YEAR: 2006

SEASON: Summer

MONTH: August

STATE: Michigan

COUNTY: Muskegon County

NEAREST TOWN: north muskegon

NEAREST ROAD: m120

OBSERVED: Large figure squatting off my back deck possibly looking in the windows. I chased it into the woods and lost it, first I thought it was a person but when coming back out of the woods I noticed the shed it ran by. His head was over the shed when it ran by it. I didn't come close and I stand 6' 2", it put chills down my spine so bad we moved.

OTHER WITNESSES: Yes my cousin

OTHER STORIES: We went camping up north in New Era and my wife said she could hear something throwing stuff at the tent. She couldn't wake me because I was sleeping too sound. She was scared something bad when I came to but there was nothing there when I looked. It was in back off a corn field by a water hole near the bike trail.

TIME AND CONDITIONS: Around 3:30am full moon warm nice weather

ENVIRONMENT: The property is hardwoods then there's fields and a creek that runs through it very dense forest at some points rivers and swamps not too far away too

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Jim Sherman:

This report spawned an interesting series of contacts with the witnesses. They decided to begin doing research on their own and asked for my help in the process. They have certainly found some success in this endeavor. Three incidents will be discussed in the course of this report. The first was the initial report of a possible sighting that occurred on the witness' property just off of his deck. The second involves a nighttime camping experience that left the couple "freaked out." The third involves one of the subsequent trips the couple took in order to gather evidence to try to make sense of their previous experiences.

The land area around all three incidents is right on the western edge of the Manistee National Forest. This area includes numerous camping and hunting opportunities as well as ample habitat for game animals. Many rivers, swamps and lakes make this a great place for recreation of all kinds. One unique recreation activity is the Electric Forest Festival held yearly near Rothbury. This art and music festival was created to display not only art but also to promote sustainability and overall improvements to the environment. I researched the area and happened on this festival. The sheer number of people, light shows and music made it less likely that I would have the experience that I intended.

I asked the witness, Mr. H, if he could describe the sighting near his deck and if he could give a better description of what he had seen. He said that he would not have run after the thing if he had known how big it was. The comparison between the shed and Mr. H's height made the figure appear to be at least seven feet tall. The moon was bright enough to see the figure but not clearly enough to see coloration or features any more clearly than those described in the initial report. Basically he saw what he thought was a person looking in his windows, ran out to chase it off, and then realized that it must have been very large.

The second report was of particular interest to me considering I too have had an experience while camping, similar to that which they described. The couple had been camping with friends on property that the other couple owned near the Rothbury area in 2009. This property was near a bike trail that heads north toward the city of Hart. Their camp was well off the road in a cornfield near the treeline. A small pond nearby was visited throughout the day by herds of deer that the group silently watched. On the second night Mr. H went to bed early and the other couple left due to an argument. When Mrs. H entered the tent and attempted to fall asleep she was startled by something hitting the tent. She attempted to wake Mr. H who promptly said she was "nuts" and should go back to sleep. They did have a discussion about bears briefly but then he went back to sleep. She did not, and soon he was also wide awake as something had come back and was "...putting its hand on the tent," and throwing rocks or some other object. He could see the outline of the hand pressed against the fabric of the tent and thought it was his buddy trying to be funny. Mr. H, "...jumped out of the tent to chase him and what [I] saw scared me to death, something big ran off into the woods on two feet." Then after a sleepless night the couple confronted the owner of the property who swore he was not in the woods that night. This experience left him with a desire to understand more about what he had experienced and his research eventually led him to the BFRO and our subsequent discussions.

After speaking with Mr. H we decided that during his next camping trip in an area near to where they had experienced the night of rock throwing and tent touching but owned by his in-laws, he would try to employ some techniques to elicit a response from the woods and maybe draw something close to the camp. The following is in the witness' own words, I only changed information on the request of the witness:

Hi Jim we're back from camping and we had great activity every night. We heard coyotes yelping every night and they were close. We also had deer run right threw our camp site, one almost ran my wife over. My kids were there the first night and they run back to camp and told us there was a bear 20 yards away( I keep my rifle with us when we camp just for security reasons) so I grabbed it and ran in that direction and there was nothing there? I've seen plenty of bear and I found it weird that it ran off within seconds of the kids yelling and at least not catching a glimpse of it retreating. We heard knocks during the day and night, never from the same direction. About three in the morning I was beating a branch to bust it up for more fire wood and I knocked four or five times and we heard about the same amount back in the distance. My wife's family owns the property and we know for sure there is no one back there. On our last day we had something throwing the bushes all around very violently, busting things and grunting I know it wasn't a bear. The only bad thing about the property was the ground was bad for leaving prints. I would know if it was a bear I would of found sign of it, there were a couple of very unexplainable things that happened. My father in law was with us and is one of those non believers and he got freaked a little too. Also something to note I did find some branches that were stacked up funny for being out in the middle of nowhere almost like a tee pee when I was looking for fire wood. I think we found a good spot and will be back this summer for sure. Oh one more thing, there is a couple of old homes that were my wife's great grand parents that are abandoned, no doors all just wide open great for someone to take shelter. We did hear whoops and grunts that were unexplainable, I grew up in the woods, hunted all my life so I'm pretty good on my wildlife sounds I could hear an owl out there hooing what we heard was nothing I could identify. When we go back I'm. Bringing my tree stand to set up so I can watch with a good view away from camp. Sounds like a good idea? Well I will keep In touch thanks for your time.

The witnesses continue going out in the field and researching. It has been a pleasure working with them and I wish them luck in the woods.

About BFRO Investigator Jim Sherman:

Jim is a High School History teacher and Track and Cross Country coach. He attended the Michigan Northern Lower Peninsula Expedition in 2011, the Michigan Upper Peninsula Expedition in 2012, co-organized the Michigan UP 2013 Expedition and attended the 2014 Wisconsin Expedition. He assisted in the production of Animal Planet's Finding Bigfoot Michigan episodes (Bigfoot and Wolverines and Super Yooper). He participates in Ironman Triathlons and enjoys fishing and camping with his wife and daughter. Jim can be contacted at germanicus1@hotmail.com and Twitter @shermanbigfoot and his YouTube account is : Lordcryptid

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