Thanksgiving with the Swamp Apes | Florida

0:00 You're listening to Big for Society, and I'm Jeremiah Byron. Tonight's account comes from a hunter who spent decades in the swamps of Florida. Thanksgiving morning, two figures stepped out of the palmettos, but one of them was holding something no hunter ever expects to see. This is one account you definitely won't want to miss, So stay with us, all right, Pick for a Society You've got the privilege of talking to Steven today. Stephen is a traditional bull maker from down there in Florida. He's got some really interesting things that have happened to him over the years, so it's a privilege to have him on the show today. How are you doing today. Sir, Oh, I'm doing wonderful. How about yourself? Yeah, I'm doing great. It's not too hot up here in Iowa, so we're enjoying it. We're at the corn sweat stuff, so if people know what that is. But you know, I'm going to go ahead and pass things over to you, Steven, so that you have the time to share what you experienced. I can't wait to hear about it.

0:56 Man. Okay, well, I appreciate that. It's funny you mentioned corn sweat. I'm in Indiana and that's where I moved to and oh lord. We got so much corn here, it's crazy. A little bit about me. I was born in Massachusetts and lived there for up until I was eighteen or nineteen years old. Growing up, I was kind of like the Daniel Boone kid, you know. I love the woods. Spent a lot of time in the woods and the swamps and doing all kinds of stuff. And I was always interested in the outdoors and stuff and hunting and fishing and stuff like that, which my parents did not like me hunting. We moved to.

1:40 The Great Woods in Norton, Massachusetts, in a little cabin and we lived there, I don't know, for five or six seven years until I moved away. I was in a band and the guy said, hey, let's move to Florida. So I just turned eighteen or nineteen. I think it was in seventy nine, and you know, so we went on the road and went to Florida and I stayed there and I lived in Florida for forty three years and from there, you know, the music career. About thirty years into that, I injured my ears on a show and started realizing that. You know, the music industry is complicated, and I.

2:22 Spent my whole life wanting to do this, and I realized that, well, I bet I have a plan b you know, So I started doing a lot of things in between. I started my own business in eighty three, furniture service business, finishing mostly. I became a focused. Did that for quite a few years, did upholstery and service repairs on various pieces of furniture and whatnot. Plus played in the band. And then I started making bows in two thousand and four and between two thousd in two thousand and four, and uh, you know, I was really passionate about it, started.

3:04 Making them out of wood and all that. But uh, I just kept doing it and doing it, and finally people were like, hey, these are nice, you know I want So that was a supplementing, supplementary income for me. Uh And so I just continue to do that, and That's where I'm at today, pretty successfully and very happy I have what I have. So I've been into hunting quite a bit my whole life, mostly bow hunting. Started off with compound bow and then got bored with that and went with trad And the place where I saw this is a three laces.

3:45 Wildlife management area. And before I get into my studing, I want to back up to Massachusetts again. Me and my sister and I I were walking through this woods and it was massive, but there was a trail going right through it, through the middle of it, and we were always out there playing around, and it was snow on the ground, probably about six inches. And we decided to walk out into the woods one day and. I seen these footprints and they weren't really big, but they were people footprints, and it looked like barefoot but they probably maybe at twelve or a ten in size, my guess, but they were exactly.

4:31 Right in front of each other, like step four foot step, and it was just like a line. That's what made me look at it, because whatever walked didn't walk zigzagged like a person would do or an animal. They were all in a line. And I asked my sister. If I said, what do you think that is, you go, I don't know, you know. So anyway, I never forgot that, didn't know what it was, and moved on and you know, I lived my life and whatnot. Moved to Florida and started hunting at this place at Wildlife Management area, and I had that place probably fifteen years straight. Every year, I'd spend three weeks out there every year during both season and in gun season two, and I had some things happen a few times. There was this one place that I used to love to hunt.

5:28 It was a swamp and I don't know the name of it. I know it was a slough and I want to say it's Johnson's Slough, but it's not that. It's some other weird name which I can't remember. Very spooky swamp because you had to wade through this and nowhere you're going. I kept a trail cut so I wouldn't get lost. And there was an island out there, probably about two three acre island. It was a high spot, you know. It was full of live oak trees, big huge one and it was a great place because the bucks would go out there and bed down and stuff. So one time I'm out there, and I used to go out there alone. I always had the spooks coming out there, and never go out there in the dark.

