YEAR: 1998

SEASON: Fall

MONTH: October

DATE: October 15, 98

STATE: Georgia

COUNTY: Long County

LOCATION DETAILS: edited

NEAREST TOWN: Gum Branch

NEAREST ROAD: hwy 196

OBSERVED: I think I have had 3 encounters, I KNOW I have had 1, all within a 5 mile radius. the last one is the one I will tell about. I had just gotten out of my tree stand ( hunting deer ). the sun was down but still enough light to see. My house was only 1/2 mile away and the woods were my back yard. Anyway, I was using the bathroom on a tree, not really paying attention to anything. when I noticed their was no noise, nothing, no owls, no coyote, nothing. I was feeling uneasy and cut the job short, I just wanted to get out of there. I walked around a deadfall and about 40 to 50 feet from me it stood right in my path, on the trail,(footpath). at 1st I dont think he knew I was there. He stood with his head up sniffing the air. then He looked right at me. never moving for what seemed like hours. I had a 12 guage in my hand and remember thinking about using it. but something didnt feel right about that. I really didnt feel threatned. I know at some point I started to walk backwards, He took a couple of steps toward me, and cut into the woods on the otherside of the deadfall,( not the side I came around). I stood there listening to it go threw the woods not crashing but just like he was walking like it was no big deal. I asked the owner of the property the next day if he had ever seen or heard of anything back there, he said no so I never mentioned it to ANYONE. I found your site a few weeks ago and have been wondering if I should tell this or not. anyway. I know what I saw and noone can tell me diff.

ALSO NOTICED: stood at least 8ft. very broad at the shoulders and dark brown to black hair about 1,1/2 inches long, very big red eyes, it had no neck allmost like his head was right on top of his shoulders, head kindly came to a point in the back, looked like gray hair around the edges of the face

OTHER WITNESSES: no, not that time

OTHER STORIES: no, just the 2 other times, once heard outside window and the other it was too dark and happened to fast to say for sure. after that I moved my family 1 week later. I didnt go back into those woods, oh yeah, my wife said the whole time we lived there whe felt like she was being watched, our two dogs stayed under the house unless I was outside with them. I allmost forgot about that.

TIME AND CONDITIONS: Dusk, still enough light that a flashlight was not needed

ENVIRONMENT: pine forest, Dead pine trees, many many ponds in the area, not a swamp but does border many.

Follow-up investigation report:

The witness now lives in the midwest, having moved from the area for several reasons: One a new job offer; and two, to get away from that location.

He is a former military man. He told me he felt that "this is it" when he first looked at this creature and it soon took a step toward him. It was hugely built with long arms that were powerful and thick. He said that if it walked under his twelve-foot treestand, it would have easily been able to reach him.
When it looked directly at him it appeared shocked that he was there. When first viewed, it was sniffing the air, with its nose scrunched up. Its head was not directly straight up in the air but at an angle. He never noticed a neck.

As soon as he realized it was staring at him he looked away and it then took a step toward him. The witness noticed its hair seemed longer in the buttocks and the back of the legs. This was observed as it turned to leave. Otherwise the hair length seemed uniform throughout the body. The witness did not focus on the limbs or extremities primarily because it wasn't long before he saw that it was looking straight at him after it realized he was there. He did not look at its feet (there was brush obstructing views as well) or its hands. He concentrated on its expression and upper body. He noted that the forearms were longer than the upper portion of its arm. It walked with a hunch. It was not perfectly erect. Its armswing was evident and his view of this thing did not last long.

Facial features included a brow. The eyes were dark. When it turned (whole body) it did have a pinkish red coloration to the eyes. Its nose was built to show the nasal passages clearly, the eyes seemed sunk into the skull under the brow and there was skin showing that was darker than the brown hair on it. The head seemed small in proportion to the creature's size, but still large.

He left his treestand to go home because the sun was setting and shooting deer after sunset was not an option. He said he noticed how quiet it was as he left and he relieved himself before he walked away from his treestand. The time interval before the creature was seen near the deadfall was 15-20 seconds. The witness did not use any deer related products but he did have a general earthy scent mask to help cover his potential scent.