v Speaker 1>there was nothing left but bones on the plate. It

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<v Speaker 1>was dark enough that you couldn't see an inch into

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<v Speaker 1>the tree line at the edge of John's thick, beautiful

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<v Speaker 1>golf course green lawn. We looked at the steak bones

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<v Speaker 1>on our plate and decided the only rational thing to

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<v Speaker 1>do was to see who could throw them further in

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<v Speaker 1>the woods. So we chunked them as hard as we could,

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<v Speaker 1>and we listened to the rustling of them falling through

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<v Speaker 1>the trees. We heard them hit the ground, but what

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<v Speaker 1>we didn't expect were the noises that came after that.

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<v Speaker 1>It sounded like a bear crashing through the trees. The

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<v Speaker 1>bears are rare in Minnesota, but they are here, make

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<v Speaker 1>no mistake. John and I decided to get out there

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<v Speaker 1>and go for a drive so that whatever was crashing

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<v Speaker 1>through the trees wouldn't be tempted to come and check

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<v Speaker 1>us out. We brought the grill in, we hopped in

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<v Speaker 1>the car, and we sped out of there as quickly

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<v Speaker 1>as we could. We drove around for about an hour,

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<v Speaker 1>listening to loud music, and made the same trip over

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<v Speaker 1>the same roads until it was pitch black outside. It

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<v Speaker 1>was about the sixth time that we had made that

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<v Speaker 1>loop when I started getting a funny feeling. It was

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<v Speaker 1>a sense of anxiety that I'd never felt. Adrenaline immediately

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<v Speaker 1>started coursing through my veins. I felt like I was

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<v Speaker 1>being watched by something big. I stopped listening to the

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<v Speaker 1>music and I was looking straight ahead. John was barely

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<v Speaker 1>paying attention other than he was going straight. I saw

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<v Speaker 1>a huge figure walk across the road. I couldn't see

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<v Speaker 1>its face, but I saw the shine of its eyes.

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<v Speaker 1>That some bitch had to be ten or eleven feet tall,

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<v Speaker 1>and its arms were unnaturally long to be a human

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<v Speaker 1>in a suit or a bear. It was walking on

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<v Speaker 1>two legs, but it walked more like an ape than

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<v Speaker 1>a human, and its feet were massive and flat, and

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<v Speaker 1>I could see the muscles rippling through its thick, red

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<v Speaker 1>gray fur. I felt fear like I had never felt

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<v Speaker 1>before in my life, and every hair on my body

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<v Speaker 1>stood straight up. It was like I had been struck

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<v Speaker 1>by lightning. I remember trying to scream, and I couldn't

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<v Speaker 1>breathe John never saw what crossed the road, even though

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<v Speaker 1>he came a foot from hitting it with his car,

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<v Speaker 1>But he noticed that something was wrong with me, and

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<v Speaker 1>he slapped me across the chest, which made me catch

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<v Speaker 1>my breath. What the hell's going on with you, he asked.

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<v Speaker 1>It was a bigfoot, I managed to get out. Yad

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<v Speaker 1>knew me as the craziest, most fearless person he had

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<v Speaker 1>ever met. He knew I never backed down from any

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<v Speaker 1>challenge or any dare, anything that was stupid and could

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<v Speaker 1>result in broken bones or death. But there I was,

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<v Speaker 1>his fearless friend, scared straight and barely able to speak.

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<v Speaker 1>My fight or flight response was always fight first, and

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<v Speaker 1>asked questions later. But I won't lie though I was

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<v Speaker 1>all flight that night. He slammed on the brakes and

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<v Speaker 1>spun the car around to go back to where I

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<v Speaker 1>saw what scared me, and we drove a little until

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<v Speaker 1>I could see footprints out the window, and John turned

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<v Speaker 1>his car so the headlights pointed into the trees. In

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<v Speaker 1>the light from the headlights. I saw the creature standing

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<v Speaker 1>behind a tree, and it was holding on to a

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<v Speaker 1>tall branch. If I didn't know what I was looking for,

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<v Speaker 1>I would have never have seen it right away. I

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<v Speaker 1>lost my breath and all my hair stood up again.

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<v Speaker 1>I felt like it was radiating anger straight at me.

