It’s been a few months since my last post; however, durin’ this time … much has changed in my life.
Ever since a very brief and insignificant encounter with an animal I
really knew nothin’ about in 2009, I have been obsessed with findin’ out exactly
what that animal was. Delvin’ into the
bounds of what is fact and what other folks have speculated that this mystery animal
might possibly be, I wanted more than anything else to see it again; but this
time, up close and personal. After
becomin’ both a member and then an investigator for the North American Wood Ape
Conservancy, I finally got the opportunity to do some real huntin’. I was goin’ to be a part of a team that,
hopefully sometime very soon … would finally provide definitive proof of an
animal that has not yet been scientifically documented. My wife of 26 years simply told me to be
careful what I wished for. Sometimes … a
man tends to take for granted what his partner in this journey we call life has
to offer; well, in the form of advice, that is.
And sometimes, those of us who are way too driven are also blinded by
arrogance and become ignorant of the truth … no matter how strange that truth
may be. The followin’ accounts are from the
first of two different weeks that I’d spent this summer in the NAWAC’s research
area. These are just some of the things
that I personally experienced, and I was both privileged and humbled to be
amongst our elite field research veterans in the quest to finally obtain a type
specimen of this mystery primate.
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| Southeast Oklahoma was pretty-dang hot this summer, in more ways than I'd ever imagined ... |
Deep in the Ouachita Mountains of
southeastern Oklahoma, I found myself venturin’ through the last leg of my
destination in four-wheel drive through miles of privately owned land that is
basically out in the middle of nowhere … just past much-of nothin’ else. I discovered that I had just entered an area
that seemed vastly different to any other woods I’d ever traversed. I noticed that I was now in a paradise
surrounded by virgin forests with centuries-old growth that did not have so much
as a hint of the defecation from man’s senseless demarcation. Out of all of the old-growth forests I’d ever
been in, there was absolutely no trash in the leaf-litter here; no wind-blown debris
in the tree-line or no rubbish on the road … which was not much-more than an
ATV trail through a thick canopy of vegetation.
I remembered that song, Never Been
to Spain in which Hoyt Axton wrote, “Well
I’d never been to heaven, but I’ve been to Oklahoma” which pretty-much well
summed-it up. I also could not get that friggin’
tune outta my head! Thank God that my
team leader, Alton Higgins had escorted me into this valley, because I do not
think that I could have found this location otherwise.
After our arrival, Alton took me for a
quick walkin’ tour of the area to show me the lay of the land. And upon our return to camp I unloaded a
plethora of apparatus that, to a veteran such as Alton was simply just overkill. To his amusement I began to ex-fill an entire
truck-load of gear, settin’-up my camp within’ about an hour. Hell, my thought was that if we were to be
here for a week, I would rather have
than to have not. We spent the remainder of our evenin’
discussin’ the team’s plans for the week, and then I became totally engrossed
in Alton’s tales of this valley and the NAWAC’s quest for a type-specimen. The group’s master plan began to fall into
play, because until we finally had definitive proof, only then could we begin
to take the necessary steps to protect this species and its habitat. And from what I had witnessed on the drive
in, that goal became paramount. Until the takin’ of such specimen was
accomplished, we’ll remain to be perceived by the masses of the uneducated as a
bunch of nuts chasin’ friggin’ unicorns!
I had no doubt that these animals existed; however, in the back of my
mind … I did not have great expectations for any “ape activity” on this particular
trip. Again, I’ll admit to both my
arrogance and ignorance, as my perception of the situation began to escalate to
the point of fear and sleep deprivation on my part. Sometimes, ya just gotta love bein’ wrong …
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| One of the many trails in the valley around our camp ... |
Around 6:30 P.M., Alton and I were surprised
by the sound of coyotes goin’ off on the mountain behind us, and both noted how
odd it was to hear them yip & howl like that durin’ daylight. We stayed around camp and talked until Alton
retired to the confines of the cabin around 10:45 P.M. I settled into one of the cots in my 13’ x 9’
tent, which was pitched a mere 10’ east of the cabin. I had all of the windows unzipped in an
effort to circulate some-sort of airflow in the stifling hot summer night. Surprisingly, the temperature dropped to an
unseasonable 65° by around 2:00 A.M., when I was awakened to movement outside
of my tent. I had tried to sit up in my
cot, but the joint on the frame where the cot folded made a slight pop, and all
movement ceased. After about 30 to 40
minutes, I could hear Alton snorin’ again in the cabin and the movement around
me continued; but again, each time I tried to sit up, any and all movement
would cease. I continued to hear the
movement in front of my tent, behind my tent and between my tent and the cabin. All of this movement, by-the-way … sounded bipedal.
