YEAR: 2012

SEASON: Summer

MONTH: August

DATE: 12

STATE: Minnesota

COUNTY: St. Louis County

LOCATION DETAILS: I will not give great details over the net. I do not want this info to get out.

OBSERVED: Several trees broke off and hung in the crotches of other trees. The trees were NOT cut but broke off 4-6 feet off the ground.

ALSO NOTICED: We both thought the area had a creepy feeling, like we were being watched, or we were not alone.

OTHER WITNESSES: Two, we were setting traps for bobcat.

OTHER STORIES: Yes

TIME AND CONDITIONS: Afternoon

ENVIRONMENT: It was a mature forest, with an old road bed through it. Several creeks, and a river and lake near the area.

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Robert Barhite:

On June 12, 2014 I spoke with J, who vividly recounted the tree knocks, as well as two other peculiar events he's had while trapping deep in the woods in northern Minnesota. J estimates he spends at least 200 days a year in deep woods hunting and trapping, so he's not a novice when it comes to identifying sounds, smells and animal activity. His life and livelihood depend upon his abilities to quickly and accurately judge whether or not a situation is dangerous. By far the most frightening of the three incidents were the series of tree knocks.

It was just as after sunrise, which was 6:04 am CST, on August 12, 2012, and J went out to pick mushrooms just off an abandoned two-track road. As he left the road he heard a loud series of three knocks nearby. He knew it wasn't a woodpecker as it didn't sound hollow, and the knocks had a rhythm. J wasn't sure what made the knocks but didn't really question it as he walked further into the woods. A short time later he heard the same three distinct knocks. He yelled, thinking it was his brother fooling around, and he kept walking. Again he heard the same three knocks, and to him it sounded like whatever was making the sounds was moving parallel with him. Spooked, J dropped his bag, ran back to his car, and went to his Dad's still thinking his brother was responsible. Once at his Dad's he discovered that his brother had left for work at about the same time J left for the woods. He and his dad decided to go to the location and check it out. J walked ahead of his dad, who then did a series of knocks. J said his Dad was close by - maybe 75 yards at most, and he produced the same type of knock which had spooked him, "...and I don't spook easily."

The location is desolate. It's well off a gravel road which is nearly impassible and is rarely used. The woods are jack pines with a lot of down trees from storms in the 1970's, which produced a lot of dense vertical cover. J estimates that the knocks were not woodpecker because, "Woodpeckers don't have a cadence, and the knocks were not elevated." And, it wasn't wind noise or a deer rubbing to get the felt off antlers.

J has had two other discoveries which we discussed. The first occurred in 2011 and about a twenty minute drive from the area where he encountered the knocks. J and his parents were walking a logging trail to a clear cut when they discovered a large bed of blueberries in which something very large had just been rolling around. The air was thick with a heavy, bad stench. J said the stench was far worse than any wolf or bear he's ever encountered.

His second discovery occurred in November 2011, and this is the discovery which spurred him to file his report. He and his brother were out setting bobcat traps deep in a secluded wooded area when they came across a section of pine trees which had been twisted and snapped off. Several of the trees were strewn across and blocked the two-track road they were walking, and more were suspended high off the ground and woven between other trees. They gathered their traps and left the area. J said that as they approached the area, "...it got very spooky in there." A couple years later he was watching a special about Bigfoot which described it is believed that they create tree structures. He immediately called his brother, who was watching the same special and was just about to call J. They realized that the tree structures they found appeared to be identical to the structures featured in the documentary.

J said, "I've seen a lot of stuff, but nothing as weird or freaky like this."

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.