YEAR: 1992

SEASON: Fall

MONTH: September

DATE: unknown

STATE: Michigan

COUNTY: Oscoda County

LOCATION DETAILS: It was off of a dirt road near F97.

NEAREST TOWN: Lewiston

NEAREST ROAD: F97 I think

OBSERVED: Back in 1992 I was bear hunting with a buddy of mine in the area around the town of Lewiston. We had 4 bear bait sites in about a 30 mile radius. One of the sites was located in Red Oak Township. Every time we would go to this site I had this strange feeling like I was being watched or something. It was spooky. One day just before bear season started I was checking this particular bait pile alone. There was a two track road that wound through the woods up a hill and then down to a swamp. The two track ended at a trail which I would park at the head of and then walk down with two 5 gallon buckets of bear bait which usually consisted of meat scraps and pastries. On this particular day I had just dumped the bait on the bait pile and was walking up the path to my truck. The cover was fairly thick but thined out the closer you came to the two track. I was about 60 yards in from the two track and could see it when something very strange happened. I creature of some sort I would say about 7 to 8 feet tall walked across the two track. This creature crossed the two track in one step. I have seen bears and run across bears in the woods before but I can say for sure this was definitely not a bear. I was so startled that I just stopped in my tracks and said to myself, "what in the he** was that?" I walked closer to where the creature crossed I kept getting the overwhelming feeling of fear. When I got to the spot where I thought this creature had crossed I stopped and looked in the direction in which the creature had walked looked. about 30 feet or so behind a large cedar tree I could make out what appeared to be a a face which was defintly not a bear but not a man either. It looked kind of black like a mountain gorilla would. I thought I was seeing things so I kind of blinked a few times but it was still there after about 15 seconds the creature turned away from me and disappeared into the woods. All the time this was happening I just could not shake this feeling of dread or doom. I have hunted and fished all over the state of Michigan and have never been afraid of anything that I have encountered but this really shook me.

I can best describe the creature as about 7 to 8 feet tall very dark in color and like I stated previously had a face that looked like a cross between a man and a gorilla. I have never seen anything that even came close to this.

Up until now I was a non-believer in Bigfoot. I always figured that what people were seeing was bears walking on there back legs. This was NOT a bear and it was not a man either.

I never told anyone about this for years. I did not think anyone would believe me and I did not want to listen to my hunting buddies tease me about it.

OTHER WITNESSES: None

OTHER STORIES: I have heard of some sightings not to far from here near a town called MIO.

TIME AND CONDITIONS: It was around 3:00 in the afternoon a typicall cool fall day

ENVIRONMENT: the edge of a swamp that meets the forest.

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Don Peer:

The witness said he was coming back from dumping two pails of bear bait, one that contained pastries and one with meat scraps. When he got close to the two-track road he could see the opening up ahead and seen the animal cross the 8 - 10 ft wide road with one step.

While standing where the animal crossed, he saw the head looking from behind a tree. He did see some facial detail, as it was only about 30 ft away. It looked similar to a gorilla, more so than human or bear. They watched each other for a couple of minutes before the animal turned and quickly disappeared.

The witness said he has never seen anything so big in his life and never believed in bigfoot before the experience. He could not believe that something so big could move so fast without making any noise at all. He hasn't been back to the area since.

About BFRO Investigator Don Peer:

Don Peer lives in northern Michigan and has studied the bigfoot phenomenon all his life. He has attended numerous Michigan expeditions and co-organized the 2011 Michigan BFRO expedition. He is an avid outdoorsman and works for the Michigan Department of Corrections.
Don Peer may be contacted at [email protected]