I distinctly heard something on two feet walkin’ quickly through our
camp. And as remote as this location
was, there was absolutely no way that our visitors were human trespassers,
unless they could walk for miles in complete darkness through the rocky,
thickly wooded terrain. I now felt
excitement!
In discussion with Alton that next mornin’
… he revealed that he had heard some movement across the back porch of the
cabin in the wee hours as well. While
drinkin’ coffee and eatin’ breakfast, I was tryin’ to get used-to the constant
barrage of nuts fallin’ from most of the trees around us. They would strike the tin roof of the cabin
with a loud metal bang, as well as makin’ a dull thud as they hit the rain-fly
of my tent. This didn’t explain all the rocks that had previously been collected
off the roof of the cabin for the past few years. We performed some maintenance around camp,
and that afternoon we went out on patrol through the perimeter of the
property. We both decided to still-hunt
in two separate locations until dusk, and then awaited the arrival of two more
team members … Shannon Graham & Shannon Mason. Upon their arrival, we stayed in front of my
tent until almost midnight; whereupon they all retired to the cabin, though I
opted to again sleep in my tent. It
began to drizzle that evenin’, so I had to zip the windows of the tent closed.
Around 1:30 A.M., the fun began. I first awoke to coyotes going-off on the
mountain directly behind us. Just as the
night before, I slowly began to notice movement all around me, immediately notin’
the loud snorin’ comin’ from inside of the cabin. But just as the night before … somethin’ just
didn’t sound right. In my opinion, it
sounded as if those coyote calls were incomplete, and that they were coming
from different directions and locations.
And in my opinion, it was almost as if those coyote calls were bein’
mimicked. Again, I had tried to sit up and
noticed that the sounds of movement that I had heard from the area around my
tent had immediately stopped. At 2:15
A.M. I heard more movement; smaller branches cracking along with a low grunt
immediately followed by a short huff as soon as I sat up. That huff came from out of the darkness no
more than 20-yards from the front of my tent.
I then heard branches break as whatever it was moved off into the woods just
south of me. At 2:45 A.M. I heard what
sounded like a 120-qt. cooler being drug across the rocks in front of the cabin
where we had parked our vehicles! What the Hell could make this friggin’ sound? At 3:15 A.M. I heard what sounded like something smashing
against tin just outside the perimeter of camp.
There was lots of action, but I still could not see anything. Again, each time I sat up all activity would
cease, as though I were being watched through my tent. I thought about calling Alton on my hand-held
radio, but heard nothing but snoring coming from the cabin. Since my tent windows were zipped … I
couldn’t ever see anything anyways.
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| NAWAC members hikin' down the mountain towards camp. |
It had been a long night, so I slept until
almost 9:00 A.M. After we all had coffee
& some breakfast, Alton took us up the mountain that bordered the valley
behind the camp. We began at noon and
about halfway up, I had to sit and take a break. My legs were fine, my breathing was okay but
my heart felt like it was about to pound out of my chest. All of my training from a few months prior on
the 420 stairs at work had helped, as well as walkin’/runnin’ in full sweats
and a hoodie with a 30 lb. pack 3 days a week.
But, nothin’ compared to going up that mountain in 92° heat carrying an
8 lb. rifle, at least 6-7 lbs. of belt w/extra ammo and a .357 … as well as an
8 lb. fanny pack full of water & gear.
After restin’ a bit, we proceeded back down towards camp. My shins burned a bit, but no biggie; we all had
made it back by 2:30 P.M.
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Alton Higgins watches as I secure sections
of ladder to a tree not far from our camp. |
We were awaiting the arrival of another
team member, Travis Lawrence. After a
break and some chow, I put-up my ladders and tree-stand about 150’ from the
cabin. I had 5 sections of 4’
stick-ladder, but actually put the tree stand only about 12½’ up, just above an
out-croppin’ of branches in a hickory tree.
I assumed that if somethin’ was to wander-up, and that somethin’ just happened
to look up … those branches and surroundin’ foliage would provide me with ample
cover. I could still see the ATV trail
below me, but could not see directly under the base of that tree. The plan was for our two female team-mates,
Graham & Mason to act as bait in another tent which was pitched in front of
the cabin; Alton and Travis could observe and guard over the tent from inside the
cabin. I would be on point in the tree-stand
if anything were to approach from the ATV trail. I tested everything from harness to tether,
and both stood-in as well as sat-in the newly deployed stand. After I was comfortable with everything, I
climbed down and headed back to the cabin.
