BIG CYPRESS BAYOU — The motor sputtered, then died, and as the canoe drifted deeper into the swamp, gray tangles of Spanish moss gave way to murky water and black cypress.
Knuckles whitened as Charlie DeVore ripped the pull cord. His two-man canoe, three decades old and uneasy under the weight of three men, teetered dangerously with every tug.
DeVore yanked the cord once more, then gave up.
“We’ll just have to paddle,” he said.
There wasn’t time to fix the propeller, and there wasn’t time for precaution. The party pressed farther into the swamp, because that’s where Bigfoot was.
Bigfoot, or Sasquatch, that elusive creature more often associated with the Pacific Northwest, lives among these knobby trees of the Big Cypress Bayou, DeVore will tell you.
While other people have seen the creature, DeVore, well, he has smelled it. And it’s the most indescribably putrid, gosh-awful stench you could imagine.
“It’s overpowering,” DeVore said.
DeVore, a 64-year-old redhead who wears a straw hat and eyeglasses, has compared notes on that stench with dozens of East Texans who have also reported brushes with the hairy hominoid. He investigates sightings for the Texas Bigfoot Research Center, a Dallas-based group that documents close encounters throughout the state, most of them in the Piney Woods and Big Thicket. Although DeVore professes to be an amateur, he knows enough to understand the creature’s ways.
“Bigfoot no longer scares me,” he said. “It might if one was standing right over me, but they’ve never hurt anybody. I have a fear of wild dogs and wild hogs and anything else out there that might bite my butt, but I really have no fear of Bigfoot.”
So DeVore paddles the bayou in the middle of the night, a coon-hunting spotlight and night vision camera at his side. He also wanders the forest trails he’s brush-hogged near his trailer house. He sniffs the night air and listens for snapped twigs.
“It’s a hobby,” he said, “a passionate interest.”
DeVore has lived on the Big Cypress Bayou, the slow-moving body of water that slinks between Lake O’ the Pines and Caddo Lake, since 1990. A heart attack had forced him into early retirement. He told himself, “I’m going to sit up here beside this water until the day I die, and enjoy it.”
That’s just what he did, puttering around in his canoe with a small outboard motor rigged to the back, or gliding across the deep green water in his kayak, exploring inlets and taking photographs.
“It’s so beautiful out here,” he said. “Normally I’m not talking, and I sneak up on all kinds of wildlife.”
As he paddled deeper into the forest of submerged cypress trees, stained black by years of fluctuating water levels, thoughts drifted from the rickety canoe, to the cold, black water, to the possibility of sneaking up on the most elusive creature of them all.
THE WAYS OF BIGFOOT
Although Bigfoot is reportedly huge — 7 or 8 feet tall, and more than 500 pounds — he’s awfully hard to find.
That’s because he hates being around humans, according to believers. When people such as DeVore go tromping into the woods, Bigfoot runs the other way. He lives in uninhabitable areas, especially around the Sabine and Sulphur rivers, the Big and Little Cypress bayous, and Caddo Lake, where he is affectionately known as the Caddo Critter.
“We have more swampy areas in East Texas where humans do not live,” DeVore said. “There’s more sightings during deer season than any other time because people are in the woods.”
With the advent of ATVs, outdoor enthusiasts can venture farther into Bigfoot territory than ever before. In the past decade alone, the Texas Bigfoot Research Center has investigated five sightings in Harrison County, four in Panola County and three in Rusk County. Many of them involved hunters. One man from Longview said he tried to shoot the creature with his .22. It let out a terrifying scream-roar, and the squirrel hunter was so frightened he nearly wet himself, he reported.
The Longview man’s description of Bigfoot reflects many others in East Texas: Long brownish or black hair, the deathly scream-roar, or scream-growl, and that stench, which DeVore believes Bigfoot excretes, possibly from his armpits, when he feels threatened.
Crystal Steiniger of Harleton says she has experienced the smell and heard the screams.
Steiniger and her colleagues with the East Texas Bigfoot Independent Study get together once a month to look for tracks and hair samples and record Bigfoot’s noises on all-night camping trips. They used to attract the creature with Bigfoot calls, but they soon abandoned the calling devices because the creature responded too aggressively.
“If they’re walking by us, we want to hear their normal, nonthreatening type of vocalizations,” she said. “I’ve heard solid screams. I’ve heard grunts, kind of a grunt-growl when you get a little too close. That was one of the best recordings. Of course, we got in our vehicle real quick. We didn’t leave, but we got in our vehicle.”
With so many reported encounters, skeptics are quick to ask for conclusive proof — hair samples or bones, for example.
