WEBVTT 1 00:00:07.080 --> 00:00:10.400 I was born on the family farm in Virginia, and 2 00:00:10.439 --> 00:00:13.919 I worked there all my life. The events I'm about 3 00:00:13.960 --> 00:00:18.239 to tell you happened on this farm. Repairing fences is 4 00:00:18.280 --> 00:00:21.640 a typical job on our place. They keep livestock on 5 00:00:21.839 --> 00:00:25.120 our property as well as keep our neighbors animals out 6 00:00:25.120 --> 00:00:28.600 of our fields. Two weeks prior to this event, I 7 00:00:28.640 --> 00:00:31.160 had worked for a week to restring an old fence 8 00:00:31.239 --> 00:00:34.719 that needed repair, and it's not the most difficult work, 9 00:00:34.759 --> 00:00:38.079 but it's not the easiest. While working on a piece 10 00:00:38.119 --> 00:00:40.719 of equipment in the shed, one of my hands drove 11 00:00:40.880 --> 00:00:44.479 up and skidded to a stop and frantically ran over 12 00:00:44.520 --> 00:00:46.520 to me, saying he had knocked a deer down a 13 00:00:46.520 --> 00:00:51.359 few minutes ago. Well, that wasn't odd news, not so 14 00:00:51.399 --> 00:00:54.280 that he would be sweating and speaking so fast that 15 00:00:54.359 --> 00:00:57.759 I hardly understood half of what he was saying. I 16 00:00:57.799 --> 00:01:00.159 asked him to slow down and catch his breast that 17 00:01:00.240 --> 00:01:02.880 I could follow, and he took a few minutes and 18 00:01:02.920 --> 00:01:05.480 appeared to lower his heart rate and get control of 19 00:01:05.519 --> 00:01:08.719 his breathing. All right, there was a nice group of 20 00:01:08.719 --> 00:01:11.000 those that walked out of the trees in the south 21 00:01:11.159 --> 00:01:14.879 field where I've been hunting. This year. The season's almost 22 00:01:14.920 --> 00:01:17.000 over and we need some meat, so I killed her, 23 00:01:17.040 --> 00:01:21.120 he said. He looked at his feet for several seconds, 24 00:01:21.120 --> 00:01:24.040 and I thought he was done, And then his breathing 25 00:01:24.120 --> 00:01:27.640 began coming in shallow heaves again. Come over here and 26 00:01:27.680 --> 00:01:30.200 sit down and relax, I said, pointing to an old 27 00:01:30.239 --> 00:01:33.599 log stool next to the barn door. Now catch a breath, 28 00:01:33.640 --> 00:01:37.799 and let's start over. He sat down and took several 29 00:01:37.879 --> 00:01:42.040 deep breaths, and he continued, I didn't hit that dough 30 00:01:42.159 --> 00:01:45.879 right little above her heart. I think she jumped straight 31 00:01:45.959 --> 00:01:48.120 up in the air and ran back to the tree line, 32 00:01:48.599 --> 00:01:50.640 and when she tried to jump the fence, her rear 33 00:01:50.719 --> 00:01:54.400 legs caught on the top wire and she went down. Well, 34 00:01:54.439 --> 00:01:56.879 I sat there until she was dead, and I climbed 35 00:01:56.879 --> 00:01:59.640 out of the shooting house. And when I turned away 36 00:01:59.640 --> 00:02:01.959 from the lighter to go get her, there was a 37 00:02:02.040 --> 00:02:05.599 huge bear standing over her. Now I don't know where 38 00:02:05.640 --> 00:02:08.360 it came from. I haven't seen a bear all year, 39 00:02:08.800 --> 00:02:11.960 but there it was, honkered over her. Now yelled at 40 00:02:12.000 --> 00:02:14.159 it to run it off my deer, and it stood 41 00:02:14.240 --> 00:02:16.599 up on its rear legs and it looked right at me. 42 00:02:17.400 --> 00:02:21.240 But it wasn't a bear. It was a giant, hairy monster. 43 00:02:22.479 --> 00:02:25.120 I think. I took a step forward, and as soon 44 00:02:25.159 --> 00:02:27.560 as I moved, it bent down and threw that dough 45 00:02:27.599 --> 00:02:30.479 over its shoulder, and he walked up into the trees. 