6:14 I would always wait till the sun just started coming up. Then I would hit the swamp. And I had to use. Hit boots most of the time because it was deep and there's you know, water moccasins and alligators and pigs and everything else out there, so it's a little bit spooky. I get out in this place and I'm sitting in my stand. Probably I don't know, about ten o'clock I heard this huge crash on the island. I felt, I felt. It, and I was like, dang, you know, I wonder what that was. And it was a tree. But so it just kept bugging me. So I ended up leaving early.

6:55 Probably I stayed another hour or so, and I ended up walking out. I get about fifty yards from my stand and I see this huge live oak branch green, probably twelve inches across. And live oaks grow they have big branches that are low, relatively low, but this one was about twelve feet up. I couldn't reach it. It was just completely snapped off right at the tree. And I looked at it and I said, man, there's no termites in this, there's no carpenter ins. And I'm like, wonder why this broke, you know, And I mean it was a big branch, so I'm like hmm.

7:37 So I just left. Didn'tdn't think anything, you know, I'm mosan and out of there and kind of told the guys back to the camp something weird happened to me. And that was about it. Not too long after that, it might have been the next season, or it might have been that season, I'm not sure, but I was hunting in the same slough, but a bout them mile the way the crow flies opposite of which way the creek runs, and I was approaching it, and the wind was blowing right where I was approaching. And I knew that was wrong, but I had to ease through there to get to where I was going. And as soon as I hit the tree line. Which was basically salt palmettos and cypress trees, very thick you couldn't see in there, I heard this huge.

8:27 Just take off through the swamp. And that's scary because we didn't at the time, we didn't have bear and you know, we. Had pigs and deer and stuff like that, but this was like a person. You could tell it was a bipedal because it was boom boom, boom, boom. Boom, snap, and it was breaking these big downfall timbers that was jumping on or you know, and deer just don't do that. And it ran very deep in there. Actually walked in there a little ways to see if I could get an eyeball on what this was. But I never did find out, but it freaked me out. So I left there immediately went back to the camp. Talk to my you know, I used to hunt with the same people.

9:11 I'm like, man, you wouldn't believe what happened. And they're like, ah, I could have been a bear, you know, blah blah blah blah blah. And I never seen no bear tracks, no bear out there. And I was always in some pretty heavy areas. So whether it was or not, I don't know, but so I just kind of wrote that off. But I think it was the next season. Ah, I didn't see a whole lot during archery. It was a gun season and my friend Jim but Becky good friends. Of mine, used to hunt with them all the time. It was Thanksgiving Day nineteen ninety five, and I had my family there and my wife and kids, and.

9:52 You know, she had her husband there and her dogs and all that. We're camping out. So Jim and I decide we're going to go hunt until noontime. Girls will be cooking and all that. So we get out. We get out in this swamp early for a sung it's up. We didn't really see anything it was and the climate right then was dry. It was hot and it was dry, not real hot, but Florida's hot, so but it was dry. We had a drought, so the swamp wasn't full. And I remember coming out we were rifle hunting and course Three Lakes Management Area. You have to use a orange vest and a hat and all that stuff.

10:34 So my Bronco was parked down this fire trail and you know, in about twenty yards and down the road there was about one hundred and fifty yards there was an overhang of live oak. It looked like a tunnel. It was a really cool spot. So I went up to my Bronco and I unloaded my Uh well, before I unloaded, my window on my bronco made a huge screak all the time, an electric window, and it's just going. Jim's laughing at and he goes, well, they're around here now, and I'm like, yeah, whatever. So I unloaded my stuff and uh I walk out to the road. Now Jim he's unloading his now, and uh I see this dude walking down the road sideways, like away from me. On an angle going into this big palmetta patch about one hundred and fifty yards and from head to toe.