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<v Speaker 1>John asked if I saw it, but all I could

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<v Speaker 1>do was point, So we rolled down his window and

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<v Speaker 1>stuck his head out, and he called out to it,

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<v Speaker 1>but the creature didn't move. And then he opened up

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<v Speaker 1>his door and got out and whooped into the forest,

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<v Speaker 1>and right then a loud, angry growled like I had

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<v Speaker 1>never heard before in my life, came right back at

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<v Speaker 1>him from the woods. John saw the creature as it

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<v Speaker 1>raised its hand in the air and threw a large

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<v Speaker 1>rock at the car, busting the headlight on his side.

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<v Speaker 1>He jumped back in the car and popped it in

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<v Speaker 1>reverse and kicked up rocks and gravel in the road

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<v Speaker 1>as he peeled out of there. We got back to

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<v Speaker 1>his house, pulled the car in the garage, and assessed

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<v Speaker 1>the damage. Then we started hearing banging on the house

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<v Speaker 1>and screams coming from outside, just like we heard on

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<v Speaker 1>the road well. We looked at each other and headed

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<v Speaker 1>to the gun room in the basement. John retrieved us

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<v Speaker 1>both a gun and a rifle, and the banging got

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<v Speaker 1>louder and more intense, and the screams were becoming deafening.

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<v Speaker 1>We headed upstairs to the ground floor and went out

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<v Speaker 1>the front door with our weapons pointed. John went left

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<v Speaker 1>and I went right. We were going to meet up

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<v Speaker 1>in the back of the house, and if we saw

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<v Speaker 1>this creature, we agreed we would shoot it. We ran

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<v Speaker 1>around the entire house and right into each other without

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<v Speaker 1>either of us seeing anything, but we could still hear

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<v Speaker 1>this thing screaming and banging around. We went inside through

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<v Speaker 1>the back door and closed and locked it, and then

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<v Speaker 1>went upstairs to their bonus room, which had a view

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<v Speaker 1>of the front and left side and the rear of

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<v Speaker 1>the property. There was a point at every window in

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<v Speaker 1>that room that you could open it up, step out

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<v Speaker 1>on the roof, and walk anywhere you wanted. And as

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<v Speaker 1>soon as we got in the room, we realized the

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<v Speaker 1>creature was screaming and banging around on the roof. John

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<v Speaker 1>opened up one of the windows, pointing his gun and

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<v Speaker 1>fired three shots into the air. That's when my fight

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<v Speaker 1>response kicked in and I climbed out the window with

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<v Speaker 1>the rifle in my hand, and I turned to the

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<v Speaker 1>left and started onto the roof, and I saw the

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<v Speaker 1>creature standing there, staring at me. I froze in fear.

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<v Speaker 1>At that moment, it seemed like Tom stood still, and

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<v Speaker 1>I was sure that I was going to die. This

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<v Speaker 1>thing's fists were clenched and his arms looked like clubs,

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<v Speaker 1>and he was growling and showing me his long, gangly teeth.

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<v Speaker 1>Behind me, John climbed out the window too, and he

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<v Speaker 1>saw me standing there, frozen and pointing the rifle at

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<v Speaker 1>the creature. And when John ran toward me, the creature

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<v Speaker 1>started to charge. I pulled the trigger as fast as

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<v Speaker 1>I could, and I fell backward. John grabbed me and

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<v Speaker 1>hoisted me back to my feet and started firing at

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<v Speaker 1>the creature while it was still charging us. He landed

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<v Speaker 1>a shot in the creature's left leg, right shoulder, and forearm,

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<v Speaker 1>and it let out a howl of pain, and I

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<v Speaker 1>pulled my trigger again, this time hitting him twice in

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<v Speaker 1>the chest. But it just kept coming at us. Even

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<v Speaker 1>after we had shot it. The creature jumped right over

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<v Speaker 1>us and off the roof and it landed on the

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<v Speaker 1>earth like it was nothing. We heard him running back

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<v Speaker 1>into the forest, screaming and growling as it went, crashing

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<v Speaker 1>through the forest away from the house. Back inside the

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<v Speaker 1>bonus room, we sat at opposite windows, holding our guns

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<v Speaker 1>in hand and talking until we both passed out sitting up.

