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Bigfoot, Sasquatch, Woodboogers....?!

austin1990 said:
Like several of you I'm not a believer but I have researched a good bit and read witness accounts and stories over the years and fine them fascinating. Ive had plenty of unusual stuff happen over the years that couldn't be explained and the biggest one was a few years ago while squirrel hunting one morning. Me and a buddy decided to go slip around a well known piece of public ground here one morning and shoot a mess of squirrels. It was middle of october, bow season for deer was open but this place is about 175,000 acres so plenty of room to get away from others. The creek bottom we went to originally had someone bow hunting, so we backed out and went a couple miles down the road and found a really good looking oak ridge and decided itd be a good start and it was just breaking daylight. He decided to head east from the truck towards a creek bottom and I headed west, both had 22s and it didnt take long before I spotted some squirrels and started the morning off right. Well anyways I spent the next hour or so working along and down that ridge and had 9 squirrels in my vest and was working towards another I could see in a oak tree about 75 yards away. Got about 40 yards from it and it ran in a hole so I decided to wait him out until I seen another, it was about 8:15 and all of a sudden a loud grunt/growl let out what sounded like 100-150 yards down the ridge from me. My first thought was 2 hogs fighting but quickly you could tell it's only one animal and it turned into a long roar, approximatly 8-10 seconds. Then I catch movement from that direction and see 3 hen turkeys running right at me, soon as they top the ridge not 30 yards from me they all took off flying and sailed off headed east towards the ridge my buddy was on. I stood there for about 3 or 4 minutes trying to figure out what the hell that was and could of been and decided to work back towards the truck. It was still nice and calm out, still early and had been seeing a lot of squirrels up to then but the 1/2 mile back to the truck I never seen or heard another squirrel or seen a bird which I thought was odd. It was about 9:00 and my buddy showed up and we talked about how many squirrels we saw and shot and got ready to head home. Right as I turned into the road I looked at him and said "Man I heard something earlier, and I don't know what it was." He looked at me and his eyes got big and said " I heard it, I don't know what it was, but it sounded big and I thought maybe I was imagining things." He was about a mile away on the other ridge and it was well below the Crest so it had to be pretty loud for him to have heard it. We spent the rest of the way home talking about it and spit balling ideas and a few weeks later I came across a story of a local bigfoot researcher who had heard and had accounts with a big foot less than a mile of where I was parked that morning. Turns out that guy supposedly has a lot of encounters in that general area. That's been 2 years ago and me and the same buddy have been back there and all over that place huntin and never seen or heard anything odd since but we do talk about it now and then. I have no idea what I heard but I know I've never heard it before or since but it ain't gonna stop me from hunting out there. We joke and talk about it nearly every time we go by "bigfoot ridge".

Sorry for the long post!
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The reports in that region, are they all audible encounters or are their actual sightings? If it’s only audible encounters similar to yours it could be a person playing tricks, especially during hunting season. If local legend has it that hunters get freaked out maybe the spot will see less pressure? My debunk theory goes out the door though if the reports are also including sightings.
 
Well, what I’ve been trailing for several decades falls right into the same class as Bigfoot, a large black cat. My Uncle had a small farm along a creek in rural Alabama back in the 50’s. They told me stories of how their dogs would run under their house when a cat squalled like a women screaming on a nearby ridge. It seemed to be a seasonal thing as if it was passing through.

It would been seen occasionally crossing rural road with the ridge on one side and swamp on the other. A farmer that joined my Uncles place shot at it from his porch years back. It was about 3-400 yds. in his pasture. He walked down to where he saw it and found the remains of one of his calves. I found its fresh track in an ant bed on a hillside while bow hunting( before cellphones) the ants were still upset and it was the biggest track I’ve ever encountered. I carried a bag of plaster of paris for years after that hoping to find another track. All of my stories are1st hand and go back to 1948.

I corresponded with a biologist that posted a photo of a black jaguar just south of the rio grande and he gave me a lot of factual info. on the history of jaguars in the southeast at the turn of the century and the predominance of the melanistic gene in the jaguar family.

