YEAR: 2002

SEASON: Fall

MONTH: November

DATE: 14

STATE: Florida

COUNTY: Santa Rosa County

LOCATION DETAILS: State managed lands, surrounded by hunting club.
North Santa Rosa County

NEAREST TOWN: Jay

NEAREST ROAD: 4

OBSERVED: I am 51 years old, and have trapped, hunted, fished, and camped all my life. I was scouting for deer sign in the fall on a swampy island that I can only reach by using chest waders. It was cold, clear early afternoon, and as I walked along near the edge of the island, things got very quiet and I stopped all of a sudden--why I don't know--and I heard what started out as an owl hooting but ended with a monkey type sound. Sort of: "whooo-whooo-whooo-oo-oo-ahh-ahh".
I only heard it once--and got the distinct feeling that another presence was in the woods beside myself. Owl's have many calls I know, but I thought this was unusual given the time of day and weather being clear.

ALSO NOTICED: Nothing else unusual, except the distinct feeling of another presence in the woods, and hair standing on the back of neck.

OTHER WITNESSES: None

OTHER STORIES: After my incident, I found where there was a direct encounter about 8 or 9 miles from this location.

TIME AND CONDITIONS: Early afternoon with clear, cold weather conditions.

ENVIRONMENT: Deep river bottom swamp, big hardwoods, patches of heavy brush and mudholes. This area is can only be reached by crossing a channel.

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Kevin Smykal:

I interviewed this witness on 6-7-06. He said he also found some tracks after the incident. He is a long time woodsman. He is experienced at identifying animal tracks. These tracks were 8 - 9 inches long and had well defined toes.

He was looking for a place to put a deer stand at the time of his experience.

About BFRO Investigator Kevin Smykal:

Kevin Smykal is a mechanical contractor in northern Florida.
He attended the following BFRO expeditions:

• 2006 Central Florida (Lake County)
• 2007 Central Florida Private Expedition
• 2008 South Florida Expedition
• He helped organize the 2008 North Florida Expedition and is assisting with the organization of the upcoming 2009 Central Florida Expedition

He helped organize the 2011 & 2012 North Florida expeditions.

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