Afterwards … Graham, Mason and I went to
bathe at a spot in a nearby creek, which was much needed for me after sweatin’
for 3 days. The two women had let me go
first, so I hurriedly bathed, dried and changed into some fresh clothes to give
them a chance to bathe before it got dark.
I sat with my back to them facin’ the mountain, scannin’ for movement. By the time the three of us hiked back to
camp, we were all drenched with sweat again.
A slight afternoon breeze through the valley was our only salvation from
the heat. At least the bugs were down
from the lack of rain. I had been takin’
1,000 mgs. of garlic each day for the past couple of months to combat the
ticks, and still sprayed-down with as much Repel as I could stand. The garlic-laced sweat combined with Deet
burned my eyes more times than I could count.
We all went through bottled-waters sometimes 2-3 at a time. Travis finally arrived sometime before 8:30
P.M., and I hurriedly showed him where I had placed my tree-stand before it got
too dark to see. He climbed-up and quickly
commented that he did not think it was high enough, which was somewhat
disconcertin’; he asked why I didn’t think a 7’ to 8’ tall bipedal primate
couldn’t just reach-up and touch my tree-stand?
He also had said that he was not going to hunt that night due to his
long drive in. We sat around in front of
my tent until midnight and then everyone turned-in.
Like clockwork, the fun began again at
1:30 A.M. I heard rustlin’ and such, but
nothing significant. By this time, I was
used to the nuts hitting my tent and the cabin.
Sometime durin’ the night (around
2:15 A.M.), I was awakened to the sound of crashin’ metal, as if something
had picked-up a clothes dryer and smashed it down onto the rocky ground! Like the sound of “the 120-qt. cooler being
drug across rock” this was much louder, but also much farther away. It sounded like it came from the woods to the
southwest. At that point, the snoring
ceased in the cabin, but started-up again by 2:30 A.M. At 3:15 A.M., I heard some more rustlin’
comin’ from behind my tent. All of the
sudden, I started hearing boulders (cantaloupe
sized up to basketball sized) come tumblin’ down the side of the
mountain. If that wasn’t unnervin’
enough, it sounded like something large was slidin’ down with the rock, and
then regained its footin’ as I heard the sound of very large footfalls goin’ “thump, thump, thump, thump, thump, thump,
thump” as somethin’ ran away from me through the woods behind the cabin! This really
got my attention, so I was up for the rest of the night.
I heard faint footfalls through the course
of the night, past a clearin’ and into the woods just beyond our camp-site. At 5:30 A.M., I slowly unzipped the right
door to my tent, which hung down diagonally.
I had a camp chair in my tent, so I sat starin’ into the woods in front
of me, with my .45-70 laid across my knees.
Into them thick woods, I could both see and hear a squirrel barkin’ and
watched it nervously movin’ up and down a tree, tail flarin’ back &
forth. Somethin’ was there, but it never
moved and no further rustlin’ through the thicket could be heard. This went on until 6:15 A.M., so I remained
seated and motionless. About 7:30 A.M.,
I walked over to investigate the rock slide, but did not see any tracks. I remember thinkin’, how could somethin’ be able to run through there without trippin’ over anything? I was havin’ a real hard time wrappin’ my
head around everything that had gone-on for the past few nights. I cain’t say that I hadn’t been warned …
‘cause I had already heard other team members accounts of all the “ape
activity” that’s been goin’ on for the past few years. But I could clearly recall my beautiful bride
sayin’ to me, “Be careful what you wish
for.”
What I’ve relayed to y’all so far is an
edited-down version of just a few of the many things that I experienced during
my first few days in a place that the North American Wood Ape Conservancy calls
“Area X”. If you have not already done
so, I urge y’all to go to our Web site at http://www.woodape.org
and read the NAWAC’s Ouachita Project Monograph, which details several years of
study performed by our members, who have all volunteered serious time, effort
and personal finances to try and provide definitive proof of the existence of
this yet undiscovered mystery primate. As
far as my actual huntin’ went, I’ll keep y’all abreast of what-all happened to
me on the rest of that trip, as well as the second week I spent out there in late
July. For anyone who hasn’t had an
encounter with these mystery animals … I now know more than ever and can personally
vouch beyond the shadow of a doubt that these animals are real. And if you think I’m lyin’ … prepare to embrace the suck when a specimen
is finally obtained. What I can also
tell you is that, like myself, y’all need to put aside childish things such as
these overly-dramatized, so-called “reality TV” shows and documentaries when it
comes to this subject matter. And if y’all
decide to do any huntin’ out there on your own, remember … “Be careful what you wish for.” Be safe runnin’ ‘round out there in them
woods, and y’all come back now, ya hear?
