YEAR: 2012

SEASON: Winter

MONTH: February

DATE: 25

STATE: Wisconsin

COUNTY: Vilas County

LOCATION DETAILS: Sound came from the Northwest from the end of our road where our cabin is located. Very wooded, dense forest, a lot of deer walk through our back yard and bed down just past the the dead end road.

NEAREST TOWN: Phelps, WI address. But we are far north very close to MI border and next to Ottawa National Forest

OBSERVED: It was February 25th 12:50am up at our family cabin which is located between the Ottawa National and Nicolet National Forest. The Cabin is on a deadend street, a few roads off of an entrance to a lake. I had woken up to go to to the bathroom an had to go really bad but the bathroom was being used so I went outside the cabin to go to the bathroom outside. When I stepped outside I could hear a few dogs down one of the main streets barking frantically. I took a few steps outside from our side door to go to the bathroom. I heard a very loud knock (50-100yds) to my left (NW) towards the dead end side of the road.

ALSO NOTICED: We were up two weeks before. I cooked a few big meals the night and mornings of the weekends we are up there. I have to open the window so the windows do not steam up.
River runs through south end of Lake an I believe runs through the area. A lot of deer in the area. Seems like there is deer path through our area. It is normally quiet throughout this area. The sound was wood sounding noise was LOUD. North of us is an Indian Reservation.

OTHER WITNESSES: Just myself. Going to the bathroom.

OTHER STORIES: Talked with neighbor across from us and he has heard odd noises.

TIME AND CONDITIONS: Snow..Night. Dark in area. We had our Xmas lights on with our Main light on which we normally do not have on.

ENVIRONMENT: Edge of Ottawa National forest. Dead end road. Lots are owned but there are no structures on them, and after that MI and the Ottawa National forest north of us.

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Robert Barhite:

I spoke with Ben regarding his experience.The cabin, which is more like a house as he described it, is located on a dead end road in the Nicolet National Forest. To the north of the cabin are dense, thick woods and the Ottawa National Forest. And to the east lies Lac Vieux Desert, a large lake on the Wisconsin-Michigan border.

He woke up around 12:50 am to use the bathroom, but the light was on and the door was shut so he put on his coat and boots and headed outside. To the west and north he could distinctly hear dogs frantically barking, which is unusual because normally its a very quiet area at night.

As he finished he had the distinct sense of being watched from the woods - the sense that something was terribly wrong. The hair on his neck stood on end. Ben started to make his way back to the house when he heard a very loud, indescribable huge wood knock noise he estimated to be within eighty to one hundred yards. It was a sound he had never heard before, and he froze in his tracks. Totally creeped out Ben hurriedly made his way back to the house. Since then he's tried to replicate the wood knock, but hasn't been successful.

Since the February 2012 wood knock Ben explored more of the woods around the cabin, and about fifty yards to the northwest of it he found two mounds of sticks, one in front of the other, and each about three feet in height. His neighbors have also reported hearing various sounds in the woods including knocks.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a population of 21,033, and a total area of 1,018 square miles (2,640 km2), of which 874 square miles (2,260 km2) is land and 144 square miles (370 km2) (14.16%) is water. There are 1,318 lakes in the county. Much of Vilas County is covered by the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest and the Northern Highland-American Legion State Forest as well as extensive county forest lands. Vilas County waters drain to Lake Superior, Lake Michigan, and the Mississippi River. The Wisconsin, Flambeau, and Presque Isle Rivers all find their headwaters in Vilas County. The economy in Vilas County is based on tourism centered on its high concentration of lakes and forests.

About BFRO Investigator Robert Barhite:

A native of far northeast Iowa, Robert has always had an intense interest in Bigfoot and exploring the great outdoors.

His first expedition was the 2012 BFRO Iowa Hill Country Expedition He the 2013 Iowa Big River Expedition, 2013 Oregon Cascades Expedition, 2013 Michigan Upper Peninsula Expedition, 2014 and 2015 Wisconsin Expeditions, 2014 Iowa Expedition, and the 2015 Iowa Spring Expedition. Since 2012 Robert has participated in several private expeditions in Iowa and in Wisconsin. In addition to expeditions, he has conducted numerous solo research trips in Iowa and Wisconsin throughout 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2016. And for the last two years has been a guest lecturer at the request of the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers. Robert led the 2016 Iowa Spring Expedition and is assisting with the 2016 Iowa Fall Expedition and is scouting locations across North America for 2017 expeditions, and continues to monitor activity in a long-term study location in the Midwest.