46 00:02:31.719 --> 00:02:34.520 I stood there for several minutes until I couldn't see 47 00:02:34.520 --> 00:02:37.960 it anymore. That thing took the whole fence with it 48 00:02:38.000 --> 00:02:40.879 when it stepped over. I guess it got its leg 49 00:02:41.000 --> 00:02:43.319 hung up in the barbs, and it took a few 50 00:02:43.360 --> 00:02:46.360 posts with it and then started snapping staples out of 51 00:02:46.400 --> 00:02:49.000 the post. Well, he was way up in the woods 52 00:02:49.000 --> 00:02:51.680 when I saw the fence go slack. Now I think 53 00:02:51.719 --> 00:02:55.800 he either broke the wire or got himself untangled. There 54 00:02:55.879 --> 00:02:59.080 was a long silence that I broke. Well, how far 55 00:02:59.280 --> 00:03:02.719 was the deer from the shooting house? I asked, maybe 56 00:03:02.840 --> 00:03:06.280 forty yards. He said, let's go look at the fence. 57 00:03:06.319 --> 00:03:10.000 I said, I'm not going back down there. He said, 58 00:03:10.159 --> 00:03:13.800 you can go, but not me. I drove on down there, 59 00:03:13.840 --> 00:03:16.639 and sure enough he was telling the truth about the fence. 60 00:03:17.360 --> 00:03:20.199 I don't know what dragged that fence up into those trees. 61 00:03:20.639 --> 00:03:24.120 I couldn't have done it without a tractor. No human 62 00:03:24.439 --> 00:03:26.960 or even a bear could have done that. Much damage. 63 00:03:27.719 --> 00:03:30.159 He said it was an animal. Well, it must have 64 00:03:30.199 --> 00:03:33.719 been a big one. A few months later, I was 65 00:03:33.759 --> 00:03:35.960 supposed to meet one of my hands in a field 66 00:03:36.000 --> 00:03:39.639 to repair another fence. I got to the site and 67 00:03:39.719 --> 00:03:42.400 I gathered my tools and material and I walked through 68 00:03:42.400 --> 00:03:44.759 a ravine to the area that we were to work. 69 00:03:45.919 --> 00:03:48.639 He should have been there waiting on me. I was 70 00:03:48.719 --> 00:03:53.080 ten minutes late. I waited another thirty minutes and here 71 00:03:53.120 --> 00:03:56.240 he came running down the slope straight at me. What's 72 00:03:56.280 --> 00:03:59.719 your rush, I asked, Why? Part next to your truck? 73 00:03:59.800 --> 00:04:02.280 He said, And I got out and I shut the door, 74 00:04:02.360 --> 00:04:04.159 and I looked over the bed of the truck about 75 00:04:04.199 --> 00:04:07.240 to get my tools out, and out walks this giant, 76 00:04:07.240 --> 00:04:11.159 hairy monster from the trees. He walked across that ditch 77 00:04:11.240 --> 00:04:14.240 right there and straight through the field and down into 78 00:04:14.280 --> 00:04:16.639 the swampy area on the low end of the field. 79 00:04:17.759 --> 00:04:19.800 I didn't know what that thing was, so I laid 80 00:04:19.800 --> 00:04:22.360 down on the grass behind my truck so he couldn't 81 00:04:22.399 --> 00:04:25.360 see me, and I watched him walk right down into 82 00:04:25.399 --> 00:04:28.800 that slough from under my truck. All right, show me 83 00:04:28.839 --> 00:04:32.639 where he was, I said. The guy was not afraid 84 00:04:32.680 --> 00:04:34.480 as the other one who wouldn't go back to the 85 00:04:34.519 --> 00:04:37.480 spot where he killed the deer. And we walked to 86 00:04:37.519 --> 00:04:39.600 the trucks and down to the edge of the mud 87 00:04:39.600 --> 00:04:43.759 where the wetlands started. You see that big limb laying 88 00:04:43.800 --> 00:04:47.160 there in the water, He said, yeah, what about it? 89 00:04:47.319 --> 00:04:50.360 I asked. He bumped his head on that limb when 90 00:04:50.360 --> 00:04:53.000 he walked under that tree, and he acted like the 91 00:04:53.040 --> 00:04:55.279 limb pissed him off. And he reached up and yanked 92 00:04:55.279 --> 00:04:57.959 that limb off with one hand and through it where 93 00:04:57.959 --> 00:05:02.240 it's laying now. Man, that limb must weigh two hundred pounds. 