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<v Speaker 1>We woke up the next morning, both of us startled

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<v Speaker 1>and looking out the windows to see if there was

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<v Speaker 1>anything out there that shouldn't have been but it all

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<v Speaker 1>seemed clear, so we went out of the windows to

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<v Speaker 1>look around on the roof to see if we could

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<v Speaker 1>find blood. We did find a little, and John took

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<v Speaker 1>pictures of them to prove to his dad that we

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<v Speaker 1>weren't just messing around. Since then, I have lost contact

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<v Speaker 1>with John and his family, and I no longer have

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<v Speaker 1>access to those photos on the camera. But after we

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<v Speaker 1>took pictures, we washed all the blood off the roof

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<v Speaker 1>and the grass leading up to the tree line, and

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<v Speaker 1>then we followed the path that the creature had made.

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<v Speaker 1>We found its massive footprints and took photographs of them.

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<v Speaker 1>We followed it all the way down to the water

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<v Speaker 1>that's where it disappeared. I stayed there another three nights,

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<v Speaker 1>with John at the house with absolutely no activity. We

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<v Speaker 1>called his father and his mother and explained what had happened,

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<v Speaker 1>and if it weren't for the pictures of the footprints

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<v Speaker 1>and the blood, they would have never believed us. We

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<v Speaker 1>never really spoke of it again, and this is the

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<v Speaker 1>first time I'm telling of it since I'm twenty nine

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<v Speaker 1>years old, and I still dream of that night and

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<v Speaker 1>I wake up shivering. I hope you enjoyed the story.

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<v Speaker 1>Not gonna lie. Reliving that moment isn't exactly a pleasant experience,

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<v Speaker 1>but I'd like my story to be out there. My

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<v Speaker 1>name is Bernard. I'm a sixty five year old retired

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<v Speaker 1>all field worker from South Mississippi. I've lived my entire

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<v Speaker 1>life in a small town about an hour south of Jackson, Mississippi,

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<v Speaker 1>called Bogacheetah. Bogacheetah is Chuck Tall for Big Creek. Many

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<v Speaker 1>Native American tribes settled here in the late eighteen hundreds,

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<v Speaker 1>and many property owners discover burial mounds on their properties here.

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<v Speaker 1>My family farmed all the land we owned, and as children,

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<v Speaker 1>we would spend the summer searching for arrowheads after the

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<v Speaker 1>fields were plowed. We probably found hundreds of them altogether,

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<v Speaker 1>and we still occasionally find them today. Once I graduated

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<v Speaker 1>high school, I set out to make a living in

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<v Speaker 1>the Gulf of Mexico all Patch. Looking back, I wish

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<v Speaker 1>I had continued to farm and kept up with my

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<v Speaker 1>family's dairy farm business. The hard, manual labor of drilling

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<v Speaker 1>rigs took a toll on my body, but it allowed

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<v Speaker 1>me to provide for my family and lived, for the

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<v Speaker 1>most part, an upper middle class life. Years ago, when

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<v Speaker 1>my son was seventeen years old, I called home to

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<v Speaker 1>check on him, as I did daily, and while I

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<v Speaker 1>was away at work, my mother and my sister looked

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<v Speaker 1>after him. On this day, he asked if he and

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<v Speaker 1>a friend could take a bigfoot researcher onto my property.

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<v Speaker 1>Apparently his buddy had seen a creature across the road

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<v Speaker 1>and enter an area of my property the week prior.

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<v Speaker 1>His friend reported the sighting to the BFRO and a

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<v Speaker 1>man wanted to take a look around. Well, I laughed,

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<v Speaker 1>and I told him that he could go and do

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<v Speaker 1>whatever they needed to do. I had spent the majority

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<v Speaker 1>of my life in those woods and never saw a

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<v Speaker 1>sign of a strange creature being there. The old men

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<v Speaker 1>in my town would tell tales of skunk apes that

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<v Speaker 1>lived in the Bogacheetah River swamps, and a few years earlier,

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<v Speaker 1>a preacher's daughter said the creature jumped from a tree

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<v Speaker 1>and slapped her carror late one night. I didn't know

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<v Speaker 1>if any of these stories were a fact, but I

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<v Speaker 1>later found out for myself that it was all too real.

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<v Speaker 1>The years passed, and fast forward to twenty twenty three.

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<v Speaker 1>I have a ten year old grandson who has become

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<v Speaker 1>the center of my universe. I wanted to spend all

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<v Speaker 1>the time I could with him and a couple of

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<v Speaker 1>COVID mandates. Later, I decided to retire and enjoy my

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<v Speaker 1>golden years. My son and grandson loved to deer hunt.

