BIGFOOT Sightings - #10 Wayne National Forest
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Size: 
(small)
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Believe it or not!
The Portsmouth Daily times wrote on June 17, 1999 that “the legend of Bigfoot has been told for centuries, but some local residents have come forward to say it is more than a legend in Scioto County. Some residents claim to have seen Bigfoot, smelled Bigfoot and even been lifted off the ground by Bigfoot!”
The Ohio Bigfoot Research Team says it has investigated eyewitness accounts of reported encounters with Bigfoot like creatures in Shawnee State and Wayne National Forest lands in Scioto County. Shawnee State and Wayne National Forests represent a vast tract of wilderness land that together totals over 280,000 acres in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains that borders the Ohio River. The national forest lands stretch into several counties across Southern Ohio, including Gallia, Lawrence, Scioto and Vinton Counties.
Bigfoot reports have been generated within these localities for a number of years, dating back to an unusual instance in 1869, in which a father and daughter pair encountered a frightening, gorilla-like "wild-man" near Gallipolis, Ohio.
More recently, an influx of documented Bigfoot sightings have reportedly been brought to the attention of the Ohio Bigfoot Research Team from locations near or adjacent to areas of The Wayne National Forest.
CAMPGROUND CLOSURE-
Wayne National Forest- Vesuvius Recreational Area
One particular account -which has been discussed on the nationally syndicated Art Bell radio program- tells of a campground or picnic area within the Wayne National Forest that had been mysteriously 'closed' due to a large number of BIGFOOT sightings within a 30-day time period.
The 'closure' of the campground was also said to be in conjunction with a memo circulated by officers of the Ohio Division of Wildlife, asking state park officers and rangers to keep the reported Bigfoot sightings 'low-key' so as not to generate a panic among campers and tourists.
Various Bigfoot researchers were contacted and interviewed in an effort to procure more information on how and where the story of the 'campground closure' surfaced. Ohio researcher Lynda Wygel with the North American Sasquatch Research Team talked with eight different officials at Wayne National Forest, and none of them knew of Bigfoot sightings or the closure of a campground or picnic area. She had talked with game wardens and Park rangers as well.
Ohio Bigfoot researcher Don Keating was also familiar with the rumors of alleged campground closures: "To my knowledge, there was no campground closure," Keating said when asked about the rumors. "I don't know a whole lot about it, except that Jody Cook talked about it at the Vancouver symposium in June of '97." With regards to the account of a campground 'closure' due to a large number of Bigfoot sightings, there is no documentation or evidence to support this.
While investigation of the campground closure at Lake Vesuvius Recreational Area did not provide evidence of the occurrence, sightings researched by the Ohio Bigfoot Research Organization continued. The following are actual reports taken from their team members:
Ohio Bigfoot Research Organization
Location: Wayne National Forest, Southern Ohio
Approx. Time: 4:00 pm
Date: 9/20/01
Terrain: Creek/Brush
Witness: Richard Etterling (Obfrt Leader)
Observed/Heard:
“On this date and time I was squirrel Hunting. The Woods were as quiet as a tomb. I went in at Harrison's crossing and there was no sign of life. The birds, bugs, Squirrels and Chipmunks were absent. I went to a ledge about 10 feet and 50 feet above this creek where I usually kill squirrels. I had been in the woods for about a half hour when I heard an "owl hoot" over on another hill. The call was answered about 300 yards away, across a huge grown up field. Then another Creature hooted five or six times in a row from a deer crossing about 2 hundred to my left. My heart was pumping extremely hard at this time.
What I saw next made me freeze. Six deer came to a crossing 50 yards down the creek from me. One deer was an 8point Buck. This is what I saw in about 10 seconds. A black furry blur came from a big tree directly above the deer. It struck a doe on the spine at the shoulders with its fist. The deer scattered quick but at the sad bawling of a doe, the buck and the largest doe returned. The doe stood on its hind legs and was swinging and hitting the Bigfoot (which I judged to be 5 feet tall!)