94 00:05:02.279 --> 00:05:05.040 I said. It was a big limb that I would 95 00:05:05.040 --> 00:05:07.519 have had to cut up to even move it. You 96 00:05:07.560 --> 00:05:10.920 say he threw that thing. Damn right, he did. That's 97 00:05:10.959 --> 00:05:13.319 why I said it was a monster. Let's get out 98 00:05:13.399 --> 00:05:17.360 of here. I'm getting the creeps, he said. Truthfully, I 99 00:05:17.480 --> 00:05:20.040 was getting the wheelies too, So I agreed and we 100 00:05:20.079 --> 00:05:24.079 went back to work. My father once told me that 101 00:05:24.160 --> 00:05:27.600 he and some teenage friends were raccoon hunting on a cold, 102 00:05:27.639 --> 00:05:32.720 moonlit night in the nineteen twenties. In those days, their 103 00:05:32.759 --> 00:05:36.199 equipment was made up of a miner's lamp, a twenty 104 00:05:36.240 --> 00:05:39.319 two single shot rifle, and a pack of raccoon dogs. 105 00:05:40.720 --> 00:05:43.920 The dogs had treed a raccoon, or so they thought. 106 00:05:44.600 --> 00:05:46.439 It took them a while to get to the dogs, 107 00:05:46.480 --> 00:05:48.800 but when they got there and shine their light into 108 00:05:48.839 --> 00:05:52.560 the tree, there wasn't a coon. The dogs weren't jumping 109 00:05:52.680 --> 00:05:55.160 up in the tree like normal. They kind of hung 110 00:05:55.279 --> 00:05:59.240 back and they just kept barking. My father lowered his 111 00:05:59.360 --> 00:06:02.680 leg to ground level, and standing there behind the tree 112 00:06:02.720 --> 00:06:05.439 was a creature, he said, looked like a giant wolf 113 00:06:05.480 --> 00:06:09.959 on two legs. The creature lunged at the dogs and 114 00:06:10.000 --> 00:06:12.319 they took off back to the truck, with my father 115 00:06:12.439 --> 00:06:16.120 and his friends right behind him. My father said he 116 00:06:16.160 --> 00:06:18.560 didn't know if that thing was chasing him, but they 117 00:06:18.639 --> 00:06:23.240 sure ran like it was. They never hunted that area again, 118 00:06:23.959 --> 00:06:26.160 but then he saw it again two weeks later on 119 00:06:26.199 --> 00:06:28.959 a cold night, running across the field, not too far 120 00:06:29.000 --> 00:06:33.759 from where the dogs had it cornered over. Twenty years later, 121 00:06:34.040 --> 00:06:39.480 while driving Old Leesburg Pike or Route seven in northern Virginia, 122 00:06:39.680 --> 00:06:42.319 he and my mother were driving across the bridge over 123 00:06:42.399 --> 00:06:45.680 Goose Creek. In the middle of the bridge, he thought 124 00:06:45.720 --> 00:06:48.920 he could see a man standing there. When he was 125 00:06:49.000 --> 00:06:52.639 closer and the lights illuminated the man better, he saw 126 00:06:52.680 --> 00:06:56.040 that it wasn't a man. It was a tall, lanky, 127 00:06:56.319 --> 00:07:00.560 apparently covered in hair creature. His mind went back to 128 00:07:00.600 --> 00:07:03.759 those nights in the nineteen twenties when he was a teenager. 