Janoosh, thanks for the biggest laugh I've had in a long time! And all the other ensuing "camp fire comments" as well. Reminds me of a group of good ol' boys I get together with about once a year. The evening campfire stories and comments are always a riot! One night around the campfire with them, and the whole next year takes on a different flavor!
One of those guys says, in utmost sincerity, and despite being provoked to this day for it, asserts that when he was much younger, he saw one in the Big Thicket of Texas when he and a cute young thing were seeking privacy in its dang darkness. To this day, whenever he speaks of it, you can see the God's honest fear in his eyes.
I once had an eerie experience of "knowing" something or someone was watching me take a dump on a bank in the deep woods beside the river. I nonchalantly finished my business (what else could I do?) and walked as nonchalantly as I could back to the boat and told Dad about it. He took me seriously.
And my old FL cowboy uncle told me of stories from his own younger days when one was seen just across the road from the old home place. They'd been missing pigs for some time, and the neighbor was stealthy enough to try sneaking up there to see if he could catch who was stealing his hogs. It was a "wild man" carrying two pigs off, one under each arm, that he caught. He set up some kind of trap for it that wound up being destroyed by something obviously very powerful and strong, but the pig thievery stopped after that. And Uncle Titus wasn't above telling a good tale, but he was dead serious when talking about this, and he was NEVER known to be making up stuff when he took that attitude. I challenged him, and he got that look in his eye of a serious, "You challengin' me boy?" kind of look.
What exists in our "big woods" (or what's left of it now) that we no longer spend much time in any longer , that we don't know about? Who knows? I've never seen a squatch, but I've seen two long tailed very large cats, but only one of them may have been black. The other I'm pretty sure was probably tawny. A fellow who used to rent from my father in law had a polaroid of a drugged up immature male cougar he'd trapped in the neighboring county. He was the absolute best trapper I've ever known, and now owns the place he used to rent. VERY sophisticated and dedicated trapper, and VERY efficient at what he did.
Another buddy had a very personal confrontation with a very large, heavily built black cat in his yard. Thinking it a dog in his trash can, he grabbed a rotten pecan limb that was handy, thinking he'd teach this "dog" a lesson, and when he approached it with its head in the trash can, it head him, withdrew to face its antagonist, and there they were, face to face, my buddy and a very large, heavily built big, glack cat. All my buddy could think to do was bring that limb down on its shoulders, which was a pretty pitiful effort, but it apparently broke the deadlock between their eyes and surprise, and the cat ran off, apparently in a rage. It escaped across the horse pasture and killed a young colt that happened to be in its way and didn't apparently get out of the way, and it quickly dispatched the colt by cutting its throat, and making off instantly towards the woods. My buddy lived on the very edge of town, BTW, so he could shoot out into those big woods beyond the horse pasture.
A local game warden was summoned to examine the colt's carcass, and he admitted it looked like claws from a big cat "COULD" have done it, but STILL discounted the big cat story because "there are no big cats in Ga." So be it. But having seen two myself (in my whole lifetime) I choose to remain dubious that "there are no big, long-tailed cats in Ga."
Many will never appreciate just how stealthy some animals can be, or about how close they really can get to us without making a sound or revealing themselves in any way. Who among us hasn't had a deer appear out of seemingly nothingness, without making a sound?
What's out there? Simple rules of logic tell us we can't prove something does NOT exist. In the absence of proof or personal experience, all we can legitimately do is just wonder. But I have no problem believing that they COULD exist. Proof? That's a whole 'nother matter. Some things just cry out for a personal experience or a body. And if I ever saw a 'squatch, I feel certain I wouldn't be able to shoot it. I probably wouldn't dare, unless it were acting clearly aggressive towards me, which seems to be an exceedingly rare occurance?
'Till I see one myself, or there's scientific proof, I'll be an agnostic, but one that tends to favor its existence. Too many honest folks with no reason to lie have made reports, including a number of cops. But belief? That's still gonna' take something more substantial than reports and tales. With the popularity, both people willing to submit reports and tell their tales, both legitimate and made up, will now abound, it seems. How to tell which is which? It'll always be a "take your pick" situation on that. That's why I can't fault those who seek to produce a body, and hunt them.
"Good luck" is all I can say, though only half-heartedly so. If they'll let me be, I'm content to let them be likewise. Respect is way to uncommon a commodity today. If they threaten me, they'd get the same treatment anyone or anything else would. I've been scared in the woods before, but never enough to just shoot something that didn't need it. I'd hope that would always continue to be the case.
Last edited by Blackwater; 07-03-2016 at 07:18 PM.
Micah 6:8
He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?
"I don't have hobbies - I'm developing a robust post-apocalyptic skill set"
I may be discharged and retired but I'm sure I did not renounce the oath that I solemnly swore!
BP | Bronze Point | IMR | Improved Military Rifle | PTD | Pointed |
BR | Bench Rest | M | Magnum | RN | Round Nose |
BT | Boat Tail | PL | Power-Lokt | SP | Soft Point |
C | Compressed Charge | PR | Primer | SPCL | Soft Point "Core-Lokt" |
HP | Hollow Point | PSPCL | Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" | C.O.L. | Cartridge Overall Length |
PSP | Pointed Soft Point | Spz | Spitzer Point | SBT | Spitzer Boat Tail |
LRN | Lead Round Nose | LWC | Lead Wad Cutter | LSWC | Lead Semi Wad Cutter |
GC | Gas Check |