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Back in February 2000, a man and avid “coon hunter” came forward and told a story about encountering a creature in Texarkana that sounds an awful lot like Bigfoot.
The Coon Hunter was an experienced, award-winning hunter, who was licensed to hunt across three states. At the time of the encounter, he was in the Miller County area of Arkansas, near the Mercer bayou. As all good monster stories go – he was with some other hunters until they split up.
The hunting party separated, and his fellows went to search one side of the swamp while he explored the other. Seeing nothing particularly worth shooting, he set about returning to the hunting party’s meeting spot.
Abruptly, he heard something moving in the flooded timber area, a section of around eight to fifteen inches of brackish swamp water. He called out, assuming it was a fellow hunter but no-one answered. Instead, he heard a deep gurgling growl and was hit by a strong, putrid smell.
To the Coon Hunter’s surprise, his leashed hunting dogs, trained to track prey, wanted no part of what was in that swamp and began whimpering. These were powerful hunting dogs that had easily battled animals such as coyotes without flinching. However, they cowered around his legs in fear.
Quickly scanning the area, he suddenly realized something was standing behind him.
Covered in dark red hair, a creature estimated to be eight to nine feet tall towered over him. It’s eyes glowed when he flashed his light on it. It hissed in disapproval.
With a guttural sound bellowing from its throat, the creature bent down, scooped up swamp water and flung it at the Coon Hunter. The dogs, reacting instinctively to the aggression, pulled hard and tried to attack the creature. The Coon Hunter, obviously having a different response than his dogs, pulled them away and fled in other direction. As he fled, the creature continued to make noises in the swamp behind him.
The Coon Hunter never told his friends when he found them again but said he’s never hunted the area since.
The Bigfoot encounter isn’t surprising because the area’s well known for its association with the Fouke Monster, a type of Bigfoot reported as far back as the 1800s.
