Alabama Fishermen Fired Shots as Bigfoot Charged in 1994

So I just came across this wild story over on the Shadow Trail Stories YouTube channel, and honestly, it's one of those encounters that sticks with you long after you finish listening. If you haven't checked out this channel yet, you're missing out — the host does a fantastic job letting witnesses tell their stories in their own words, and this one is a doozy. The story comes from a guy named JR, who grew up in North Marengo County, Alabama. He's a country boy through and through — hunting, fishing, the whole deal. He admits that as a kid, he loved watching Bigfoot shows on TV, but he didn't actually believe in them. That all changed one spring afternoon in 1994 when he was 21 years old. JR's college buddy AJ had come down to visit his grandparents, who owned over 800 acres in Greene County, just north of Demopolis, Alabama. For those who don't know the area, Demopolis sits right where the Tombigbee and Black Warrior Rivers meet, so there's a ton of swampy backwater sloughs running through the region. The grandparents had about 40 acres that sat directly on the Black Warrior River, and the slough they decided to fish was about a quarter mile from the main river channel — basically as far back into the property as you could get. Now, JR and AJ were armed when they arrived. JR had his shotgun, and AJ brought a .22 rifle and a shotgun. They left the shotguns in the truck seat, though, figuring they'd just be fishing. Big mistake number one, as JR would later admit. They settled into a nice spot and started catching brim right away. Beautiful day, peaceful river bottom — until about 2:30 in the afternoon. That's when they heard it. A scream, about half a mile away. AJ figured it was a cougar — his grandfather had actually seen one on the property before. But JR had heard cougars before, and he knew their screams were higher pitched. This sound was medium to low pitched, and it made him uneasy in a way he'd never felt before in the woods. He suggested going back to grab the shotgun, but AJ called him a wuss. Big mistake number two. The screaming happened again about an hour later, then again — closer this time, maybe 200 yards away. JR was starting to think about leaving, but he's always been at ease in nature, so he pushed through it. By 4:45, it was getting dark in the woods, and AJ fired up an old Coleman lantern. That's when JR thought he heard someone walking through the trees. He figured it was his mind playing tricks. Then they heard what sounded like a large limb breaking. AJ figured someone was trying to scare them off — maybe someone growing weed or making moonshine in the area. That made JR mad. And that's when whatever it was started hitting a pine tree with something solid, about 50 yards from them. JR had enough. He grabbed the old single-shot .22 from AJ and fired a shot in the air toward the direction of the knocking. Instead of running off, the knocking sped up — faster and harder. They could hear limbs falling from the dead tree. JR thought he heard a low growl between the knocks. He fired again, and the thing screamed. JR describes the sound hitting his chest, like standing next to a speaker at a rock concert. AJ jumped back and knocked the Coleman lantern into the water. Complete darkness. Now here's where it gets really intense. JR grabbed a flashlight from the tackle box, but when he shined it toward the creature, the light went dead. AJ had forgotten to check the batteries. Big mistake number three. The creature started knocking on the tree again and screaming over and over. AJ grabbed the fishing gear and took off running toward the truck in pitch blackness. JR pulled out his lighter for a little light and started jogging after him, hearing AJ run into a small oak tree and fall to the ground. The knocking stopped. Then they heard it walking toward them, making grunting noises, about 75 yards away. JR piled up dry leaves and twigs and got a fire going using his cigarette lighter. He told AJ to stay put while he ran for the truck to grab his shotgun. He made it about 30 yards when the scream came again, much closer. AJ blew past him screaming that it was running after them. JR got to the truck, threw the .22 inside, and grabbed his 12 gauge with five rounds of double-aught buck. He could hear it running toward them, so he aimed at the sound and started firing. He got off two shots when he heard the scream again — but this time it sounded different. AJ was shooting too. On JR's last shot, the creature veered off to their right into a brier thicket, and JR says it sounded like a bull running through the brush. It jumped into the east side slough, and JR remembers thinking it sounded funny because it didn't make the sound of something hitting deep water. They got back to AJ's grandparents' house and told them what happened. They laughed and asked what the boys had been drinking. JR and AJ insisted they were dead serious. The grandfather said they'd all go back the next morning to get to the bottom of it. JR didn't sleep much that night. It rained hard the next morning, so they had to wait until after lunch. They loaded up into the grandfather's four-wheel drive truck — AJ with his shotgun, the grandfather with his .30-30, and JR with a rifle with a high capacity magazine. The discussion cuts off right as they arrive back at the old dead pine tree, but you can catch the rest of the story over on Shadow Trail Stories. What really gets me about this encounter is the tree knocking. That's such a well-documented behavior associated with Sasquatch — using trees as a way to communicate, mark territory, or even challenge intruders. The way JR describes the knocking getting faster and harder after he fired the .22 is exactly the kind of escalation you hear about in other credible encounters. And the scream that hits you in the chest? That's something witnesses have described time and time again. There's something about these vocalizations that seems designed to intimidate, and it clearly worked on these two. The Alabama setting is interesting too. The Black Warrior River bottom is exactly the kind of remote, swampy terrain where you'd expect a large, reclusive primate to be able to stay hidden. There's a reason the Southeast has such a rich history of Sasquatch reports — the terrain, the remoteness, the culture of keeping quiet about what you see in the woods. JR even mentions that people in the area grow weed and make moonshine, which means there are reasons beyond just Sasquatch to keep your mouth shut about what happens back in those sloughs. The fact that the grandfather laughed them off is also pretty typical. In rural areas, especially in the South, there's a long tradition of dismissing these kinds of encounters. But the grandfather was willing to go back and investigate, which says something. These guys weren't making it up — they were shaken, and they wanted answers. If you want to hear the rest of the story, definitely head over to Shadow Trail Stories and check out the video. JR does a great job telling it himself, and the host lets the story breathe without a lot of interruption. It's the kind of encounter that reminds you why people keep going back into the woods, even after something like this happens.