YEAR: 2013

SEASON: Winter

MONTH: November

DATE: 5th

STATE: Georgia

COUNTY: Jones County

LOCATION DETAILS: Piedmont nwma

NEAREST TOWN: Hillsboro

NEAREST ROAD: 11

OBSERVED: I had two squatches approach me after I had shot a deer in 2013. They didn't come into view but I wasn't trying to see as I was trying to field dress my deer and leave the area. They were yelling back and forth making sounds I haven't heard in the woods in 35 yrs. They sound like a mix of a bull, a bull elk and a lion. No animal makes sounds like that in Georgia. I had also found many fresh tree breaks on my way to my stand site the day before.

ALSO NOTICED: Tree breaks.

OTHER STORIES: My father and uncle heard the same yells in 2014 one mile away.

TIME AND CONDITIONS: Clear cold morning

ENVIRONMENT: Timber. Swampy creek bottom

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator David Bakara:

I spoke with the witness by phone, he seemed honest and sincere in his telling of the events.

The witness has been hunting for 30 years and is adamant he knows the sounds of every large animal in Georgia. The sounds he heard that fall morning still astound him. It was appx. a two hike back to his tree stand deep in the Piedmont National Wildlife Management Area, a 35,000 acre forest 25 miles north of Macon. He has hunted at this spot many times and is familiar with the terrain. He noticed several broken 2" saplings at 4-5 ft high. He found this odd, but continued to his stand. He was sitting in his elevated deer stand and spotted a deer at approx. 8:30 am. He took a shot and hit the deer, but it ran a short distance and dropped in a ravine close to a creek. As he climbed out of his stand, he heard a tremendous roar/scream that could have been up to 1/2 mile away. He described it as a mix between a lion, elk, and bull. He continued down the ravine and heard it again, only it seemed a bit closer... As he approached the deer, he heard another scream, not as big, but much closer to his left. Then another, farther but closing on his right. These animals were using their howls to converge at a point appx. 100 yards away. As the witness quickly field dressed his deer, he had the overwhelming feeling these animals were watching him from the cover of the forest. After dressing out his deer, he left the area as quickly as possible. He described the howls as 3-4 seconds in length and definitely made by something with vocal chords....He said it sounded as if the one to his left was a smaller one and howled about 4 times, while the bigger one to his right howled 8 times, with a much rougher more guttural sound. The witness stated he has hunted elk, deer, bear and coyote all over the country, and has never heard sounds like these.

About BFRO Investigator David Bakara:

David has three daughters and a wife that shares his interest in research, both having developed a deep respect for nature and knowledge of the outdoors and wildlife. Attended Northern Florida Expedition 2011, 2012 Washington Exp., and 2012 North Florida exp. Prior US Navy and currently works as a Leasing Agent, spending his time off in the woods as often as he can investigating Bigfoot reports.