Reply #51: I was hunting mule deer

[Squatch]

Had crawled into a big root wad as my treestand. Had a .44 magnum revolver as my firearm. I was looking down the slope (covered with lodgepole pines and tamaracks) toward a small brook. The brook provided a bright background.

At about shooting light, I hear one of my buddies about 1/2 mile away shoot at a deer. I ready myself for what will be the rush of animals away from that spot.

I see a creature silhouetted against and following the brook. I only see it from about the shoulders up at this point.

It reaches a point directly in front of me, stops, and then stands more upright. It looks back uphill from when it was coming, turns back around, and then takes off again.

It moved like water. Extremely fluid. It was about my size (6'3"), covered with hair, and very broad. Didn't get a smell of the thing since I was uphill and upwind. I don't think it knew I was there.

At that time, my .44 mag felt pretty puny. I went back to camp and ended my year long abstinence from alcohol.