Location: Houston County TN

Date of occurrence: 1981

Date report filed: 04/07/09

Weather conditions:  Clear and dry, warm

Lighting conditions:  Sunny

Narrative of report:

I was out mushroom hunting in the spring with my Doberman male, Lugar. I was pretty much just watching the forrest floor, but Lugar was always on guard, scanning all around us. Then I heard him growl. His growl was so deep and soft that you could barely hear it. I looked at him, and he was standing stock-still, hackles up, and staring across the ravine we had been walking on the upper bank of. I looked across to the other side, but could see nothing but brush and trees. He continued to stare and growl, so I got behind him and sighted down his nose to see what he saw, and then it moved and I saw it. Through a small gap in the trees, I could see a patch of hair. It was curly and reddish blonde in the sunlight that was falling on it, and we both just stood there staring at it, trying to figure out what kind of animal it was. I knew that once I started moving toward it, I would loose sight of it as I moved down and through the draw, so I spotted a limb in front of it and one that passed behind it to use as reference points so I could locate exactly where it was, and then walked toward it down through the ravine. Lugar, who feared NOTHING, would not go ahead of me, but stayed behind me and the gun. (I always carry a gun in the woods, although I no longer hunt). I did not see the animal again, but I was able to locate those two limbs, one that had been in front of it and one behind it from my former vantage point. They were above my head, aprox. 7 feet above the ground, and there were no tree trunks at that spot on which something could have climbed up that high. Whatever this thing was, it was at least 7 feet tall, with curly reddish-blond hair. Considering our other encounters here, I believe this was one of the bigfoot creatures, this one exhibiting a color I had not seen before (or since).

Follow up:  none

Confidential database information:  Available

Tennessee Report #1