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Speaker 1: I was born on the family farm in Virginia, and

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I worked there all my life. The events I'm about

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to tell you happened on this farm. Repairing fences is

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a typical job on our place. They keep livestock on

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our property as well as keep our neighbors animals out

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of our fields. Two weeks prior to this event, I

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had worked for a week to restring an old fence

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that needed repair, and it's not the most difficult work,

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but it's not the easiest. While working on a piece

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of equipment in the shed, one of my hands drove

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up and skidded to a stop and frantically ran over

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to me, saying he had knocked a deer down a

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few minutes ago. Well, that wasn't odd news, not so

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that he would be sweating and speaking so fast that

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I hardly understood half of what he was saying. I

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asked him to slow down and catch his breast that

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I could follow, and he took a few minutes and

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appeared to lower his heart rate and get control of

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his breathing. All right, there was a nice group of

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those that walked out of the trees in the south

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field where I've been hunting. This year. The season's almost

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over and we need some meat, so I killed her,

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he said. He looked at his feet for several seconds,

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and I thought he was done, And then his breathing

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began coming in shallow heaves again. Come over here and

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sit down and relax, I said, pointing to an old

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log stool next to the barn door. Now catch a breath,

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and let's start over. He sat down and took several

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deep breaths, and he continued, I didn't hit that dough

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right little above her heart. I think she jumped straight

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up in the air and ran back to the tree line,

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and when she tried to jump the fence, her rear

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legs caught on the top wire and she went down. Well,

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I sat there until she was dead, and I climbed

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out of the shooting house. And when I turned away

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from the lighter to go get her, there was a

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huge bear standing over her. Now I don't know where

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it came from. I haven't seen a bear all year,

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but there it was, honkered over her. Now yelled at

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it to run it off my deer, and it stood

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up on its rear legs and it looked right at me.

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But it wasn't a bear. It was a giant, hairy monster.

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I think. I took a step forward, and as soon

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as I moved, it bent down and threw that dough

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over its shoulder, and he walked up into the trees.

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I stood there for several minutes until I couldn't see

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it anymore. That thing took the whole fence with it

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when it stepped over. I guess it got its leg

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hung up in the barbs, and it took a few

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posts with it and then started snapping staples out of

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the post. Well, he was way up in the woods

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when I saw the fence go slack. Now I think

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he either broke the wire or got himself untangled. There

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was a long silence that I broke. Well, how far

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was the deer from the shooting house? I asked, maybe

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forty yards. He said, let's go look at the fence.

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I said, I'm not going back down there. He said,

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you can go, but not me. I drove on down there,

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and sure enough he was telling the truth about the fence.

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I don't know what dragged that fence up into those trees.

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I couldn't have done it without a tractor. No human

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or even a bear could have done that. Much damage.

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He said it was an animal. Well, it must have

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been a big one. A few months later, I was

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supposed to meet one of my hands in a field

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to repair another fence. I got to the site and

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I gathered my tools and material and I walked through

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a ravine to the area that we were to work.

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He should have been there waiting on me. I was

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ten minutes late. I waited another thirty minutes and here

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he came running down the slope straight at me. What's

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your rush, I asked, Why? Part next to your truck?

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He said, And I got out and I shut the door,

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and I looked over the bed of the truck about

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to get my tools out, and out walks this giant,

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hairy monster from the trees. He walked across that ditch

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right there and straight through the field and down into

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the swampy area on the low end of the field.

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I didn't know what that thing was, so I laid

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down on the grass behind my truck so he couldn't

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see me, and I watched him walk right down into

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that slough from under my truck. All right, show me

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where he was, I said. The guy was not afraid

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as the other one who wouldn't go back to the

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spot where he killed the deer. And we walked to

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the trucks and down to the edge of the mud

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where the wetlands started. You see that big limb laying

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there in the water, He said, yeah, what about it?

