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1,804 encounters
BFRO YEAR: 62 or 63 Manistee, Manistee County, Michigan Class B #30089

Memory told of a possible encounter while deer hunting east of Manistee

The witness was deer hunting alone in a swamp in late November when he heard an unfamiliar loud scream to the north followed by a loud branch breaking. He became uneasy and walked out to his car while watching behind him. Near his car he noticed a broad, roughly 8-foot-tall bipedal form standing about 35 yards away behind dense cover, which he believed had followed him. He left with a handgun ready and avoided hunting the swamp for several years.

ScreamTree breakPartial sightingSilhouetteAnimal behaviour
BFRO YEAR: 85-present Whittemore, Iosco County, Michigan Class B #14854

Possible ongoing activity outside Whittemore

The witness reports recurring nighttime activity over many years at her parents' wooded property. She and others hear footsteps pacing them along the tree line, loud crashing movement, screeching sounds and cracking noises, often accompanied by a strange smell. Family members and visitors have also reported red eyeshine and ape-like figures, and large footprints were found in snow. An investigator later visited, interviewed family members and noted unusual stick and vegetation features in the woods.

FootstepsScreamUnidentified soundMovement onlyOdor
BFRO YEAR: 1988? - 2003 National City, Iosco County, Michigan Class B #42418

Former Michigan native recalls possible activity near National City

When the witness was about nine, she was walking with an older neighbor girl in the back portion of family property. Something nearby growled loudly at them, and after they walked about 200 feet into the front pasture it growled and shrieked again. The companion looked, exclaimed, then grabbed the witness and ran with her to the house. The witness never learned what the companion may have seen, and the companion never walked there with her again.

GrowlScream
BFRO YEAR: 2008, 2009 Jackson, Fife Lake, Grand Traverse County, Michigan Class B #32976

Possible daylight sighting by a mountain biker in the Pere Marquette State Forest

The witness was mountain biking on a game trail in thick forest when he stopped in a clear-cut opening to repair a flat front tire. A loud thump came from a burnt-out RV about 50-60 yards away, and he saw a large jet-black furred head appear in a broken window about six feet off the ground. The head tilted slowly to the side as he remounted his bike, and he rode back to his cabin using GPS. He reported smelling a pungent odor at the site and again outside his cabin the next morning, which he interpreted as the animal having followed him.

Partial sightingOdorUnidentified sound
BFRO YEAR: Maybe 1974 Stevensville, Berrien County, Michigan Class B #7386

Observer hears scream changing to low "demonic" chuckle

The witness was awake alone on the living room couch late at night while younger siblings slept. A very loud, close howling scream outside the window shifted into a gurgling laugh-like sound lasting about 10 seconds and did not repeat. After waiting, the witness searched outside in fresh snow but found the snow totally undisturbed with no tracks to indicate the source.

ScreamVocalization
BFRO YEAR: 1989/90 Bluffton, Wells County, Indiana Class B #15926

Possible vocalization/intimidation at Ouabache State Park

The witness, on duty overnight at a park gate, heard a loud terrifying scream from about 250 yards away accompanied by the sound of a large tree snapping and falling. After waiting about 45 minutes in the booth, the witness walked to the same spot and heard another scream from about 50 yards away, then stayed in the booth until daylight. A search of the immediate woods the next morning found nothing unusual.

ScreamTree break
BFRO YEAR: 84 to 86 Atwood, Piatt County, Illinois Class B #47469

Memory told of possible vocalizations and footprints found near Atwood

On a winter evening around 10 p.m., the witness opened the door to let a dog out and heard an immense scream-howl from just north of the house. The sound felt like a physical impact and frightened the dog so it would not go outside. The witness's mother also heard the vocalization from inside the house.

HowlScream
BFRO YEAR: 1998 & 1999 Edgewater, Volusia County, Florida Class B #747

1. loud vocalization sounds woke sleeping couple. 2. family dog found injured

In the fall of 1998 two witnesses were asleep at home when they were awakened around 10 p.m. by two extremely loud vocalizations, first a growl and then a rising scream that felt as if it was inside the room. Their two dogs were too frightened to move, and a check outside found nothing.

GrowlScream
BFRO YEAR: 2002; 2007 Hosford, Wakulla County, Florida Class B #67296

Vocalizations heard and nests found in remote part of Ochlockonee River bottom

Around 2002 the witness was hunting alone from a tree stand in river-bottom woods during an afternoon hunt. After a prolonged silence and faint squabbling sounds, just after dark he heard a loud piercing call immediately followed by a deep prolonged growl, repeated three times at closer range while a deer moved past. He called out, scanned with lights with his rifle ready, saw nothing, then left quickly when a boat arrived.

VocalizationGrowl
BFRO YEAR: 1979 or 80 East Of Lakeland, Polk County, Florida Class B #1608

Noise, like wood being banged against tree. Tracks found

The witness was on a trail on a sunny hot afternoon when a loud impact like a large stick hitting a large tree trunk was heard 20 to 30 yards off the trail. Tracks were later found in the area several weeks afterward. Two other witnesses were said to have been involved but would not come forward.

