YEAR: 1986

SEASON: Fall

MONTH: November

DATE: 1st week of deer gun season.

STATE: New York

COUNTY: Steuben County

NEAREST TOWN: Addison/Erwin

NEAREST ROAD: Hwy 415. Im really not to sure. I have relocated to Colorado and cannot remember without referring to a map.

OBSERVED: Not quite sure what to write. I was hunting with some friends of mine outside of Addison, NY in Nov. of 1986. I was the top man on a drive. I crested a hill and decided to take a break.

Things were pretty slow as far as hunting. Typical fall day no overcast, dry conditions. I just finished eating one of many Babe Ruths when something caught my attention about 50 yds. east of where I was sitting down.

I looked towards the direction and noticed something that was black run very fast down the side of the hill. It happened so fast I wasn't quite sure what I was seeing. It appeared to be about my height. I stand at 5'9". It ran with incredible speed.

What is odd about the incident is that I had time to eat and sit down on a tree. At the time I was not even in stealth mode. I always scan the area before I stop for breaks just in case I may have missed any game.

I almost felt as if whatever it was, it was observing me and had enough. It was definitely in a hurry to leave. I observed it for only at best, 5 seconds. I could hear it break deadfall once I lost sight as it ran away.

Their are bears in the area I hunt, but this seemed to be taller than the average black bear. My first thought was it had to be a bear. I remember standing up startled once I had made eye contact with the object running. It appeared to be at eye level.

My second thought was maybe it was a black angus cow that may have been loose from a farm. I was a little spooked from the incident. The same feeling you have when you stumble upon a grouse at close range. I thought again and surmised if it is a bear, it is a very large one.

I was not far from the end of the deer drive. I left the area and met up with my friends at the truck. I had asked them if they had seen a bear or any deer. They all said no. I did not tell them of the incident.

On 08-05-95, the Corning Leader newspaper wrote an article on a possible bigfoot sighting near Rathbone, NY. This area is not far from where I was hunting. There were casts taken as well as hair samples by the Dept. of Enviormental Conservation. To my knowledge they were submitted to Cornell University for testing.

ALSO NOTICED: Refer to Leader archives for incident that occurred in Aug of 95. As stated in report I felt it had to be watching me and spooked.

OTHER WITNESSES: Myself, hunting partners did not observe anything

OTHER STORIES: Refer to Aug. 5,1995 Corning Leader newspaper.

TIME AND CONDITIONS: Mid afternoon, clear about 35-40 deg.

ENVIRONMENT: Decidious mixed with conifer no vegetation on trees. The leaves had already fallen. Possible acorns from the oak trees

Related Media Articles:

• Bigfoot in Rathbone? 'If it's a hoax, someone did a good job...' (8/22/1995; The Corning Leader)