Sasquatch Chronicles Blog

A listener writes “I’m from Arkansas, and in the fall of 2021 I was bow hunting in an area I knew well though it had always felt a little “off.” The land was a steep, hilly pine plantation, about 40-year-old trees with deep draws running through it. I was hunting out of a climbing stand in the evening, just before Halloween, with roughly an 800-yard walk to my spot.

I climbed into the stand around 2 p.m., planning to sit until dark like I had many times before. About 50 yards from my location was a small mountain, and on its slope were three piles of rocks each about the size of a grave site. The rocks didn’t match anything naturally found in the area, and I’d noticed them on previous hunts.

The evening was slow. I didn’t see a single whitetail until about 30 minutes before dark, when I heard an owl hooting roughly 100 yards in front of me. That alone wasn’t unusual, but what stood out was that it was the only sound in the woods. Almost immediately after the owl started calling, everything else went dead silent. At the time I didn’t think much of it, but looking back it felt like a warning.

I’ve been in the woods since I could walk. I’ve dealt with crackheads, reckless hunters, alligators, snakes, bears pretty much anything you can run into out there. So when the woods went quiet, I noticed it, but it didn’t alarm me.

About 15 minutes before dark, I got that unmistakable feeling of being watched. My hair stood on end, and I knew something was in the area. Still, I stayed put, thinking I was at the top of the food chain. I didn’t have a firearm with me only my bow which is a mistake I don’t usually make.

Then the owl that had gone silent suddenly flew straight at me and landed in the tree directly above my stand, making an excessive amount of noise. That had never happened to me before. At that point, I figured I might just be working myself up, but I decided it was time to climb down.

By the time I hit the ground, it was nearly dark, and I had a long walk back to my truck. As soon as I started moving, I took one of my arrows out and kept it in my hand not sure why, but it felt necessary.

About 30 yards into the walk, moving through fairly thick woods, I heard footsteps behind me, roughly 15 yards back. I told myself it was just my imagination and kept walking, but the steps started getting closer. After about 100 yards, I stopped and turned around. Nothing was there.

The moment I started walking again, the footsteps started too.

This happened a second time. That’s when I picked up into a slight jog and whatever was behind me matched my speed. I stopped again, angry and on edge, turned around, and again saw nothing. I still had about 400 yards to go.

I broke into a full sprint. Whatever it was followed me step for step, about 10 yards behind. The footsteps weren’t heavy, but they matched mine exactly. I’m a big guy 6’2”, around 260 and the sound was identical to my own movement.

I finally crossed a creek about 10 feet wide, and the moment I did, the pursuit stopped. I don’t know why it stopped there, but I didn’t slow down. I ran the remaining 200 yards straight to my truck.

To this day, I don’t know what chased me. I don’t believe it was any animal I’m familiar with if it was an animal at all.”