YEAR: 1997

SEASON: Fall

MONTH: September

DATE: 15

PROVINCE: Alberta

COUNTRY: Canada

LOCATION DETAILS: Between Valleyview and Fox Creek, Northern Alberta

NEAREST TOWN: Valleyview

NEAREST ROAD: highway 43

OBSERVED: We were on a canoe/hunting trip down the Little Smokey River by Valleyview Alberta. I'm thinking either 1997 or 98...but I think 1997. I didn't want to report this, due to me being a hunter and I've only told certain people with mixed response.
It was a couple days before Elk season in September, the weekend that the Monday was the 15th I think, so we were looking for Whitetail and canoeing/fishing and the river was quite low in most spots at the time. Elk didn't open until the Monday, which was the 15th or 16th, so it was only Deer until then.
That Saturday, we ended up on a big sandbar that was filled with fresh Elk track and sign. So we decided to camp and track and if we found a herd, stay until the Monday when Elk opened up and hopefully tag one.
We split into quadrants and I went northwest on a game trail with fresh Elk sign.
I followed that trail for about 2 km, and then I took several other smaller trails, just tracking and getting closer to where the Elk were.
I stopped when I encountered a repugnant smell. I also started to get very spooked - which is not normal for me in the bush, because I know it well, know what is what and well, a guy knows when he has company there.
I was pretty sure I was being watched from a few different places, and it scarred the heck out of me. No bear sign, no deer sign...but I was sure I was being watched, and the smell was like a rotting fish and excrement. Not animal scat, (that doesn't smell) closer to human fecal matter smell, but a lot worse.
I stood perfectly still for around 10 minutes, not moving a muscle. My heart and breathing had started to pound air out from my mouth to the point where I could see my breath pulse with my heartbeat in the cold air, and feel my heart pounding in my throat.
I couldn't stand frozen-still any longer. I had been watching 2 spots; now I turned my head and my foot and stepped, and the whole bush erupted and things ran everywhere.
I could see things that definitely were NOT Elk or Deer, but my mind couldn't really compute what I was seeing. I can't honestly say that I clearly identified anything, it was so fast, and the brush was so thick. But there were several large animals scattering from around my location.
I got the heck out of there and ran for like 1000 yards (or somewhere close to that). Then I stopped, got my breath...and slowly made my way back to camp. I mean SLOW, because I was absolutely paranoid by this time and I was constantly looking behind me!
I said nothing to anyone else. We made camp and eventually fell asleep. Took me forever to do it, but by around 1 AM, I finally did so.
It wasn't all that long (and it was a cold night, with a very clear sky before I went to bed), that we were awakened by a scream I can only describe as a "Yowl". It wasn't a scream, it wasn't a yell, but it was something that silenced the entire bush! It was LOUD, foreign and long! It seemed to go on for minutes, but I cannot be sure.
I shot up outta my sleeping bag, looked at my brother-in-law, who was already awake and looking at me in sheer horror, and I got out and grabbed my rifle.
I can remember hearing, prior to the "yowl" as I fell in and out of sleep, some sort of banging. This seemed odd to me because there was NO forestry anywhere around there. We were miles down that river and no way in or out but by canoe.
At times in the fall, grouse beating their plumage can sound very loud in the bush and carry quite a ways, but I am quite sure it was not that.
But I am certain about what I have related here. Whatever I saw, I know what it WAS NOT...but that was as close as I got and had very limited visibility.

TIME AND CONDITIONS: I was first watched during the late afternoon,
then that night around 2 AM, awoken by screaming in forest.

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Tyler Huggins:

Spoke at length to witness by phone. Witness is experienced hunter and bow hunter. He had gone on a hunting trip with 3 others. He was tracking elk sign by himself, when he suddenly came upon a very foul smell (which he thought might be closer to wolverine musk than say, skunk, and also reminded him of feces and b.o. and rotten garbage) and had the very strong, distinct feeling that he was being watched from multiple locations.

He tried to “freeze” completely motionless for about 10 minutes, but then felt that his muscles really needed to move, so he turned his head, and started to step forward at the same time. He said that at that point, the bush “erupted” with perhaps 5 animals exiting the area quickly. He described the animals as fleeing on two legs. Witness reported the height as 6 feet tall for the smallest of the bunch, while saying the larger ones were “much larger” and extremely wide and thick - linebacker build, as opposed to basketball player. During our interview, upon reflection, he felt that while he was being watched, the animals must have originally been very close to the ground, not standing upright.

The witness then fled the area, running for as long as he could, and then walking as he constantly stopped to check if he was being followed. He did not mention his story to anyone when he got back to camp.

That night, around 2 AM, the 4 hunters were awakened by very loud screams of some sort. The witness is an accomplished elk caller, and has even been hired to do it for other hunters at times, but says he could not properly attempt an imitation of the screams he heard. He said that since this encounter, he has heard similar sounds on the internet that are attributed to sasquatch. The sounds seemed to come from about 40 yards away, and were very intimidating. He said they “felt” like they came from an animal that would have had a chest cavity around similar size to an elk, and that the message he got was “Hey, you better realize that I am here, and that you should not be.” He and his hunting party felt compelled to leave the area after daybreak that day. His father-in-law, who was on that trip, has never hunted again, since that night.

While the witness did not get clear views of faces, he is certain that what he saw was bipedal, not human and not any other classified animal that you might encounter in the Canadian woods (such as deer, moose, elk, bear, wolf, etc.) When I enquired about his statement that he could 'not clearly identify anything' he clarified that he meant that since he had not seen a Sasquatch before, and since they are not classified, he could not identify it as he would identify say, an elk. This was an unknown bipedal animal. When I asked him about the statement that he was "leaving some info out" that he ‘could not be certain of’, he said it just pertained to him being reluctant to assert a name for the animals he saw, since they are not a classified or recognized mammal.

The witness described himself as being half Native North American (Okanagan First Nation), and that stories of this creature were well known on the reserve. They were not thought of as being among the mythical animals, but rather, accepted as real creatures, just as coyotes and other animals.

It is worth noting that this witness and his hunting party have spent countless hours in remote forest, and never had any other encounters.

Witnessed seemed sincere and credible, and hopes to accompany investigators into the field.

About BFRO Investigator Tyler Huggins:

Tyler first encountered a Sasquatch as part of a close proximity class A sighting in 1991. He has been in contact with the BFRO since 1997. He has maintained an active interest and study on the topic throughout those years, as he off-roaded, and hiked back-country frequently. Tyler has attended and co-organized Alberta BFRO Expeditions, and has kept active in personal field expeditions for several years.

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