YEAR: 1977

SEASON: Fall

MONTH: September

STATE: Texas

COUNTY: Eastland County

LOCATION DETAILS: Eastland County RD 470 dead ends at a locked gate to property

NEAREST TOWN: Ranger,Texas

NEAREST ROAD: Hwy 256 Ranger,TX

OBSERVED: It was late summer early fall in 1977. Me and a friend were Bullfrog hunting on his granddads property south of Ranger, TX in the rough Canyon country. He had or leased a large section of land and had cattle on it. A particular pond was hard to access because road was washed out. It was a very long walk with the 22 long rifles we were carrying. The ground was very rocky and not much grass around here. The cattle and the rancher himself never came to this area. A small pond set next to a steep hill and we thought we might be able to shoot some frogs here. We were very quiet approaching the pond. We noticed lots of baby frogs but no adults. Something roared next to the hill. we began to retreat the pond. A large limb snapped and we could visibly see the cedar trees, mesquite trees moving as something large was moving through them. I told my friend "Hold your ground" as I dropped to one knee and readied to fire. I could see a large brown hairy object hiding behind a cedar tree. at 7 feet high it was 4 feet wide. I could not imagine what it could be.it was swaying back and forth from its hiding spot. Never giving me a good look. My friend broke and ran. The 22 felt pretty small by myself. I took off as well. I wondered if this thing would chase me down so I kept looking behind me. I kept hearing very large thuds as I ran. I heard a thud to the right and glanced over. A huge rock was bouncing across the ground. It was larger then any man could attempt to throw. It was hard to convince my friend to return with bigger guns we did a few days later. There was a bed made in an in cut in the hill where the thorns of mesquite limbs had all been removed. Armloads of small limbs made an odd bed. I found absolutely no hair on any of it. The broken limb was torn right off a mesquite tree like it was going to be used like a bat. The ground was not conducive of any kind of foot print.

ALSO NOTICED: Pond was full of frogs. large frogs were all missing.

OTHER WITNESSES: 2

OTHER STORIES: Years prior the ranchers son was deer hunting. heard a noise behind him. he spun around as a large bipedal creature was bearing down on him . he fired his gun at close range. the thing growled and moved away swiftly. The rancher came back and followed a small blood trail to a sandy creek crossing where he said he saw the strangest footprints he had ever seen. The ranchers son hairs turned white and he would not return to the woods unless he was with the rancher.

ENVIRONMENT: Hill country, range lands mixed with dense thickets of woods and briars. Ponding water available in holes along dry creek beds and stock ponds built for cattle.

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Gary Christensen:

I spoke with the witness by phone. He confirmed everything in his report, in addition he stated that he had been trapping in the area and had many of his traps snapped, but no animals were found in the traps. He was about 50 feet from the creature at its closest approach and only saw massive shoulders and huge arms. He never saw the face. The encounter took place in the late afternoon on a bright sunny day.

I found the witness to be very articulate and consistent in his oral testimony with what he described in his written report.

About BFRO Investigator Gary Christensen:

Gary is a retired USAF pilot, a Vietnam veteran with 312 combat missions in the B-52. He also retired from American Airlines in 2008 after 18 years service as a flight training manager. A graduate of USAF ground and sea survival schools, Gary is an avid bird hunter and fisherman. He has been following the bigfoot phenomenon since the 1950's.