Class B First-hand BFRO #12576

Elk hunters find series of tracks in Mt. Zirkel Wilderness

BFRO YEAR: circa 1978 Around noon Steamboat Springs, Routt County, Colorado 4 witnesses

Account

The witness was elk hunting on horseback in fresh snow and found a human-like trackway crossing near camp with large four-toed prints. He showed the tracks to others in camp and followed them uphill about half a mile through timber. His horse became increasingly nervous sniffing the tracks and refused to continue in blow-downs, so he skirted the timber, found no exit tracks, and gave up the follow.

Summary drafted by AI from the source report and checked by code before I publish it. The witness's own words remain with the publisher — read the original report .

What was reported

Every kind of observation in the account. Select one to find other encounters with it.

Physical traces

Facts & provenance

Each value names where it came from.

Time of day
Around noon
Stated BFRO report #12576 · BFRO report, “Time And Conditions” section
Place
Steamboat Springs, Routt County, Colorado
Stated BFRO report #12576 · BFRO report, labelled fields: State, County, Nearest Town, Nearest Road
Map point
40.55, -106.71 (± 5 km)
Stated BFRO map layer · BFRO published map layer · read with 85% confidence
BFRO map layer point for report 12576 with published boundary
Account type
First-hand
Stated BFRO report #12576 · BFRO report, “Observed” section
Witnesses
4
Derived BFRO report #12576 · BFRO report, “Follow-Up” section · read with 70% confidence
Witness was
elk hunting on horseback
Stated BFRO report #12576 · BFRO report, “Observed” section
Witness's word for it
Whatever it was
Stated BFRO report #12576 · BFRO report, “Observed” section · read with 80% confidence
Source classification
Class B
Stated BFRO report #12576 · BFRO classification label

Evidence & investigation

What the source says was found or done. Claimed evidence is listed as claimed; the Anomadex has not examined it.

Investigated by
K.Hovanec (BFRO)
Tracks

human-like barefoot trackway in fresh snow crossing creek near camp, wide arch-less print wider than human with four visible toes, not bear-like, stride like fast walk, followed about half a mile with no exit found

Measurements: 12 to 13 inches long; stride about same as fast walk; followed ~half-mile; ~100 yards from camp

BFRO report, “Observed” section
Follow-up

An investigator spoke with the witness at length about the track find, judged him serious and credible, and recorded additional track details and circumstances.

BFRO report, “Follow-Up” section
Follow-up

A sheriff's team visited the California Park site, found the abandoned chains, jack-stand and tree strike, but found no tracks due to new snowfall.

BFRO report, “Follow-Up” section

Source timeline

Every record this entry is built from, earliest known first. Records are versioned and never edited in place.

  1. Published 2005-09-13 Retrieved 2026-09-24 Version 1 Hash 43c28680f41b
    BFRO - Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization
  2. BFRO map layer Reference
    Retrieved 2026-09-24 Version 1 Hash cfb8a3d423b7
    BFRO - Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization

The report refers to