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I asked. He bumped his head on that limb when

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he walked under that tree, and he acted like the

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limb pissed him off. And he reached up and yanked

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that limb off with one hand and through it where

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it's laying now. Man, that limb must weigh two hundred pounds.

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I said. It was a big limb that I would

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have had to cut up to even move it. You

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say he threw that thing. Damn right, he did. That's

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why I said it was a monster. Let's get out

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of here. I'm getting the creeps, he said. Truthfully, I

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was getting the wheelies too, So I agreed and we

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went back to work. My father once told me that

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he and some teenage friends were raccoon hunting on a cold,

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moonlit night in the nineteen twenties. In those days, their

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equipment was made up of a miner's lamp, a twenty

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two single shot rifle, and a pack of raccoon dogs.

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The dogs had treed a raccoon, or so they thought.

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It took them a while to get to the dogs,

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but when they got there and shine their light into

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the tree, there wasn't a coon. The dogs weren't jumping

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up in the tree like normal. They kind of hung

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back and they just kept barking. My father lowered his

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leg to ground level, and standing there behind the tree

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was a creature, he said, looked like a giant wolf

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on two legs. The creature lunged at the dogs and

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they took off back to the truck, with my father

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and his friends right behind him. My father said he

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didn't know if that thing was chasing him, but they

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sure ran like it was. They never hunted that area again,

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but then he saw it again two weeks later on

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a cold night, running across the field, not too far

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from where the dogs had it cornered over. Twenty years later,

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while driving Old Leesburg Pike or Route seven in northern Virginia,

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he and my mother were driving across the bridge over

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Goose Creek. In the middle of the bridge, he thought

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he could see a man standing there. When he was

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closer and the lights illuminated the man better, he saw

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that it wasn't a man. It was a tall, lanky,

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apparently covered in hair creature. His mind went back to

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those nights in the nineteen twenties when he was a teenager.

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My father made the decision not to back out of

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that bridge and instead to speed past this thing. As

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the car approached, the creature left onto the railing to

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avoid being hit, and as they passed, it swiped at

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the car. I don't remember my mother ever talking about

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this night, maybe she wanted to forget it. In nineteen

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fifty nine, the year I was born, my father saw

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it again, crossing a field at night on our family farm.

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I don't know what this creature is. Maybe there are

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more than one, but my family and friends have seen

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it many times through the last years. Whatever it is,

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it must have a long lifespan or we're seeing its

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offspring over time. They appear to stay well hidden and

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away from humans, and I assume it is by chance

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or that the odds are good that some humans will

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catch a rare sight of them while they move around

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at night. Last year, on June the second, I was

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writing into one of our base camps that we use

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for elk hunting. My younger brother and myself operate a

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guide service that we inherited from our father and his

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father before that. We lease out hundreds of thousands of

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acres in several states and don't have any need to

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advertise or ask for clients because we're now booked out

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for five years in advance. We have professional athletes, billionaires, actors,

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and politicians as clients. Any one of these clients will

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pay sixy digits for a record book bull ELK Now,

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I really don't want to give my name because it

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could be devastating to my business if it was discovered

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what I'm about to tell you. The only other person

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I've told was my brother, who I had to confide in.

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Arrived in the early afternoon after a pleasant two day

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ride on horseback. There are two ways into our camps,

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and that is horseback or helicopter, which we've had a

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couple of our clients opt to do. I crossed the

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bridge that my father and grandfather built over the fast

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moving narrow river that was still flowing quick from the

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snow melt from the higher altitudes. I rode right into

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the makeshift corral with Dusty and the two pack mules

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that only offered an illusion of containment, because we wanted

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to give the horses a chance to run if a

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bear or cougar visited while we weren't around. We didn't

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worry much about the horses or mules running off because

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they were like big dogs rather than horses, and they

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would come back when we called them, and they wouldn't

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travel far away even if there was danger present. I

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quickly took inventory of the camp and raised the coolers

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off the ground, as they had two weeks worth of

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food in them and I didn't want the local bear

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population getting to feel comfortable visiting the camp, and I

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cooked up dinner and I turned in for the night.