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<v Speaker 1>Knowing this, I spent months preparing deer plots and getting

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<v Speaker 1>them set up to have good places to hunt for

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<v Speaker 1>the upcoming season. A few weeks before opening day, I

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<v Speaker 1>started to notice that hogs were destroying one of our

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<v Speaker 1>plots near the river swamp. I went to my local

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<v Speaker 1>feed store and bought a hay ring, a net wire,

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<v Speaker 1>a spring loaded swing gate. I took these items in

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<v Speaker 1>my welding machine and fabricated an indestructible hog trap to

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<v Speaker 1>try and lessen the population of these pests. We kill

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<v Speaker 1>and eat these hogs all the time. Now I knew

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<v Speaker 1>I had takers for any that I would catch, because

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<v Speaker 1>properly cook, they're fine eating. I placed the trap beside

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<v Speaker 1>the food plot and attached the trigger wire for the

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<v Speaker 1>spring gate to a bucket of corn inside, and once

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<v Speaker 1>those pigs moved that bucket, the gates would close and

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<v Speaker 1>they would be trapped. My years in the oil field

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<v Speaker 1>afforded me some of the finer redneck things in life.

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<v Speaker 1>A four wheel drive pickup and a side by side,

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<v Speaker 1>and an arsenal of guns from pistols to semi automatic

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00:13:37.679 --> 00:13:43.200
<v Speaker 1>ar style rifles, with many Wi Fi game cameras. I

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<v Speaker 1>had one camera that had seen better days. It would

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<v Speaker 1>take and send me pictures just fine during the day,

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<v Speaker 1>but had lost its ability to flash and take pictures

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<v Speaker 1>at night. So it was the perfect candidate to watch

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<v Speaker 1>my hog trap. It would send me pictures the next

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<v Speaker 1>morning to let me know if the trap had been

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<v Speaker 1>sprung and if I had any hogs to go and remove.

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<v Speaker 1>I set the trap up on Friday afternoon, and by

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<v Speaker 1>early evening I got a picture showing me I had

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<v Speaker 1>four hogs in the trap. The next morning, my son

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<v Speaker 1>and I pulled up to the trap just as the

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00:14:17.120 --> 00:14:20.799
<v Speaker 1>sun peeked out, but we were greeted with an empty trap.

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<v Speaker 1>The gate was closed and there was no damage or

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00:14:24.200 --> 00:14:27.320
<v Speaker 1>holes dug under it. This trap was anchored to the

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00:14:27.360 --> 00:14:31.480
<v Speaker 1>ground using six t posts, each with four fence tie

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00:14:31.559 --> 00:14:34.919
<v Speaker 1>wires fastening the trap, and all of them were intact.

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<v Speaker 1>We found hair on the top end of the net wire,

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00:14:38.879 --> 00:14:42.799
<v Speaker 1>which was at my eye level and I'm six foot two.

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<v Speaker 1>Some of the hair was dark, it was almost black

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<v Speaker 1>like the hogs I had seen in the photos, but

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00:14:48.679 --> 00:14:52.600
<v Speaker 1>some of the hair was long and light brown. After

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<v Speaker 1>handling it, the smell on my hand was enough to

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00:14:55.480 --> 00:14:59.799
<v Speaker 1>make a maggot gag. It smelled like a crab house

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<v Speaker 1>a tune of boat Oh Man, that's a classic. We

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00:15:05.840 --> 00:15:09.679
<v Speaker 1>reset the trap and headed back home, and just like clockwork,

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<v Speaker 1>when it was early evening, I received another photo telling

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<v Speaker 1>me there were more hogs in the trap. But the

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<v Speaker 1>next day I awoke to the photo from my game

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<v Speaker 1>cam of a hawk sitting on top of my empty

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<v Speaker 1>sprung hog trap. I was baffled, how were these hogs

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00:15:25.960 --> 00:15:30.759
<v Speaker 1>getting out? Again? We reset the trap and around four

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00:15:30.799 --> 00:15:33.639
<v Speaker 1>pm we arrived and found the empty trap with more

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00:15:33.720 --> 00:15:37.200
<v Speaker 1>hair stuck to the wire. This time, we took more

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00:15:37.240 --> 00:15:40.600
<v Speaker 1>time to investigate, and we noticed the grass was beaten

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<v Speaker 1>down in a path leading from the woods. Well this

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00:15:44.080 --> 00:15:47.559
<v Speaker 1>got me thinking was someone coming in and taking these hogs.

