Sumter County, York, Alabama
1981

This event happened near York, Alabama in November of 1981. York is down I-59 in the Southwesterly area of Central Alabama. It's approximately 20 miles from Meridian, MS. The land was basically flat, heavily wooded. A couple of lakes were on the property. Fields were cut into the area, somewhat for farming but mostly for hunting. The fields were fairly small.

If you should choose to use this story anywhere for the public, I ask that you do not use my name or email address. I will provide you with my name and if you wish to ask me questions, please send me your phone # and I will call you.

I was a young 13 yr old deer hunter. It was probably one of the first times that I wasever allowed to sit in a tree stand by myself. I had been in a tree stand approximately 2 miles from my father and brother and about 1.5 miles from our cabin. The man who owned the property had told me to wait until dark and follow the dirt road right back to the cabin. I hadn't seen any deer all day so at nightfall I unloaded my rifle and started the walk back. After I had walked about 150 yards from the green field I heard something moving in the woods.

I thought to myself that now was a fine time for the deer to come back in the fields. As I walked I noticed that the sound seemed to be following me. I took my spot light and shined in the trees but couldn't see anything. This didn’t surprise me since I was deep in the Alabama woods. After a little longer I caught a strong odor and the steps seemed to be moving faster. I walked faster. So did the sound. All of a sudden I felt this thing close in. I shined my flashlight and something seemed to snort and jump across the road in front of me and run through the woods on the other side. I dropped my flashlight and tried to fire my rifle. In my panicked young mind, I had forgotten that I had unloaded it. When I realized my mistake, I turned and ran all the way to the cabin. Only when I got back did I remember that I had left my flashlight in the middle of the road. Luckily my dad had killed a deer so I had time to calm down before he got back to the cabin. I told him I had dropped my light and the next day we went to get it and it was gone. I didn't tell him what really had happened. As I got older and learned the sounds of the woods, I came to realize that what I had heard on that November night was not walking on 4 legs; rather it was on 2. I have never spoken of that event again until this year. I told my wife about it after 14 years of marriage. As I told her about it I got chills, much the same as I am experiencing as I am writing this. Since that time, I have killed many, many deer. But I have never gone in the woods until daylight and have never stayed till dark again.

I was alone on the road, it was dark but I could smell it. I thought at first I smelled a deer. As it closed in it sounded like a freight train snorting at me. It was more of a dark shape jumping or maybe stepping quickly in front of me. It definitely had a human shape, but it was huge. I only saw it for a quick second in front of me at maybe 5-10 feet. The thing looked like a dark human shape and it passed right in front of me. Then I could hear it moving away from me in the woods and I took off the other way.

There was a moon out but if you've ever been on an Alabama dirt road at night you know that all you could do was see it. It snorted and grunted as it went by me. It wasn't making human sounds.

Now I will tell you that I'm not a scary person. I'm a bodybuilder. I played college football and am still considered somewhat of a celebrity in my hometown.(The reason I want my name withheld). I have thought about this night every time I have gone into the woods to camp or hunt. I work on the weekends as a bouncer in a huge Latin nightclub. I have a professional job throughout the week. I had no intention of ever telling anyone this story.

One Saturday night about a month ago, I had gotten off work at the club and had gotten home at about 4am. On the way home, I always listen to Coast to Coast. Art Bell was on tonight and they were talking about sightings and such. They had a guest on who had recordings of what he called “the sounds of Bigfoot.” The sounds scared the crap out of me and brought back all of these emotions. This particular morning, I was getting some food from the fridge. My wife never wakes up when I get home. On this particular morning....she did. I was just closing the door when she said....hhheeellloooo...........kinda quiet like. I jumped and it scared me so bad that I dropped my eggs, the milk, etc. And I yelled. When I turned around she thought I was having a heart attack. I fell to the floor and was white as a ghost. She came to me and I was breathing irregularly etc. When I finally calmed down she coaxed out of me what was wrong. I told her the whole story and swore her to secrecy. I guess the luxury of anonymity allowed me to tell you.