Ep 23: A Texas Bigfoot Encounter part 1

A man has a close call with a bigfoot in a national forest.

For more hair-raising true stories, check out Tom Lyons’s books on Amazon and at www.TomLyonsBooks.com or search for him or David Flora on Audible and Amazon.

Submit your frightening encounter to Tom at [e-mail]

For more podcasts by David, search on any pod-catcher for the following:
Blurry Photos - a podcast that explores the unexplained and explains the unexplored
Hysteria 51 - a paranormal podcast that explores strange topics with a humorous approach
Quiz Quiz Bang Bang - a trivia practice podcast with some healthy competition thrown in

Episode Transcript

(00:08):
Welcome to Tom Lyons Five Minute Frights. I'm your narrator, David Flora.
If you enjoy the show and wantmore frightening encounters to read or listen to,
be sure to check out Tom LyonsBooks dot com. That's Tom l
Yonsbooks dot Com. Ebooks, audiobooksand paperbacks are available there, and additional
books in these formats can be foundat Amazon and Audible. Just search for

(00:31):
Tom Lyons or David Flora on thosesites to find more. This episode of
Five Minute Frights is titled at TexasBigfoot Encounter Number one. My name is
Tommy Hudson. I live in asmall country town in Texas. The dates

(00:53):
late August nineteen ninety six. I'mthirty years old and going through my first
divorce, which my family pressuring menot to do. I am an avid
outdoorsman and spend most of my timefishing, hunting, and hiking in the
woods, sometimes alone. I feelmore alive in the woods. It brings
me great joy and peace to beoutside somewhere, which is the main reason

(01:15):
for my divorce. My wife atthe time hated being anywhere outside. I
was preparing for the upcoming archery seasonwith my Buddy Robert. On the day
of the sighting. We were gonnahunt white tailed deer in a national forest.
Most of the time we hunted onpublic hunting land offered by the State
of Texas, but this time weattempted it in a national forest to avoid

(01:40):
the crowds of hunters we see onthese public deer hunts. We went to
the Davy Crockett National Forest, aprimitive, undisturbed area containing vast expanses of
tall pine trees. When you're there, you feel very alone. My dad
teased it off and about bigfoot andwhere they might be lurking. He teased

(02:04):
us often, especially during our abundantfamily camping trips. I was a young
man who thought about it as nothingmore than humor or campfire stories. I
felt invincible and feared nothing besides bearsor mountain lions, which were a real
threat. We arrived at this particularspot by driving around looking for a good

(02:25):
place to set up a base campthat upcome and fall. We finally decided
to stop at an area just outsidethe community of No Gallas on Highway ninety
four. We each had a radio, compass and marking tape to mark likely
spots for a possible return to thatarea. We split up and Robert went

(02:45):
west and I went east. Wewould meet back at the truck around one
pm that afternoon to discuss our findingsof deer activity. The day was foggy
with a cool mist in the air, so it was comfortable for deer scouting.
I traveled through the woods looking forsigns. The weight of my pending
divorce on my mind. The soundsof birds, squirrels, and scurrying animals

(03:09):
helped soothe my mind. At aboutten am, I stopped taking a snack
break. Beef jerking and doctor pepperare always my go to. I found
a nice spot with a small waterhole and a creek running through it.
Large boulders were around the water hole, where I took my seat for a
few minutes rest. It was hardto believe I'd been scouting for hours and

(03:31):
hardly saw any deer sign until thewater hole. As I was sitting there
chewing on the beef jerky, Inoticed that the forest noises suddenly stopped.
All I could hear was the trickleof the nearby creek. I knew a
predator was near, and the hairstood on the back of my neck my

(03:52):
eyes immediately strained to find the predator, which had to be a mountain lion
or possibly a coyote. Sat stillso I would hopefully be lucky enough to
spot it. Just a chance tosee the critters in the wild as a
privilege. I sat there intently,looking but feeling like something was watching me,

(04:14):
and then I heard it, aguttural growl or rumble. My heart
leaped into my throat as I realizedit was directly behind me. Slowly,
I turned my head, looking lowto keep from making any eye contact.
But as I turned my head,I saw a massive animal in my peripheral

(04:35):
vision. Damn, it's a bear, I thought, assuming I was as
good as dead, so I turnedmy body to face the bear, ready
to try to defend myself. SoonI realized this wasn't no bear. What
stood before me I wasn't sure.It was an animal about seven and a

(04:59):
half feet all with long, reddishbrown matted hair and muscles like a professional
bodybuilder. Its legs and arms wereas thick as the pine trees surrounded me.
Its facial features were similar to agorilla's but were also like a human's.
The eyes were dark with huge pupilsbarely visible, but the pupils and

(05:21):
the nose were broad and flat,and the lips looked human. The teeth
were yellowish white. The smell wasprofoundly musky and similar to that of the
wild pigs that frequented the area.I observed all this in a matter of
seconds. I was not moving.The animal was not either. It made

(05:47):
eye contact with me and seemed tobe studying my intent. Then I noticed
something else as the animal moved astep toward me and leaped upon the boulder
I had been sitting on. Itsquatted, and then I saw it had
enormous feet, and its large breastsindicated it was a female. Apparently it

(06:11):
was a mother, for the mattedfur was pushed away from the nipples.
At this point, I figured Ineeded to do something. I slowly backed
away and spread my arms, tryingto show I meant no harm. When
I moved, I heard another strangenoise, a whimper to my right.

(06:31):
From my peripheral vision, I sawa small arm wrapped around a tree about
ten yards away. I had encounteredan adult and her young A froze,
Knowing I was as good as dead. I realized I had met the creature
from my dad's stories, and Iwas also near their young, which seemed

(06:54):
like a terrible situation. Suddenly,the creature leaped all the way cross the
water hole, two her young andthey crashed into the woods. I never
got a good look at the youngone, but I didn't want to move.
Finally, I radioed my buddy andtold him to meet me at the
truck immediately. I moved quickly andwas relieved when I spotted the vehicle.

(07:18):
My buddy arrived and could immediately tellI was shaken. I told him I
wouldn't feeling well and wanted to gohome, so we loaded up and headed
out. He repeatedly asked me ifI was okay, but I knew he
wouldn't believe what I'd just experienced.I got home and had troubled dealing with

(07:40):
what I saw, but I didn'tknow who to tell or how to explain
what I saw. I wanted toforget the encounter, but couldn't. I
have never gone back to those particularwoods. I also left Texas for eight
years. Now, twenty four yearslater, I've been married, divorced again,

(08:03):
remarried to my current wife. Memoryreturned to the front of my mind
during a fishing trip in April twentytwenty three, but that is another story
for the next episode. Submitted byTommy Hudson. Now this has been five
minute frights, compiled and edited byTom Lyons, narrated by David Flora.

(08:28):
Additional works like this can be foundat Tom Lyons Books dot com or by
searching Amazon irraudible for Tom Lyons orDavid Flora. If you have a frightening
encounter of your own you'd like toshare, feel free to send it to
Tom at Living dot among dot Bigfootat gmail dot com. Thank you for
listening, and take care.