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<v Speaker 1>I pondered on this the rest of the night. If

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<v Speaker 1>someone was taking them, then how were they doing it.

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<v Speaker 1>There was no blood inside the trap or around it,

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<v Speaker 1>and the hogs aren't exactly cooperative, so picking even a

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<v Speaker 1>small one up and handing it over to another person

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00:16:03.960 --> 00:16:08.679
<v Speaker 1>outside the trap would be damn near impossible. I decided

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<v Speaker 1>to go back the next day and set the trap

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<v Speaker 1>and then get into my box Dowd with my thermal

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00:16:13.919 --> 00:16:17.519
<v Speaker 1>scope equipped AR ten and see what I could see.

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<v Speaker 1>A few hours later, two large hogs entered my trap

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<v Speaker 1>and the gate shut. Now I had the bait and

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<v Speaker 1>I was going to wait and see if anything took it.

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<v Speaker 1>Night came and I scanned the woodline with my thermal.

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<v Speaker 1>Around ten PM, I heard what sounded like whistles coming

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00:16:35.600 --> 00:16:39.200
<v Speaker 1>from the woods where the grass trail had led. I

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00:16:39.240 --> 00:16:42.279
<v Speaker 1>pulled up my thermal again and I saw heat signals

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00:16:42.399 --> 00:16:45.279
<v Speaker 1>moving through the trees, and after a couple of minutes,

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00:16:45.320 --> 00:16:48.360
<v Speaker 1>I saw what sort of resembled a human emerged from

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00:16:48.360 --> 00:16:52.120
<v Speaker 1>the tree line and walked toward the trap. When he

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00:16:52.159 --> 00:16:55.279
<v Speaker 1>got there, he had his hands at waste level, with

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00:16:55.360 --> 00:16:58.720
<v Speaker 1>his palms straight out. I tried to figure out why

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00:16:58.759 --> 00:17:01.879
<v Speaker 1>he was standing like that when I realized he was

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00:17:02.039 --> 00:17:04.720
<v Speaker 1>so tall that his hands were resting on the net

301
00:17:04.720 --> 00:17:08.720
<v Speaker 1>wire of the trout. The large hogs immediately went to

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00:17:08.759 --> 00:17:11.400
<v Speaker 1>the opposite side of the troup, but I could see

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00:17:11.440 --> 00:17:13.640
<v Speaker 1>that the top of their backs were just above this

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00:17:13.759 --> 00:17:17.440
<v Speaker 1>thing's knee. It wasn't but a few seconds later that

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00:17:17.519 --> 00:17:20.680
<v Speaker 1>I heard another series of whistles, and two more large

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00:17:20.720 --> 00:17:23.680
<v Speaker 1>figures emerged from the woods and walked to the trap.

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00:17:24.519 --> 00:17:28.440
<v Speaker 1>Once they arrived, the first creature gingerly climbed over into

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00:17:28.480 --> 00:17:31.680
<v Speaker 1>the trap and grabbed one of the hogs, and within

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00:17:31.839 --> 00:17:35.440
<v Speaker 1>seconds its loud squealing stopped and it was handed over

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00:17:35.599 --> 00:17:38.039
<v Speaker 1>to one of the creatures on the outside of the trap.

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<v Speaker 1>The second hog was silenced and handed over, and the

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00:17:42.680 --> 00:17:46.039
<v Speaker 1>creature climbed back out and walked with the others back

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00:17:46.079 --> 00:17:50.319
<v Speaker 1>into the woods. Well I couldn't believe my eyes. I

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00:17:50.359 --> 00:17:53.279
<v Speaker 1>stayed up watching until the batteries of my thermal died

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00:17:53.839 --> 00:17:55.640
<v Speaker 1>and then I lay down on the floor of my

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00:17:55.720 --> 00:17:58.480
<v Speaker 1>box stand and I tried to sleep, but there was

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00:17:58.519 --> 00:18:03.200
<v Speaker 1>no way I was climbing down until after daylight. About

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00:18:03.200 --> 00:18:05.680
<v Speaker 1>an hour after daybreak, I climbed down and walked to

