I will be having a couple of witnesses on as well as I will be sharing some recent audio clips from a witness who had an encounter.
A listener writes “Love your Podcast. Great format with the authenticity of first hand eye witness telling their encounters.
In 1997 I was bow hunting Colorado with 2 other buddies. After getting close to some bulls early in the week with Bugles and Hyper Hot cow calling, the bulls decided to shutdown on Thursday. We had 1 more day to hunt and we asked Jim who had the most experience in the area if we could try a new spot where the elk may not be as call shy. He recommended Red Deer mountain and said there is always game up there but if we wanted to go, and said he was going to pass because it was really steep (we were getting our butts kicked all week by the mountain). After considering our options and energy level, 2 of us decided to give it a go.
We got to a small parking area right at daylight got ready and started heading up. It wasn’t long after we started, that we started hearing bulls sounding off. We were walking our way up a ridge line running vertically up the mountain with guts on both sides. We were hearing bulls on both sides at varying distances as they seemed to be moving up the mountain with us. For whatever reason, we separated and decided to meet at tree line and keep in contact with the motorolas.
I worked my way down into the gut and would climb for awhile then rest, after about 45 minutes as I was getting close to the top of the gut, I decided to bugle and see if any of the bulls were still close. A bull answered from atop the other side of the gut and a little bit down in elevation. I decided to move down and toward the bugle and position behind the thickest cover available. I called again but I heard no response. I waited a little while thinking there might be a satellite bull sneaking in like I had witnessed with another guy in our group earlier in the week. I waited maybe 7 or 8 minutes without response and all of a sudden I got the eeriest feeling that something had a bead on me, and even though I was looking mostly down the mountain, I knew it was behind me up the gut. As if i had a string on the tip of my nose that pulled my head around, I spun and looked up the gut to see a head peering over a bush that was staring at me.
It was about 70-80 yds up at the top of the gut where the mountain transitioned into a normal grade. There were 2 evergreens forming somewhat of an arch which shaded direct sun light over the bush that this creature was standing behind. Even though it was shaded, there was sunlight hitting the ground directly behind it so it’s outline was crystal clear. At this point my mind became more bewildered than fearful as I was trying to discern what i was looking at. The profile above the bush was a head that was cone shaped tapering right into the shoulder. Given the landscape and distance, it appeared to be about the size of a mature cow elk standing and looking at me. The color was a dark brown as there was enough light to distinguish that it was not jet black. I could see no ears. As we stared at each other without moving for what seemed to be about a minute to a minute and a half, my mind kept trying to put this thing into a category of known critters. Because I couldn’t see ears it could not be a deer, elk or bear. I second guessed the possibility of it being a bear a couple of times thinking that it could be a bear standing on its hind legs looking at me, but again I could not see any pronounced ears which would be normal for an inquisitive bear.
After the staring contest came to a standstill, this critter, in a split second bolted or jumped to my left though about a 10 foot opening and was gone. I distinctly saw that it did not drop any height as it bolted, and I distinctly saw 1 bipedal leg scissors shift past the other. I just stood there for a few minutes in partial disbelief and concluded that this was definitely not a known creature.
Once I came to my senses, I was faced with the dilemma of what do I do next? I had agreed to meet Larry further up the mountain at treeline and the closest path to get there would be directly up the gut past the bush where this critter was hiding a minute ago. As I contemplated my I options, I considered the fact that whatever I just saw was more afraid of me than I of it since I was still standing there. I therefore proceeded cautiously to the location up the gut where I saw the critter hiding from me.
I can finish the rest of the story if your interested in it”