Number of Witnesses: 2
Length of Observation: Estimated at a little over one minute.
Animal Description: NA
Aprox. Height: NA
Aprox. Weight: NA
Head/Facial Description: NA
Can Witness Provide a Sketch of Animal Seen?: No
Any Odor? If so, Description: NA
Vocalizations Heard?: NA
Wood Knocks Heard?: No
Recordings Made?: No
I was in the company of a friend and fellow hunter during the early morning hours of a day in October 2007 at a campground area we were using as our basecamp for a hunting trip (exact date, I cannot recall.) We had been bow hunting the river swamp areas for deer and hog during the day and had gone to bed about midnight. I was awakened inside our tent at approximately 2am in the morning by something tearing the woods up outside our tent. Whatever it was walked out of the swamp, around our tent, and smashed something (not sure if it was a fist or a tree limb) violently against the side of our tent. The strike against the tent wall was so hard that the blow knocked my hunting partner off his mattress pad and slid him inside his sleeping bag along the floor of the tent for several feet. I made several attempts to wake up my friend before the mysterious creature struck the side of our tent. I ran outside the tent with my service weapon and a flashlight as something ran off into the river swamp. I did not see anything, but only heard some huge creature crashing and splashing off into the adjacent swamp. The animal was absolutely not a bear or a human being, as the sounds were more related to a huge bipedal being, a lot larger than any person. The crashing sounds made by this creature seemed to be tearing up woods – trees and breaking big tree limbs – as it ran off. I did not hear any screaming or growling sounds and did not smell any noxious odors. The whole incident lasted about a minute or so in
time. After daylight, we both checked around our campground site and did not notice any physical evidence in the area. I had a telephone interview with the witness, WCSO Deputy Nick Boutwell, in reference to this encounter on July, 5th 2009. Deputy Boutwell said he was in the company of Randall Waltman during the early morning hours of October 2007 (exact day not specified during the telephone interview). This investigator will try to schedule a personal follow-up interview with Deputy Boutwell as soon as possible to gather more information about this encounter and coordinate their exact hunting areas on a forest service map. Also, a query as to what may have incensed the creature to attack their tent shall be asked of Deputy Boutwell. For instance, one of them may have wounded an animal or done some other action to enrage the creature before the attack unfolded. More information needs to be ascertained about their entire hunting trip to see if any actions on their parts may have contributed to the attack. Also, I would like to hear more about their morning follow-up sightings around the immediate area of the tent and camping area. I specifically wish to ask him to detail the precise hunting area and actions the evening before the incident occurred! Unfortunately, this investigator has been unsuccessful at making any further contacts with Deputy Boutwell, either by telephone or any other means. It is apparent that
this deputy does not want to make any further statements about this incident. Therefore, I have
concluded this part of the investigation at this time and will terminate this report as written. However, further research into this specific area will be conducted and reported upon as the facts become available during this year