YEAR: 1974

SEASON: Fall

MONTH: November

DATE: November 1974

STATE: Georgia

COUNTY: Walker County

LOCATION DETAILS: Pigeon mountain about a mile from the turn of a hwy 193. The area has change a great deal since this incident happened.

NEAREST TOWN: La Fayette, Georgia

NEAREST ROAD: Chamberland road

OBSERVED: I was deer hunting on Pigeon Mountain and was following a group of deer when I shot and wounded an almost solid black buck with a large rack. The buck followeded a well worn game trail and I had trailed the deer by blood drops. It was getting dark and the terrain was getting to difficult to continue and I had no light.

I had to turn and come down the mountain. I began to feel like I was not alone, there were none of the normal animal sounds (birds, squirrels,ets). I heard something coming down the mountain taking a parallel path I was taking. I could not see any thing. There were limbs breaking, leaves rustling and then I would hear nothing. I had unloaded my gun for saftey and reloaded because I had never heard an animal move threw the woods like this one. Myself, one other person and the owner were the only people allowed to hunt in the area and the terrain it was using was to rough for a human to travel much less move at the speed this animal was.

One minute it would sound like a raging bull and the next minute it would move down the mountain not making a sound. I heard a grunt and a growl. I was terrified and felt as I was being stalked
by something I had never encountered before. When I stopped so did it. When I moved slow, it moved slow. When I moved faster, it moved faster. I was most worried when I would hear nothing.

I reached the base of the mountain and had taken a wrong turn and had put myself infront of a large briar patch, I did not let that stop me. I dove threw the briars cutting and scratching myself. I finally reached the saftey of my truck and once again heard the grunting noise from behind me.

I did not return to look for the buck I had shot or ever hunt in that area again. I did not ever see anything, but something large was in the woods that night.

I have not felt safe in the woods since. I had hunted, fished and farmed in the area all my life. I felt as though I knew all the animals in the woods and the sound they made as they moved. I was taught to stalk hunt by an employee who worked on our farm and he had lived in the Smokey Mountains and fed his family by hunting game. I had heard deer grunt before and this was no deer grunt.

ALSO NOTICED: There was no other animal sounds at the time.

OTHER WITNESSES: None

OTHER STORIES: There had been stories of a creature who walked on two legs during that time period. There was an old dump on Shinbone Ridge where people would dump house garbage rotten food and even dead animals. There were reported sightings there.

One farmer claimed to have chased such an animal in his pick-up in his field and could not catch it running he said 40 MPH. There was reports of large hogs being carried over tall fences with blood every where, missing dogs, missing livestock and stranges noise.

One farmer told me of seeing a creature chasing his cows saying it was black had hair all over it's body move on two legs, but moved like a cat. He told me this story while we were repairing fences in the area he saw the animal.

There was a rumor that an animal attacked a woman in a small car and nearly turned it over. The story I heard she claimed it was a deformed bear. Some people guessed the animal was a bear burned and scared in a fire or a genetically deformed bear that people were seeing.

My friends and I were camping and fishing on a lake at the foot of Pigeon and one of my friends brother showed up at 2 A.M.and told us he heard an animal screaming behind his house not far from the lake. He made us go back to his house. None of us heard anything.

In 1999 in a remote part of Pigeon a friend shot a deer, he dressed and hung it in a tree so it would not be gotten to by a fox or coyote. He returned next date on his four-wheeler to find the deer and all cleaning gone without a trace.

I ran up and down the ridges to stay in shape during that time period, but I never saw the creature or any tracks. I heard noises I could not explain, but that's been years ago.

During that time period 1970's there were reported sightings of a Black Panther in the area. I asked the Game Warden and he told me that was impossible. But he also said if I see one it is against the law to kill it ...

TIME AND CONDITIONS: It was dusk dark when it began and pitch dark at the end. There was no moon light and it was a cloudy and cold night.

ENVIRONMENT: Pigeon is rough steep terrain, with a large network of caves. There are many ridges which have old mines and logging trails

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Morris Collins:

I spoke to the witness for 30 minutes on 10 June, 2007. I found him to be sincere and forthcoming in his comments and observation.

Additional details were that he heard three separate "throaty growls" from the upper part of the mountain. He was followed, with the animal stopping when he stopped and moving when he did. He found the experience very highly unnerving. He now is not comfortable in the woods after dark, though he does still hunt. He has lived in the area for many years and is familiar with the surrounding area.

Cornfield Sink, Northfield Sink, and Pettyjohn Cave are in the area where his occurance happened. There is a history of sightings and unexplained animal noises in this area.

About BFRO Investigator Morris Collins:

Morris holds a Bachelor of Engineering degree from Auburn University and additional coursework toward an MBA in International Business. He is an avid backpacker and SCUBA diver. Morris attended Georgia 2006, 2008, 2009 & 2011; North Carolina 2006 and SC 2007 expeditions. He is a member of the SE BFRO Tracking Team and has completed a first course in visual tracking.

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