One Saturday afternoon in early November of 1967 my wife, daugther and I went to visit her oldest brother Charles. Charles lived just west of Nettleton, a small town about 10 miles from where I live, and just east of large stream named Town Creek. Charles wasn't home, his wife said he was hunting and since it was deer season I assumed that was what he was hunting.
About 20 minutes later he came in and I asked if he got a deer. He replied that he hadn't been deer hunting, he and some of the deer hunting club members had been hunting a Bigfoot. I laughed and said there aren't any Bigfoot around here. I thought he was joking but he wasn't. Seems two members of his hunting club had seen one on the south bank of Town Creek about 3 miles south of his house and he and some of the club members had been hunting it after work every day. I knew the two club members who claimed to have seen the Bigfoot, knew them to be fairly honest and truthful, and figured they had seen something but no way did they see a Bigfoot. I was still poking fun at Charles when we left but he was dead serious. The next weekend Charles and his family came to visit us. The first thing I did was ask him if they had shot the Bigfoot yet. He grinned sheepishly and said there wasn't one.
About a quarter mile south of where the Bigfoot was sighted is a large hill, in the mid 1800's an old town named Carmargo was on the hill but in 1967 the only house there belonged to Sam Seymore. Sam was a bootlegger, a very successful one and made a lot of money plying his trade. He was a big man and had two sons bigger then he was, both were in the 6'5"-6'6" range. Herman, the oldest, weighed about 250 and was a school teacher, John weighed at least 280 and never did anything much except help Sam bootleg and act as a bouncer when someone got rowdy. John was also a member of the hunting club and involved in the Bigfoot hunt. Turned out that Sam kept some his beer and whiskey stashed down by Town Creek so the law wouldn't find it. Just before dark on the day of the Bigfoot sighting John had been playing with his two young, pre-school age nephews. John put on a Gorilla mask one of the older kids had used when trick or treating during the recent Halloween and was acting silly trying to scare them. Sam told him to go down to the creek and bring back a case of beer, John went to get the beer but didn't take the mask off. The two hunting club members, who had been hunting on the north side of the creek, was walking out because it was to late to hunt and saw him. In the dim light all they could see was a huge something. There was enough light they could tell it was walking upright like a man and had a head that looked more like a monkey than like a human.
After an afterwork hunt on Thursday of the second week of hunting Bigfoot some of the hunting club members, including John, my brother-in-law Charles and the two guys who had seen it, were sitting at Sam's drinking beer and talking about the Bigfoot and the hunt. For the umpteenth time someone asked the guys who had seen it what it looked like. One of the guys told them it looked to be about as tall as John, maybe a little bigger, had a head kinda like a gorilla and then added something he and the other "witness" hadn't mentioned before. The bigfoot looked like it was carrying something, maybe a box or at least something that looked like a box. That's when it hit John that he was the bigfoot, they had seen him getting the case of beer.
Charles was kinda embarrassed that he actually believed it was a Bigfoot, but the funniest part was that John hunted it along with the rest of the club for over a week before he found out he was the Bigfoot that had been sighted. He was very fortunate that one of the two guys who saw him didn't shoot him.
About 20 minutes later he came in and I asked if he got a deer. He replied that he hadn't been deer hunting, he and some of the deer hunting club members had been hunting a Bigfoot. I laughed and said there aren't any Bigfoot around here. I thought he was joking but he wasn't. Seems two members of his hunting club had seen one on the south bank of Town Creek about 3 miles south of his house and he and some of the club members had been hunting it after work every day. I knew the two club members who claimed to have seen the Bigfoot, knew them to be fairly honest and truthful, and figured they had seen something but no way did they see a Bigfoot. I was still poking fun at Charles when we left but he was dead serious. The next weekend Charles and his family came to visit us. The first thing I did was ask him if they had shot the Bigfoot yet. He grinned sheepishly and said there wasn't one.
About a quarter mile south of where the Bigfoot was sighted is a large hill, in the mid 1800's an old town named Carmargo was on the hill but in 1967 the only house there belonged to Sam Seymore. Sam was a bootlegger, a very successful one and made a lot of money plying his trade. He was a big man and had two sons bigger then he was, both were in the 6'5"-6'6" range. Herman, the oldest, weighed about 250 and was a school teacher, John weighed at least 280 and never did anything much except help Sam bootleg and act as a bouncer when someone got rowdy. John was also a member of the hunting club and involved in the Bigfoot hunt. Turned out that Sam kept some his beer and whiskey stashed down by Town Creek so the law wouldn't find it. Just before dark on the day of the Bigfoot sighting John had been playing with his two young, pre-school age nephews. John put on a Gorilla mask one of the older kids had used when trick or treating during the recent Halloween and was acting silly trying to scare them. Sam told him to go down to the creek and bring back a case of beer, John went to get the beer but didn't take the mask off. The two hunting club members, who had been hunting on the north side of the creek, was walking out because it was to late to hunt and saw him. In the dim light all they could see was a huge something. There was enough light they could tell it was walking upright like a man and had a head that looked more like a monkey than like a human.
After an afterwork hunt on Thursday of the second week of hunting Bigfoot some of the hunting club members, including John, my brother-in-law Charles and the two guys who had seen it, were sitting at Sam's drinking beer and talking about the Bigfoot and the hunt. For the umpteenth time someone asked the guys who had seen it what it looked like. One of the guys told them it looked to be about as tall as John, maybe a little bigger, had a head kinda like a gorilla and then added something he and the other "witness" hadn't mentioned before. The bigfoot looked like it was carrying something, maybe a box or at least something that looked like a box. That's when it hit John that he was the bigfoot, they had seen him getting the case of beer.
Charles was kinda embarrassed that he actually believed it was a Bigfoot, but the funniest part was that John hunted it along with the rest of the club for over a week before he found out he was the Bigfoot that had been sighted. He was very fortunate that one of the two guys who saw him didn't shoot him.
