YEAR: 2017

SEASON: Summer

MONTH: June

DATE: 28

STATE: Kentucky

COUNTY: Trigg County

NEAREST TOWN: Gilbertsville

NEAREST ROAD: Uncertain

OBSERVED: This is my Facebook post. Copied and pasted.

Occurrence was inside Land Between the Lakes National Forest, Hillman Ferry Campground at Campsite B 43.

Well. I made sure we secured the most backcountry spot where you can dump camp. I wanted away from loud people.

So it is empty and quiet; covered with plenty of trees.

So at about 4am, I wake up, instantly.

I ask my wife what's the matter.

She simply whispered she was scared.

I ask about what.

She said she heard noises out in the woods.

Now normally, I would ask her to go back to sleep, that there's nothing wrong.

But this time.

Suddenly, about maybe five or six owls start hooting. And they're going non stop, back to back. Then the coyotes begin howling with them. And then every bird wakes up and begins their story.

They go on continuously for about thirty seconds. Suddenly, they all stop. And so I know this is completely unusual.

Then we hear it.

Clump, Clump, Clump, Clump. Branches were breaking, wood was cracking with each step.

And I'm like okay, that's a biped. But a human, unless it was intentionally trying to be frightening, wouldn't be tromping around. And an adult would know and expect people to have firearms. Also, the terrain would be too difficult to simply decide to go for a stroll in the woods in the middle of the night, with no guarantee to meet somebody to scare. During the day, the forest is too dense for hunting. I know there are no bears, I know it's not a deer, or any other woodland creature that is common here.

So.

It keeps getting closer and closer. So I cough really loud. No change in its cadence. It sounded like how I would sound walking through the woods. Heavy and sweating, full of complaints. These steps were loud.

So I get out. The flashlight is in the truck. I go to the truck and rummage around for it. And I'm naked, carrying a knife in my mouth, searching through the vehicle. So I find it, and then start searching the treeline. I see nothing. But the steps stop.

So, I start up the vehicle and point it towards the woods. I turn on the high beams. Nothing.

I get out, turn off the lights. Start to head back to the tent, and then suddenly: Boom, boom, boom. It runs off. Tree limbs were breaking, trees were swaying. And I could hear it exhale as it ran. Sound like a combination of a boar and a man.

And so, if you're familiar with Land Between the Lakes, there's a huge dogman or big foot phenomenon here. Tons of stories on YouTube about here. So I don't know. We both experienced it.

Pretty crazy.

ALSO NOTICED: I am very skilled in outdoors activities, and I have plenty of experience in the backcountry. I am a retired Marine, and have extensive hunting and tracking experience. This was unlike anything I've ever encountered in the bush.

OTHER STORIES: This place is famous for a werewolf like creature or bigfoot type creature. After last night, I began researching it, and there are countless stories.

TIME AND CONDITIONS: Night. 4 am. Poor natural lighting. Used vehicle lights and flashlight.

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Jack Smarr:

I spoke to the witness over the phone. He stated that he was camping in a remote section of the camping area at Land Between the Lakes in Western Kentucky. It was mid-week and no other campers were present. Their camp was located near a fish cleaning station and the dumpster area.

On the first night of camping, he noticed that something hard hit his truck. He heard the metallic clang and brushed it off as a possible walnut falling. Then he heard some sticks falling in the woods. Again, he knew that branches fall out of trees all of the time and he did not think any more about it. On the second night, the couple was up late after talking to relatives in Russia. They were just talking softly and settling down to go to sleep.

Suddenly his wife roused him and said she heard something moving outside in the forest. They heard something come crashing downhill through the forest. It made loud crashing sounds as it ran through the brush. The witness jumped up and went outside to check with his flashlight. He thought it sounded bipedal and quickly eliminated the idea of it being a deer or a bear. As he scanned the forest with his light, all became quiet. It was then that he described that he heard the sound of two exhales, almost like a sigh.

Just as suddenly, the thing crashed back uphill through the woods making the same amount of ruckus as when it came down. I asked him if it cleared the woods or if he ever caught a glimpse of it. Although the woods opened up at the bottom toward the campground, it never came out of the thicker brush. He further describes the sounds as an exhalation of breaths “like you would hear from a large animal like a horse”.

The couple immediately began breaking down camp and tossing their gear into the car. As it was beginning to get daylight, he noted that branches and sticks were broken five to six feet off the ground at the edge of the woods where he guessed it came down about eighty feet from his tent. Furthermore, there were two slide marks where it suddenly came to a halt and slid sideways. He described the slide marks like two “tire- like” skids in the mud although you could see the marks were made by bare feet. Upon leaving; they circled through the camp ground and verified that there were no other campers present; only empty RV’s that were parked waiting for their weekend owners.

As they were leaving the area, they stopped to talk to one of the volunteer campers further away. They told him, without going into much detail, that they had been spooked last night and were cutting their trip short. The volunteer just laughed and said, “Well, they do say that strange things happen up here sometimes”.

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