June 2004
VBR Feature
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Sighting
Details
Posted By: : Mike
Sighting Timeframe: 11/20/2004
County: Frederick
Location: The George Washington National Forest, off of Route 55 in the southwestern part of the county 1/2 mile for the WVA line
Activities: We were heading into the woods to go hunting.
Witnesses: Fellow hunter and good friend.
Setting: Me and my buddy decided to go hunting up in the George Washington National Forest in north western Virginia. We dont have any private land to go on, so going to the Ntl` Forest was our only option. It is a heavly hunted area during deer season, as hunters from the Northern VA area and others like myself frequent the area. We decided that due to the heavy hunter traffic, it would be a good idea to be in the woods and situated at least an hour before sun rise. This was in hopes of other hunters jumping deer and pushing them our way. At about 4:45am we began our trek into the forest. To light our way we took along a small maglight, the single AAA kind, as a large beam of light would have been too intrusive. This light, as some of you know isnt worth the battery you put in, and can only illuminate merely 10 feet at the most. Once we left the truck we had to cross a creek, then up a hill of about a 45* angle for roughly 300 feet. At the top of the hill the grade levels off to a nice inclining slope. For referance, the valley we were in has mountains of roughly 2000ft on each side, with the valley floor being carved out by the creek. We were very quite going up the hill, and took our time as not to spook any possible deer. After a very short time we noticed a car coming down the logging road that we parked on. We decided to stop and wait, so that we could see our truck in the headlights, to get a bearing on which way we were headed and how far we had gone. I would say we were about 200 yards from the truck. Again we began slowly moving up the mountain. About 30-40 yards later I heard some noises ahead of us, and we both stopped to listen. It was the sound of `something` walking through the fallen leaves. The sounds were roughly 20-30 yards ahead of us, and I figured we just jumped a small mammal. It wasnt very loud, and at first I thought maybe a coyote, possum, coon, etc. Then the noises stopped, and we began to start walking again. After we both took one step, we heard it. It was the loudest blood curdling scream that I have ever heard. My heard skipped a beat and I was petrified. When it started, I began to think it was a coyote, but it kept going and changed tones throughout the enitre call. The only way that I can describe it, is very similar to a howler monkey. It went for about 5 seconds, started at a low frequency (not bass, but low), then progressed to a high pitched yell. It was just a OOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooo. We stood there for a few seconds, and heard nothing else, no movement, nothing. I freaked out. I told my buddy we were leaving. At first he was reluctant to leave, I told him I thought it was BF and he laughed. He was holding my shirt, and not letting me go, finally he let go and we headed for the truck. I started going down the hill at a tremendous pace with my back to the valley shining the light up the hill because I didnt want to turn my back on it. We made tons of noise, and were not quite at all. When we got back to the truck we stood there for a minute and didnt hear anything else. I made him open up the truck and let me in. I told him that I wasnt going back into the woods until daylight, and we would have to move to a different area, which we did. We didnt hear anything else, and never came across any sign.
Now we both had rifles, me a 30/30 and my buddy had a 7mm. So if we would have needed to we could have defended ourselves. But being that it was so dark, moon covered by overcast skies, and could bearly see 5ft in the darkness with the light...defending ourselves would have proved more dangerous than the big guy. I am assuming that it was a warning call, telling us he was there and to get the heck out. He never did throw any rocks at us, but I am sure that would have happened if we would have stayed. If I would have heard that from a distance, I wouldnt have been so scared. But because he was right there, I didnt want to take any chances.
Physical Description:
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