YEAR: 1998

SEASON: Fall

DATE: 12-16

STATE: Oregon

COUNTY: Umatilla County

LOCATION DETAILS: This took place off of an old logging road that I had only been on the one time. It was near the indian reservation.

NEAREST TOWN: Pilot Rock, Oregon

NEAREST ROAD: Unknown...just off the indian reservation

OBSERVED: I was with a group of bow hunters in a canyon above Pilot Rock, Oregon. My 12 year old daughter and I were sitting in the brush waiting for the rest of the party to push the elk to us. We had been sitting in the dense trees since early in the morning (about 6 am) and it for about three hours, as my daughter wasn't keen on hiking through the canyon. We had been bugling during the entire time. Because it was early fall, it was quite foggy up in the high areas. My daughter and I had been hearing what sounded like a branch thumping against the trees from down below us, but steadily approaching our hiding spot. I thought nothing of the sound because one of the party was carrying antlers to "rattle" the elk. Eventually, the two of us began to hear distinct rustling noises near us with a grunting and growling sound. The stench was unbelievable. It smelled like a combination of wet mop and wet dog hair that had moldered for awhile. I have been around a bear carcass and it did not smell like this. I was, quite frankly, spooked! My daughter was likewise wanting to get out of the woods. We immediately climbed up the canyon wall to where the four wheelers were. The crashing sounds followed us. When the rest of the party caught up with us they said that they had seen me walking along the hill. Where they said they had spotted me was in no where close to where my daughter and I had been as it was straight down a pretty ragged elk trail that I would not have tried with my kid along. I have never been comfortable in that area again and refuse to hunt without someone with me. I have tried telling many people about this but even my daughter who was with me scoff and say it was a bear.

ALSO NOTICED: The knocking sounds and the continual approach of what ever it was being drawn to the "bugling" we were doing. It was not a bull elk as we had not had any responses to the calls. The entire party (all experienced hunters and campers) went back to the site and found scat that did not look like deer, elk, or bear. It was slimy green and in a large pile of half eaten berries and leaves.

OTHER WITNESSES: My twelve year old daughter and I. Three other bow hunters spotted "me" (what we think is the alleged Sasquatch) on the side of the hill.

OTHER STORIES: I have heard joking tales but nothing serious.

TIME AND CONDITIONS: This incident occured around mid morning on a foggy cold day.

ENVIRONMENT: Dense trees with lots of undergrowth of bushes. It was just off of an elk trail with rocks. The site is on the side of a fairly wide canyon.

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator ArishaW:

The witness stated that she has hunted since she was a little girl, and the sounds she heard and the smell were not of a familiar animal. When she heard it in the bushes, the hair stood up on the back of her neck, and she couldn’t get out fast enough.

She said it seemed like something entirely different, and that it had not crept up – it was “all of a sudden there.” She never heard footsteps, and when she heard it in the brush, it sounded like it was 10-12 feet away. She said she knew it was not a bear or cat, because she knows the feeling of those animals, and this was different. She said she has never been so scared and still is.

The witness seems to have experienced something extraordinary given her many years of experience with hunting and familiarity with the woods.

About BFRO Investigator ArishaW:

ArishaW lives in Oregon and has attended BFRO expeditions in the California redwoods (2008), the Olympic Peninsula (2009) and in Mendocino County, California (2010). She has been interested in the bigfoot phenomenon for a long time and is happy to have discovered the BFRO.

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