YEAR: 1996

SEASON: Fall

MONTH: November

STATE: Washington

COUNTY: Pacific County

LOCATION DETAILS: The area is about a two mile boat ride up North River from the highway 105 bridge to Smith Slough, then about another mile by boat up the slough. Then about a two mile walk up the bottom to the ridge. We call it the "Island Ridge" as it comes right up in the middle of the bottom. Its kind of like a small mountain sticking up in the middle of nowhere. And we were about halfway to the top of the main ridge, and saw it on the north lowerside of the ridge, about halfway down.

NEAREST TOWN: Raymond, Wa.

NEAREST ROAD: Highway 105

OBSERVED: My son and I were elk hunting when we came across what we think was a Sasquatch. We were about two miles from the main river and up in what we call "Iman Valley". Its up the lower fork of the North River, sometimes called "Smith Slough". Its a big alder bottom with a ridge coming up right in the middle of it.

We had just climbed a ridge, got to the top, took a break, and started down the top of a ridge and I was about 30yds in front of my son when I thought that I heard something.

The area was pretty clear with hardly any underbrush. I turned around and looked at my boy and he shook his head that he heard it also. I was in a wide spot on the ridge while my boy was standing on a narrow part of it. I started to sneak over to where I could see down the side of the ridge when I heard a snap. I took off to where I could see and thats when I saw whatever it was standing in a pile of old shake bolt cuttings. It jumped and sort of took hold of a tree and swung around behind it.

All I got to see was from the shoulders down. It was a real pretty brown, long hair, and from what I could tell was over six feet tall, but not real gigantic. I kept the tree between us and itself and took off down the ridge. My son saw about the same thing that I did, but he said that he heard a high pitched scream and some grunting. I'm getting so I can't hear high pitched sounds, so I didn't hear it. We went down to where we last saw it but couldn't find any sign of what it might be. Normally there is lots of elk and deer sign in the area, but this year there was absolutly no sign. It was as if everything moved out of the area...

When we got home I called the "Bigfoot" Society (1-800-bigfoot) and talked with some people there. Three guys, can't remember all of their names, but one of them was Peter Byrne from Oregon, and it seems the other two were from Paulsbo, WA. They came to my place in Westport, WA, and I took them up to where we had seen it.

They seached for quite a while and said that they found tracks but weren't sure about them being human or not. I told them that we hadn't been in the area of the tracks, but that other hunters hunted the ridge and it might be their tracks.
They figured from our story that for sure we saw a "bigfoot". I remember them saying that they sure wished they could have seen what we saw up there.

I've hunted all of my life (I'm 64), and know that whatever it was, it wasn't a deer, elk, bear, or anything else I ever seen before. I had a float house on the North River and hunted this area for about 40 years and other than one other year of seeing no sign, we always had good luck on the deer and elk.

I haven't been back up there for about three years now as most of it has been logged, and I also sold the Float House.

ALSO NOTICED: Absolutly no sign of any game in the area where normally we always had good luck hunting. There was no tracks or any sign of deer or elk.

OTHER WITNESSES: Just one, and that was my son who was hunting with me.

OTHER STORIES: I've heard of other people hearing strange screaming sounds, and sticks and stones being thrown at them up by Salmon Creek on the North River. I don't know their names but heard they were from South Bend, WA, and it scared the hell out of them.

Also another friend told me of seeing something years ago in a big field along side of the river, but didn't want to tell anyone about it. Figured he'd get laughed off the river...He said it had to be a bigfoot... He is also a longtime and good hunter..

TIME AND CONDITIONS: About 9am, and the weather was clear.

ENVIRONMENT: We were on a ridge above a large alder bottom and swamp with a creek running through the bottom. There was hardly any underbrush other that a few ferns on the ridge. The timber was old second growth.

A & G References: Pg 44, B2