My teenage sons and I were camping in a dispersed site off of NF-3102 for a few days. On the morning of the 12th just after 6am I was making coffee when I heard a guttural growling that rose to a higher pitch scream and then became a whooping sound, after which it dropped back down to a growl. This sequence repeated three times. My dog freaked out barking, but would not go past the saplings on the east edge of the camp, which is strange because he usually pursues deer, elk, and bears several hundred yards into the woods. I grabbed my bow and walked past the line of saplings, into an open forest that sloped down to a ravine with areas of dense vegetation. I called my dog to follow, but he would not come. The forest in this area is full of downed trees, where my sons and I had gathered firewood the previous afternoon. I believe the sound came from the vegetation / trees at the bottom of the ravine, which we had been within 30 feet of when gathering downed wood. I only walked about 20 feet past the saplings, and stood on a log for a better view, but did not see anything moving. I then decided to go back to camp, being a bit worried because my dog wouldn’t leave the area of our tent. For the next hour and a half I sat with my bow next to me, the dog sitting between my legs, and listened to many instances of downed branches cracking beyond the saplings. When the cracks stopped, it was abruptly, not fading as if the cause were moving away. These were large branches being broken, similar to the sound of a bear breaking wood. My dog is not afraid of bears and has chased away several, including one the previous week in eastern Idaho. About half an hour after the cracking sounds stopped the dog went out in the forest to investigate, and everything seemed to return to normal. It was then that I again heard the squirrels angrily chirping and chittering at the dog, and realized that I had not heard it at all during the noises or cracking. I have never heard anything in the Blue Mountains, Rockies, or Cascades like this sound. It sounded nothing like deer, elk, moose, bear, mountain lion, or bobcat. The only thing I could possibly think is maybe a mountain lion was killing an elk, but it repeated three times with just about the same length and cadence. And the whooping part of it reminded me of those plastic bellows hoses that you swing in the air to make a whistling / whooping sound. While in Pendleton a couple days later I was describing the sounds to a local hunter when an older native woman overheard and said she thinks it was a Bigfoot, and that she’s heard them on the Umatilla Reservation.
2009-09-09
Started on a three day hike in Gifford Pinchot National Forest on 8 Sept 09 at trail head #48 near East Crater. After the first day of hiking into Indian Heaven Wilderness and spending a col…
both described growling · screaming or howling · whooping · 273 km away
2002-07-15
Well, my dad had taken me, my sisters, brother, and step mother out for a day of 'rock hunting' so that he could find the rare and odd rocks that he loves to go and find in the mountain area…
both described growling · screaming or howling · whooping · 302 km away
2005-06-21
On June 21, 2005, I started a solo bicycle tour from Salem, Oregon that would take me east up into the Mount Hood National Forest, Warm Springs Indian Reservation, Old Mckenzie Pass Hwy just…
both described growling · screaming or howling · whooping · 315 km away
2010-09-04
Over the Labor Day weekend 2010 my girlfriend and Newfoundland dog were camping at Lake Cushman, WA at the upper Camp Cushman campsite. We had dinner, an evening walk and then to bed in our …
both described growling · screaming or howling · whooping · 437 km away
2009-03-02
I write this email with a little apprehension of what my son and I heard in late August 2006. My 16 year old son (at the time) and I were on a three day hiking trip in the Siskiyou Mountains…
both described growling · screaming or howling · whooping · 544 km away
2022-08-12
My husband, our mastiff mix dog, and myself live in a small town called Susanville, California. It is located in Lassen County. We have lived in these parts for almost our whole lives, so we…
both described growling · screaming or howling · whooping · 600 km away
This account was written by a member of the public and published in the BFRO archive. We reproduce it with thanks and remove anything on request. Location shown is approximate.