YEAR: 1988

SEASON: Fall

MONTH: October

DATE: 14

STATE: Washington

COUNTY: Klickitat County

LOCATION DETAILS: North at old Wahkiacus post office for approx. 4 miles there is a school house.From there it is approx. 2mi N.W. on private land.

NEAREST TOWN: Wahkiacus

NEAREST ROAD: S.R. 142

OBSERVED: I am new to the net,found your site in a magazine today at the doctors office.This event takes place about about 15years ago on a hunting trip in the Klickitat-Wahkiacus area of Washington State.Our family has hunted this area for many years on this trip things got a little spookey.There was a total of 7 of us all hunting the same place 2 are now deceased.We started off this saturday morning the second week of October, opening weekend of deer season driving our vehicle down a old abandoned skid trail in the vecinity of the old Woodruff mill,to get into a hot spot where we would park my disabled mother on a stand.When it was starting to get light enough my father and I proceded east from the vehicle to head off on what we called a drive(try to push the deer out of the brush and to my mother). We were walking down the road it was a little soft from the night before rain and dense low fog.W e were loking for sign when we encountered the tracks right on top of where are tires had just rolled something had followed our vehicle.At first we thought it was a big bear immediately we were on alert.As we examined the tracks more closely we determined that bears dont walk on their hind feet for this long of a period of time.There was no front paw tracks!We continued on our drive encircleing the area.On our way thru the thick buckbrush heading west back to the truck we started hearing noises,something was now tracking us.We could smell a strong oder that was like cat urine or a dirty cat box.At this point we were both scared we could hear it smell it but we could not see it.The visibility in this brush was near 5ft.in most places besides the trail we were on where you could see 20ft to the front or rear of you.We started to move faster for the truck as we sped up so did it.The brush behind us was cracking so we took cover behind 2 trees each of us on the oposite side of each other aiming to where the noise was.At this time whatever it was squealed in a high pitch(almost like a woman giving birth)and took off running n.w. of our position.Hoping it was gone and fearing it was heading for mom we scrambled that way.When we got to the truck she was in it with the doors locked.She told us it was N. of her position making lots of noise(thrashing).We went to investigate,we found more tracks and trees about 4inches in diameter were uprooted and thrown down the gullyside,there was no sign of it.We met up with my uncle and cousin and showed them the tracks they could not beleive it.We went back to our uncles camp for lunch when we got there we noticed more tracks it had come into the camp.My cousin is a big guy his shoe size is a 15,these tracks had more than 3-4 inches on him whatever this thing was it is BIG!! I dont tell to many people about this for fear of being laughed at or called crazy but for the 7 of us we will never forget.

ALSO NOTICED: found some greyish/black hair on a old barb wire fence where the tracks left uncles camp. Also there was no signs of deer or other wildlife which was not normal for the area.

OTHER WITNESSES: there was seven of us we were hunting.

OTHER STORIES: When we asked a old hermit that lived here,if he had ever seen anything weird out here he just smiled.We used to give him yakima apples in trade for hunting his land.

TIME AND CONDITIONS: early morning,very foggy after a good rain.Dense woods and brush.

ENVIRONMENT: pine forest area with scub oak and buckbrush,rolling hills and gullys.

Follow-up investigation report:

I spoke to witness S.L., who had submitted the original report and he had given me permission to talk with his father who was with him at the time of incident, along with his mother, who did not talk to me. They had been hunting an area that was familiar with them for the last 15 plus years.

The hunting party consisted of three people (out of the seven) that spotted the creature, mother who was disabled was set in an area and other part of hunting group were to hunt towards her.

It was three o' clock in the afternoon when something approached them in a dense stand of mixed conifer (Douglas-fir, Grand fir, Ponderosa Pine and some Lodgepole pine trees).

Witness and father both stated something began screaming at them,"It sounded agitated that we there" said S.L., and started pulling up and snapping small ponderosa pine trees out of the ground and had thrown a few their direction. When it finished it took off and they heard it hit something.

They walked towards the direction of the screams and seen a barbed wire fence, noticing three posts had been popped out of the ground, "Fence was kind of old","but it still managed to pop out them posts." They managed to pull up to 30 hairs, brown and grey in color off the fence. Witness' father smelled hairs said "It was so strong that it burned my nasal passage."
I had asked witness what had happened to the hairs? Witness said "My mother did not want anything like that in house and she burned them."

After the creatue hit the fence they begin to track it, (estimated size of the track was about a size 18) noticing tracks on an old dirt road and it was heading in direction of his mother, they went to retrieve truck and pick her up.

As they approached truck they noticed she was already there. She had told them that something had run by her and it was BIG and it was screaming. She had waited for it to depart the area before trying to make it back to the vehicle.

The witnesses then begin to track the creature and managed to follow the prints back to a structure built out of the surrounding woody debris. He said,"My father was the only one that was brave enough to go inside."
Witness' father said "It was big enough for three of me to fit inside." He then said,"If you stood back at a distance","You wouldn't have noticed it","The trees and brush was so thick in there."

Because of the time of day and the long walk back to camp they departed the area with rifles in hand. "When we walked back to camp","We were not alone."
Witness said "It followed us back to camp","We could hear it in the distance." witness continued," When we got back to camp it howled","My uncle didn't want to stay","He packed his things and left"," He went home."

I had asked witness and his father why they stayed and never left? "I wanted to see it","I wanted to see what was making all the ruckus." Father said,"I had a rifle and a spot light if it got close to camp."

Investigation is still ongoing, witness and father will be taking investigator back to camp and other areas mentioned in report. The family hasn't been back to hunt the area after incident and will be the son's second trip back to the area since incident.

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