I limit my sharing of black cat stories because they are accepted similarly to the ones about Bigfoot.

The U.S. Government has actually set aside a corridor of land for several jaguars that have been going back and forth between Mexico and Arizona and New Mexico. Here is a link to an article about their protection and study.
https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/news/press_releases/2017/jaguar-10-26-2017.php
 
Patriot said:
The reports in that region, are they all audible encounters or are their actual sightings? If it’s only audible encounters similar to yours it could be a person playing tricks, especially during hunting season. If local legend has it that hunters get freaked out maybe the spot will see less pressure? My debunk theory goes out the door though if the reports are also including sightings.
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That guy is a investigator for the bfro, he supposedly has seen and heard 4 different ones in that area over the last few years and says that creek bottom is one of their favorite foraging areas. I have read some of his reports and they all sound well and good in theory but he's yet to get one on camera even though hes seen them a few times. Who knows what is real and is not, I do know there was no one else within 3 or 4 miles of us that day, only one way in there without having to walk 1 1/2 miles or so and cross a river. I had wondered if it could have been someone messing with us but I don't think it was, but It very well could have been. I've heard cats, bears and hogs and I know it wasn't any of them. I'll probably never know what happened that day and I'm fine with that, doesnt bother me either way.
 
With all of the technology out these days I would have to say there is a 100% chance that someone would have some hard evidence by now. I mean with night vision, thermal scopes, etc,.,... something 8’ tall out running around it shouldn’t be to hard to dial in on it.. As fellow hunters I would like to hear of one animal out there that someone hasn’t figured out how to hunt.... I personally don’t see this as an exception.
 
Camoboss said:
With all of the technology out these days I would have to say there is a 100% chance that someone would have some hard evidence by now. I mean with night vision, thermal scopes, etc,.,... something 8’ tall out running around it shouldn’t be to hard to dial in on it.. As fellow hunters I would like to hear of one animal out there that someone hasn’t figured out how to hunt.... I personally don’t see this as an exception.
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I mean....there is stuff out there....but it's up to us to decide for ourselves if it's real or not. I like to stay open minded. Too easy to dismiss anything I see but it's hard to attempt to grasp the concept of a real bigfoot. But it is possible
 
Sipsey said:
Well, what I’ve been trailing for several decades falls right into the same class as Bigfoot, a large black cat. My Uncle had a small farm along a creek in rural Alabama back in the 50’s. They told me stories of how their dogs would run under their house when a cat squalled like a women screaming on a nearby ridge. It seemed to be a seasonal thing as if it was passing through.

It would been seen occasionally crossing rural road with the ridge on one side and swamp on the other. A farmer that joined my Uncles place shot at it from his porch years back. It was about 3-400 yds. in his pasture. He walked down to where he saw it and found the remains of one of his calves. I found its fresh track in an ant bed on a hillside while bow hunting( before cellphones) the ants were still upset and it was the biggest track I’ve ever encountered. I carried a bag of plaster of paris for years after that hoping to find another track. All of my stories are1st hand and go back to 1948.

I corresponded with a biologist that posted a photo of a black jaguar just south of the rio grande and he gave me a lot of factual info. on the history of jaguars in the southeast at the turn of the century and the predominance of the melanistic gene in the jaguar family.

I limit my sharing of black cat stories because they are accepted similarly to the ones about Bigfoot.

The U.S. Government has actually set aside a corridor of land for several jaguars that have been going back and forth between Mexico and Arizona and New Mexico. Here is a link to an article about their protection and study.
https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/news/press_releases/2017/jaguar-10-26-2017.php
Click to expand...
A few years ago, on a scouting trip, we ran across a very clear set of big cat tracks in a creek bottom on a national refuge we hunt regularly. There was also a smaller set walking parallel to them as if it was a mom and cub. We had left our phones in the truck because we had a sketchy creek crossing by kayak to get into the area, so only had our GPS. We reported the tracks and gave the rangers the coordinates. At first they tried to tell us we were just seeing large dog tracks, but the rangers know us well and after a few minutes, took us into their back office area and showed us plaster casts they had made of similar tracks. They worked with the state biologists who in turn, follow state policy to say there are no native big cat populations in NC (key word native and do not scare the public). The rangers said the tracks and all sightings are just pets that have been turned loose by drug dealers who get them as cubs and then can't handle them when they get bigger. In theory, they will not survive in the wild for long, or at best will not breed due to lack of partners. The only thing they could say about the smaller set is that possibly a bobcat happened to walk that same mud patch at close to the same time as the bigger cat.