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<v Speaker 1>my truck, and I called my son and I told

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<v Speaker 1>him what I had seen, and he wanted to go

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00:18:10.559 --> 00:18:13.480
<v Speaker 1>back that night to see for himself, and that's what

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00:18:13.559 --> 00:18:18.319
<v Speaker 1>we did, and the exact same thing happened again, only

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00:18:18.400 --> 00:18:21.400
<v Speaker 1>this time three hogs were trapped, and instead of two

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00:18:21.400 --> 00:18:26.119
<v Speaker 1>additional figures emerging from the woods, there were three. My

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00:18:26.279 --> 00:18:30.599
<v Speaker 1>son watched in silence through my thermal binoculars while I

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00:18:30.680 --> 00:18:34.640
<v Speaker 1>watched through my scope. After what we had witnessed, we

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<v Speaker 1>both agreed that we weren't climbing down until daybreak. And

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<v Speaker 1>when we climbed down that morning, we walked out to

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<v Speaker 1>the trap. Those things have to be nearly ten feet tall, Dad,

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<v Speaker 1>my son said. Just as he said it, we heard

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00:18:48.319 --> 00:18:52.000
<v Speaker 1>something near the woods. A second later, a boar hog

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00:18:52.119 --> 00:18:55.480
<v Speaker 1>with its nose to the ground, ran out. I quickly

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00:18:55.519 --> 00:18:58.279
<v Speaker 1>shouldered my rifle and took it down, and my son

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00:18:58.319 --> 00:19:01.079
<v Speaker 1>and I walked over to it. It was over two

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00:19:01.160 --> 00:19:04.240
<v Speaker 1>hundred pounds. We had about a half a mile to

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00:19:04.279 --> 00:19:06.880
<v Speaker 1>walk to the truck, so we decided to leave it

337
00:19:06.920 --> 00:19:09.319
<v Speaker 1>beside a tree stump at the base of our box

338
00:19:09.359 --> 00:19:12.200
<v Speaker 1>stand and then come back with the side by side

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00:19:12.240 --> 00:19:15.680
<v Speaker 1>to haul it out. We got back home, loaded up

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00:19:15.680 --> 00:19:18.359
<v Speaker 1>the side by side, and came straight back to remove

341
00:19:18.400 --> 00:19:21.519
<v Speaker 1>the boar. But when we got there, it was gone.

342
00:19:22.240 --> 00:19:24.720
<v Speaker 1>There were no drag marks, no pack of cod hees

343
00:19:24.799 --> 00:19:29.000
<v Speaker 1>tearing into it. It was just gone. That's when my

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00:19:29.119 --> 00:19:33.039
<v Speaker 1>son noticed a pile of twenty or so pecans sitting

345
00:19:33.119 --> 00:19:37.960
<v Speaker 1>on top of a tree stump, each of them perfectly shelled. Wow,

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00:19:38.039 --> 00:19:42.279
<v Speaker 1>they left us some pecans, Dad, my son said. I

347
00:19:42.319 --> 00:19:44.880
<v Speaker 1>asked him what he meant. He explained that last year

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00:19:45.000 --> 00:19:48.119
<v Speaker 1>season he had been sitting in that stand eating pecans

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00:19:48.119 --> 00:19:50.759
<v Speaker 1>and throwing the shells out the window onto the ground.

350
00:19:51.559 --> 00:19:54.200
<v Speaker 1>So the bigfoot must have assumed that would be a

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00:19:54.240 --> 00:19:59.119
<v Speaker 1>good trade pecans for pigs. My son collected the gifted

352
00:19:59.240 --> 00:20:02.240
<v Speaker 1>pecans from their smell. He didn't eat them, but he

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00:20:02.279 --> 00:20:06.359
<v Speaker 1>took them with us. Nonetheless, we didn't set the trap again,

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00:20:06.759 --> 00:20:09.160
<v Speaker 1>and a few days later I brought a trailer and

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00:20:09.200 --> 00:20:13.839
<v Speaker 1>removed it. In preparation for deer season in Mississippi, Youth

356
00:20:13.960 --> 00:20:17.359
<v Speaker 1>deer season opens a few days earlier than rifle season

357
00:20:17.440 --> 00:20:21.960
<v Speaker 1>for all ages. Opening morning, I took my grandson and

