I would like to take a moment to share my Sasquatch related experience…many of you have likely had a similar experience to some degree or another, where a sighting did not occur but it did not make the experience any less “real”. And so I begin….
Five or so years ago I set out to go deer hunting in the mountains of Utah near Currant Creek Reservoir…My father had shown me a remote canyon that was likely to hold deer as it was inaccessible by off road vehicles. It would require crossing a shallow stream around two feet deep by around 40 feet wide…this would require bringing waders along with a set of hiking boots so that once across the river you could change out of the waders and into the hiking boots. Now, I had been in the canyon with other members of my party prior to this occasion and let me tell you, it is very remote and nearly completely untouched by humans as no one wants to go to the extreme of wading through the river at the bottom of the canyon to access the area…this canyon is like a wildlife preserve! …I have seen bear, deer, elk and moose and have noticed coyote and mountain lion tracks all within this one canyon and I have harvested deer out of this canyon more than a few times.
Well…on this specific occasion my hunting party had decided to hunt a different area closer to base camp… I had made my mind up to go alone into what we call “Canyon #2 wildlife preserve”.I drove out of base camp in the afternoon and parked on the other side of the river across from the canyon, put on my waders, carefully crossed the river which was filled with trout and made it safely to the other side and changed into my hiking boots.
I took my time entering the lower part of the canyon as it is steep and rugged. As I’m walking through the lower part of the canyon, I have dense pines on my left and brush and shrubs on my right which is the sunny side of the canyon. After just 50 yards or so along the trail I can hear movement in the pines to my left and branches breaking, yet I cannot see any wildlife…the forest is dense but I stopped watched and listened for a while and could not determine what it was making the noise…this continued to happen as I walked along and the thought crossed my mind “Am I being paced or tracked?”…”I know for a fact that no one else is in this canyon but me”…
I continued hiking. As I got to where the canyon opens up, the standard method in which I hunt this canyon is to hike up a small draw, once near the correct elevation, walk through a small grove of Aspen trees and head for the crest of a ridge to get into a shooting position with an amazing overview of the canyon. Once in position I can see the moose grazing just below the canyon rim and I can see a few deer…I’m thinking to myself “I’m in a perfect position just before dusk and I’ve got the entire place to myself!”
I’m now “glassing” the canyon with my binoculars, it’s “prime time” and I’m just waiting for the sun to dip down below the canyon rim. Just as the sun glare is gone I notice a real nice 4 point buck across the canyon about 375 yards…I’m thinking “Wow, that’s a nice deer, can I make that shot? Well..if you’re gonna take a shot, now would be the time cause your going to need to hike down into the bottom and back up the other side!” I shake the nerves, take aim and shoot…just a little too high…I reload and shoot again…sounds and looks like a hit but he’s still standing…I shoot again and he appears to go down.I pick a good landmark, gather my gear and start hiking. I make it up to my landmark and walk the trail that the deer was on…it’s getting darker now..I find a few specks of blood but nothing significant…anyone who’s had this experience can know what a let down it is to shoot an animal and not be able to find it…I’m literally crawling and trying to track this deer and it’s trail has gone cold.
I take a moment, calm down, take a drink of water and realize that it’s now almost dark. I turn on my cheap headlamp and slowly begin walking off the hillside and down to the trail in the bottom of the canyon. As soon as I hit the trail I feel an overwhelming feeling of vulnerability come over me and I literally ask myself “What in the hell were you thinking of doing coming into such a remote area alone?…”
I now have the sense that I’m being watched and I can hear movement in the pines just several yards to my right, Im clutching my rifle and wishing I had a brighter headlamp..I keep walking and now the overwhelming sense that I’m being followed is coming over me…I’m thinking to myself..”Is that a bear or mountain lion?, no…not a bear…black bears want nothing to do with you…maybe it’s a mountain lion?…no it “feels” a lot bigger than that and besides mountain lions are stealthy and you can hardly ever hear them…great…so if it’s not a bear or a mountain lion and it’s certainly not a coyote…what the *#%+# is it!”
I pick up my pace while thinking to myself “keep your feet on the trail and don’t get injured!”
I can still hear movement behind me about 20 yards back and movement in the pines off to my right about 30 yards and it seems to be pacing me…worse than that is sounds more like people walking than any other sort of animal. I’m freaking out, so I start talking to myself…I’m thinking “ok, so if I’ve got something pacing me in the pines to my right and something tracking me from behind me, I need to let anything else down trail ahead of me know that I’m approaching…I don’t want to run into anything head on!”
My adrenaline is now sky high! I drink the last of my water as I’m walking out, my headlamp is dimming out and I’ve still got another 500 or so yards to go. I’m exhausted and want to stop and take a rest but that is simply not an option to be considered at this time.
I’m walking as fast as I can without falling down and it dawns on me… “You still need to change into your waders once you get to the bottom of the canyon so you can cross the river!” I no longer hear the movement in the pines to my right but I can still sense I’m being followed… I think to myself “*#%* I hope to all hell whatever it is that was to my right hasn’t gotten ahead of me and is now waiting for me to approach it down trail!” I’ve got a choice…either stop and let whatever it is that’s following me catch up to me, keep walking and possibly encounter something on the trail ahead, go off trail and hit the dry side of the canyon and try my best without water to make it to the ridge and back down to the river to cross without my waders?….I then remember that the willows and dogwood are so dense in and around that part of the river that I will not be able to cross!…
I’m left with the option to keep going down trail…the hair on the back of my neck is standing on end and I’m shaking with fear. I hit the bottom of the canyon…whatever was following me seems to have stopped just a few yards back and I feel like I’m being watched, I hurry over to my waders and sit on a log to change out of my hiking boots…I’m shaking so bad I’m having trouble getting the laces untied and I’m saying to myself “Just go! Don’t put the waders on!” But then I say to myself, “You better not mess up this river crossing! You’ve got one chance! If you slip and fall, it won’t be good!”
I finally get my waders on, tie my boot laces together and throw them around my neck. My first step into the river my leg almost gave out, my eyes are watering and I’m saying “Get this right!” I don’t dare look back, I make it across the river and hike up the bank as fast as I can…I get to the truck…fumble for the keys and start it, I don’t bother taking off the waders I just jump in and lock the doors. I drove down the road a few hundred yards and pulled over to get myself calmed down.
I gain my composure and drive back to base camp. Pulling into camp, I can’t tell you how good it felt to see the rest of my hunting party and a nice fire burning.
I got out of the truck and they asked “How did it go?” I just held up my hand signaling “Just a minute” walked over to the water jug and got a huge drink and said “It went alright, got a shot at a nice buck but lost him and now I’m exhausted”. They said “You don’t look good” I jokingly said “Thanks” as I sat down and stared into the fire while they brought over some food.
Now…you can ask me…”Did you see a Sasquatch?” And my answer would be “No” but let me tell you something…I’ve spent a lot of time in the outdoors and unexplained things happened to me that night that I will never forget. You may ask me “Do you believe it was one or more Sasquatch that were in the canyon with you that night?” And my answer would be “Yes”. Do I believe in Sasquatch? Yes, I most certainly do and no one will ever be able to convince me otherwise.
This is my personal story.
Signed by a fellow believer,
Anthony Davis.