We have heard some very strange and unknown noises on the refugee over the years, but none I would attribute to bigfoot, but maybe to a big cat.
 
Bwhana said:
A few years ago, on a scouting trip, we ran across a very clear set of big cat tracks in a creek bottom on a national refuge we hunt regularly. There was also a smaller set walking parallel to them as if it was a mom and cub. We had left our phones in the truck because we had a sketchy creek crossing by kayak to get into the area, so only had our GPS. We reported the tracks and gave the rangers the coordinates. At first they tried to tell us we were just seeing large dog tracks, but the rangers know us well and after a few minutes, took us into their back office area and showed us plaster casts they had made of similar tracks. They worked with the state biologists who in turn, follow state policy to say there are no native big cat populations in NC (key word native and do not scare the public). The rangers said the tracks and all sightings are just pets that have been turned loose by drug dealers who get them as cubs and then can't handle them when they get bigger. In theory, they will not survive in the wild for long, or at best will not breed due to lack of partners. The only thing they could say about the smaller set is that possibly a bobcat happened to walk that same mud patch at close to the same time as the bigger cat.

We have heard some very strange and unknown noises on the refugee over the years, but none I would attribute to bigfoot, but maybe to a big cat.
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Florida is the only state in the S.E. with a known, managed population of large cats. They even brought in some out of state specimens to help out the gene pool several years ago. They have occasionally ranged into Georgia near Alabama and traveled several hundred miles before being “discovered.” Mountain lion sightings are not that rare in the S.E. and there was one pictured in our local paper in the 60’s killed by a local hunter. I can trace my black cat back to 1948 with intermittent sightings up to 3 years ago. With a life span of 12 years or so that makes several generations.

The minute a state admits they have an established, known population of any large cat, they must immediately spend lots of money. They have to coordinate with Fed. to hire professionals to produce an extensive program to protect it. That’s why the extreme denial of that possibility.

There has never been a verified case of a black mountain lion in captivity or the wild in recorded history, so that leaves only one possibility for my black cat, a melanistic jaguar. Some of the comments are quite interesting when big black cats enter a conversation, such as, Black cats are the preferred pet of Bigfoot.
 
Bwhana said:
A few years ago, on a scouting trip, we ran across a very clear set of big cat tracks in a creek bottom on a national refuge we hunt regularly. There was also a smaller set walking parallel to them as if it was a mom and cub. We had left our phones in the truck because we had a sketchy creek crossing by kayak to get into the area, so only had our GPS. We reported the tracks and gave the rangers the coordinates. At first they tried to tell us we were just seeing large dog tracks, but the rangers know us well and after a few minutes, took us into their back office area and showed us plaster casts they had made of similar tracks. They worked with the state biologists who in turn, follow state policy to say there are no native big cat populations in NC (key word native and do not scare the public). The rangers said the tracks and all sightings are just pets that have been turned loose by drug dealers who get them as cubs and then can't handle them when they get bigger. In theory, they will not survive in the wild for long, or at best will not breed due to lack of partners. The only thing they could say about the smaller set is that possibly a bobcat happened to walk that same mud patch at close to the same time as the bigger cat.

We have heard some very strange and unknown noises on the refugee over the years, but none I would attribute to bigfoot, but maybe to a big cat.
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The AGFC here used to use that same line about there is no native wild cats roaming in Arkansas and if there Is it's a released pet, even though people all over the state have reported sightings. A few years ago a hunter shot one during rifle season and the AGFC came and got it, it turned out to to a 1-2 year old Male and had traveled from I think south Dakota. Now their stance is if ya see one don't shoot it enless your threatened but still no breeding population exists here, just the occasional one passing through.
 
