YEAR: 1977

SEASON: Fall

MONTH: September

STATE: Minnesota

COUNTY: Carlton County

LOCATION DETAILS: Off of Moorehead Road, you come to the Pipeline and go North untill you come to Otter Creek. We camped at the south bank on the west side of the pipe line.

NEAREST TOWN: Cloquet, MN

NEAREST ROAD: Moorehead Road

OBSERVED: This happened a long time ago, I just found your website and I thought I might as well talk about our incident. Those of us involved do not talk about it much, I probably the most. There was 6 of us and we were camping on the Otter Creek south of the airport in Cloquet, MN, Carlton County. It had to have been in 1977. I was 16 and the others were 15-16 years old. This was my fishing and camping site on the pipeline and I had built a lean too and we were all out there that Friday evening drinking some beer and going to fish for trout in the morning. We had a camp site with a fire pit and we had a good bon fire going. We were sitting around the campfire it must have been around 9-10 P.M. We were not drunk out of our minds. In the distance we heard this walking coming from the east in the woods following the creek. I had been chased by a bear out there on occasion so I felt it was a bear coming down the creek. Then it sounded like a person walking through the woods so we thought it may be the Game Warden, who knew all of us kids and he may be checking for trout lines. Then came the odor, Worst case of B.O. I have ever smelled to be honest. I again thought this is a bear because of the smell and I started to get a little nervous because we had food out there but it was hung up in a tree. As it approached us, it came far enough into the light to show a shadow. It was on 2 legs standing up, very tall, every bit of I would say 8 foot, and walking in very huge strides, swinging it arms, making alot of noise. It stayed enough away from us and circled to our south and stayed close enough to see the shadow. Once it circled us it was back on it's line heading west as it had been the whole time we had heard it coming, following the creek bed. We were all so scared as to who or what it was we sat in silence around the fire as it passed, watching, and not sure of what we were watching. Again I can tell you the smell was obnoxious. To be honest, I have smelled bears before and since, and they really do not have that kind of obnoxious odor. As I said before, I am the only one that really talks about it, seeing your web site I see back in that time period there were several sightings in St. Louis County which is a county bordering Carlton County. I had no idea there had been sightings in this area before. I can not say for sure what it was because all I seen was a shadow. But a srange type of shadowed figure to see in the woods. A bear could not walk that long on 2 legs, plus a bear does not take the strides that this creature did. The only thing I can come up with is that we had an experience with a Big Foot. We never did go and look for foot prints the next morning. I think we were all glad it did not come into our camp because we had no clue as to what it was. I have no reason to tell a story about this and I am not known by people as a story teller. Seeing your web site, I felt it belongs here.

ALSO NOTICED: Obnoxious Body Odor.

OTHER WITNESSES: There was a total of 6 of us. We were sitting around the campfire enjoying a few beers.

OTHER STORIES: None.

TIME AND CONDITIONS: 9:00-10:00 P.M. Half moon night If I remember correctly. Campfire going.

ENVIRONMENT: MN hardwood and pine forest. Otter Creek runs West to East in that location.

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Jim H:

I spoke to JO for nearly two hours about his encounter. He was very insistent that what he and the others saw the night in question was not anything that any of them had ever seen before. Even though it was a long time ago, he remembers it very clearly. He recalled the evening by first stating what he and his friends were doing there (fishing trout, gathering at a bonfire, and having a few beers). He said they then heard noises in the woods coming toward them along the creek bed. They never expected to see what walked out into the opening and into the light. They thought it was a person when they heard it and quickly realized it was not when it broke into view. JO stated that the creature was huge, and it was walking with very long strides. He stated that if he were to try to walk with strides that long he would be doing the splits. The creature had come toward their fire to a distance of around twenty to thirty feet, and then maintained the same distance as it circled the fire. It continued on its way, following the creek bed once it passed the fire. They never got a detailed look at it, but could see it well enough to tell it was neither a bear or person. He told me that it was a very dark night, and the only way they could see the creature was from the light of the fire. JO kept expressing how strong the odor was from the creature and that it was the worst case of body odor he had ever smelled. They did not find any tracks, nor did they hear the creature make any noise, other than the noise made by the movement.

About BFRO Investigator Jim H:

A business owner for 20+ years, he has been researching the subject of bigfoot ever since his son had a daylight sighting in 1994. An avid hunter, spending most of his life in the woods of northern Minnesota and Wisconsin, having seen and heard every animal native to this area. Active member of hunting and shooting clubs. He also has a background and interest in biology.

He attended the 2008 Minnesota (private) expedition, the 2009 Wisconsin expedition, 2009 Minnesota expedition, 2010 Minnesota Mini Excursion, 2010 Minnesota Mini Expedition, Minnesota Expedition 2011. As well as many field investigations (on site). Have personally seen three BF. Two daytime and one nighttime through a thermal.

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