129 00:07:04.879 --> 00:07:07.959 My father made the decision not to back out of 130 00:07:08.079 --> 00:07:13.000 that bridge and instead to speed past this thing. As 131 00:07:13.000 --> 00:07:16.639 the car approached, the creature left onto the railing to 132 00:07:16.720 --> 00:07:20.720 avoid being hit, and as they passed, it swiped at 133 00:07:20.720 --> 00:07:24.879 the car. I don't remember my mother ever talking about 134 00:07:24.920 --> 00:07:29.959 this night, maybe she wanted to forget it. In nineteen 135 00:07:30.120 --> 00:07:33.439 fifty nine, the year I was born, my father saw 136 00:07:33.480 --> 00:07:36.920 it again, crossing a field at night on our family farm. 137 00:07:38.360 --> 00:07:41.319 I don't know what this creature is. Maybe there are 138 00:07:41.360 --> 00:07:44.560 more than one, but my family and friends have seen 139 00:07:44.560 --> 00:07:48.199 it many times through the last years. Whatever it is, 140 00:07:48.279 --> 00:07:51.319 it must have a long lifespan or we're seeing its 141 00:07:51.360 --> 00:07:55.680 offspring over time. They appear to stay well hidden and 142 00:07:55.759 --> 00:07:59.279 away from humans, and I assume it is by chance 143 00:07:59.480 --> 00:08:02.160 or that the odds are good that some humans will 144 00:08:02.199 --> 00:08:04.879 catch a rare sight of them while they move around 145 00:08:04.920 --> 00:08:11.920 at night. Last year, on June the second, I was 146 00:08:11.920 --> 00:08:14.519 writing into one of our base camps that we use 147 00:08:14.600 --> 00:08:18.759 for elk hunting. My younger brother and myself operate a 148 00:08:18.839 --> 00:08:21.720 guide service that we inherited from our father and his 149 00:08:21.759 --> 00:08:25.800 father before that. We lease out hundreds of thousands of 150 00:08:25.839 --> 00:08:28.920 acres in several states and don't have any need to 151 00:08:28.959 --> 00:08:32.200 advertise or ask for clients because we're now booked out 152 00:08:32.279 --> 00:08:37.639 for five years in advance. We have professional athletes, billionaires, actors, 153 00:08:37.679 --> 00:08:41.799 and politicians as clients. Any one of these clients will 154 00:08:41.799 --> 00:08:46.200 pay sixy digits for a record book bull ELK Now, 155 00:08:46.200 --> 00:08:48.159 I really don't want to give my name because it 156 00:08:48.200 --> 00:08:51.039 could be devastating to my business if it was discovered 157 00:08:51.440 --> 00:08:54.679 what I'm about to tell you. The only other person 158 00:08:54.720 --> 00:08:57.799 I've told was my brother, who I had to confide in. 159 00:09:00.159 --> 00:09:03.080 Arrived in the early afternoon after a pleasant two day 160 00:09:03.200 --> 00:09:07.360 ride on horseback. There are two ways into our camps, 161 00:09:07.399 --> 00:09:10.320 and that is horseback or helicopter, which we've had a 162 00:09:10.320 --> 00:09:13.799 couple of our clients opt to do. I crossed the 163 00:09:13.840 --> 00:09:16.879 bridge that my father and grandfather built over the fast 164 00:09:16.919 --> 00:09:19.879 moving narrow river that was still flowing quick from the 165 00:09:19.919 --> 00:09:24.080 snow melt from the higher altitudes. I rode right into 166 00:09:24.120 --> 00:09:27.480 the makeshift corral with Dusty and the two pack mules 167 00:09:28.600 --> 00:09:32.360 that only offered an illusion of containment, because we wanted 168 00:09:32.360 --> 00:09:34.279 to give the horses a chance to run if a 169 00:09:34.279 --> 00:09:38.559 bear or cougar visited while we weren't around. We didn't 170 00:09:38.559 --> 00:09:41.919 worry much about the horses or mules running off because 171 00:09:41.919 --> 00:09:45.159 they were like big dogs rather than horses, and they 172 00:09:45.159 --> 00:09:47.840 would come back when we called them, and they wouldn't 173 00:09:47.879 --> 00:09:52.320 travel far away even if there was danger present. I 174 00:09:52.399 --> 00:09:55.120 quickly took inventory of the camp and raised the coolers 175 00:09:55.120 --> 00:09:57.440 off the ground, as they had two weeks worth of 176 00:09:57.440 --> 00:09:59.879 food in them and I didn't want the local bear 177 00:10:00.080 --> 00:10:03.840 population getting to feel comfortable visiting the camp, and I 178 00:10:03.879 --> 00:10:06.039 cooked up dinner and I turned in for the night. 179 00:10:07.840 --> 00:10:10.320 For the next two days, I began to scout the 180 00:10:10.399 --> 00:10:13.440 area for elk sign, but I didn't find so much 181 00:10:13.480 --> 00:10:16.039 as a hoof print, even in the watering holes that 182 00:10:16.120 --> 00:10:20.039 the bulls loved to dig up. Arriving back at the camp, 183 00:10:20.039 --> 00:10:23.279 I discovered my camp torn to bits and the coolers 184 00:10:23.320 --> 00:10:26.360 had been pulled down and emptied, only leaving a single 185 00:10:26.399 --> 00:10:30.240 pack of bacon in some bottles of frozen water. The 186 00:10:30.320 --> 00:10:34.159 mules didn't appear to be concerned whatsoever about the visitors, 187 00:10:34.480 --> 00:10:37.000 and in fact looked like someone had tried to braid 188 00:10:37.080 --> 00:10:41.840 their manes and tails. Well. To me, this trip was 189 00:10:41.919 --> 00:10:43.759 over and I was going to head back to the 190 00:10:43.799 --> 00:10:46.960 truck the next day, but I decided that I would 191 00:10:47.000 --> 00:10:49.840 give this bear or people something to think about before 192 00:10:49.879 --> 00:10:54.039 I left. In the morning, I was up before sun 193 00:10:54.120 --> 00:10:57.519 up and ready to investigate the crime of stealing my food, 194 00:10:57.879 --> 00:11:01.080 and I snuck off into the woods. I was able 195 00:11:01.120 --> 00:11:03.879 to track something for a distance and even found some 196 00:11:03.960 --> 00:11:06.120 of the wrappers from the meat that I had brought, 197 00:11:06.480 --> 00:11:09.120 But by noon the trail had gone cold, and I 198 00:11:09.200 --> 00:11:10.919 knew I had to get on the trail if I 199 00:11:11.000 --> 00:11:13.600 was going to make it back to the truck sometime tomorrow. 200 00:11:14.840 --> 00:11:17.440 I was being quiet as I approached the camp, and 201 00:11:17.480 --> 00:11:21.080 I could tell that something was amiss. At the edge, 202 00:11:21.159 --> 00:11:23.879 I could see something big and hairy in the corral 203 00:11:23.960 --> 00:11:26.559 with a horse, but they weren't excited like they were 204 00:11:26.600 --> 00:11:31.120 in danger. They were just standing there. This animal still 205 00:11:31.159 --> 00:11:33.480 had a winter coat on it, and it was brown 206 00:11:33.600 --> 00:11:36.879 and it was four to six inches long. And I 207 00:11:36.919 --> 00:11:39.559 reached down to my side and grabbed my lever Action 208 00:11:39.679 --> 00:11:44.080 twelve gage and loaded a staggered buckshot deer slug combination 209 00:11:44.240 --> 00:11:48.480 for protection from bears or cougars. The first shot would 210 00:11:48.519 --> 00:11:51.559 be buckshot and it would tear up and knock it backwards, 211 00:11:51.600 --> 00:11:54.000 and then the slug would kill it, and I would 212 00:11:54.039 --> 00:11:58.320 repeat it over two times. I had it in my 213 00:11:58.399 --> 00:12:00.600 grip now, and I flipped off the set with the 214 00:12:00.639 --> 00:12:04.720 most subtle click. But I was heard, and this animal 215 00:12:04.879 --> 00:12:08.320 began to raise up on its feet. It was in 216 00:12:08.360 --> 00:12:10.960 that moment that I realized that this creature was standing 217 00:12:11.000 --> 00:12:14.440 over eight foot tall, and it wasn't a bear. It 218 00:12:14.480 --> 00:12:18.720 was a sy squatch. Well, I was in shot as 219 00:12:18.759 --> 00:12:21.559 this thing turned toward me and it smiled at me. 220 00:12:22.080 --> 00:12:24.440 But when I smiled back at it, I guess I 221 00:12:24.519 --> 00:12:27.720 must have done