“It’s well known and not disputed that we have black bears in East Texas,” DeVore counters. “Nobody’s ever seen a body or a skeleton of those. Predators in East Texas, which are numerous, take care of a body almost overnight. There are many theories — one, that they may carry their bodies off. After all, these are groups of them, it’s not one lone animal.”
People have taken pictures of black bears, the skeptics note.
One of those skeptics is Charlie Mueller, a Longview-based wildlife biologist for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. He managed the Caddo Lake state wildlife area for eight years and never saw evidence for Bigfoot’s existence.
“If there’s a bear out there, I’m going to find bear tracks. If there’s a human out there, I’m going to find footprints,” he said. “But there’s no Bigfoot tracks that I’ve seen.”
Mueller said he’s studied supposed Bigfoot nests, but to him, they just looked like a pile of branches that had fallen from a tree during an ice storm.
“People let their imaginations take control a lot of times, and it’s easy for someone to point out things that seem to be out of the ordinary that actually are not,” he said. “But to layman folks, people that don’t know a lot about wildlife and the happenings of wildlife in their habitats, a lot of times they don’t understand the normal things that go on.”
Fear of that kind of rebuttal, DeVore and Steiniger say, deters many witnesses from coming forward.
“A lot of people will think they’re nuts, or if they do mention it to somebody they’ll say, ‘Oh, it was just a bear, you don’t know what you’re talking about,’ ” Steiniger said. “They’ll kind of blow it off and not take it seriously because there’s been a lot of people who have spent a lot of time out in the woods who’ve never seen a thing. They’re happily trotting along without a clue.”
Says DeVore, “You’re going to be ridiculed. You’re thinking your nuts, so most people are real reluctant to talk.” As an investigator, DeVore has learned to be discreet. “If they are going to speak to you, you’ve got to be real quiet about it. Of course, being in the club gives me credibility.”
ON THE BAYOU
On a perfect October afternoon on the bayou, Charlie DeVore sliced his canoe through red and green water rippling under a light breeze.
He had agreed to guide a reporter and photographer to the site of two Bigfoot encounters that he had investigated only half a mile from his house. Because the land had changed hands, the only legal access was via boat, or, in this case, an old canoe.
Better to stick to the water this time of year anyway, he said, because it’s not smart to traipse through the woods in the middle of deer season.
As he guided the canoe, he recalled his first encounter. He hadn’t even realized how close he’d come to meeting Bigfoot on that night as he walked the trails near his home. “I had always gone with four dogs, sometimes five, a couple of my own plus the neighbors’. I have owned all different giant schnauzer colors. These dogs generally were not afraid of anything,” he said. “When I hit that stench, I looked around for the dogs and realized, hey, I was alone.”
He whistled and snapped his fingers, but the dogs wouldn’t come. They just sat there squirming. “I decided the dogs were smarter than me, so I went away,” he said.
The next night, the same thing.
“It went on occasionally for six weeks,” he said. “I wouldn’t run into it every night, but it got to be old hat that when I ran into the stink, I’d turn around.”
He questioned hunters and outdoors enthusiasts who suggested that it might have been a wild hog, but DeVore knew better. He’d smelled hogs, and it wasn’t the same. In 2002, DeVore heard about the annual Texas Bigfoot Conference in Jefferson. DeVore attended the event, and he returned to the bayou with a few answers and several new questions.
“After going to that conference and finding out, hey, these things have a stink, I started talking to people who had the stink on them before,” he said, “and the stink described was just too close to what I had experienced. At that point I had already gotten curious about them. I talked to dozens of people who had experienced it.”
But stinking isn’t believing, and DeVore still hadn’t seen conclusive evidence. He gunned the boat into the swamp, past hulking, primeval trees and low-lying branches, toward Bigfoot.
A CLOSE ENCOUNTER
When the cypress became so thick they crowded out the sun, their reflections vanished from the bayou’s surface. The water went black. The canoe, farther now from the channel’s current, cut through a sheet of swamp scum.
DeVore talked above the hum of the outboard motor. Suddenly it cut out, and he couldn’t get it going again. Unseen crows shrieked in the silence.
DeVore took the paddle and rowed through Benton Lake, a small, stagnant body of water that adjoins the bayou, until the forest became too thick for him to go any farther.
“Over there,” he said, pointing to a spot on the lake’s southwestern edge. The witness had been hunting deer as he crouched behind dense brush at mid-afternoon. He noticed movement in the corner of his eye. Fifty yards away, the hunter told DeVore that Bigfoot emerged from the water, stood up, looked from side to side, then walked into the woods and disappeared.
