YEAR: 1985

SEASON: Fall

MONTH: September

STATE: Wyoming

COUNTY: Sheridan County

LOCATION DETAILS: Head east on HWY 14 leaving Shell. Go 28 miles then take a left on the Sheridan county 4-H camp road, (formerly an old logging road), then go about 2 miles in (west) and the dirt road ends.

NEAREST TOWN: Shell

NEAREST ROAD: USHWY 14

OBSERVED: Myself and two friends went into the forest with our slingshots to find some squirrels. We had been coming to this place for years every September for our church retreat. The elk were just starting to come into rut and we could hear them bugling up on the higher plateaus as we were hiking in. We were about a mile or so in, N.W. of the lodge. There was a barbed wired fence cutting through the woods here and on either side of it for about 10-15 yards the trees were younger, ranging from 4-8 feet tall. It was apparently cleared for the making of the fence.

We decided it would be easier to walk alongside the fence for awhile. We went another few hundred yards and as we rounded a bend my friends stopped suddenly. I was following, and so I stopped as well. I thought maybe we had walked up on something.

My friend turned and looked at me and whispered "Do you see that?"

I couldnt see as there was a small pine in my way. I started to ease forward and as the tree moved out of my view I just froze at what I saw. At first I thought it was a large bear, but discounted that idea immediately. It was like a massive human like animal, covered in a dark, course looking hair. Like a black bears, but not as thick in all areas. The face, chest, inside elbow area, and hands were nearly bare. It was around 8ft. tall and I would say it weighed between 450-550lbs. It had shoulders that were extremely wide, and they sort of slumped forward, Its arms were phenominally long and thick, they hung far below the thigh area, and the hands werent as large but still very big, they were more thick than long. The buttocks were unproportionately large, they didnt seem to fit the animal, they too were very muscular looking. The head of the animal seemed to be plopped right onto the shoulders, If the thing had a neck it wasnt any more than 3-4 inches long. The face was somewhat like a man's, and somewhat like a gorilla..

We were about 15-20 yards from it. It stood there seemingly observing us, and we crouched there observing it. This went on for at least 2 minutes, then it took a small step to the left and forward, partially blocking our view of it from about the croutch down. You could hear it breathing, like it had been running to get where it was.

Then my friend yelled at it, saying "very funny, who's in the ape suit?"

We scolded him telling him to shut up, I could tell it wasnt a joke, this, whatever it was, was a real animal. Then it made a noise, not really a growl, but more like a deep cough, like it was clearing its throat, but quite louder, like a coughing bark. Its really hard to describe a noise you have never heard before with words. That did it for us, so we turned and sprinted down the fenceline, took a cut through the woods and went straight to my parents camper trailer.

We told him what we saw then my friends left to go tell their parents. My father knew I wasnt fibbing, I was 12 then and im 28 now. He had been outfitting for nearly 20 years all over Wyoming, and since I was 6, I got to go along on alot of hunts. He knew I knew the difference between one game animal and another.

We waited till morning and headed back into the place we had seen the animal the day before. We searched for 2-3 hours and other than smashed grass and current bushes, we found nothing. You could see where something heavy had stood, then proceeded in the opposite direction we fled. He didnt know what to think of it, but he did believe me and my friends. He said he had heard here and there about the animal that they call bigfoot, but not in these parts, and he wasnt so sure about such an animal even existing.

Even to this day, if its brought up, he still says "You saw what you saw".

ALSO NOTICED: Everything mentioned above.

OTHER WITNESSES: Myself and two others.They were squirrel hunting with me.

OTHER STORIES: Never heard anything before, or since.

TIME AND CONDITIONS: 5:00p.m. Good light and visibility. Clear fall day, in the upper 40s.

ENVIRONMENT: The incident took place 1 mile N.W. from the camp. The altitude is nearly 9000ft, all conifer trees, and very dense. Alot of windfall, youre walking on the ground as much as off it. The camp and the sighting area are in a basin, about 2-3 miles wide, the tops of the mountains around are rocky and for the most part bare, above tree line. There is a creek running through the center of this basin, called Owen creek.

Follow-up investigation report:

The witness called me, at his expense, and we were on the phone for well over an hour. The one phrase that he kept repeating is that he has no idea what it was he saw, but that it appeared to be identical to what people describe as being a sasquatch, and that it was definitely an animal of some kind. The witness claims that he did not have a preconception of what a sasquatch should look like, as he had never heard any mention of them up until his encounter.

As I questioned him further, he did reveal some interesting details about the sighting. The incident took place at between 15 and 20 yards distance, and lasted 2 minutes or so. He noticed that the arms were exceptionally long, though they did not quite reach the knees. He also noted that the upper body seemed very disproportionate to the lower body, in that the upper body was very long, while the legs were rather short in comparison. The legs were very thick and muscular, though. He also mentioned the rump of the animal as being very large. Not protruding, but very pronounced and muscular. He went on to mention that the animal was very broad across the shoulders, and that it was slouched forward slightly. He described it as being like a man that was just starting to slouch forward, as if to place his hands on his knees. The shoulders appeared to be more forward on the torso than they would on a person, as it stood there. He said that the face appeared negroid, except that it was wider in through the jowls. He also noted that the animal had an extremely pronounced sagittal crest, so much so that he was unable to make out the eyes of the animal. The nose was pushed up, wide and flat.

During the entire duration of their standoff, the animal did not move. During this time, he said that his friend shouted at the animal a couple of times, but without effect. While they were standing there, he said that he could hear the animal breathing from time to time, as if it were taking in an occasional deep breath. After the last time his friend yelled at the animal, it let out a sort of soft cough/grunt, and moved slightly to the left and forward, towards them. He describes the sound as being kind of like a bear cough, but not quite. His attempts to mimic it over the phone fell short. Upon witnessing this grunt and movement by the creature, the boys immediately turned around and fled the area. As he states above, they returned the next day with his father, an experienced outdoorsman, but found nothing other than disturbances where the animal had been standing.

In closing, he says that at no time during the encounter did he feel threatened by the animal, although he was in awe of the sheer size and perceived strength of it. It seemed equally as curious in them as they were in it. He went on to mention that he did not notice any foul odors associated with the animal, and he did not see any features to denote which sex the animal was.

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