YEAR: 1984

SEASON: Winter

MONTH: November

DATE: 17

STATE: Illinois

COUNTY: Kane County

LOCATION DETAILS: Lenschow Road intersects between Hampshire and Burlington, by French Road. Go east on Lenschow about 1/2 mile to the woods on the right.

NEAREST TOWN: Burlington

NEAREST ROAD: Lenschow Road

OBSERVED: This happened in the early winter of 1984. A friend and I decided to go out shining coon; we had a warm spell and we thought the animals would be out.

We headed back to the woods about 11 pm, and after spending almost an hour, we couldn't figure out why we didn't see anything. I was around 19 at the time, and my friend was about 21. We were not drinking, or using drugs, period. We made our way to the back of the woods, and decided to sit on a big log and have a cigarette. We sat there for about 2 minutes, talking quietly, when something screamed behind us. This was like no other scream we had ever heard before; it scared the crap out of us. It sounded like it was about 50 feet away, and you could hear the huge volume it created from it's lungs, almost like from there, and not its throat.

I have hunted and trapped my whole life, camped out in the woods a lot, and I couldn't imagine what would have screamed like that. It wasn't like a person would scream, or any animal I've ever heard of. We were both armed with .22 rifles, and my friend was a Harley biker. He was really freaked out, and wanted to leave immediately. I was scared but curious at first, until it screamed again, and something answered it, from maybe a half mile away.

We left immediately. We didn't tell anyone besides my mom that we were going out that night, and there were no houses close by. It wasn't until a few years ago that I heard a sasquatch vocal on a website, and my hair stood up because the vocalization sounded exactly like what I had heard that night.

ALSO NOTICED: About 2 weeks after this incident, my neighbor asked me if I knew of anyone trespassing on his property. He didn't allow anyone on his land without permission, and he found some big footprints around his pond. He wanted to know who was walking barefoot around his pond that time of year. I never put the two together at the time; I was defending myself because he really thought it was me. (I wear size 13 shoes.)

OTHER WITNESSES: Just me and a hunting friend. We were shining coon.

OTHER STORIES: Some weird noises, and I once found a whole fresh dead deer wedged high up in the fork of a tree. I didn't see any gunshot wounds, just that it looked like its neck was broken.

TIME AND CONDITIONS: Around midnight. Very clear and quiet. I don't remember if the moon was out or not. No snow.

ENVIRONMENT: Thick wooded area, probably 150 acres, north of that is a small, thickly wooded nature preserve. Some swampy areas, and 2 ponds. All cornfields for miles, with woods imbedded.

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Stan Courtney:

I spoke with the witness by phone.

The witness is an experienced outdoorsman who has spent a considerable amount of time in the woods in this area. He had no explanation for the deer carcass apparently being cached in the tree.

The neighbor who found the footprints is deceased.

About BFRO Investigator Stan Courtney:

Stan Courtney has a special interest in wildlife audio recording. He has attended numerous BFRO Expeditions. See Stan's blog StanCourtney.com for recordings he has collected over the years.

Stan Courtney can be reached at illinois@bfro.net