YEAR: 1998

SEASON: Fall

MONTH: November

DATE: Saturday

STATE: Washington

COUNTY: Lewis County

LOCATION DETAILS: From FR 23 heading south, turn right on Road 2504. About a mile in, there is a closed road on the right hand side. You must then hike in about 1.5 miles (following the left fork) up to its end. That's where the encounter occurred.

NEAREST TOWN: Randle

NEAREST ROAD: FR 23

OBSERVED: My brother and I were out for a weekend of deer hunting in one of my favorite haunts in the Gifford Pinchot Nat. Forest. A couple years back we had found a closed road that lead up to an enchanting pocket of old growth forest which allowed for decent visibility yet had vegetation that would seem to be sufficient to hide and feed wildlife. I find old growth forests magical, but my brother found this spot somewhat spooky, due to its isolation and dead still quiet. Nonetheless, we walked the 1.5 miles up the road into this forest, where the road terminates in a small ridge and a pocket of thick, second growth fir beyond that. We seperated about 75 yards and sat for about a half hour just watching and listening. That's when we heard some unusual sounds. To my mind, they were kind of like a bird hoot or something, but the sounds were loud and nothing I'd ever heard before (not an owl). These sounds occurred two or three times. When my brother and I reunited, we both mentioned these sounds to each other and were confused because they were unusual to us both. He did not think they sounded at all like a bird. Since we had been out all day, we then decided to retire and head back down the trail. About 6 months later we came upon the "Whoop Howl" sounds on the BFRO site and were both astounded to find that these were very similar to the sounds that we had heard during our hunting trip.

ALSO NOTICED: On a hunting trip a couple of years prior to this encounter, my friend and I had found an elk carcass decomposing very close to the area where we heard the unusual sounds. My friend had also shot a deer in this area. Both of these are mentioned to show that an abundance of game frequents this area.

OTHER WITNESSES: Only my brother and myself.

TIME AND CONDITIONS: During the afternoon. Weather was mild, cool and skies somewhat overcast.

ENVIRONMENT: A pocket of old growth timber, mostly douglas fir with natural understory of green vegetation. The ridge from where the sounds occurred had a mixture of large timber and thick second growth fir beyond that.

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Scott Taylor:

I talked to the witness about his encounter. This witness has attended the 2008 Washington Cascades expedition. I met him there. The area where he heard the vocalizations is a place where sasquatch sightings and encounters are common. I believe based on the details provided, that the witness and his brother heard a sasquatch vocalizing.

About BFRO Investigator Scott Taylor:

Scott Taylor is a retired aerospace manager. He lives in Mason County, Washington. He had his first bigfoot encounter in October 2005 where he was stalked and later heard vocalizations.

Scott has attended official BFRO Expeditions in the Washington Cascades in 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013. He also attended 2007 Central Oregon Cascades and 2007 Utah. He now organizes BFRO expeditions in Washington and has participated in bigfoot conferences over the past 17 years.

Scott will be leading a Washington BFRO expedition in 2025 (July 17-20) which is open to non-members. For more details and registration information for that trip click here.