YEAR: 1978

SEASON: Fall

MONTH: November

DATE: 11

STATE: Washington

COUNTY: Wahkiakum County

NEAREST TOWN: Grays River

NEAREST ROAD: Hwy 101

OBSERVED: Creature description: The creature we both saw was at least 7 feet tall, possibly more, had bright red eyes, which kind of glowed in the near dark light conditions that we were in. This creature which turned in front of me less than 6 feet away, was a real hulk, big barrel-chested, massive arms and shoulders, and the really impressive fact was it never made a sound when it turned to leave, it just seemed to float away. It was very hard to keep calm, but I knew almost as soon as I saw those red eyes what this creature must be. I have hunted and fished this country for years and have never had anything like this happen before, but I truly wish I could see him again, and may yet.

My self and my hunting partner, whom I will call DW was hunting elk in this area, which was old growth timber, about 3-4 miles from the nearest logging road. We had started early that morning and had jumped a large herd of elk which contained several large bulls, but were unable to get a shot. We decided that we would wait until the late afternoon when the elk returned to this area, as we wanted the large 5-point bull that was in that herd. Since we were using muzzle-loaders, or black powder rifles we knew that we wanted a close shot so we stayed down by the river as to conceal ourselves. Well the elk never showed, so we had just started our hike out of the timber, following the river as there was more daylight showing. I was in the lead, going around a tree in the trail when I came face to face with a large creature, with bright red eyes, which were at least 24 inches over my head. The creature turned and was out of sight in less than 30 seconds, and boy was I scared. DW and I still had at least 2 more miles to hike out, and this was the same way the creature had fled. We both decided to give this thing some time to clear out of the area before we started to leave. Needless to say we were extremely glad to get back to the truck that evening. We have only told a few friends what happened that evening, and only tonight I felt compelled to write to your email address to share this story with others, whom may have similar experiences but choose to keep them to themselves. I urge you to let others know of your sightings, DW, and myself know what we saw, and are more certain everyday that all of the outdoorsmen, hunters, fishermen, and etc. share the forests with these creatures.

ENVIRONMENT: The terrain was described as remote old growth timber, with deep carpet of pine needles, beside a small river, just around dark.

Follow-up investigation report: