YEAR: 2020

SEASON: Summer

MONTH: August

DATE: 8

STATE: Idaho

COUNTY: Shoshone County

LOCATION DETAILS: Close to Prospector Creek

NEAREST TOWN: Avery ID

NEAREST ROAD: St. Joe River Road

OBSERVED: I had a strange occurrence happen on August 8, 2020 at approximately 9:30 PM when I was camping on the Saint Joe River in Idaho.

It is the second time I’ve had an experience by the Saint Joe River. I would rather give a verbal explanation to someone rather than trying to type it out. Basically the first one was about 8 years ago a neighboring camper was chopping wood for about 10 or 15 minutes and after he quit I heard two wood knocks above the road and above the campground that kind of freaked me out. I got up and went and looked and there was something on the road above us that was staring down at me don’t know what it was but it was there.

This last weekend August 8 I heard three Whoops or long group calls over the sound of my music when I turn my music off I heard nothing
I would like to give a verbal description of what I encountered so if you’re interested call me.

No one was camping within 1/2 miles of me and that’s what made me wonder what is going on.

ALSO NOTICED: Became very quiet

OTHER WITNESSES: None

OTHER STORIES: None. Only my personal experience

TIME AND CONDITIONS: 9:30 pm
Clear

ENVIRONMENT: All gravel pit logging landing not sure what the area was used for? No other campers close by and that’s what freaks me out

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Darrell Oyler:

I spoke with this witness over the phone for approximately 45 minutes. I found him to be very sincere about his experiences. He said after the latest incident he felt compelled to submit a report. The witness relayed the following to me:

Incident #1

On Labor Day weekend in 2012 he was camping at Turner Flat Campground right along the St. Joe River. He was camped in spot #1 which is closest to the St. Joe River Road. It was around 7:00-7:30 in the evening and a fellow camper had been chopping wood for his campfire. About 10 minutes after the chopping had stopped this witness heard 2 loud and distinct wood knock sounds coming from across the road and up the hill which is away from the other campers. He described the knocks as having more resonance than the sound of chopping wood. He walked up to and down road while scanning the hillside. The witness then described seeing a large dark face looking at him from a gap in the brush on the hillside. He said they had eye contact for approximately a minute before he retreated back to his campsite to retrieve a firearm. He went back to the location where he saw the face and it was gone.

When I asked the witness to describe what he saw his first words were "Big eyes, big face". Upon further questioning he advised he was not close enough to see details, but the head was big, dark colored, oval shaped and had dark eyes. He went up to the location the next morning to check for footprints. He didn't find any prints, but standing on his tip toes he could look through the gap in the brush where he saw the face. From this vantage point he could see down into the campground.


Incident #2

This is the latest incident which prompted this report. On August 8th, 2020 the witness was camping in an undeveloped campsite approximately 2.6 miles east of the first incident as the crow flies. This site was across the road from the river on the hillside. It was approximately 9:30 p.m. and he was listening to some classic rock over a small bluetooth speaker. The witness heard 3 loud whoops from the hillside above and to the east of him. He described the whoops as being drawn out sounding. He said he immediately knew a human didn't make that sound and that there was no one camped near him. He said he turned off his speaker and listened, but there was no more vocalizations. He told me he decided to make a whooping sound back, but there was no answer and it was quiet the rest of the night.

This witness seemed genuinely unnerved by the latest incident. I am familiar with this area and it is rugged country. Any sounds coming from the north of the last campsite is extremely unlikely to come from a human source since it is nothing but steep forested terrain. The witness told me he had been camping in the St. Joe National Forest for the last 20 years and these are the only two encounters that he could not contribute to any of the known local wildlife.

About BFRO Investigator Darrell Oyler:

Bigfoot enthusiast, drone pilot and I am a retired Detective.