something wrong, because it leaned forward and 222 00:12:27.799 --> 00:12:31.200 it roared at me. Now, I have been roared at 223 00:12:31.279 --> 00:12:34.960 by grizzly bears and cougars quite often, but none that 224 00:12:35.000 --> 00:12:37.799 could match the volume or the duration of the roar, 225 00:12:37.960 --> 00:12:41.399 even in the slightest I snapped the gun up and 226 00:12:41.519 --> 00:12:44.080 was about to squeeze off the first shot when I 227 00:12:44.120 --> 00:12:46.600 was struck by another beast that was hiding just a 228 00:12:46.600 --> 00:12:49.759 couple of feet to my left. The force of the 229 00:12:49.799 --> 00:12:52.720 impact knocked me ass over ears, through the air and 230 00:12:52.799 --> 00:12:57.360 into the river. Suddenly I was being swept downstream in 231 00:12:57.440 --> 00:13:00.519 this cold water faster than you could dream. But I 232 00:13:00.559 --> 00:13:02.960 was glad to see how fast I was moving because 233 00:13:03.000 --> 00:13:05.600 I saw the two creatures running along the bank trying 234 00:13:05.600 --> 00:13:08.320 to catch up to me. I knew that I had 235 00:13:08.320 --> 00:13:10.960 been in the water over twenty minutes, and I knew 236 00:13:11.000 --> 00:13:13.200 that I needed to get out soon or I would 237 00:13:13.240 --> 00:13:17.000 freeze to death in this sixty degree water. I had 238 00:13:17.000 --> 00:13:19.440 not seen the creatures for some time now, but I 239 00:13:19.519 --> 00:13:22.039 decided to make my way to the other bank just 240 00:13:22.080 --> 00:13:25.279 to be safe. As I got to the bank, I 241 00:13:25.360 --> 00:13:28.279 realized that I was having trouble breathing and my left 242 00:13:28.399 --> 00:13:32.279 arm was stiff. I decided to head back to the truck, 243 00:13:32.320 --> 00:13:35.759 which would take me four to five days on foot, 244 00:13:36.200 --> 00:13:38.159 and I was going to have to be really careful 245 00:13:38.480 --> 00:13:41.080 because I lost my phone in shotgun and I only 246 00:13:41.120 --> 00:13:45.120 had the forty caliber ruger on my hip. In fifteen rounds, 247 00:13:46.600 --> 00:13:49.000 I had walked two hours and stopped to build a 248 00:13:49.039 --> 00:13:51.559 fire to drive the rest of the way before dark 249 00:13:51.600 --> 00:13:54.720 sat in and the temperatures drop, and I had managed 250 00:13:54.759 --> 00:13:57.759 to doze off when I heard that roar again off 251 00:13:57.799 --> 00:14:01.279 in the distance, and it was answered other roars from 252 00:14:01.279 --> 00:14:05.639 different locations. There was no time to rest. Now I 253 00:14:05.720 --> 00:14:08.320 had to go. But I was hurting, and I mean 254 00:14:08.360 --> 00:14:10.759 I was hurting. But I sucked it up and I 255 00:14:10.840 --> 00:14:14.759 started trotting off to the east. Anyone else would have 256 00:14:14.799 --> 00:14:17.840 been lost and running around in the darkness until sunrise 257 00:14:17.919 --> 00:14:20.679 when the sun popped over the horizon. But I've been 258 00:14:20.759 --> 00:14:23.120 hunting this area for the past forty years, and I 259 00:14:23.200 --> 00:14:26.720 knew it better than the ranchers that owned it. I 260 00:14:26.799 --> 00:14:30.440 continued to hear the roars that night, and something breaking 261 00:14:30.600 --> 00:14:33.960 limbs against tree up until the sky began to lighten up. 262 00:14:34.559 --> 00:14:37.399 But I never stopped, and I kept moving, and I 263 00:14:37.399 --> 00:14:40.240 only stopped a couple of times at some small lakes 264 00:14:40.399 --> 00:14:43.240 to take a drink of water. And I traveled well 265 00:14:43.279 --> 00:14:46.320 into the afternoon, and I stopped against a tree and 266 