YEAR: 2017

SEASON: Summer

MONTH: August

DATE: 11

STATE: Arkansas

COUNTY: Stone County

LOCATION DETAILS: Hanover road approximately 8 miles to the second low water bridge, go up stream past the first set of shoals to the deeper hole of water

NEAREST TOWN: Mountain View ar

NEAREST ROAD: Hanover rd

OBSERVED: August of 2017 me and my son were fishing in a secluded creek. The creek is very shallow in spots so in order to access it you have to wade fish. We fished around a low water bridge for maybe an hour and decided to head up stream to the next deep hole of water just over some shoals. I knew that around the bend of the creek where the deep hole was there was lily pads, so I instructed my son to be very slow and quiet on our approach so not to spook any bass that may be feeding around them.

Once we made the bend I observed what at first seemed to be a beaver about 50-75 yards away from us upstream where the water is deeper. It was headed toward some large rocks but what seemed unusual about it was it’s shape. It was higher out of the water than any beaver or otter I’ve seen. The animal got close to the rocks and just stopped about a foot or two away from the cluster of rocks just in the water. If I hadn’t seen it moving to begin with it would have blended in very well with the rocks.

I noticed my son was watching it too and and asked what is that and I replied that I wasn’t for sure so I made some racket with some cattle calls to maybe spook it on to the rocks so we could get a better view of this thing but what happened next still sends me into a mild state of fear just recalling it. It started swimming back to the opposite bank and just stopped for about a second then it rose out of the water. Now I know what I was looking at was massive because the water in that part of the creek is chest deep and I vividly recall seeing the daylight between it’s legs.

It stood there probably 3 seconds at most but the image was burnt into my brain forever. It had a reddish tint to its fur and massive arms that just hung to its side almost touching the water. I couldn’t see any facial features because the sun was behind it. After what I felt was a stare down it lunged toward the bank that it originally came from which was an erosion bank about 10 feet vertical wall and it made it up using a tree about a foot diameter to pull itself with. Doing so it pulled the tree, roots and all, down to the water. We heard it storming off in the thickets till we couldn’t hear it any more. My son and I wasted no time getting back to the truck. Haven’t been back to that spot since.

Now what I’m guessing it was at the creek doing what ever it was doing and we caught it by surprise and it mimicked a beaver trying not to be discovered. I always heard about these things and thought it be something to see one. I wish now I hadn’t seen it. It filled me with terror and excitement but who can you tell? My son hardly talks about it and I keep it all bottled up inside my head like a re run of some horror movie......

ALSO NOTICED: It was dead quiet that day

OTHER WITNESSES: My son, we were fishing until our attention was directed somewhere else

OTHER STORIES: Yes, people seeing them, tracks, lots of tracks but on the west end of the county

TIME AND CONDITIONS: About an hour and half before dark, clear sky’s and no wind

ENVIRONMENT: Isolated creek surrounded by woods and deep valley,

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Carter Buschardt:

This is actually a very good factual report, and I can add very little to it. The witness was quite descriptive and had a good and accurate recollection as it compares to other similar events. He was too busy to speak to me after the initial contact. I did speak to his wife very briefly, and she told me, as he stated in his report, that he was deeply disturbed by what he and his son saw, and he still is.

Here is the general location of the incident, south of Mountain View.

About BFRO Investigator Carter Buschardt:

Carter is originally from Texas & moved to Missouri in 1988. Professional drummer for 20 years. Improv & sketch comic and writer for 5 years. Lighting technician for major touring groups for several years. Experienced outdoorsman and was a trained investigator for MUFON. Studied Herpetology in college. Longtime special interest in Sasquatch long term habituation, burial research, infra sound, language & stick structures. He led three Missouri BFRO Public Expeditions:, 2012 & 2013 & 2014. Led public expedition for BFRO in Illinois in 2019.Participated in Iowa, 2012 Illinois. Michigan 2016. Private Expeditions: Illinois 2011, 2012, 2013. Missouri 2011, 2012 (3) 2013(2) 2014. Iowa 2012, 2014 & 2015. Consulted on two Animal Planet Finding Bigfoot TV shows. Expedition leader in Missouri 2013 (1) & 2014 (2) & Illinois Expedition 2019 (1). Led night ops on numerous BFRO expeditions. Hosted a public Town Hall meeting in Missouri in 2017.