YEAR: 1987

SEASON: Fall

MONTH: November

STATE: Texas

COUNTY: Red River County

NEAREST TOWN: Clarksville

OBSERVED: I was deerhunting with a friend on a place known in that area as the boware slash,a slash where I come from is a swampy area. We had to cross the 4 DUCE Ranch to get to our hunting lease ,the ranch was owned by Sally Gooding at the time,I dont know if she still owns it now,it has been 11 years ago since this happened.We had to cross a creek in a boat to get to the deerlease. This lease was surrounded by two creeks these creaks ranged from 12 to 24 feet wide and had been drug out by beavers which made them 7 foot deep and deeper in places.You will understand why Im giving you all this info in a few minutes. There were three of us hunting in this area it is way off the beatin path.My friend Glenn Bennett and C.E.Gay went one direction and I went the other ,I had never been there before and so I spent most of the morning slowly making my way through the woods and trying to keep my barrings about which direction I WAS going.We had gotten into the woods before daylight and there was only a light breez blowing,and I was trying to keep it in my face.I had seen a couple of does after the sun came up,and I could hear several dogs runninng on the opposite side of where we came in.Warehouser owned a few hundred acres on one side of us and the 4 DUCE RANCH was on the other side , were pretty succluded. I was making my way along the creek in the direction that I should have found Glen.I was moving very slow still looking and hunting as I went,and still had the wind in my face. Before I tell you more I want you to understand I grew up and have allways lived out in the country.I have played in the woods from daylight till dark and I have never been scared like I was on this day.As I came up on a big blowdown with a lot of undergrowth around it I could see something moving around in the brush pile,I heard the limbs moving and twigs poping first and thought it might be C.E. making him a blind to hunt out of.I whistled like a quail twice to get his attention so that I wouldnt startel him. I was probably 30 or 35 feet away and the brush and undergrowth in the slash was pretty thick.After I whistled the movement stoped and I could see a large dark colored figure moving toward the creek at an angle away from me, my hair on the back of my neck stoud up and I had a feeling that I had never felt before.This had never happened to me before while I was hunting.I was still thinking to myself it may be somebody ,but I still took my 3006 off of safety and walk toward what ever it was I lost site of it in the underbrush and then picked it up again on the other side of the creak.The creak in this area was about 12 or 14 feet wide,I never heard any sound of anything hitting the water . I ran up to the edge of the water and about 100 feet on the other side I could barely see a black figure with a silver looking tint to its hair ,where it was standing the sun was shineing on it,I only saw it for about 30 or 40 seconds this last time.Whatever it was walked on 2 legs and was 6 foot tall or taller and moved through the woods quieter than anything I have ever seen,after it was on the other side of the creek it never made any noise.The ground was covered with oak leaves that were damp and a lot of undergrowth so I didnt see any footprints.I walk back to the blowdown where I had originaly seen it,and found where a large log had just been moved ,this log was probably 3 foot tall and maybe 20 foot long, although it was decaying it was to heavy for anyone I know to move.I figured I had interrupted a midmorning snack and then I questioned my own good judgement about going toward it when I first saw it.I get chils just writting this.I decided it was time for me to head back to the pickup it was one of the longest walks I have ever made.I had to go through some thick stands of switchcane,my heart was in my throat and I left my gun off of safety all the way back to the truck,thats something I have never done before,I pride myself in being safe with firearms,and have been hunting since I was 6 years olds.I told Glen and C.E. what I had seen,but they just made light of it,they said it might have been a bear.I am familar with all types of wildlife and I know it was not a bear,it was something I have never seen before or since.

OTHER WITNESSES: I was deer hunting.

OTHER STORIES: There have been two other incidents in the same area. BOTH had happened before this but I did not find out about them until I had told my story to a couple of other people.

TIME AND CONDITIONS: Around 10am in the morning.

ENVIRONMENT: Swamp and oak trees. 4Duce Ranch. Boware Slash.

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