The hunter watched him for about two minutes. The creature was six feet tall and covered in hair from head to toe. In the absence of direct sunlight he appeared to be completely black.
DeVore, having interviewed the hunter several times, deemed him “a very credible witness.”
Finished with his story, DeVore docked the canoe on a muddy bank that had built up around a massive cypress tree, and he fiddled with the motor. A piece of twine had wrapped itself in the propeller, and after he unwound it, the motor cranked on the first pull.
He ordered one of his passengers into the bottom of the canoe, stabilizing it, and he took off for home. Though he did not see Bigfoot today, he knew it was only a matter of time.
“It exists,” he said. “Too many people have seen it. It exists.”
3,019 responses to “The Bigfoot hunter”
I’ve been surfing on-line greater than 3 hours these days, yet I by no means discovered any fascinating article like yours. It?s pretty price sufficient for me. In my view, if all web owners and bloggers made just right content as you probably did, the web shall be much more helpful than ever before.
An interesting discussion is definitely worth comment. I do think that you ought to publish more on this subject, it may not be a taboo subject but generally people don’t talk about these subjects. To the next! Best wishes!
Thanks for the tips on credit repair on this site. A few things i would advice people will be to give up a mentality they will buy currently and pay later. As being a society we tend to repeat this for many things. This includes vacation trips, furniture, and items we want. However, you’ll want to separate the wants out of the needs. While you’re working to raise your credit ranking score you really have to make some sacrifices. For example it is possible to shop online to save cash or you can check out second hand outlets instead of pricey department stores for clothing.
I used to be able to find good advice from your articles.
You are so awesome! I don’t suppose I’ve read through anything like that before. So wonderful to discover somebody with original thoughts on this issue. Really.. many thanks for starting this up. This web site is something that is required on the web, someone with some originality.
When I originally commented I seem to have clicked the -Notify me when new comments are added- checkbox and from now on each time a comment is added I receive 4 emails with the same comment. There has to be a means you are able to remove me from that service? Thanks.
You ought to be a part of a contest for one of the best websites online. I am going to highly recommend this web site!
Normally I do not read post on blogs, but I would like to say that this write-up very pressured me to take a look at and do so! Your writing taste has been amazed me. Thank you, very nice article.
This is a topic that is close to my heart… Take care! Exactly where are your contact details though?
Nice post. I learn something totally new and challenging on websites I stumbleupon everyday. It’s always helpful to read through articles from other writers and use a little something from their web sites.
I can’t express how much I admire the effort the author has put into producing this outstanding piece of content. The clarity of the writing, the depth of analysis, and the plethora of information provided are simply remarkable. His enthusiasm for the subject is apparent, and it has definitely struck a chord with me. Thank you, author, for providing your wisdom and enlightening our lives with this incredible article!
That is a very good tip especially to those new to the blogosphere. Simple but very precise information… Thanks for sharing this one. A must read post.
One other issue is when you are in a circumstances where you will not have a co-signer then you may actually want to try to wear out all of your financial aid options. You could find many grants or loans and other free college funding that will offer you finances to help with classes expenses. Many thanks for the post.
Have you ever thought about including a little bit more than just your articles? I mean, what you say is fundamental and everything. However think of if you added some great visuals or videos to give your posts more, “pop”! Your content is excellent but with pics and video clips, this site could certainly be one of the very best in its niche. Fantastic blog!
Hello! I could have sworn I’ve been to this blog before but after going through some of the posts I realized it’s new to me. Regardless, I’m certainly pleased I discovered it and I’ll be bookmarking it and checking back regularly.
I’m impressed, I have to admit. Seldom do I encounter a blog that’s both educative and entertaining, and let me tell you, you’ve hit the nail on the head. The issue is something that not enough men and women are speaking intelligently about. I’m very happy I stumbled across this in my hunt for something relating to this.
Nice post. I learn something new and challenging on blogs I stumbleupon every day. It’s always exciting to read articles from other writers and use something from their websites.
A fascinating discussion is definitely worth comment. I do think that you need to write more on this issue, it might not be a taboo subject but usually people do not discuss these subjects. To the next! Many thanks.
I have been browsing on-line greater than three hours today, but I never found any interesting article like yours. It is pretty price sufficient for me. In my opinion, if all site owners and bloggers made excellent content material as you probably did, the internet will be a lot more helpful than ever before.
Right here is the right website for anybody who wishes to find out about this topic. You know a whole lot its almost hard to argue with you (not that I actually will need to…HaHa). You certainly put a fresh spin on a topic which has been written about for years. Wonderful stuff, just wonderful.
