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6 encounters
26 October 2006 Shaver Lake, Fresno County, California Class B #18325

Possible sighting and howls heard by deer hunters in John Muir Wilderness

Two deer hunters hiking back to camp at dusk near Heart Lake heard loud bellowing howls and watched a deer flee through brush. They then saw a tall dark figure on the ridgeline that first resembled a standing bear but looked like neither a bear nor a man through a rifle scope. The figure ran downhill after the deer and disappeared into brush, and the hunters later found a very large footprint where it had stood.

HowlSilhouetteTracks
25 October 2001 Huntington Lake, Fresno County, California Class A #9296

Hunter has daytime sighting near Huntington Lake

While hunting in dense pines the witness repeatedly heard loud expulsions of air and branches breaking moving around him. After returning to the area with his father, deer were spooked by the same sound. The witness then saw a large black-haired figure sitting under a pine about 30 yards away and stared at it before it stood and bounded away making the same noise.

Partial sightingVocalizationFootstepsTree break
22 September 2001 Huntington Lake, Fresno County, California Class B #5418

Hikers find footprints and hair near Huntington Lake

Three hikers in the Rock Creek area found a line of very large footprints crossing a meadow to the north. They counted over a dozen identifiable tracks with deep impressions and long strides, and saw no other human footprints. Beside one print they found a broken branch with hairs on the bark, and later reported photos and analysis of the hair.

TracksHair
October 1999 Huntington Lake, Fresno County, California Class B #1496

Cousins have late night experience with strange screams near Huntington Lake

The witness and a relative were walking in a meadow below ranch buildings around dusk when they heard a prolonged loud screaming vocalization from nearby trees and heard movement circling the meadow. They retreated to ranch buildings and continued hearing vocalizations around the ranch overnight. The next day they found no tracks on frozen ground but found a large handprint with long fingers on a food storeroom door.

ScreamMovement onlyHandprint
September 1995 Fresno County, California Class B #2961

Witness heard a large animal moving in the forest

While mountain biking, the witness heard a large animal moving in brush off the trail but could not see it. About 200 yards farther up the trail, the group found very large detailed footprints overlying companions' tracks, which left the trail for a meadow and reappeared crossing the road about half a mile farther on. Coincidentally encountered bear hunters also examined the prints and were unfamiliar with them.

TracksFootsteps
1 September 1973 Fresno County, California Class B #2996

Two campers find a 17 inch footprint near their camp

The witness and a companion were backpacking to fish when they missed a trail marker and camped overnight on a bluff below a canyon rim. The witness reported feeling watched overnight. The next morning the companion found a single large five-toed footprint in wet sand near a spring about 80 feet from camp, which both examined. Noting rain the prior morning had left drop patterns everywhere except the print, and smelling a musty odor, they left the area.

TracksOdor