Screaming or howling in Dickens County, Texas

Approximately two weeks ago we had a very unusual incident take place in our area. Of course, it is hunting season so there are incidence of wild animals coming into our area. Most times we can identify the animals, even if they turn out to be refugees from an exotic animal ranch. On this night, sometime around midnight, I heard a strange sound at the other end of the house. At the same time, our dog bounced off the bed and began barking towards our kitchen. I was home alone so I went armed in search of the intruder. The door was locked and there was no intruder in the house. On my way back throught the house, our dog began barking viciously at the back door. She was bouncing up and hitting the back door with her chest. She is very protective. She was very aggressive but I refused to let her out of the house. As I pulled her away from the door, this awful stench hit me. I can only say that the smell was a cross between swamp mud and musk. I drug the dog to the bedroom to try and quiet her down. The doors and windows were closed, but the odor managed to fill the room. I knew that what ever the animal was, it had to be fairly good-sized. When my wife came home, I told her about the incident but she did the eye roll thing and plopped down to watch tv. I was still curious about the smell so I opened the back door. Just as I got the door open, this "thing" screamed an ungodly scream. Not sure if my wife heard it, I turned to ask her if she had. The second scream came and I didn't have to ask, my wife had turned sheet white. Needless to say, I slammed the door shut. I do know that the "thing" was northwest of our house. I thought I might find tracks but the ground was too dry. I do know that the "thing" upset every dog in the area and they stayed stirred up for several days. I did mentioned the "incident" to a relative who is an avid hunter and outdoorsman and asked if he knew what it might have been but he said no. I wanted to make sure because I had another idea. Several years ago, I watched a documentary about Big Foot. In the film, they played a sound that they swear is a big foot yelling. However, non-big foot believers say the sound came from a wounded moose, not big foot, and they gave a long speel and some outrageous example. Okay, that was the sound I heard twice to a "T" and we don't have any wounded moose in this part of Texas, so what the hell was it?