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<v Speaker 1>I was born in nineteen sixty five. My family lived

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<v Speaker 1>in a little town in eastern Oklahoma, just a few

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<v Speaker 1>miles north of five forty, about thirty five miles from

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<v Speaker 1>the Arkansas state line. I grew up hunting, fishing, trapping,

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<v Speaker 1>and taking care of our farm animals. My dad was

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<v Speaker 1>a prominent mechanic in town, and in his free time,

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<v Speaker 1>he loved a coon hunt. We traveled several thousand miles

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<v Speaker 1>on foot around our area chasing dogs. My best friend, Slick,

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<v Speaker 1>and I love to get out and explore the mountains

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<v Speaker 1>to hunt and fish. It was early spring and we

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<v Speaker 1>had planned a trip to the Blue Mountains to camp

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<v Speaker 1>out and fish the numerous streams and traverse the area.

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<v Speaker 1>I loaded up my eighty two Dodge with all we

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<v Speaker 1>thought we needed and threw it in a campershell and

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<v Speaker 1>set out Friday evening after work. We made the trip

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<v Speaker 1>south to the mount Mountains just in time to find

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<v Speaker 1>a suitable place to set up camp, which was nothing

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<v Speaker 1>more than a fire. After working all day and driving,

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<v Speaker 1>we hit the hay early and got a good night's rest.

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<v Speaker 1>The property was leased for oil and gas production as

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<v Speaker 1>well as logging, and spanned several thousand acres. There were

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<v Speaker 1>service roads running through the property and a few cabins

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<v Speaker 1>built here and there. There was no electricity running through it,

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<v Speaker 1>so there were no full time residents. On the first day,

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<v Speaker 1>we fished a stream that meandered several miles, but that

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<v Speaker 1>night we camped in a different spot at the crossing

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<v Speaker 1>of another creek. We enjoyed the fish that we caught

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<v Speaker 1>that day. For dinner, we decided to go to bed

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<v Speaker 1>and get an early start. The night was almost uneventful,

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<v Speaker 1>except for the rustling and scratching of something outside our

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<v Speaker 1>shell camper around three am. Not long after that, I

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<v Speaker 1>was woken up to something bumping into the truck and

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<v Speaker 1>shaking it. It wasn't a violet shake, just a slight bump,

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<v Speaker 1>but it was loud enough to get my attention. I

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<v Speaker 1>hit the fender well and I yelled, get out of here.

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<v Speaker 1>Nothing more happened. In the morning found us headed out

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<v Speaker 1>with a pack full of rations and fishing gear. Slick

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<v Speaker 1>and I were gun nuts, so we were armed. We

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<v Speaker 1>fished for the better part of eight hours, and we're

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<v Speaker 1>casually walking along the creek to head back, when half

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<v Speaker 1>a mile from the truck, I was struck with a

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<v Speaker 1>feeling that I was being watched. I stopped and looked

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<v Speaker 1>at Slick, and I could tell that he had the

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<v Speaker 1>same feeling. We heard several solid knocks to the north

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<v Speaker 1>of us, and my hair stood on end. Our fighter

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<v Speaker 1>flight response kicked in and we drew our weapons, preparing

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<v Speaker 1>to high tail at east along the creek to the trucks,

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<v Speaker 1>and then massive rocks started hitting the water and made

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<v Speaker 1>our decision even more immediate. We were looking up at

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<v Speaker 1>the Sheer bluff wall. We could see the top of

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<v Speaker 1>a tree moving back and forth, but there was no wind.

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<v Speaker 1>I said to hell with this, and I let loose

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<v Speaker 1>with eight to ten shots from my weapon, and Slick

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<v Speaker 1>touched off a couple from his into the bluff wall,

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<v Speaker 1>and then we hauled us and didn't stop until we

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<v Speaker 1>were at the truck. We had no more evidence, nor

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<v Speaker 1>did we see any physical shape, but things played out

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<v Speaker 1>like a lot of other Bigfoot stories I've heard. When

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<v Speaker 1>I was twelve years old, I boarded a plane for

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<v Speaker 1>Oregon to see my brother. He was logging in the

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<v Speaker 1>Mammoth area with a good friend of his who was

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<v Speaker 1>a Vietnam Vet. They had a logging camp with trailers

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<v Speaker 1>and equipment in the mountains a few miles from town.

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<v Speaker 1>I spent the first few days there around the landing

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<v Speaker 1>with my brother loading log trucks, but as soon as

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<v Speaker 1>the owner found out that I could run equipment, he

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<v Speaker 1>put me to work. I was running an old John

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<v Speaker 1>Deere four forty skidter, piling treetops and dressing a skid road.