The buck charged head down several times and the creature let loose of the doe's hind legs. It struggled to its feet and ran into the denser field brush and branches were popping as it went. The trees shook as a much larger animal came rushing in. I shouted out loud to stop this attack. The deer left with the wounded doe and then the woods and field were silent for a moment. Then came a very menacing low guttural growl. It lasted 30 seconds or more in length. I then heard rocks banging at "the exit point". I left the woods rubber kneed!”
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Ohio Bigfoot Research Team Report
March 24 2001
Wayne National Forest,
Researcher(s) Richard and Bill Etterling
Observed/Heard:
“On March 24 at about noon we were researching travel patterns of Bigfoot on and around the creeks in our area. We found several mud slides and tracks along a two-mile area of this large creek. The Bigfoot was apparently hunting ducks and geese on this creek as the Bigfoot sign indicated. We found two places along the bank made for ambush sites along the water. After searching this area for about three hours we returned to the vehicle to continue to another area.
While driving to this new area we came around a curve close to the creek and just 100 yards up the creek a brown eight-foot Bigfoot was leaving the water, the water was running off the animal in sheets as it walked up the creek bank. I (Richard) yelled for Bill to stop the truck. But the animal was already gone.”
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Ohio Bigfoot Research Team Research Report
Date: March 24, 2004
Location: WNF Research area
Time of Day: Noon
State: Ohio
Researchers Involved: Bill and Richard Etterling
Observed/Heard:
“My brother and Excellent team member Bill and I Richard were going on a very interesting recon for Bigfoot. Our team operates mostly in Southern Ohio, but we have been many other places in the search for this Creature. On to this days adventure! We were traveling a well known forest road this afternoon. As we traveled we noticed this smell, much like a dead animal. We travel these trails very often, so we know when something is new here. The deer carcass was 60 ft from the road, what was left was a Classic “Bigfood” as we like to call it. Out of the entire body only the bones, “Legs still intact might I add” and the ripped hide of the doe were left. These Bigfoot were very hungry this winter, and we believe they are making up for lost meals. Bill was filming the Bigfoot kill and I was keeping a lookout all around us. I had already done a binocular sweep of the fallow grown field. When I finished checking above me, I was making another sweep of the field. This is when I spotted them. A brown hairy “log” was now visible about 75 ft away from Bill. I didn’t have a Camera, and even if I did I would have needed a zoom lens. My 7x16 binoculars were doing just fine. I couldn’t see the whole creature until it spotted me. When it turned and belly crawled very fast, a Second one I had not seen followed it. A moment later I heard a loud “call” that the creatures in this area tend to use. I guess this was an “all clear” signal. We were going to go look at the creek bank that was about another 20 ft from where the creatures were, however the weather was getting pretty bad so we decided to call it a day and take a drive on out through the woods. We were both pumped up after this encounter. We always get excited when we have a sighting, smell, or hear them, or even see their sign. We will probably stop when it fails to excite us!”
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There have been numerous accounts of Bigfoot Sightings in Southern Ohio on internet sites such as ‘The American Bigfoot Society”, “The Ohio Bigfoot Research Team Website”, and “The Sasquatch Sightings Database”. They say Bigfoot reports from areas of Southern Ohio represents a legitimate mystery worthy of serious scientific scrutiny. The reports and witnesses, sometimes very credible, are not taken seriously by the appropriate wildlife officers and scientific communities.
Bigfoot researchers admit that many aspects of the ongoing accounts regarding a Bigfoot-type creature in the Shawnee State and Wayne National Forest areas remain unsubstantiated. The stories are largely relegated to 'rumor and hearsay', although some of the reports have been documented and investigated by researchers. The researchers say that no substantial evidence is known to support the eyewitness data. Thus, the mystery continues.
Believe it or not!
You will find this cache just across from the entrance into Wayne National Forest and Vesivius Recreational Area...It is located in the State Roadside Rest Area and Picnic Area along State Route #93...Cache is a camouflaged medium sized pill bottle with a log book...Bring a pen and your imagination...
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Onfr bs Gerr. Rqtr bs Jbbqf.