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For the next two days, I began to scout the

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area for elk sign, but I didn't find so much

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as a hoof print, even in the watering holes that

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the bulls loved to dig up. Arriving back at the camp,

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I discovered my camp torn to bits and the coolers

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had been pulled down and emptied, only leaving a single

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pack of bacon in some bottles of frozen water. The

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mules didn't appear to be concerned whatsoever about the visitors,

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and in fact looked like someone had tried to braid

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their manes and tails. Well. To me, this trip was

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over and I was going to head back to the

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truck the next day, but I decided that I would

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give this bear or people something to think about before

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I left. In the morning, I was up before sun

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up and ready to investigate the crime of stealing my food,

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and I snuck off into the woods. I was able

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to track something for a distance and even found some

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of the wrappers from the meat that I had brought,

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But by noon the trail had gone cold, and I

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knew I had to get on the trail if I

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was going to make it back to the truck sometime tomorrow.

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I was being quiet as I approached the camp, and

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I could tell that something was amiss. At the edge,

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I could see something big and hairy in the corral

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with a horse, but they weren't excited like they were

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in danger. They were just standing there. This animal still

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had a winter coat on it, and it was brown

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and it was four to six inches long. And I

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reached down to my side and grabbed my lever Action

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twelve gage and loaded a staggered buckshot deer slug combination

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for protection from bears or cougars. The first shot would

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be buckshot and it would tear up and knock it backwards,

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and then the slug would kill it, and I would

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repeat it over two times. I had it in my

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grip now, and I flipped off the set with the

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most subtle click. But I was heard, and this animal

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began to raise up on its feet. It was in

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that moment that I realized that this creature was standing

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over eight foot tall, and it wasn't a bear. It

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was a sy squatch. Well, I was in shot as

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this thing turned toward me and it smiled at me.

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But when I smiled back at it, I guess I

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must have done something wrong, because it leaned forward and

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it roared at me. Now, I have been roared at

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by grizzly bears and cougars quite often, but none that

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could match the volume or the duration of the roar,

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even in the slightest I snapped the gun up and

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was about to squeeze off the first shot when I

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was struck by another beast that was hiding just a

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couple of feet to my left. The force of the

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impact knocked me ass over ears, through the air and

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into the river. Suddenly I was being swept downstream in

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this cold water faster than you could dream. But I

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was glad to see how fast I was moving because

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I saw the two creatures running along the bank trying

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to catch up to me. I knew that I had

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been in the water over twenty minutes, and I knew

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that I needed to get out soon or I would

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freeze to death in this sixty degree water. I had

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not seen the creatures for some time now, but I

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decided to make my way to the other bank just

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to be safe. As I got to the bank, I

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realized that I was having trouble breathing and my left

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arm was stiff. I decided to head back to the truck,

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which would take me four to five days on foot,

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and I was going to have to be really careful

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because I lost my phone in shotgun and I only

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had the forty caliber ruger on my hip. In fifteen rounds,

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I had walked two hours and stopped to build a

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fire to drive the rest of the way before dark

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sat in and the temperatures drop, and I had managed

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to doze off when I heard that roar again off

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in the distance, and it was answered other roars from

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different locations. There was no time to rest. Now I

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had to go. But I was hurting, and I mean

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I was hurting. But I sucked it up and I

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started trotting off to the east. Anyone else would have

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been lost and running around in the darkness until sunrise

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when the sun popped over the horizon. But I've been

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hunting this area for the past forty years, and I

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knew it better than the ranchers that owned it. I

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continued to hear the roars that night, and something breaking

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limbs against tree up until the sky began to lighten up.