Greetings from Ohio! I’m bored at work so I decided to browse your blog on my iphone during lunch break. I enjoy the information you provide here and can’t wait to take a look when I get home. I’m surprised at how quick your blog loaded on my phone .. I’m not even using WIFI, just 3G .. Anyways, awesome site!
Good day! I simply would like to give you a huge thumbs up for the great info you’ve got here on this post. I will be coming back to your site for more soon.
Hello there! Would you mind if I share your blog with my facebook group? There’s a lot of people that I think would really enjoy your content. Please let me know. Thanks
Hi, i think that i saw you visited my web site thus i came to ?return the favor?.I am trying to find things to enhance my website!I suppose its ok to use some of your ideas!!
This is a topic which is close to my heart… Best wishes! Exactly where are your contact details though?
Good web site you’ve got here.. It’s difficult to find good quality writing like yours these days. I seriously appreciate individuals like you! Take care!!
This is a topic which is close to my heart… Best wishes! Where are your contact details though?
128081 166025Deference to web site author , some great entropy. 714438
Hey, you used to write excellent, but the last few posts have been kinda boring? I miss your super writings. Past several posts are just a little bit out of track! come on!
Oh my goodness! a tremendous article dude. Thanks Nevertheless I am experiencing challenge with ur rss . Don?t know why Unable to subscribe to it. Is there anybody getting equivalent rss drawback? Anyone who is aware of kindly respond. Thnkx
There is definately a lot to find out about this subject. I like all of the points you made.
Hi! I know this is kinda off topic however I’d figured I’d ask. Would you be interested in trading links or maybe guest authoring a blog article or vice-versa? My site covers a lot of the same subjects as yours and I think we could greatly benefit from each other. If you’re interested feel free to send me an e-mail. I look forward to hearing from you! Excellent blog by the way!
Having read this I thought it was very enlightening. I appreciate you taking the time and energy to put this short article together. I once again find myself personally spending a significant amount of time both reading and commenting. But so what, it was still worth it!
Just wish to say your article is as surprising. The clarity in your submit is just great and i could think you are knowledgeable on this subject. Well together with your permission allow me to grab your feed to stay updated with approaching post. Thank you 1,000,000 and please carry on the gratifying work.
Nice post. I learn something totally new and challenging on blogs I stumbleupon on a daily basis. It will always be helpful to read through articles from other authors and practice something from other sites.
I love reading a post that will make people think. Also, many thanks for permitting me to comment.
Hello! Do you know if they make any plugins to help with Search Engine Optimization? I’m trying to get my blog to rank for some targeted keywords but I’m not seeing very good success. If you know of any please share. Thank you!
Yet another thing is that while looking for a good online electronics shop, look for web shops that are continuously updated, maintaining up-to-date with the most recent products, the perfect deals, as well as helpful information on services and products. This will make sure that you are handling a shop that really stays atop the competition and provides you what you should need to make knowledgeable, well-informed electronics buys. Thanks for the crucial tips I have really learned from your blog.
I blog quite often and I really thank you for your content. This article has truly peaked my interest. I’m going to book mark your website and keep checking for new details about once per week. I opted in for your Feed as well.
Its like you read my mind! You seem to know a lot about this, like you wrote the book in it or something. I think that you can do with some pics to drive the message home a bit, but instead of that, this is fantastic blog. A great read. I’ll definitely be back.
Nice post. I learn something totally new and challenging on blogs I stumbleupon everyday. It will always be interesting to read through content from other authors and practice something from other web sites.
You need to participate in a contest for among the best blogs on the web. I’ll advocate this web site!
This is a great tip especially to those fresh to the blogosphere. Simple but very accurate information… Thanks for sharing this one. A must read post!
Hello! I know this is kinda off topic nevertheless I’d figured I’d ask. Would you be interested in trading links or maybe guest authoring a blog article or vice-versa? My site goes over a lot of the same topics as yours and I think we could greatly benefit from each other. If you might be interested feel free to shoot me an e-mail. I look forward to hearing from you! Fantastic blog by the way!
I used to be more than happy to search out this web-site.I wished to thanks to your time for this excellent learn!! I undoubtedly having fun with every little bit of it and I’ve you bookmarked to take a look at new stuff you blog post.
Very good post! We are linking to this great content on our site. Keep up the good writing.
Music started playing as soon as I opened up this web-site, so irritating!
I used to be able to find good information from your content.
Thank you a lot for sharing this with all people you really realize what you’re speaking about! Bookmarked. Kindly also consult with my web site =). We may have a hyperlink alternate arrangement between us!
This is a really good tip especially to those fresh to the blogosphere. Short but very accurate information… Many thanks for sharing this one. A must read article.