A man gathering firewood for his campsite with his ATV encounters a large ape-like animal in a creek bed witnessed in Pike County, Missouri

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I was camping with a friend in early spring. There was a storm coming in and all the animals were stirred up. We almost hit several deer that were crossing the road. One deer jumped out and almost landed on the hood of my jeep. We got to the campsite and I got on an ATV to go gather firewood. I was heading to the back of the farm and there was an awful smell. I looked to my left and in the creek I saw a creature that looked like a large ape or bear. It looked right into my eyes, I couldn't move, we stared at each other for what seemed like forever but it was probably about 30 seconds, then it turned its head and from a squatting position it jumped up an 8 foot bank and ran in the other direction. I drove back to the campsite and after I calmed down, we both grabbed two guns each and went back to where I saw the creature. When we arrived at the spot it was getting dark and we didn't want to stay around after dark. We returned to where I saw the creature in the morning to look for footpr...