YEAR: 1976

SEASON: Fall

MONTH: November

STATE: North Carolina

COUNTY: Sampson County

LOCATION DETAILS: [Omitted at witness' request]

NEAREST TOWN: Falcon

NEAREST ROAD: SR 1005

OBSERVED: It was a sunny but cool Saturday in November 1976. I was home for the weekend from college when my cousin Don and I decided to do a little squirrel hunting. Don had a 12-gauge shotgun and I had a 22-gauge rifle. I had seen a fair amount of squirrel activity around while fishing at a nearby farm pond and thought we would make this a fruitful trip. This is rural America with the nearest town of 1,000 just 15 miles away. It is also a farming community with large fields dotting the countryside and woods separating the fields. The area we planed to hunt is made up of mostly hardwood trees with cypress trees down near the river that flowed through the property.

We walked about a half mile into the woods until we came over a ridge and started down towards the river which was about 75 yards away, all the while looking up in the treetops for squirrel sign. I look down to insure my footing when I caught a glimpse of something off to my right between me and the river. Coming up from the river bottom was a huge dark mass. I froze in my tracks and my cousin bumped into the back of me. I could feel the barrel of the 12 gauge across the small of my back. Don looked around me and said, “what is that?” I couldn’t speak. The mass continued in our direction taking long strides and ignoring the small trees, brush, and briars in its path, as if they were not there. It stopped about 30 feet from us. It looked upset that we happen to intrude in its space.

I could clearly see its face, body, feet and hands. It had dark brown hair that was longer on its head and arms than the legs, chest and stomach. Very short hair on its face, and the skin shone through. The hair was darker the closer to the body it was. It looked to be about 9 to 10 feet tall with a very heavy muscular structure and weighing about 800 lbs. I am 6’1” and was about 4 feet higher up the ridge yet could almost look eye to eye with the creature.

It then grabbed a dead old hardwood tree still upright which was about 6 inches in diameter in its right hand with its left hand placed on a larger oak about 20 inches in diameter. As it looked at us with yellowish looking bloodshot eyes, it snapped the old dead oak off at the ground and made a loud grunting bark. I could see it’s teeth with the canines a little longer than our own but not pronounced like a bear or dogs. I could even see vapor from its breath. I don’t think it could see mine because I was not breathing. I didn’t smell anything and didn’t expect to, as it was downwind. I could feel the 12-gauge’s barrel getting pushed further into the small of my back as cousin Don was positioning himself with me directly between him and the creature. It seemed aggressive at first, but it did not get any closer than 30 feet. Like it wanted to send a message, which my cousin and I read loud and clear. We were not invited, so get the heck out of there!

I was now ready for a hasty retreat as my legs started to finally move and the brain cramp I experienced seemed to lessen. As I turned around to leave, Don and I kind of got crossed up. We scrambled back over the ridge and ran for at least a quarter mile before we stopped.

Don was hysterical. For a guy with a back as wide as a house, the screaming and tears just did not fit. I was trying to calm him down, at the same time trying to understand what we had seen. As we both calmed down, and weak legged from just running the 440 along with the loss of adrenaline, we kind of just fell on our backsides. After a few choice words between two teenagers, we came to the conclusion that it probably was just a bootlegger in a gorilla suit. That was just a show to mind us to stay away from some hidden moonshine still. Why we didn’t shoot it was also discussed and we both agreed that it didn’t seem right. We are experienced hunters and you just don’t shoot to be shooting, and as far as we knew this think was not in season. It also looked too human. I looked into the Bigfoot phenomena by purchasing the book “Bigfoot” by Ann Slate and Alan Berry. The accounts described by Alan gave me solace that I was not alone. Others were experiencing the same encounters. My conclusion still shifted back to the moonshiner theory, even as I felt the gorilla costume seemed to fit the moonshiner too well.

So that’s the story we told our relatives. Even though it never seemed right or fit the experience, that’s the way I saw it. I left the area to go back to college after that. Never really returning. My brother built a house not 300 yards from where we had the encounter, and I plan to visit the spot from time to time. I guess in one way to hope for a chance encounter and in another way to relive the one I had. Man what a rush. After the demise of Ray Wallace, I felt I should tell this story now. Also in hope that others in rural eastern North Carolina that may have experienced a similar story might want to tell theirs.

OTHER WITNESSES: My cousin and I. Squirrel hunting.

OTHER STORIES: A few years before, 7 of us were spending the night in an abandoned house 2 miles away. It was a full moon and light was shinning in the room. Around midnight the room went dark and we could see the shadow of a person blocking out the light from the moon. It scared us to death, because that window was 8 feet off the ground to the bottom of it. I check the next day and could not jump up to look in. We just thought it was the boogie man.

TIME AND CONDITIONS: around 1:30 PM

ENVIRONMENT: Hardwoods, river bottom

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Matt Pruitt:

Both myself and BFRO Director Matt Moneymaker (along with several other BFRO investigators) have spoken with this witness extensively in person. We feel that this is a legitimate report, and that the witness is credible, and reliable.

This is an unusual report because this particular sasquatch openly confronted the two young men (who were both armed) in broad daylight.

One can only speculate as to what motivated the animal to approach two humans so boldly. The only obvious reason would be to intimidate the two intruders into vacating the area. It is likely that this individual had used this behavior to its advantage before, and had developed a strategy for certain confrontational situations.

This report is not the only one that the BFRO is aware of involving a sasquatch that approached in broad daylight. There is a very credible unpublished report from White County, Georgia, that describes a large male sasquatch exhibiting similar behavior.

About BFRO Investigator Matt Pruitt:

Matt Pruitt grew up in the mountains of Northeast Georgia, and has been conducting active sasquatch research for several years in various parts of the country.

Matt has attended/organized the following expeditions:

North Carolina - 2007
South Carolina - 2007
North Carolina - 2008
Georgia - 2008 (Expedition Organizer)
Washington (Cascades) - 2008
Washington (Olympic Peninsula) - 2008
Georgia - 2009 (Expedition Organizer)
Washington (Cascades) - 2009
Washington (Olympic Peninsula) - 2009
Oregon - 2010 (Expedition Organizer)
Washington (Olympic Peninsula) - 2010
Georgia - 2010 (Expedition Organizer)
Oklahoma - 2011 (Expedition Organizer)
North Georgia (1) - 2011 (Expedition Organizer)
North Georgia (2) - 2011 (Expedition Organizer)
Arkansas - 2012 (Expedition Organizer)
North Georgia - 2013 (Expedition Organizer)
North Carolina - 2013 (Expedition Organizer)

Matt is a trained visual tracker. During the summer of 2007, Matt co-instructed a tracking course for BFRO members in the Southeast. In 2009, he co-instructed an updated version of the same course for BFRO members in Utah. He currently lives in Northeast Georgia.

He can be contacted at [email protected]