From the ALABAMA BIGFOOT site

[#59]

The RFP Research Project (RFPRP) - Report of Encounter

 

Date Report Submitted to the RFPRP: February 20, 2007.

Date of Encounter: Second week of October, 2002.
Time of Incident: Late afternoon.

Weather Conditions: Clear and mild.

State: Arkansas

County: Johnson
Nearest City or Town: South of Low Gap and Northeast of Harmony.

Location: In the hollow between Mac Wood Mountain and McConnel Ridge.
Nearest highway or road: Between Apple Road & McConnel Road on an un-maintained National Forest Road that traverses part of the length of the hollow.

General Land Use Description: Part of the Ozark National Forest.

General Terrain Description: Mountainous.
Nearest Lakes or Streams: Dry Spadra Creek flows through the hollow, and the sighting location is within about 100 yards of the creek.

Witness Profile: A mature male who has lived in the area for a many years, and lived for a few years in a Northeastern state where he hunted bear using a nuisance animal permit from the state. He is an avid hunter, and has hunted bear, deer, wild hog, small animals and predators in Arkansas. He is very familiar with all the classified animals in the Ozarks, and familiar with the odors and sounds produced by those animals.

Activities of Witness Prior to Encounter/Incident: The witness had driven alone in a Nissan pickup truck about 3/4 mile into the hollow where he parked without turning the truck around. He was alone and did not lock the truck. He had borrowed an old Remington semi-automatic, .22 caliber rifle which was equipped with a 3 X 9, 1 inch scope with which he was going to use to hunt squirrels. He walked up the old road a hundred yards or so from the truck when he noticed a live cedar tree to the left of the road which had been broken and twisted and the top bent to the center of the road and pointing to the Northeast (toward Mack Wood Mountain and Apple Road). He saw that the break was about eight feet off the ground, and the trunk was slightly larger than his upper arm at the point of the break. The witness had been in the area recently and had not seen the broken tree, and he knew there had been no winds in the area since that time which would have broken the tree. He studied the tree for a minute or two, and after he was unable to determine how it had been broken, he continued up the road. After walking about 25 yards, he saw there was another cedar tree on the right side of the road which was also live, about the same size and broken in the same fashion with the top pointed in the same direction as the first. At that time he became very interested in determining what had broken the trees and why. He stated he could see the trees were not simply broken by the weight of a bear as the tops were twisted after having been broken so that they pointed in the same direction. He was baffled by the way the trees had been broken, and although he soon continued walking up the old road, he could not help but think about how odd the conditions appeared.

At the time the creek bottom was heavily timbered with large oak, hickory and pine trees and he soon became preoccupied with stalking and shooting a few fox squirrels. (The National Forest Service sold the timber in the bottoms in about 2004 or 2005 and the area was clear-cut.) About 30 minutes before dusk dark he began to notice that the normal sounds of birds (especially those of the large woodpeckers that call that time of day around their nest trees) and insects were missing. Just about that time he heard the loud sound of a hollow tree being struck three or four times by what sounded like a rock or green stick. The sounds somewhat alarmed him because they were coming from behind him, and he placed the sounds not far from his truck. He immediately though that someone was "messing" with his truck, and since it was left unlocked, he turned quickly and started back down the road.

Details of Encounter / Incident: He was walking at a fast pace and was soon within about 150 yards of the truck. At that point he heard a soft grunt from the woods to his left. He looked in the direction of the sound and noticed a movement in the woods at an angle of about 45 degrees. He froze immediately and saw a large figure in a squatting position behind a very thin veil of brush about 35 or 40 yards away. He immediately thought that he was seeing a "cinnamon phase" bear because of its color, but he quickly realized what he was seeing was not a bear. The creature was squatting on it haunches, with its knees spread slightly, and with it two long arms extended between its knees and with balled up fists resting on the ground in front of its feet. The animal was staring directly at him and slowly rocking its body side to side and making short grunting and clicking/chirping sounds with its mouth.

The witness stated he was frozen in shock for two or three seconds, and suddenly he had an overpowering fear that the animal was going to charge him. (He immediately assumed the animal was poised to spring off the ground toward him.) He said by reflex he raised the rifle in a split second, and tried to shoot the animal just below its chin (he said the animal appeared to have no neck) and hit the spine to disable it. (The witness stated he had at one time killed a 375 pound black bear with one .22 caliber long rifle hollow point bullet at about the same range by hitting it in the center of the neck and spine.)
When the bullet hit the animal, it stood upright with its arms hanging to its side. The animal turned its whole body and began running up the slope of the ridge. The witness stated the animal had actually been squatted only a few yards from the base of the ridge at that point.
As soon as the animal wheeled and started crashing through the smaller timber on the slope of the ridge, the witness stated he emptied the rifle at the running animal