YEAR: 2003

SEASON: Summer

MONTH: August

DATE: August 16th, 2003

STATE: Kentucky

COUNTY: Lawrence County

NEAREST TOWN: Blaine

NEAREST ROAD: Highway 32

OBSERVED: While looking through reports for Kentucky I came across report #11966 in Lawrence county, KY.
I had a sighting/experience around the same time period and same area near Blaine, KY.
I have never told anyone of this other than at the time it happened I told my wife I had been stalked out of the woods by something large and packed my family up, leaving the area.
In 2003 my wife and I took our daughter and youngest son with our travel trailer to camp at Yatesville Lake State Park in Lawrence county,Ky near Blaine. We arrived on a Friday in August with intent of fishing and I always go on ginseng hunts where I am able/allowed. I think it be noted I am an avid outdoorsman having hunted, fished, hiked, and camped in at least 28 states of the USA for 40+ years.
I am well acquainted with big game animals including bears, mountain lions, elk, deer, and wild hogs. I stake my reputation on my word and kept this encounter to myself.
On Saturday morning I took my family to fish in the lake at a spot where Highway 32 bridge crosses a fork of Blaine Creek. After my family was set up, I took off into the mountain on the southwest side of this bridge and possibly part of Yatesville Lake WMA to hunt ginseng. As I had worked my way up a long deep hollow and neared the top of the ridge and to my left I heard knocking like someone striking a piece of wood against a tree (similar to what researchers hear/do). I also had several rocks come through the trees from the top of a small cliff at the top of the ridge, but thought they had fell off the rock formations on their own. Then as I happened to look back behind me from the hollow I came out of on the far side of that ridge I saw a very large dark hair covered figure that was watching me and it was standing upright, it definately was not a bear. I estimated later it was near 8' tall, I'm also a carpenter and pretty good at measurements.
As silly as it sounds, when it left my sight, I spoke aloud to this "thing" and said "Old one I mean no harm and I'm only taking what I need" all the while easing my way around and down toward my family, once I was out of eyesight I took off down the mountain as fast as I could, I could hear this "bigfoot" following at a distance.
Once I got to my family I told my wife to get everything to gather and packed my family out of the area telling them a bear was stalking me off the mountain. It was not a bear and I guess I'm only reporting this now because of the other sightings in the area around the same time.
BFRO is welcome to contact me and I would be willing to travel back to the exact spot and show where this occurred even though it was over 8 years ago.

ALSO NOTICED: Knocking of wood like I've since heard on TV shows,rocks thrown at me in woods.

OTHER WITNESSES: By myself in the woods,but wife and 2 children were bank fishing in the lake,they were unaware of sighting.

OTHER STORIES: There are 3 reports in Lawrence county at BFRO,one report is by ginseng hunters in the same area and time frame.

TIME AND CONDITIONS: Approximately 9:00 am on a sunny day but still had fog lifting from the hollows and lake,shady in the woods.

ENVIRONMENT: Heavily Wooded,steep hilly/mountainous terrain,older growth forest,large rock outcroppings near the top of the ridge.

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Jack Smarr:

I spoke to the witness by telephone and he had the following things to add. As he started up the hill to hunt ginseng, he heard people knocking in the forest. At the time, he attributed it to other people chopping woods. He later thought this was weird because he never saw any other people. As he was climbing, he heard objects being thrown in the forest; whizzing through the leaves. Later, he figured that rocks were being thrown at him. He also had rocks thrown at him as he was exiting. As he neared the top of the mountain, he encountered rock outcroppings. He was examining one of these rock overhangs looking for signs of ginseng, when he noticed a large, dark, hairy figure behind him standing across the hollow and up the hill. The witness was close enough to discern two eyes, a nose, and fingers on its hands. The Sasquatch was covered in dark brown to reddish hair. Its face was lightly covered in hair, he could also discern a beard. As he was taking this in, the Sasquatch eased behind a tree and disappeared from sight. The witness did not hear it leave and could still feel its presence. The witness was overcome with a feeling that he shouldn’t really be there. That is when he felt it necessary to calmly talk to what he saw and quickly leave. The witness tried not to maintain eye contact out of fear and not knowing what the Sasquatch would do next. As he went away and back down the ridge, he could hear it following him at a distance making loud crunching steps and breaking sticks as he followed. The witness stated that some rocks were thrown at him on his way down. The witness was not followed all the way back to his family, but he felt that he was being watched. A year later, he returned to the ridge, and found the spot where it had been standing. Using a measuring tape and a tree branch for comparison, he measured the height to be eight foot six inches tall.

Report #11966 , the report he referred to.

About BFRO Investigator Jack Smarr:

Jack Smarr is retired military and worked primarily in Field Artillery, Armored Cavalry and Armor units. He participated in TN 09,10,11,WV 2012 expeditions; and helped organize KY 2013 expedition. He organized the 2014 KY Daniel Boone Expedition, the 2015 Central Kentucky Expedition, the 2016 Carter Caves State Park Expedition, Northeastern Kentucky 2017, Kentucky 2018 and has conducted private expeditions in Eastern Kentucky and Southern Ohio.