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<v Speaker 1>It was small, menial stuff, but for a twelve year

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<v Speaker 1>old I was the king of the hill. Several days

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<v Speaker 1>went by before any of us went to town, and

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<v Speaker 1>then as the weekend rolled around, we rolled up in

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<v Speaker 1>crew trucks and headed off the mountain. We hadn't gone

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<v Speaker 1>a mile before the truck in front of us came

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<v Speaker 1>to a screeching stop, and the guys all piled out,

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<v Speaker 1>and we rolled to a stop behind them, and we

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<v Speaker 1>bailed out too. When we walked around to the front

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<v Speaker 1>of their truck, I was amazed and immediately scared. There

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<v Speaker 1>were several enormous barefoot prints leading across and down the road,

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<v Speaker 1>apiece easily twenty inches long and pronounced in the deep

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<v Speaker 1>dust of the dirt road. These tracks had to be fresh,

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<v Speaker 1>because the last logging truck had just left an hour

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<v Speaker 1>before us and would have wiped the tracks out. Several

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<v Speaker 1>of the guys who were raised in the area had

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<v Speaker 1>seen those tracks before, and some had even seen the

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<v Speaker 1>creatures themselves. I was young, and I had nightmares for

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<v Speaker 1>several days after that. In the summer of nineteen ninety three,

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<v Speaker 1>we lived on the Arkansas River. The river was to

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<v Speaker 1>our west, and the six hundred and forty thousand acre

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<v Speaker 1>Campgruber Military training facility was north south and east of US.

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<v Speaker 1>A highway ran through our little town, but even then,

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<v Speaker 1>with green Leaf Lake not far away in Camp Gruber,

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<v Speaker 1>there was plenty of natural habitat. My brother and I

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<v Speaker 1>were members of a bass club at green Leaf Lake,

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<v Speaker 1>and we fished in a tournament every Friday night throughout

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<v Speaker 1>the summer. One evening during a tournament, there was a

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<v Speaker 1>three quarter moon just peeking over the mountain to the east.

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<v Speaker 1>We were fishing on the east bank and trolling along

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<v Speaker 1>silently and concentrating and not talking and ready for a bike.

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<v Speaker 1>We were coming up on a small pocket about sixty

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<v Speaker 1>feet wide and two hundred feet long when I noticed

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<v Speaker 1>a dark shadow on the edge of it the water.

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<v Speaker 1>I thought it was another boat that we hadn't seen,

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<v Speaker 1>and I whispered to my brother, I guess we'll cut

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<v Speaker 1>across to the other point. When I uttered those words,

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<v Speaker 1>the shadow came alive. It let out a deep, guttural

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<v Speaker 1>growl and started plowing through the water. This thing was

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<v Speaker 1>so powerful that it caused a huge weight as it

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<v Speaker 1>headed to the bank thirty feet away. When it reached

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<v Speaker 1>the shore, it plowed through the timber and scrub like

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<v Speaker 1>a bulldozer. We could hear it for a minute or

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<v Speaker 1>so as it headed up the mountain well. We sat

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<v Speaker 1>dumbfounded until finally asked my brother what the hell was that.

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<v Speaker 1>We came to the conclusion that it had to be

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<v Speaker 1>nine feet or taller because the water depth in that

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<v Speaker 1>particular spot was six feet deep and it was at

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<v Speaker 1>least three feet above the water line. We couldn't make

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<v Speaker 1>out any definition, but we both saw the outline as

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<v Speaker 1>it got close to the bank, and whatever it was,

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<v Speaker 1>this thing was big. This took place about six miles

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<v Speaker 1>from another confirmed sighting in the area of ten Killer Lake.

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<v Speaker 1>Sosquatch theory did an interview with a lady about it.

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<v Speaker 1>We only lived three miles from Green Leaf, so the

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<v Speaker 1>next day my brother and I went into detective mode

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<v Speaker 1>back to the water to see what we could find.

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<v Speaker 1>We found big impressions in the grass and weeds at

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<v Speaker 1>the shoreline, but no definitive tracks because the ground was

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<v Speaker 1>too hard, and when we ventured into the woods well

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<v Speaker 1>healed with forty four mags, we came across several arm

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<v Speaker 1>sized limbs that were broken off at the seven foot level.

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<v Speaker 1>It was easy to trail by the broken limbs, which

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<v Speaker 1>we followed for three hundred yards before returning to the boat. Now,

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<v Speaker 1>I haven't told anyone about this encounter because we still

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<v Speaker 1>live in this area and I don't want to scare

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<v Speaker 1>my two boys away from hunting here. We had black

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<v Speaker 1>bears at certain times of the year, usually in the fall.

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<v Speaker 1>What my brother and I saw was not a black bear.

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<v Speaker 1>I know what it was, and I don't feel that

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<v Speaker 1>it's dangerous, maybe curious, but maybe not a threat. Thank

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<v Speaker 1>you for the platform to voice our experiences.