Location: Land Between the Lakes, West Tennessee

Date of occurrence:   Between Thanksgiving and Christmas of 1985

Date report filed:   03/15/10

Weather conditions:  Partly cloudy, cold

Lighting conditions:   Dim light; vision possible without artificial light source

Narrative of report:  

I was attending (deleted) as a "Wildlife Biology" major. I used to be an avid hunter & fisherman and pride myself on my ability to know almost every animal in the woods. I also liked to go fishing, camping and hunting around the LBL. I'm also the type of guy who "used to" go as far into the back country as my Toyota 4x4 would take me. The only thing I want to see when I go out to the woods for a few days is the wildlife.

I used to spend a lot of time in the LBL area while I was in college. Once on a weekend camping/scouting trip I had driven my 4by as far into the back country as I could get and spent the day scouting for possible hunting/camping locations. The day was "completely" UN-eventful. I hiked back to my truck and settled in for the night because I wanted to get an early start on scouting the next day.

After cooking up a little grub I climbed into the back of my truck for a good nights sleep. About 4-4:30 I heard a little commotion in the camp but really didn't think anything of it. So, I tried to go back to sleep for another hour or so before I got up to cook breakfast. Then at about 5am or so I heard what sounded like a low grumble or growl; then I felt my truck shake like someone is trying to push it. I thought maybe bobcat, coyote of possibly a bear was nosing around outside and perhaps raised up to smell inside my camper top better. (Whatever it was did stink like a wild skunk, possum or a fox.) So I grabbed my shotgun that was laying beside me and raised up to look outside.

When I took a look outside I saw what appeared to be a bear sitting on it's haunches with its back "bladed" towards me, about 25' from the truck.  I did not use a flashlight because I could make out shapes and movement without it, and I did not want to wreck my night vision.  The creature appeared to be holding and/or licking the fire grate & iron skillet I use for cooking. So I eased up to a sitting position and began to open the back of my camper shell. I had planned on opening the back of the camper and yelling at it to scare it off. If that didn't work, I thought a quick 12 gauge fired down in to the ground should be enough to scare it off.

When I began to open the door on the camper top, this thing leaned forward then stood up (on TWO legs) and walked back into the woods. I wasn't afraid at all. (I just thought it was really weird for a bear or another hunter to wander into a guys camp and do what he did.)

It didn't really began to hit me that it might have been a Bigfoot until an hour or so later. I think this was due to the fact that it was cold and anyone outside would be wearing insulated coveralls and/or a parka, hat and a facemask. I had also seen bears around and thought that still might be a possibility. But, I did rule out a man because I was so far back down a fire road NOBODY would have been able to "walk in" at night; AND I did NOT hear any truck or ATV engines before, during nor after the event. It also appeared to be well over 6' tall; maybe close to seven.

Follow up:   I have interviewed this witness, and find him to be very lucid, clear, and intelligent.  Very credible.  Additional information from the follow up:

The creature appeared to be about 400# and maybe 7ft tall when it stood up.  It was sitting/squatting with it's back "bladed" toward me and looked like it's head was sitting on it's shoulders & slightly bent forward smelling or licking the grate and/or iron skillet I used for cooking.

I did not get alarmed at all.  Even after an hour or two I thought: Did I see a large man in coveralls or was it a bear?  Could it have been a BF? 

Like I said; It being a man was unlikely because of the location.  Besides if it were a hunter, where was his gun?  Then it smelled like a bear that had possibly been rolling around in animal musk and/or something dead. There was a lingering smell until the wind picked up some; and you could smell the direction in which it went.

The area I was in was remote & very rocky; almost like a dry creek bed.  I looked around but could not find anything that led me to any conclusions.  After an hour or so I went into the woods heading the way I thought it went.  I was able to find tracks further in the woods; but I just concluded they were bear tracks.  I stayed around until that afternoon when I returned to college.

I continued to go to that area for two more years. I had a game warden wander into camp early one morning, but I heard him coming.  I never again saw any bear in the area, though I did see signs of "bear" activity.

Confidential database information:  Available

Tennessee Report #61