YEAR: 2024

SEASON: Spring

MONTH: May

DATE: 16

STATE: Georgia

COUNTY: Towns County

LOCATION DETAILS: Swallow Creek WMA Mill Creek Rd. Access off of Hwy.17 about six miles south of Hwy. 76.

[Investigator (MM) Notes:

The food plot where this witness was hunting is 2.65 miles southwest of Powell Mountain (the peak). Powell Mountain is along the Appalachian Trail.

GPS for the food plot is: 34.868729, -83.666862 ]

NEAREST TOWN: Hiawassee, Ga

NEAREST ROAD: Mill Creek Rd. Hwy. 17

OBSERVED: This incident occurred on May 16, 2024 at approximately 1600 hours. I was hunting hogs on a food plot on the Swallow Creek wildlife management area (North Georgia mountains) at the end of Mill Creek Rd. I was armed with an AR15.

The weather was warm and partly cloudy but the air was calm. I had walked out into the field and stopped for a minute to listen and look when I heard a distinct wood on wood knock (twice) from a mountain that is at least a quarter mile away (as the crow flies). It sounded like something had used a wooden bat to hit a hardwood tree.

About thirty seconds later from a mountain top on a ridge on the opposite side of the field I heard one faint wood knock. It seemed like an answer to the first two.

Now you have to understand that the road to this spot is one way in and out and I didn’t see any other vehicle on my way in .There are no roads or trails going up the mountain where I heard the first two knocks so if it was a person they would have had to walk for several miles up the road and then bust some serious summer time bush just to get up there. It would be an overnight trip if I was going to do it.

The next day I returned in the morning before noon. On the road right before you reach that field there was a tree pulled across the road. It was bent (not broken or uprooted) from about ten yards from the side of the road. I inspected both ends and I couldn’t figure out what was holding it in place, it looked like it should just spring back up. There had been no adverse weather that night that might have caused this. There were many other trees around this one and the same size range that were unaffected. I even made a short video of it.

Approximately two years ago my son in law and myself were hunting in the same area. He was on the far side of a food plot and I on the other. After about an hour he returned and asked if I had been hitting something on a tree to signal him (no phone signal up there). I told him no. He said he heard it coming from down by me but I didn’t hear anything. He also said that as he was walking out of the woods he started hearing “somebody “ further up the mountain yelling but he couldn’t understand him. We were the only truck parked in the access area for this spot and it’s pretty far up the mountain. We have no idea what that was. There are no trails (hiking etc) up in this area. It is wilderness area comprising of thousands of acres. I’ve had a few other odd things happen while out in this area hunting over the last seven years.

ALSO NOTICED: The tree bent over the road the next day. It was still high enough to be able to drive my truck under.

OTHER WITNESSES: No witnesses to my incident in 2024

OTHER STORIES: A person who works at the Towns county dump told me the next day that he had recently seen one walking through a yard near Haysville N.C. ( about 20 miles away). He also related that he has found footprints in the mud on the dump property. (Towns county)

TIME AND CONDITIONS: Approximately 1600 hours
Warm, mid 70s , partly cloudy

ENVIRONMENT: Mountains Mixed hardwood forest. Small creeks and streams in the area. WMAs are areas for hunting and fishing mainly. There are a few primitive camp sites in the area.

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Matthew Moneymaker:

I have not spoken with this witness prior to posting. There is contact info for him in FLATS (BFRO's private database). Local BFRO investigators can make contact with him.

He mentioned that there were no hiking trails "in the area". That is true for Mill Creek Road itself, in the Swallow Creek WMA. But he apparently was not aware that the ridge above this valley where some reply knocks were coming from ... has the Appalachian Trail running along it.

I say this not to suggest the knocks were being made by backpackers on the Appalachian Trail. That does not fit because the first knocks were only a quarter mile away, well down the slope from the actual AT, in an area where there are no side trails off the AT.

There is a pattern of visual and audible encounter only the Appalachian Trail from top to bottom. The same can be said for most of the Pacific Crest Trail, and the Continental Divide Trail, and Florida Trail, and the Buckeye Trail in Ohio. These creatures clearly use these trails. They may either parallel the trails but likely walk along these trails at points.

About BFRO Investigator Matthew Moneymaker:

Matthew Moneymaker is originally from the Los Feliz District of Los Angeles, California.

- Bachelor of Arts in English Literature from the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA).

- Juris Doctorate (Law degree) from University of Akron School of Law

- Founder of the Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization,1995.

- Writer and co-producer of the Discovery Channel documentary "Sasquatch: Legend Meets Science", 2001.

- Co-producer of the TV Series "Mysterious Encounters" for the Outdoor Life Network (OLN Channel), 2002.

- Producer of the "2003 International Bigfoot Symposium" (Willow Creek Symposium) DVD set, 2004.

- Co-host of "Finding Bigfoot" on Animal Planet Channel, 2010 - 2017.

- Current Director of the BFRO

- Available for private bigfoot expeditions and conferences. To inquire please email ContactUS@BFRO.net

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