- Class 1a
- Class 1, Corroboration: Reports involving a sighting, and accompanied by another form of support.1a A sasquatch/bigfoot specimen has been collected (alive or dead).
- Class 1b
- Class 1, Corroboration: Reports involving a sighting, and accompanied by another form of support.1b A report investigation results in a sasquatch observation or the documentation of clear tracks or other forms of physical evidence by an investigator.
- Class 1c
- Class 1, Corroboration: Reports involving a sighting, and accompanied by another form of support.1c An investigator determines that a visual encounter with a sasquatch/bigfoot by a very reliable observer is a distinct possibility, tangible corroborating evidence is documented, and all other sources can be reasonably ruled out.
- Class 1d
- Class 1, Corroboration: Reports involving a sighting, and accompanied by another form of support.1d A visual encounter with a sasquatch/bigfoot is a distinct possibility involving two or more reliable observers, and all other sources can be reasonably ruled out.
- Class 2
- Class 2, Competency: Reports involving sightings by professionally trained or highly skilled observers.2 Investigator determines that a visual encounter with a sasquatch/bigfoot is a distinct possibility, the observer is exceptionally trustworthy, professionally trained, and experienced in the outdoors and/or is accustomed to looking for and recording details (e.g., biologist, anthropologist/archaeologist, ranger, trapper/tracker/seasoned hunter, bird watcher, game warden, naturalist, law enforcement), and other explanations can be reasonably excluded.
- Class 3a
- Class 3, Credibility: Sightings or possible wood ape evidence reported by credible witnesses.3a Investigator determines that a visual encounter with a sasquatch/bigfoot is a distinct possibility, the observer is credible, and all other sources can be reasonably ruled out.
- Class 3b
- Class 3, Credibility: Sightings or possible wood ape evidence reported by credible witnesses.3b Unidentifiable vocalizations were reported and there is accompanying tangible evidence to possibly indicate the presence of a sasquatch/bigfoot, the observer is very reliable, and other sources can be reasonably ruled out.
- Class 3c
- Class 3, Credibility: Sightings or possible wood ape evidence reported by credible witnesses.3c No visual encounter occurred, but physical evidence was found to indicate the presence of a sasquatch/bigfoot (tracks, hair, scat, etc.), the observer is very reliable, and other sources can be reasonably ruled out.
Case: 01190004
Class 3aYoung Deer Hunter Has Early Morning Encounter
Report Details
Occurrence date: November/1971
Location: Trinity County, TX
Nearby/Vicinity: Groveton
Time / Conditions: 07:00 — Clear, cool, shortly after sunrise...
# of Witnesses: 1
Location: Trinity County, TX
Nearby/Vicinity: Groveton
Time / Conditions: 07:00 — Clear, cool, shortly after sunrise...
# of Witnesses: 1
Witness Account:
Where: Westville, TX (just west of Groveton, TX, Trinity County)
When: November, 1971, shortly after sunrise
Conditions: Cool, clear, perhaps 50F
Terrain: Heavily wooded, pine, oak, rolling hills interlaced with numerous creeks
I was 11-years old and had never heard of "bigfoot"...
On the morning in question I was sitting on a deer stand, armed with a single shot .410, facing north. Just as the sun began to rise, I heard a large hunter, or so I thought, approaching from my 4 o'clock - from the SE.
I immediately grew concerned because we'd - my Dad was making a drive toward me from the north - never encountered anyone on this property before and the thought of another hunter walking up on me scared me.
It was a clear dry morning and I could hear the leaves crunching under the feet of this "man" every step he took. That said, I became more afraid because I could tell this individual was quite large and further, if it was a hunter, why wasn't he trying to be quiet?
When he was almost on top of me, he stopped abruptly, perhaps 15' away to my back-rght. I didn't move a muscle but using my peripheral vision, I could see the outline of a tall - 6' + - dark form standing there.
Because I was sitting against a tree, I could only see the right third of his body. He was chocolate brown-reddish brown and very muscular. He had no neck to speak of and his head appeared too small for his body. Further, because he was somewhat backlit, his face was in shadow so I couldn't see his facial features clearly enough to add a description.
My mind couldn't grasp what I was seeing because nothing I'd experienced to date or had ever even heard of could have prepared me for what I was seeing. I felt numb with fear and almost fainted.
Somehow I gathered my wits and that's when his breathing caught my attention; he was breathing very heavily or so I thought at first. I then realized he was picking up my scent as best he could.
Again, I was so numb with fear I didn't or better yet couldn't move so I sat for what seemed an eternity - but it was probably only 15 seconds - waiting to see what he'd do next.
He finally let out a grunt/snort as if disgusted by my presence, turned and walked off to my 8 o'clock, toward the SW at the same purposeful clip as before. When his footfalls finally became so distant I couldn't hear them, I felt some sense of relief but still felt numb...
And, needless to say, this event "haunts" me to this day.
The movie 'The Legend of Boggy Creek' came out a year or so after I had this encounter and upon seeing that movie, I stopped hunting…
Postscript:
Employing twenty-twenty hindsight, I think I was more or less in shock following this encounter. That said, I never told ANYONE about it until a few years after I reported the vocalizations I/we (I was running with a friend) heard in southern Colorado in April 2000 to two other bigfoot sites; the BFRO and Bigfoot Encounters.
In the years following the 2000 event, I realized I'd repressed the 1971 memory and following my "immersing" myself in publications on the topic, the memory of what happened in '71 began flooding back.
In 2011 I returned to live in the area (Trinity County) where the '71 sighting occurred and slowly my memory of the event became even more "vivid". More recently, upon hearing a local relate the tale of a deer hunter having an encounter near here (Angelina County) in the fall of 2016 I finally felt comfortable sharing my '71 encounter.