00:14:46.360 --> 00:14:50.960 I was asleep in seconds. I was jarred awake by 267 00:14:51.000 --> 00:14:54.000 thunder in the distance, and I wondered if those creatures 268 00:14:54.000 --> 00:14:56.600 were still following me, and I forced myself to my 269 00:14:56.679 --> 00:15:01.200 feet and I started making tracks again after midnight, when 270 00:15:01.200 --> 00:15:04.840 the storm had passed and everything finally quieted down, which 271 00:15:04.879 --> 00:15:07.519 was when I heard another roar, and it was about 272 00:15:07.519 --> 00:15:11.639 half the distance away that I was the evening before well. 273 00:15:11.639 --> 00:15:14.639 This gave me motivation to push harder, and I picked 274 00:15:14.720 --> 00:15:18.039 up the past, forcing myself to the extreme, knowing that 275 00:15:18.120 --> 00:15:20.320 if I didn't get out, they would be on me 276 00:15:20.440 --> 00:15:25.600 by morning. That night was the scariest twelve hours on 277 00:15:25.639 --> 00:15:30.279 the planet for me. The roarers became more frequent and closer, 278 00:15:30.480 --> 00:15:32.919 and just a couple of hours before the sun popped 279 00:15:32.960 --> 00:15:35.360 up in the east, I started to get hit with 280 00:15:35.559 --> 00:15:40.080 rocks and sticks with amazing accuracy. I had no idea 281 00:15:40.120 --> 00:15:42.600 where they were being thrown from or how far away, 282 00:15:43.120 --> 00:15:45.799 so I kept going afraid to stop, thinking I would 283 00:15:45.799 --> 00:15:49.639 be dinner or I'd be torn apart. But I refrained 284 00:15:49.759 --> 00:15:52.519 from reaching for my pistol because I believed that that 285 00:15:52.679 --> 00:15:55.200 was the trigger that set the attack off the other day, 286 00:15:55.600 --> 00:15:57.399 and I was hoping that they were just trying to 287 00:15:57.399 --> 00:16:01.679 push me out of their home range. I was relieved 288 00:16:01.720 --> 00:16:04.480 to see the sun crest the horizon that morning, and 289 00:16:04.559 --> 00:16:07.399 I knew it was about another twelve hours away from 290 00:16:07.440 --> 00:16:11.519 my truck. The good news was soon turned bitter, though, 291 00:16:11.720 --> 00:16:14.759 as I began to cough up blood and I realized 292 00:16:14.799 --> 00:16:16.720 now that I had a broken rib that must have 293 00:16:16.799 --> 00:16:20.840 punctured my lung and I was bleeding internally, and doubt 294 00:16:20.879 --> 00:16:24.639 swept in. I began to think of my two boys 295 00:16:24.639 --> 00:16:27.080 at home and my lovely wife, and I was wondering 296 00:16:27.120 --> 00:16:29.120 if they would ever find me out here before the 297 00:16:29.159 --> 00:16:33.200 wolves or bears discovered my body. And then I became 298 00:16:33.320 --> 00:16:36.279 concerned about my brother because he would surely come looking 299 00:16:36.360 --> 00:16:38.559 for me, and I wondered what was going to happen 300 00:16:38.559 --> 00:16:41.320 to him if the creature saw another human in their area. 301 00:16:43.000 --> 00:16:45.440 All this gave me more strength than I thought was 302 00:16:45.559 --> 00:16:48.480 possible for one human to have, and I was nearing 303 00:16:48.559 --> 00:16:50.639 the top of a ridge about four hours from the 304 00:16:50.639 --> 00:16:53.279 truck when I heard it. It was the sound of 305 00:16:53.320 --> 00:16:56.600 a truck nearby, and to my delight, I recognized it 306 00:16:56.639 --> 00:16:59.360 as one of the ranch trucks, but it was starting 307 00:16:59.360 --> 00:17:01.960 to pull away, and my heart sink into my stomach. 