YEAR: 2022

SEASON: Winter

MONTH: March

DATE: 3

STATE: Florida

COUNTY: Okaloosa County

LOCATION DETAILS: It occurred in yellow river WMA. I can give GPS coordinates on exact location.
[GPS : 30.806180, -86.615860]

NEAREST TOWN: Holt

NEAREST ROAD: Nearest road was the main road that runs North south through yellow river WMA. Nearest hwy is way 90

OBSERVED: I think I may have had a encounter the other day while me and 2 of my friends were hunting for wild hog on the yellow river WMA. We were in some super thick pine wood area that had a ton of hog sign which was right by the river and swamp area. We had just found a big sign of uprooted area from hog and we decided to sit for a second and see if we could hear anything.

After a few minutes we heard a pretty big limb snap and I saw what I thought was a buzzard fly off, so not sure if it was the buzzard that snapped the limb or the result of the tree snapping which spooked the buzzard into flying off. A few minutes after that I heard what sounded like a person slamming a baseball bat in a tree 3 times (knock knock knock) very loud from around 100-150ft away and about 5 seconds after that another (knock knock knock) which sounded around 300-400 yards away. Our initial thought is that it was other hunters possibly taking down a tree stand since it’s the end of the season. With us thinking it was other humans we walked through the dense woods to the road and expected to see a truck parked along the side of the road on our way back to my truck. We did not see a single othe vehicle the walk back (and even drove the opposite way and no cars).

And there’s no way given the location in the terrain that you could get to this spot other than by car.

I know what woodpeckers sound like and unless the woodpecker was the size of a Pterodactyl it was not that. The first set of knocking was so loud there was no way it was anything I am familiar with. Given the fact there was no other cars in the area I honestly do not know what else could have made those noises.

ALSO NOTICED: Nothing else was noticed

OTHER WITNESSES: 3. We were all next to each other attempting to listen for wild hog . We were all motionless and quite while we were listening. Prior to listen we would be whispering to communicate and lightly walking slowly.

OTHER STORIES: There is another report from the yellow river posted here on BFRO. I have not heard of any other incidents.

TIME AND CONDITIONS: Around 10-11am. Full sun/ maybe a a few clouds but mostly sunny. Temps in the 60s.

ENVIRONMENT: Environment was in pine forest ridge that was close to swamp/ bog area to the east with a river just past the swamp.

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Matthew Moneymaker:

About BFRO Investigator Matthew Moneymaker:

Matthew Moneymaker is originally from the Los Feliz District of Los Angeles, California.

- Bachelor of Arts in English Literature from the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA).

- Juris Doctorate (Law degree) from University of Akron School of Law

- Founder of the Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization,1995.

- Writer and co-producer of the Discovery Channel documentary "Sasquatch: Legend Meets Science", 2001.

- Co-producer of the TV Series "Mysterious Encounters" for the Outdoor Life Network (OLN Channel), 2002.

- Producer of the "2003 International Bigfoot Symposium" (Willow Creek Symposium) DVD set, 2004.

- Co-host of "Finding Bigfoot" on Animal Planet Channel, 2010 - 2017.

- Current Director of the BFRO

- Available for private bigfoot expeditions and conferences. To inquire please email [email protected]