Growling in Volusia County, Florida

A friend and I were fishing late into the night and early morning in a remote area in between Ormond Beach and Flagler Beach next to a small bridge on Walter Boardman Lane. The friend of mine noticed a set of eyes shining in the woods while looking down a small trail. We were wearing headband style flash lights and he told me to check it out. As I looked down the trail it was very obvious to me that the eyes were far enough apart and high enough off of the ground to justify being concerned. I convinced myself and my friend that whatever it may be, its more afraid of us than we were of it. A while later, maybe 20 minutes or so, he mentioned that it was still there starring at us. I walked slightly closer to the opening of the trail in an attempt to make out what it may have been, but still couldn't tell. A few minutes later, same thing... it was still there and still starring towards us. I tried to make noise and decided to yell at it. It apparently wasn't too concerned b/c it didn't so much as blink or move. We again convinced ourselves that it was nothing to be afraid of. We continued with fishing and not long after my friend noticed that it had finally moved on. We thought nothing more of it until I got the biggest scare of my adult life. As I was standing there, something let out the deepest, slowest growl that I've ever heard in my life. It sounded as though it was standing directly behind me and very close. I turned to look at my friend and the look on his face told me that I was not hearing things. Without a second thought or a spoken word, we dropped our fishing poles and ran as fast as we could to the truck. We jumped in and locked up tight. My first question was if he had heard it and his response was "yes, what was that?" We were so scared that we weren't sure what to do. The decision was made a couple of minutes later to start the truck and turn on the headlights. He raced the engine and blew the horn repeatedly. Even after a few minutes of doing this and feeling sure that whatever is was had to have left the area, we were still VERY hesitant to retrieve our fishing gear. After a long while of deciding, we very quickly jumped out, THREW our things into the back of the truck, and left. We had both lived in Florida for some time. We spent a lot of time on the water and in the woods, fishing and camping in remote locations. Never before, NEVER, have I heard anything like it. I can say 100% that it WAS NOT an alligator or a bear. Beyond that I have no idea. I do know that whatever is may have been convinced two grown men, both of them, to immediately go out and purchase handguns to carry during each and every future outing! Not sure where the sound clips of the growls come from on the "finding Bigfoot" television series... but they are about the closest thing I've heard to the sound I heard that night. The only other detail that stands out to this day is that we had a "buffet" of shrimp, chicken gizzards and livers, and cut up fish sitting on the tailgate of the truck.