Patriot said:
Story!
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The 2nd time was pretty sure I saw it I definitely seen something very large. I was hunting public land 2 week of wva gun season on a riige top. Sitting on the ground. With a blaze orange vest on. I could see probably 100 yards. Few hrs after daylight I saw a flok of turkey going from my right to left about 70-80 yards away. Just after they got out of site they came running in my direction. They got within 25 yards of my ( with blaze orange on) so what ever scared them they were more afraid of it than me. I thought a coyote so I got ready for a shot. THEN about 80-100 yards away I saw something looking around a tree at me it had redish hair it was big. Only last a few seconds. Then I pulled up my rifle to look through the scope. Couldn’t see anything. I sat there for a few minutes. Tried to tell myself I saw a big squirrel. But no way at that distance. So I got the %### out of there. I’ve never been back to that spot.
 
austin1990 said:
The AGFC here used to use that same line about there is no native wild cats roaming in Arkansas and if there Is it's a released pet, even though people all over the state have reported sightings. A few years ago a hunter shot one during rifle season and the AGFC came and got it, it turned out to to a 1-2 year old Male and had traveled from I think south Dakota. Now their stance is if ya see one don't shoot it enless your threatened but still no breeding population exists here, just the occasional one passing through.
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Bama is the same way. I've seen tracks on the riverbank, and my dad saw one, but they "don't exist." I had one biologist try the "big dog" line on me. I told him my next door neighbor had an English Mastiff, and my parents had a Great Dane. I'm familiar with what bug dog tracks look like! He admitted that juveniles migrated up and out of Florida, but denied a breeding population.

I find black cat stories much more interesting than bigfoot. I have friends and family that swear they've seen them. My only issue is than melanism is an anomaly, and it stands to reason that for every black "panther" sighting there should be several plain ole jaguar sightings. Which isn't the case.

As far as the "we would have definitive proof by now" line of thinking, look at the mountain gorilla. Took a long time to "officially" discover that species. And look at how well deer, coyotes, and bears can stay out of sight.

Like I said, I'm agnostic. Impossible to prove a negative, and short of a tailgate shot it's hard to confirm a bigfoot presence.
 
Nutterbuster said:
Bama is the same way. I've seen tracks on the riverbank, and my dad saw one, but they "don't exist." I had one biologist try the "big dog" line on me. I told him my next door neighbor had an English Mastiff, and my parents had a Great Dane. I'm familiar with what bug dog tracks look like! He admitted that juveniles migrated up and out of Florida, but denied a breeding population.

I find black cat stories much more interesting than bigfoot. I have friends and family that swear they've seen them. My only issue is than melanism is an anomaly, and it stands to reason that for every black "panther" sighting there should be several plain ole jaguar sightings. Which isn't the case.

As far as the "we would have definitive proof by now" line of thinking, look at the mountain gorilla. Took a long time to "officially" discover that species. And look at how well deer, coyotes, and bears can stay out of sight.

Like I said, I'm agnostic. Impossible to prove a negative, and short of a tailgate shot it's hard to confirm a bigfoot presence.
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Agreed, until we get a body I'm doubtful on bigfoot but the stories still fascinate me. It's crazy sometimes what your mind can make out of something and you can convince yourself it's real in the right circumstances. I'm not saying that's what happens on the bigfoot and big cat sightings but I'll bet it is part of them. I've seen big cat tracks and heard what I'd call a big cat one time about 10-11 years ago while coon hunting one night. I know several people that have claimed to see black and tan big cats over the years and some of them I believe they believe what they saw. But some of the others knowing what I know about them, it was all in their head.
 