Wood knock
BFRO YEAR: 1985 86 Lakeland Fla, Polk County, Florida Class B #3918

Hunter has unexplained, late night encounter while in small boat on Saddle Creek

Late at night the witness paddled a small boat up a creek with two dogs and heard something following on the bank, then a loud blowing noise. The dogs refused to go ashore and later barked intensely. The witness shone a light and saw a large ape-like figure running away over a hill, then noticed a group of tracks while leaving. A skunk-like brassy odor was noted before the sighting.

Partial sightingTracksOdorUnidentified sound
BFRO YEAR: 08 Baker Fl, Okaloosa County, Florida Class B #25037

Kayaker experiences frightening incidents while traveling down Yellow River

While kayaking a long stretch of river in northwest Florida near dusk, the witness heard moaning to yelling sounds and smelled a strong musky odor. Rocks were thrown from the treeline toward the water and near the kayak, while sticks and trees were heard breaking. The witness also heard coyotes and loud unidentified sounds suggesting animals fighting, felt followed for much of the trip, and never saw the source.

VocalizationOdorRock throwingUnidentified soundTree break +1
BFRO YEAR: 1975-76 North Key Largo, Monroe County, Florida Class B #24241

Family has a strange and terrifying encounter while fishing in the Everglades National Park

While night-fishing beside a canal in the Everglades with his parents as a young child, the witness heard something pacing back and forth in dense vegetation behind them. His father threw a piece of coral, shone a spotlight, and shouted, but the movement continued without any visible source or response. Frightened by the persistent, methodical pacing, the family fled in their car without breaking down their fishing rods.

FootstepsUnidentified soundMovement onlyAnimal behaviourPossible misidentification
BFRO YEAR: 1982/83 Lehigh Acres/Ft.Myers, Lee County, Florida Class B #13048

Scream Heard in a Cypress Swamp outside Ft. Myers

Around mid-summer 1982 or 1983, the witness and a companion were camping in a wet cypress swamp in Lee County after dark. After building a campfire, they heard a single deep, drawn-out scream from the swamp less than a mile away, after which insects went silent. They saw and smelled nothing, broke camp immediately and left on foot.

Scream
BFRO YEAR: 2011 2012 Punta Gorda, Charlotte County, Florida Class B #35330

Fish stolen from a boat, possible knocks and vocalizations near Punta Gorda

The witness reports repeatedly hearing loud wood-on-wood smacking sounds from different directions after midnight while soaking in a hot tub outside a trailer and later while on the second-floor deck of a new house. The property borders heavily wooded swamp adjoining a wildlife preserve. The witness initially wondered why anyone would be working in the woods at night, later associating the sounds with stick-banging described on a television show. No visual encounter is claimed.

Wood knock
BFRO YEAR: 1978/79 Lincolnton, Lincoln County, Georgia Class B #21145

Man remembers unknown screaming animal passing underneath his deer stand before dawn on Clark Hill Lake

On opening day of deer season in 1978 or 1979, the witness waited in a tree stand in darkness and dense fog near a lake. A loud screaming sound approached from uphill, passed beneath the stand with audible brush and leaf movement, and continued on. The witness could not see the source due to fog and darkness. A hunting companion in a different location also heard the sounds that morning.

ScreamFootsteps
BFRO YEAR: 1998 or 19 Camden, Wilcox County, Alabama Class B #17035

Wood knocks heard by hunter outside Camden

The witness was hunting alone from a climbing stand on the middle bench of a hillside. He heard two knocks from a tree to the west near the hilltop, then about 45 seconds later heard another knock from low behind him. He saw nothing and heard nothing else.

Wood knock
BFRO YEAR: '92-'93 Murfreesboro, Rutherford County, Tennessee Class B #11682

Young men have frightening vocalization incident near Stones River

The witness and two companions hiked a horse trail along a river at night. They heard repeated loud branch breaks that seemed to follow them as they tried to leave. At the base of a bluff area they heard an extremely loud scream that echoed down the river, then ran to a nearby house where they heard the scream again from the woods.

Tree breakUnidentified soundScreamOdor
BFRO YEAR: 2000 or 01 Tracy City, Grundy County, Tennessee Class B #19100

Hikers hear characteristic vocalizations on Fiery Gizzard Trail

Two companions were hiking back toward the trailhead through a gorge when the surrounding woods erupted in loud screaming and whooping vocalizations lasting a few seconds. The sounds seemed to come from more than one nearby source, then stopped abruptly into complete silence. The pair had no visual contact with the source and finished the hike without further incident.

ScreamWhoop
BFRO YEAR: 2012` Andersonville/Norris, Anderson County, Tennessee Class B #34260

Two friends get spooked by a possible encounter near Norris Lake

Two companions rode an ATV to a clearing by a lake and built a large fire at night. Over the evening they heard deliberate footfalls, pacing and stick breaks in the treeline about sixty yards away and noticed the woods go silent. After the witness knocked on a tree and made a whoop call, they heard knocks in reply and then a long deep guttural growl. They rode toward the sound without seeing anything, then put out the fire and left feeling watched and frightened.

FootstepsWood knockGrowl