YEAR: 2010

SEASON: Summer

STATE: Alabama

COUNTY: Winston County

NEAREST TOWN: Double Springs

NEAREST ROAD: Highway 33

OBSERVED: I was canoeing on the Sipsey river in Alabama. It was dusk as I was pulling out of the river and I was trying to hurry to get all my gear in the car before it got dark as it was about a 60 yard walk up this steep hill to where my car was. Just as I was flipping the canoe up to put on my shoulders I heard this very loud "WHOOOOP, WHOOOP, WHOOOP, WHOOOP", then a pause then three more whoops. I 've been in the woods enough to know it was not an owl or like any sound I've EVER heard in the woods or on a river. Too loud, too powerful. It felt like it came frome about a quarter to a half mile away. It scared the piss out of me. You've never seen a guy hustle a 75 lbs canoe on their shoulders and practically run up the hill. I didn't even tie it on properly until I got up to the highway. The weird part was I had been watching the Monster Quest series and the month before had come down the same river and thought "This area looks just like that crap they show in the Pacific Northwest where those bogfoots are. Wonder if there were ever any bigfoots in Alabama?" So I did an internet search and it surprised the crap out of me and found a whole freakin website about Alabama Bigfoots. Those sounds I heard sounded just like the whoops you have on this web site. Of course after watching those shows it could have been somebody doing that call blasting thing but I had emailed the Alabama Research people and they said they did not have anyone working that area at that time(AUG 2010). Over the last year I have had a few "unusual" moments in this area. No sightings but well, I'm short on time. The WHOOOPS were the important thing, scared the hell out of me.

ALSO NOTICED: 3 hours before on river while I paused to fix a drink and fish a little it felt like something was either watching me through some thick cedars or was trying to carefully move in tp position to look at me. Creepy, I only stayed in that spot about 10 minutes.

OTHER WITNESSES: none

OTHER STORIES: No, but I've had a couple of weird things happen at the campground about 15 miles away. Stuff, just nothing...but I've been out in the woods enough to feel these were somehow not conducise to general nature

TIME AND CONDITIONS: Dusk, was a clear day in about the high 80s temperature

ENVIRONMENT: River running through a very remote forest area with a combination of heavy woods, high hills, 60-70 ft cliffs near river. This was very close to where the Highway 33 bridge crossed over the Sipsey River

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Matt Craig:

I spoke with Mr. Johnson over the phone about his report. He spends a great deal of time canoeing, fishing, and camping in the area. The initial report covered the majority of the details, but he did add that approximately 20 minutes before he landed his canoe, he let out a series of "whoops" just for fun. He is interested in the bigfoot phenomenon and uses his time in the outdoors to also look for evidence.

We talked about the other unusual things that happened to him while in the area. One night, while he was camping in a primitive location, he woke at 4 AM to footsteps outside his tent. He was camping alone, and was in an area not easily accessible.

On another occasion in the area, he was fishing at dusk and noticed the area had become eerily quiet. He did a few "whoop" calls and began to hear something in the brush behind him. Unable to see it, he threw a tangerine at the sound. He went back to fishing only to notice something hit the water near him. He thought it may have been something falling off a tree, until a second rock was thrown. He noticed that it was angled and had a trajectory. He left the area as quickly as possible.

Mr. Johnson had also experienced extremely foul smells while in the area, but is unsure of the source. He said it could've been the wind picking up a dead animal smell.

About BFRO Investigator Matt Craig:

Matt Craig is a Commercial & Industrial HVAC Technician for the Southeast.

He has attended the following Expeditions:

2011 Northwest Florida Expedition
2012 Northwest Florida Expedition
2013 Alabama Expedition