I know a guy that while bow hunting state land became so convinced he seen and smelled Bigfoot that he jumped outta his tree stand and ran outta the woods, my uncle had to climb up the tree to get his tree stand and bow, my brother's dad also swears he seen Bigfoot run out and cross the road in front of him back in the 80's in West Branch Mi which is the state's Bigfoot capital so who knows but I would like to think if Bigfoot was real then there would be trail cam pictures atleast once.
 
I was backpacking on Mt. Rogers with two friends about 10 years ago. To make a long story short, we camped on the summit our second night and decided to go off trail straight off the top of the mountain and follow the GPS to the truck instead of following the trail and camping a third night. The top of the mountain was pretty open and easy hiking. Two hours later we were as far off any trail that you could get and in the thickest rhododendron forest you could ever imagine. We couldn't see even a couple feet in front of us. It was horrible trying to navigate the tangle of crap with backpacks on. All of the sudden, we hear something get up and move off in front of us very slowly. We took a few more steps and found ourselves in a tiny clearing of rhododendron and were standing in a huge woven nest of rhododendron branches. The nest was a big oval bowl about 5 feet long and 4 feet wide. All the branches of rhododendron about a foot or two higher than we could reach had been freshly broken off and used to make the nest. The dusting of snow was melted inside the nest. We could still hear the occasional crack and snap of branches within 30 yards of us as the animal moved slowly around us to the left. The prints in the snow were not at all clear since we were on such rocky nasty ground but I swear they looked just like ours coming into the nest. Like big human tracks in light dusty snow. There is no way any human could have been where we were and no way a human short of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar could have reached the branches that were broken to make the nest. We researched the area when we got home and found zero North American animals that make that kind of nest. The closest thing was some type of Ape. There were of course many sightings and info on Bigfoot in the area. I have a picture of the nest and a GPS way point marked, but other than that, just a story to tell. Who knows!
 
CDennis said:
I was backpacking on Mt. Rogers with two friends about 10 years ago. To make a long story short, we camped on the summit our second night and decided to go off trail straight off the top of the mountain and follow the GPS to the truck instead of following the trail and camping a third night. The top of the mountain was pretty open and easy hiking. Two hours later we were as far off any trail that you could get and in the thickest rhododendron forest you could ever imagine. We couldn't see even a couple feet in front of us. It was horrible trying to navigate the tangle of crap with backpacks on. All of the sudden, we hear something get up and move off in front of us very slowly. We took a few more steps and found ourselves in a tiny clearing of rhododendron and were standing in a huge woven nest of rhododendron branches. The nest was a big oval bowl about 5 feet long and 4 feet wide. All the branches of rhododendron about a foot or two higher than we could reach had been freshly broken off and used to make the nest. The dusting of snow was melted inside the nest. We could still hear the occasional crack and snap of branches within 30 yards of us as the animal moved slowly around us to the left. The prints in the snow were not at all clear since we were on such rocky nasty ground but I swear they looked just like ours coming into the nest. Like big human tracks in light dusty snow. There is no way any human could have been where we were and no way a human short of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar could have reached the branches that were broken to make the nest. We researched the area when we got home and found zero North American animals that make that kind of nest. The closest thing was some type of Ape. There were of course many sightings and info on Bigfoot in the area. I have a picture of the nest and a GPS way point marked, but other than that, just a story to tell. Who knows!
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I'm going to need to see those pictures!
 