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00:20:22.160 --> 00:20:24.839
<v Speaker 1>just after daylight, a six point buck and a doe

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00:20:24.960 --> 00:20:28.319
<v Speaker 1>walked out. And my grandson is a crack shot with

360
00:20:28.400 --> 00:20:31.200
<v Speaker 1>a rifle, and before I could blink, he shot the

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00:20:31.240 --> 00:20:34.279
<v Speaker 1>buck and then the dough with a Savage Youth Model

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00:20:34.359 --> 00:20:38.920
<v Speaker 1>two forty three. We climbed down to assess his first

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00:20:39.000 --> 00:20:41.720
<v Speaker 1>kills of the season, and when I told him we

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00:20:41.799 --> 00:20:44.720
<v Speaker 1>had two to skin, he told me, no, pau Paul,

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<v Speaker 1>just one. Let's take the buck and leave the dough

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<v Speaker 1>for them, you know, the big feats. Well, how could

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00:20:50.920 --> 00:20:54.440
<v Speaker 1>I argue with that. We loaded the buck, pulled the

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00:20:54.480 --> 00:20:57.880
<v Speaker 1>dough over near our stand, and left, and we got

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00:20:57.880 --> 00:21:00.720
<v Speaker 1>home and skinned his trophy. And later that day we

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00:21:00.799 --> 00:21:03.400
<v Speaker 1>loaded up the corn to take to a nearby feeder.

371
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<v Speaker 1>My grandson asked if we could ride to see if

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00:21:07.839 --> 00:21:10.440
<v Speaker 1>they had taken his gift, and when we got there,

373
00:21:10.799 --> 00:21:14.160
<v Speaker 1>we saw that they had not only that, but on

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00:21:14.200 --> 00:21:17.440
<v Speaker 1>the stump laid a beautiful fox squirrel tail and a

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00:21:17.519 --> 00:21:21.920
<v Speaker 1>large Indian spearhead. It's not like an arrowhead, it's bigger

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00:21:21.920 --> 00:21:25.000
<v Speaker 1>and something. We searched and searched for as children, but

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00:21:25.079 --> 00:21:30.319
<v Speaker 1>we never found them. My grandson was rightfully excited, and

378
00:21:30.440 --> 00:21:33.880
<v Speaker 1>quite frankly, I was too, And when I got him home,

379
00:21:34.079 --> 00:21:37.880
<v Speaker 1>he told his father about it. Those things won't forget anything.

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<v Speaker 1>My son said, what do you mean, I asked him,

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<v Speaker 1>This isn't the first time my son has been down

382
00:21:43.640 --> 00:21:46.559
<v Speaker 1>there near the swamp. Don't you remember me taking him

383
00:21:46.599 --> 00:21:50.039
<v Speaker 1>squirrel hunting down there last year? They were watching him

384
00:21:50.079 --> 00:21:53.680
<v Speaker 1>harvest squirrels, and I bet they've been around so long

385
00:21:53.720 --> 00:21:57.079
<v Speaker 1>that they remember you searching all that area for arrowheads.

386
00:21:58.680 --> 00:22:01.599
<v Speaker 1>My son's words re played in my head the rest

387
00:22:01.640 --> 00:22:05.559
<v Speaker 1>of that day. How long have these things been watching us?

388
00:22:06.200 --> 00:22:09.839
<v Speaker 1>How many of them are there? Since that day? We

389
00:22:09.920 --> 00:22:13.480
<v Speaker 1>have continued to hunt and gift. I recently put the

390
00:22:13.519 --> 00:22:16.039
<v Speaker 1>hog trap back down there, and I reset it a

391
00:22:16.079 --> 00:22:18.839
<v Speaker 1>couple of times a week for them. I hope those

392
00:22:18.839 --> 00:22:23.119
<v Speaker 1>hogs are feeding their group, maybe they're young ones. Also

393
00:22:23.240 --> 00:22:26.000
<v Speaker 1>hope that our friendship with them and kindness carry on.

394
00:22:27.039 --> 00:22:29.640
<v Speaker 1>Maybe when I'm gone, they will keep a watchful eye

395
00:22:29.720 --> 00:22:33.480
<v Speaker 1>over my son and grandson and other generations to come.

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<v Speaker 1>Thank you for reading my letter. Sign Bernard