YEAR: 2010

SEASON: Winter

MONTH: December

DATE: Around the 15th

STATE: Kentucky

COUNTY: Pike County

LOCATION DETAILS: The location is in what used to be called xxxxx Branch. The main hollow is now being filled with dirt in the making of US 460.

NEAREST TOWN: Elkhorn City

OBSERVED: In December of 2010 (I think it was the around the 15th, whatever the 2nd muzzle loading season fell on during that year.) I was going deer hunting on private family property very close to Elkhorn City, Kentucky. This was my first time going hunting in a while as I had gave up the sport in my late teens/early tewnties and I would have been 30 at the time of the sighting. The road that I had to travel is passable with a 4-wheel drive and is an old mining/logging road. The terrain is typical Appalachian terrain and the spot that I was headed to (where my tree stand was located) is on a ridge top and somewhat flat from old mining operations but very steep on one side of the road and somewhat flat on the other. I was hunting with a muzzle loader gun and as I arrived at my parking spot (in a steep curve in the road and and on a long what we call point, a natural crossing place for deer and other wildlife I got out of the drivers side of my truck and walked behind my truck to get to the passenger door to get my gun and load it. I am not sure of the time but it was well before daylight. As I was attempting to load my gun I heard what was coyotes, making a lot of noise which is not uncommon but these were close and I have to admit that I got spooked and hurried and got back in the drivers side of my truck, locked the doors and flipped my head lights back on. My truck was facing the flat area with the point to my back and the steep hillside on my right. I cracked my window to listen for other sounds and I heard more coyote sounds and in about 2 - 3 minutes time I heard what I knew had to be a large creature coming from the flat area where my truck was facing. Keep in mind the coyote sounds were coming from the same direction. Next I saw something that I have never seen before or since. I saw a creature that had to be at least 8 feet tall. It came out of the wooded area towards the left side of my truck. The creature was moving at a quick speed but when it came out of the clearing it seemed to be shocked to see my truck and apprehensive. It stopped for maybe 5 to 10 seconds and took off and dissappeared behind me. The creature had the form of a really big man with long arms and longer hair that covered his whole body. It walked slumped over almost like it had a hunch back. My total time of seeing the creature was probably about 10 seconds. Since this occurance I have seen bear while hunting and I can say for sure that what I saw that December morning was not a bear or anything else that I have ever seen in these hills and mountains. In a nutshell the creature looked ran/walked like what you see on TV reinactments. I truely believe that on that morning I saw a Squatch. I can't describe how I felt after seeing the creature. I wasn't scared but I wasn't totally comfortable either. I suppose you can say I was bewildered.

ALSO NOTICED: Just before my sighting, I had taken some friends to our property to do some coon hunting. These guys had good dogs but when we tried to turn them loose that would not go out of our sight and all 3 dogs returned to us within ten minutes and would not hunt, which was unheard of with these particular dogs. This was probably around 2 months previous to my sighting. We also heard what sounded to be rocks rollong down the hill in front of us which was very steep for no apparent reason.

OTHER WITNESSES: I was alone.

TIME AND CONDITIONS: This happened well before daylight between 4:30 and 4:45 AM I had my head lights on and the creature did pass through them partially. The weather was cold and clear.

ENVIRONMENT: Typical Appalachian Ridgetop with an old mining access road. There is a very steep curve in the road where the sighting occured.

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Jack Smarr:

I spoke to the witness on the telephone and he added more details. The road was cut out of the mountain top and was at a lower level than the surrounding woods. After being spooked by the coyotes and getting back in to his truck, the witness rolled down the driver side window to hear something heavy approaching to his left from the woods. As he turned on his headlights, the sasquatch strode quickly out of the woods from the left and hopped down into the road about twenty feet away. The sasquatch seemed to be taken aback by the presence of a truck because “he” immediately froze facing the truck and assumed a linebackers pose (bent knees and arms shoulder width apart, palms facing each other and fingers pointing straight out). The witness interpreted the reaction of the Sasquatch as something like, “Oh, first I am being chased by coyotes and now I have this unexpected event to deal with!” The Sasquatch remained still for five to ten seconds in this position then quickly walked around the truck staying on the driver’s side at a distance of twenty feet. He moved from the front diagonal side of the truck along the side and ambled to the rear of the truck on down the long point and slipped into the hollow and out of sight.

The witness felt that that is was a “he” because it looked like a really big man. Gauging from some tree comparisons made later, the witness estimated the height to be from between seven and a half to eight feet tall. The Sasquatch had reddish brown hair at a length of four inches all over its head and body. The hair pattern reminded the witness of someone in a ghillie suit, except it was obviously not someone in a suit. The forehead was sloped back and the mouth looked ape like. He couldn’t see teeth but he could tell that it must have had huge teeth from the way the mouth protruded and the skin was stretched tightly over the lower face. The face itself was sparsely covered with the same reddish brown hair. As it passed him by with the window cracked, the witness could detect a slight musky scent but not overpowering. As the Sasquatch moved past the rear of the truck, the witness rolled his window down, craning his neck to observe it move off over the hill.

The coyotes continued barking before, during, and after the encounter. The witness remained in the truck with locked doors until daylight. When it became reasonably light, he left the truck and followed the path of egress to see if he could see anything else. He did not find foot prints but did find the kind of skid marks you see when someone climbs down a steep bank in muddy, leafy conditions. After a quick scout of the area, the witness loaded his black powder gun and continued on to his tree stand. I asked him why he decided to hunt after this incredible experience. He answered that if he had returned from hunting too early his dad would ask him why he came off the mountain and he did want to tell his father what had just happened. His dad is a “big time hunter” and his son was not about to tell him he found a Sasquatch instead of a deer. The witness seemed to be genuine, articulate and reliable.

Other stories: A group of men were coon hunting on the same property in the early fall of 2010. After they were released, the dogs ran into the woods and came back to the hunting party within five minutes begging to be put back into their boxes. This was highly unusual behavior as these were expensive coon dogs, known to prefer hunting to anything else in the world.

About BFRO Investigator Jack Smarr:

Jack Smarr is retired military and worked primarily in Field Artillery, Armored Cavalry and Armor units. He participated in TN 09,10,11,WV 2012 expeditions; and helped organize KY 2013 expedition. He organized the 2014 KY Daniel Boone Expedition, the 2015 Central Kentucky Expedition, the 2016 Carter Caves State Park Expedition, Northeastern Kentucky 2017, Kentucky 2018 and has conducted private expeditions in Eastern Kentucky and Southern Ohio.

• Explanation of the report classification system
• Submit a report for the sightings database
• Please send any comments or inquiries to ContactUs@BFRO.net