308 00:17:03.120 --> 00:17:05.839 I grabbed my ruger forty cow and I started popping 309 00:17:05.880 --> 00:17:09.319 off rounds as fast as I could, and then everything 310 00:17:09.400 --> 00:17:14.240 went black. I woke up in the hospital in Denver, 311 00:17:14.359 --> 00:17:17.240 where I had been flown in by a helicopter after 312 00:17:17.279 --> 00:17:21.000 the ranch hands came to my rescue and call the medics. 313 00:17:21.680 --> 00:17:24.279 It was very expensive, but it was covered by a 314 00:17:24.279 --> 00:17:27.440 couple of our clients with deep pockets, which I'm extremely 315 00:17:27.519 --> 00:17:31.559 grateful to. My family was all there and they were 316 00:17:31.640 --> 00:17:35.079 excited to see me wake up. I had just been 317 00:17:35.079 --> 00:17:37.799 through an eight hour surgery on top of everything else, 318 00:17:37.799 --> 00:17:41.039 to remove part of my lung and one of my kidneys. 319 00:17:41.720 --> 00:17:44.160 Everyone had assumed that I had been thrown from my 320 00:17:44.319 --> 00:17:47.400 horse and hurt myself during the fall, but I knew 321 00:17:47.400 --> 00:17:49.759 better than to correct them and tell them what had 322 00:17:49.799 --> 00:17:53.960 really happened. I asked my brother to stay back as 323 00:17:54.000 --> 00:17:56.440 everyone left to get rest, and I told him the 324 00:17:56.519 --> 00:17:59.920 story about what really happened. I don't think he can 325 00:18:00.000 --> 00:18:03.279 completely believed me, but he promised me that he would 326 00:18:03.279 --> 00:18:05.680 not go back to that site without several of our 327 00:18:05.720 --> 00:18:09.960 friends with him. Two weeks later, my brother came back 328 00:18:10.039 --> 00:18:13.039 from recovering the mules in Dusty and to tell me 329 00:18:13.079 --> 00:18:16.599 about what he had found. He said that the camp 330 00:18:16.680 --> 00:18:21.039 was completely destroyed, along with the corral and the bridge. 331 00:18:21.119 --> 00:18:23.839 He found Dusty and the mules a short distance away, 332 00:18:23.880 --> 00:18:26.839 which came running when he called to them, and he 333 00:18:26.880 --> 00:18:29.960 also found huge footprints in the mud around the camp, 334 00:18:30.440 --> 00:18:33.119 and then the rocks started being thrown at them and 335 00:18:33.160 --> 00:18:36.000 they fled the area, riding all night long to get 336 00:18:36.039 --> 00:18:39.400 back to the trucks and the trailer. Now he believes 337 00:18:39.480 --> 00:18:44.440 me I wasn't physically able to guide last year. Now 338 00:18:44.480 --> 00:18:47.079 I wonder if I'll be able to guide mentally now. 339 00:18:48.000 --> 00:18:50.400 I decided to take on an apprentice to help me 340 00:18:50.440 --> 00:18:53.000 scout out other leases that we have, but I don't 341 00:18:53.000 --> 00:18:57.079 think we'll ever return to the bridge camp. Here is 342 00:18:57.119 --> 00:19:00.440 what I'm confused about. Why didn't they mess with the 343 00:19:00.480 --> 00:19:03.240 horses and the mules, and what did I do wrong 344 00:19:03.319 --> 00:19:07.119 to warrant the aggressive roar. I do understand that my 345 00:19:07.240 --> 00:19:10.480 reaction to that roar, by pointing my shotgun at the creature, 346 00:19:10.759 --> 00:19:13.960 was perceived as a threat, and that is probably what 347 00:19:14.160 --> 00:19:18.519 caused a second animal attack on me. I also believed 348 00:19:18.519 --> 00:19:20.480 that they could have caught me at any time that 349 00:19:20.519 --> 00:19:23.079 they would have desired, so I think they were just 350 00:19:23.200 --> 00:19:27.160 motivating me to leave as quickly as possible. And I 351 00:19:27.200 --> 00:19:30.880 also wonder if they had driven out all the local wildlife, 352 00:19:30.960 --> 00:19:34.519 because I never found any tracks of anything on that trip.