An Alabama man is camping in Bankhead National Forest. He soon realizes that he is not alone, and later discovers that he is surrounded by a group of Bigfoot that want him to leave.
"I lived in the Southeastern United States for most of my life and I've had several encounters with things I could not explain. Some terrifying and some just bizarre, but the one that sticks with me the most is from Northwest Alabama. This happened in the winter of 2006. I moved back to Alabama after living and working in Atlanta, Georgia for a couple of years. The time I spent in the big city was very stressful so when I moved back I spent weekends camping and hiking just to enjoy nature and decompress. Be it rain or shine, cold or hot, I'd be in the woods every chance I got.
The area in which the encounter happened was very familiar to me. I had hiked and camped there many times off and on for nearly 10 years. On one camping trip in late December or early January I decided to hike and camp in Bankhead National Forest. I was going it alone like I always did. That day was unseasonably cold and I did not expect many, if any, other campers there. Just as I had thought I reached the trailhead and there was not a soul in sight. There were no cars, nothing. Perfect. I hiked to a good camp spot about a mile or so down the trail that was next to a running creek.
It was late in the evening and nearly dusk by the time I'd finished setting up my tent and collecting firewood for the night. It was just after I got a small campfire going when I heard two very loud tree knocks coming from the other side of the creek. It sounded like a Louisville Slugger being swung against a tree at full force. A very distinct sound. My camp was about 60 feet or so from the creek and the sound was from quite far away across the creek. I didn't think much of it at first.
After maybe an hour had passed I heard the same knocks again, this time much closer. Keep in mind this was a time when all the Bigfoot shows were popular and you had fanatics out in the woods all over the country trying to call up a Sasquatch, so I ignored it and I figured someone was out there trying to have fun. To each their own. Anyway, if it was someone I doubt they would even know I was there. Again, I was alone and I didn't play music or anything when I camped. The only way you would know I was there is if someone saw the light from my small campfire.
Some more time passed when then I started hearing very large tree branches snapping, now even closer than the last knocks that I heard. This got my attention. But I thought about it for a while and said to myself it is possible that a few people together could break a large enough branch to make that sound. But I was beginning to get somewhat annoyed that they might be directing it at me. I always traveled armed with a handgun and was comfortable dealing with confrontation. I thought if it was a group of people out there targeting me they must not be brilliant. It's not very wise to mess with a stranger while he is alone in the middle of nowhere.
I continued to mind my business, stayed quiet, and hoped that if I didn't respond, they would just go away. After more time had passed I was still sitting by the fire relaxing when out of nowhere a feeling of dread came over me. A sense of danger washed over me and I began to feel my pulse increase rapidly. I've had this feeling before from previous outings in the forest. But this felt much more serious and alarming. I decided that if there was a crazy person or people out there I was not going to give up my position. So I decided to douse my campfire and quickly retreat to my tent. Those were my intentions, anyway. As soon as I stood up I heard the loudest scream I've ever heard. It was very deep, short, and like a shout or a roar at the same time. It was very close, perhaps just from the other side of the creek. The sound removed all doubt that I might be dealing with a human. Whatever or whoever made that noise had to have been huge.
I did not bother putting the fire out. I quickly got in my tent, zipped it up, and sat there remaining quiet while holding my pistol and training my ears to listen for any outside noises. This area is mainly huge oak trees and everywhere on the ground was a thick layer of dried leaves so I was confident that whatever this thing was I would at least be able to hear it coming. The leaves on the ground made it sound like even if a squirrel was hopping around it would sound like an elephant walking.
For the next half hour or so I would hear deep grunts and what sounded like gibberish coming from the other side of the creek. But the sound was coming from the same spot, not moving, which was a small relief for me. I'm still in my tent not making a sound and still clenching the pistol in my now trembling hand. Then I heard what I knew to be a large rock hit the water in the middle of the creek. It was not a muskrat splashing around nor a beaver slapping its tail. It was a loud 'kerplunk!' There were some more grunts than another rock hitting the water. This time it splashed closer to the bank on my side of the creek bank. At this point, things were getting serious.
I was just about to yell out for this thing to stop when I heard another rock being thrown. It did not hit the water. It hit the soft sandy ground and rolled between my fire and my tent. I did not see it but judging by the sound it had to be a bowling ball-sized stone. I wondered what kind of strength it would take to hurl a large rock nearly 100 feet. It was then that I shouted out, "Okay. I understand you don't want me here. Just please leave me alone and I'll leave as soon as the sun comes up!"
A couple minutes passed and then I started hearing footsteps from across the creek moving through the leaves away from me. I let out a sigh of relief that only lasted for a moment. Next, I heard footsteps from all around my tent steadily walking away. I was horrified to realize that while this thing on the other side of the creek had my utmost attention, its buddies were closing in on me and had me surrounded. I sat there scared to death and listened as to what I guessed to have been four or five of these things walking away from my tent. They were no longer bothering to be quiet. I sat and listened until I could barely make out the last footstep in the thick leaves.
I sat up the rest of the night and in the blue of the morning, well before sunrise, I gathered my stuff, packed my tent, and briskly walked the mile back to my parked truck. During the long drive home, I thought about what happened and came to the conclusion that if one of these beings wanted to kill me they could have easily. They might not have meant any harm to me but they damn sure know how to scare the hell out of a fella."
Transcribed Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bdNzVMqkTWY
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