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Bigfoot Back Cover Sketch Story
Bigfoot: Back Cover Sketch Story
This sketch was made by the author at the age of ten after witnessing an unknown creature during a hunting trip for whitetail deer. It was made after returning home and three days after the encounter.As I recall the event that happened well over fifty years ago. This hunting trip was the last one for me this season as my parents would only allow me to skip out of school a few days a year for my passion of whitetail deer hunting and this was already my third trip. It was late fall with only two weeks remaining before Christmas, the weather was cold and made worse with the frigid wind gusting from the north.
Luckily, the weather was so cold that most of the other hunters decided to stay in camp so I was hunting from one of the best (newest and well-kept) hunting blinds. It was a free standing plywood blind with dark screens covering the window openings. These screens had vertical cuts that overlapped so the hunter could get his rifle in place for a shot. These slots were placed with the intention the screens could remain fixed so they wouldn’t blow and made the quiet hunter all but invisible.
The blind was placed right at the edge of a recently cleared section of land setup just for hunting. There were places of cover left for the deer to feel comfortable in and several large piles of brush that had been pushed into place by the bulldozer that made this hunting stand, the deer feeder was placed about 75 yards away and was fenced off to keep the cattle out of it. One of the brush piles was off to the right, only ten yards away from the blind.
It was during the late afternoon; I had been shivering for at least an hour and was ready for the jeep to come pick me up. The only activity was three does merrily eating the corn the deer feeder had scattered about. It appeared one was the mother and the other two were yearlings. The mother was much larger than the other two and was busy eating while the smaller two nibbled some then ran around playing. Although appearing busy eating the mother was constantly raising her head seemingly on alert. I was hoping she was in contact with a big buck just out of my sight.
I wanted to get down from the blind and walk around so badly just to warm up a bit. But her body language made me stay and suffer with the cold as I wanted the buck that had eluded me all season. As I watched the three does I suddenly had a feeling of movement off to my right.
I reached for the rifle leaning against the inside of the blind to keep it from being disturbed (just in case I bumped it with my foot) as I slowly turned to my right to see what the feeling I had was bringing. As I slowly turned and scanned the area my eyes froze on the most unbelievable sight. There stepping up to the brush pile was this massive creature. When it stopped at the brush pile all I could see of it was from the armpits up.
This brush pile was at least six feet high as it was well over my head when I stepped behind it to answer the call of nature. The creature was on the opposite end from where I urinated and the wind was blowing any of my scent away from it. This creature was studying the three does 75 yards away, it’s only movement was the dark eyes that scanned the area in front of it and the slow rise of its massive chest as each breath was inhaled.
Some heightened sense must have overcome it as its attention focused on the elevated blind I was sitting in. Of course I was frozen in place, only able to move my eyes, and so terrified I wasn’t even shivering anymore. This creature didn’t seem to be able to turn its head much in relation to its shoulders. So when it did turn to look at the blind its head moved just a small amount more than the shoulders did. Because I was completely frightened, consequently petrified in place and not making any sound this beast may not have known I was there. It studied the blind for what seemed a long time but in reality I’m sure it was much less than a minute before his attention went back to the three does still by the deer feeder.
The oldest doe was still on high alert and I noticed twice she looked right at the brush pile where the creature was still standing. But it remained motionless and didn’t even breathe when she looked at it. I think the creature was using the brush pile to camouflage its being there as when it wasn’t moving it could easily be confused with a stump that was pushed up on the brush pile.
This creature stayed motionless in place watching the three does then turned its whole body to look behind the blind and to the left of it before turning around and silently walking away, quickly fading into the dense brambles. When the creature moved from the brush pile, the three does ran (seemingly for their lives) in the opposite direction without showing any signs of slowing down.
Suddenly I was alone, the only thing I could hear was the gusting wind as it blew through the screens of the blind. Up until this moment in my life I wasn’t afraid of any beast in the woods, they all could be dangerous but if a person was prepared they were just a part of nature. Within a minute of being alone I heard the sound of the old jeep as it worked its way along the trail to come pick me up. I remember taking a deep breath and knew that was the first sound I had made since seeing the massive creature.
Normally I would already be waiting by the trail when the jeep arrived but this time I didn’t even begin packing my stuff until the jeep stopped and my father called out. He was wondering if I was asleep or had started walking back because of the cold. He helped me pack up then I unloaded the rifle and climb down from the blind then I reloaded the rifle before walking over to the jeep he waited until we were back at the jeep before mentioning that I needed to unload the rifle again. He knew something was wrong but didn’t ask about it until after dinner and we were alone.
I had never heard of something like this in the woods and had no idea what I was seeing. With my limited life experience I couldn’t process what I had seen. I told my father what I saw and he just sat staring at me. Then he led me over to the property owner’s room and made me tell him what I saw.
The property owner listened without comment or expression. Then when I finished with my story and description of what I saw he smiled as he said. “What you saw was the Wildman; he migrates through here every year. You and I are the only ones that I know of in these parts that have seen him, although quite a few have seen the tracks he leaves behind. That puts you and me in a very small club of outdoorsmen, men that have actually seen a Wildman. He was doing the same thing you were doing, hunting for food. There isn’t anything to be afraid of, he doesn’t want anything to do with humans just leave him alone and he’ll leave you alone. But I will give you some advice; don’t go around talking about what you saw because some might think you are just trying to get your few minutes of fame or they’ll call you a liar because they haven’t seen a Wildman and can’t comprehend he exist”.
Both my father and I were flabbergasted with the response. I had been sure my life was in some kind of danger, but the manner with how the property owner spoke of the “Wildman” I was now unsure how I was supposed to feel. Had I just seen something normal to the woods that very few people had seen (like spotting a mountain lion) and it wasn’t that big of a deal? The two men talked for some time and after I went to bed I came to realize in my young mind the Wildman was just like a wasp flying around, leave it alone and it will leave you alone.
The next morning my father asked if I wanted him to go out with me for my last morning hunt. He was worried I was still frightened of what I had seen. But I did as he had taught me and faced my fear to be rewarded with a nice eight point buck. We hung around deer camp until the next afternoon then headed home.
We arrived home very late and on the third day after the encounter, I made this drawing before going to bed.
Ken Foster