CDennis said:
I was backpacking on Mt. Rogers with two friends about 10 years ago. To make a long story short, we camped on the summit our second night and decided to go off trail straight off the top of the mountain and follow the GPS to the truck instead of following the trail and camping a third night. The top of the mountain was pretty open and easy hiking. Two hours later we were as far off any trail that you could get and in the thickest rhododendron forest you could ever imagine. We couldn't see even a couple feet in front of us. It was horrible trying to navigate the tangle of crap with backpacks on. All of the sudden, we hear something get up and move off in front of us very slowly. We took a few more steps and found ourselves in a tiny clearing of rhododendron and were standing in a huge woven nest of rhododendron branches. The nest was a big oval bowl about 5 feet long and 4 feet wide. All the branches of rhododendron about a foot or two higher than we could reach had been freshly broken off and used to make the nest. The dusting of snow was melted inside the nest. We could still hear the occasional crack and snap of branches within 30 yards of us as the animal moved slowly around us to the left. The prints in the snow were not at all clear since we were on such rocky nasty ground but I swear they looked just like ours coming into the nest. Like big human tracks in light dusty snow. There is no way any human could have been where we were and no way a human short of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar could have reached the branches that were broken to make the nest. We researched the area when we got home and found zero North American animals that make that kind of nest. The closest thing was some type of Ape. There were of course many sightings and info on Bigfoot in the area. I have a picture of the nest and a GPS way point marked, but other than that, just a story to tell. Who knows!
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I hunt the mountains of North GA using the Appalachian Trail to access so remote spots that see little to no hunting pressure. I have found myself in a mountain laurel/rhododendron hell hole a time or two and it is no fun. It’s even more difficult when trying to maneuver through the tangle of limbs with a pack and a weapon. I am not in the believer category, but always felt like it would be really cool if something undiscovered was still out there. I’m sure the pics may not do it justice, but post them up if you can.
 
Nutterbuster said:
Bama is the same way. I've seen tracks on the riverbank, and my dad saw one, but they "don't exist." I had one biologist try the "big dog" line on me. I told him my next door neighbor had an English Mastiff, and my parents had a Great Dane. I'm familiar with what bug dog tracks look like! He admitted that juveniles migrated up and out of Florida, but denied a breeding population.

I find black cat stories much more interesting than bigfoot. I have friends and family that swear they've seen them. My only issue is than melanism is an anomaly, and it stands to reason that for every black "panther" sighting there should be several plain ole jaguar sightings. Which isn't the case.

As far as the "we would have definitive proof by now" line of thinking, look at the mountain gorilla. Took a long time to "officially" discover that species. And look at how well deer, coyotes, and bears can stay out of sight.

Like I said, I'm agnostic. Impossible to prove a negative, and short of a tailgate shot it's hard to confirm a bigfoot presence.
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The melanistic gene in jaguars is actually a dominant trait. I can’t account for why successive generations of my local cat is always black other than both parental pools may have the gene. In talking to a biologist specializing in jaguars he kinda confirmed my suspicions as to what in the world to call this black cat and he said one cat can have up to 250 sq. mile territory, so just 1 cat could easily be possible for many sightings.

I don’t accept any second hand stories as reliable in my pursuit of what stories to believe. I have enough sightings by family and friends, plus the tracks, to make me a believer. I can’t explain the successive black specimens with absolute clarity, but it makes walking in the swamps interesting.
 
Sipsey said:
The melanistic gene in jaguars is actually a dominant trait. I can’t account for why successive generations of my local cat is always black other than both parental pools may have the gene. In talking to a biologist specializing in jaguars he kinda confirmed my suspicions as to what in the world to call this black cat and he said one cat can have up to 250 sq. mile territory, so just 1 cat could easily be possible for many sightings.

I don’t accept any second hand stories as reliable in my pursuit of what stories to believe. I have enough sightings by family and friends, plus the tracks, to make me a believer. I can’t explain the successive black specimens with absolute clarity, but it makes walking in the swamps interesting.
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I believe melanism in the species is conferred by a dominant allele, but it still only accounts for a small percentage of the total population. This site says 5%:

https://blog.nwf.org/2018/05/excited-about-black-panther-are-we/

I'll also say that in all the photos of Sasha Siemel I've seen (legendary jaguar hunter) he's pictured with "normal" Jaguars. And that man killed a LOT of kitties.

I'm not disputing your claims to have seen something. I've got level-headed family in Alabama that swear they've seen the same. And I know for a fact we have big cats. I just find the black cat phenomenon to be puzzling. It's very specific, and right there between plausible/implausible.

And yes, it'll make you a touch nervous when you hear footsteps in the dark and wonder for a second if it's old Bagheera come looking for ya. I've been assured by biologists that I'll never hear the cat that kills me, if that makes ya feel better. ;)
 
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