YEAR: 2002-2003

SEASON: Fall

MONTH: September

DATE: 20 to 30

PROVINCE: Quebec

COUNTRY: Canada

LOCATION DETAILS: McLaughlin Lake, rough terrain, mixed woods, thick, some swampy areas.
drive 16 kms south on logging road from Belleterre, 11 kms. down an old road made in the 40's or 50's, 1 km off of the dirt road, 4 to 5 kms by boat to my old camp.

NEAREST TOWN: Belleterre, Quebec

NEAREST ROAD: Trout lake road (logging road)

OBSERVED: I am a 35 year old police officer, father of 2 children and an ex-forestry technician, I've been hunting and fishing in the Temiscamingue area since 1991, and had a share in a hunting camp with my now ex-father in-law. One week-end in september, I can't really recall the year, it was either in 2001 or 2002, we decided to go to the camp to prepare for the hunting season,it was a cold night, clear, and a full moon.
around 22h30 or so I decided to go on the roof of the camp to let out a few moose calls, as the moose are more active at night, and plus just to get a thrill to hear one, once you've heard them moving at night, it's a rush!
I was on the roof, i let out a low bull moose call and waited, it was quiet out, no wind, the echo was traveling very nice.
-I waited about 15 to 20 minutes and let another call out, i could hear some cracking far enough away, i was thinking to myself that i was going to hear it soon, then I could hear something walking in the shoreline a few hundred meters away, like I said it was very echoey
I let out a another call, more aggressively, to spark the possible bull moose that was walking in the water, that's when i heard a loud scream, nothing like i'd ever heard before, it freaked me out and made the hair on the back of my neck stand
up, it screamed again, at this point, i came down from the roof of the camp and went inside.
I heard bears, wolves, moose, even when they are frightened or injured, and let me tell you what i heard that night just plainly freaked me right out, I have never been afraid of anything in the bush, but let me tel you that what i had heard that night scared the bejeevehees out of me.This was the last time that i've went back to this camp as my ex and I seperated in october of that year.
-I told my ex-father in-law about this the following morning, he thought I was crazy, but truth to the fact, i know what I heard was nothing like i ever heard before.

ALSO NOTICED: looked around the next day where i thought i had heard it, but did not see anything unusual, alot of swampy moss on the edge of the lake

OTHER WITNESSES: my ex-father in-law (hunting partner, he was sleeping inside the camp.

OTHER STORIES: there is old tales that my father and uncle had told me as they used to trap and hunt in the area in the early 60's and 70's and stories from my grandfather, who was the game warden at the time in the 60's, my uncle and father had passed on in the late 90's, but i remember of my uncle saying that one day when he was out checking his traps, he had seen a large hariy like man crossing the logging road, now known as the trout lake road, it just crossed the road, he said that he got scared and never seen it again.
-Once in 1997, my ex-mother in-law, who was a school teacher was on her way home and seen a huge creature standing in the middle of the road between Belleterre and another little town called Laforce. She came around a curve in the road, thee was a straight in the road and she could see a large creature standing at the end of the straight, as she approaced, the creature ran off the road in the thick alder bushes.

TIME AND CONDITIONS: around 23h00 at night, clear,cold, near frost, full moon, no wind.

ENVIRONMENT: heavily wooded area, mixed bush, big wooded hills,
some swamps in the area.
two big ajoining lakes>>Pierre Lake and Bay Lake,
there is another camp about 2 kms from where mine was, but there was nobody there.

Follow-up investigation report:

The witness is a Police Officer and has been hunting for most of his life. He has been hunting at Trout Lake Road near Belleterre for the last 10 years.

What he heard that night, in his words, "terrified him". He says that he has never heard anything like it. It sounded like it came approximately 100 yards away in a swampy area. He cannot describe the cry, but says it was very shrill and sounded like it came from a very large set of lungs. The cries lasted for about 5 - 10 seconds and occurred 2 - 3 times within the span of a few minutes. At the same time he could hear something bipedal walking in water. This could have occurred in the swampy area adjacent to the lake or on the very edge of the lake itself. He is not sure.

His reaction was to go immediately into his cabin and wake his hunting partner and tell him about it. There were no other occurrences that night.

His father, uncle and ex-mother-in-law all have had sightings over the years in this area.

This is an area about 2-hrs northeast of numerous sightings in the Temagami and Latchford area of Ontario. It's all vast, impenetrable forest with only a few logging roads going in and out.