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But I never stopped, and I kept moving, and I

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only stopped a couple of times at some small lakes

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to take a drink of water. And I traveled well

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into the afternoon, and I stopped against a tree and

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I was asleep in seconds. I was jarred awake by

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thunder in the distance, and I wondered if those creatures

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were still following me, and I forced myself to my

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feet and I started making tracks again after midnight, when

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the storm had passed and everything finally quieted down, which

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was when I heard another roar, and it was about

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half the distance away that I was the evening before well.

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This gave me motivation to push harder, and I picked

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up the past, forcing myself to the extreme, knowing that

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if I didn't get out, they would be on me

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by morning. That night was the scariest twelve hours on

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the planet for me. The roarers became more frequent and closer,

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and just a couple of hours before the sun popped

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up in the east, I started to get hit with

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rocks and sticks with amazing accuracy. I had no idea

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where they were being thrown from or how far away,

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so I kept going afraid to stop, thinking I would

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be dinner or I'd be torn apart. But I refrained

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from reaching for my pistol because I believed that that

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was the trigger that set the attack off the other day,

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and I was hoping that they were just trying to

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push me out of their home range. I was relieved

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to see the sun crest the horizon that morning, and

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I knew it was about another twelve hours away from

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my truck. The good news was soon turned bitter, though,

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as I began to cough up blood and I realized

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now that I had a broken rib that must have

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punctured my lung and I was bleeding internally, and doubt

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swept in. I began to think of my two boys

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at home and my lovely wife, and I was wondering

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if they would ever find me out here before the

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wolves or bears discovered my body. And then I became

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concerned about my brother because he would surely come looking

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for me, and I wondered what was going to happen

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to him if the creature saw another human in their area.

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All this gave me more strength than I thought was

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possible for one human to have, and I was nearing

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the top of a ridge about four hours from the

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truck when I heard it. It was the sound of

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a truck nearby, and to my delight, I recognized it

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as one of the ranch trucks, but it was starting

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to pull away, and my heart sink into my stomach.

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I grabbed my ruger forty cow and I started popping

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off rounds as fast as I could, and then everything

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went black. I woke up in the hospital in Denver,

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where I had been flown in by a helicopter after

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the ranch hands came to my rescue and call the medics.

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It was very expensive, but it was covered by a

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couple of our clients with deep pockets, which I'm extremely

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grateful to. My family was all there and they were

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excited to see me wake up. I had just been

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through an eight hour surgery on top of everything else,

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to remove part of my lung and one of my kidneys.

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Everyone had assumed that I had been thrown from my

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horse and hurt myself during the fall, but I knew

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better than to correct them and tell them what had

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really happened. I asked my brother to stay back as

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everyone left to get rest, and I told him the

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story about what really happened. I don't think he can

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completely believed me, but he promised me that he would

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not go back to that site without several of our

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friends with him. Two weeks later, my brother came back

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from recovering the mules in Dusty and to tell me

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about what he had found. He said that the camp

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was completely destroyed, along with the corral and the bridge.

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He found Dusty and the mules a short distance away,

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which came running when he called to them, and he

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also found huge footprints in the mud around the camp,

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and then the rocks started being thrown at them and

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they fled the area, riding all night long to get

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back to the trucks and the trailer. Now he believes

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me I wasn't physically able to guide last year. Now

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I wonder if I'll be able to guide mentally now.

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I decided to take on an apprentice to help me

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scout out other leases that we have, but I don't

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think we'll ever return to the bridge camp. Here is

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what I'm confused about. Why didn't they mess with the

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horses and the mules, and what did I do wrong

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to warrant the aggressive roar. I do understand that my

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reaction to that roar, by pointing my shotgun at the creature,

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was perceived as a threat, and that is probably what

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caused a second animal attack on me. I also believed

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that they could have caught me at any time that

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they would have desired, so I think they were just

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motivating me to leave as quickly as possible. And I

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also wonder if they had driven out all the local wildlife,

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because I never found any tracks of anything on that trip.