11:35 Uh, this dude, I call him a dude. He was He looked buckskin. It was like an orange red color. And it didn't look like a hilly suit, because a gilly suit is bulky. This wasn't bulky. This thing was really tall, like maybe seven foot, but it was lanky looking and long arms. That's what was weird to me. And I said, Jim, look at this dude. And he comes out and he looks at him and he's like, dang, you don't have no orange on. I'm like, yeah, he's crazy. I said, what kind of suits he got on? And then he kind of eased into the palmettos. So we're standing there looking going hmmm.

12:18 And all of a sudden, right where he walked in, this other one walks out. But it walked straight to him, and it wasn't going diagonal down the road. It walked straight out and went right in the middle of the road, and it stopped and looked up and seeing us looking at it, and I'm going, whoa. And it was jet black and it wasn't as big, but it was big and had a big, fat belly, and you could see the breasts on it. From that distance, it was no doubt it was a female, because I remember Jimmy's. Like, that's a dang gal and I'm like, he's like, I think that's one of them dang swamp apes. And I'm like, oh boy, what And We're looking at this thing and it was jet black from head to toe.

13:01 Now, I couldn't see any features other than a big belly that she was holding, and I could see her breast. I couldn't make any facier features or anything like that. But when she's seen us, it was like an old crap moment, you know, you could see the reaction. As soon as she's seen us, she just like grabbed her gut tighter and just started and she ran bowlegged, like she couldn't run right because of what she had around. And I think it might have been like a baby around her waist, or she was just very pregnant. I'm not sure. But she ran into the pal mettas where the other one ran. And meanwhile, you know, jim and I are going, what did we just see? You know, there was hair, there was hair on them things, you know, and we're sitting there.

13:56 We're just like, whoa. So we go, We're going, let's go down there. So we went down there. We drove down there, and we pull up and a side on him. But I that didn't even enter my mind. I walked in there a little bit. Jim's behind me, he goes, Steve. He goes, I'm not going in there, and I said, yeah, I think you're right. He goes, A hair's on my neck standing up, he goes. When that happens, to go, I listened to it, I'm like, all right, I agree. So we're sitting there out by the car out. In the road. We're standing there actually, and this guy drives out and I guess he was behind us down the road quite a way. He pulls up. He goes, hey, wolves that in the road, and I look at it, and I got this because by now it's starting to sink in that I.

14:44 Just saw something weird. And a guy's like, you know, they had hair on him, right, And and that just nailed to seal the deal for me. I like, yeah, it looked like hair to me. He goes, no, he goes, it was hair. I could was scoping them with my rifle and he pulled his gun out and he had this big old scope on it and I was like, well, I think there are swamp apes and he just laughed. He goes, well, I wouldn't doubt it. He just drove off. And Jim and I meanwhile, it's we're wide eyes, like we got this, you know we call the moon on where he just round eyes. You're like, oh, man, you know I got goosebumps right now just talking about it.

15:27 It comes back in uh funny. These kids pull up. There was about four of them. Y'all see anything? And Jim goes, well, we just saw two swamp apes. You should have seen these kids? What And I'm like, yeah, we just saw two swamps walk across the road. They wasn't that swamp? And man, they got out of there quick. They're like, you know, I'm not can't say what they said, but there. Now we're leaving, so they just drove off. But anyway, so we we get. In the truck. We went back to camp. Now we have to go through a check station and you got to still a lot of card and Jim's looking at me like you're gonna write it down? I said, yes, I am. They want to know what I saw.

16:18 So I wrote it down and the check station guy looks at it, because he always looks at him. You got start drinking kind of early, haven't you. And I'm like, sir, we have n't drank a lit. And he looked at us, and I said, y'all got some stuff out there that's weird. And he's like, well, all right, he just you know, he didn't believe us. So I left it at that. We just drove off, went back to camp, and oh man, we got back to camp. I remember Jim walking up to Becky's like, Becky, we just seen swamp apes out there. And Becky's like, oh man, you got he was saying, you know, she said, bs.

17:02 You guys heard BS and me, Man, you didn't see and Becky and Jim's like, Becky, and you should have seen Jim's face. I mean he was just white and white eyed. And I said, back, look at him. This is normal to you. She started, you know, Melanie a little bit now. I told my wife. My wife believe me. Immediately. She said, wow, well you know, did they come after you? And I'm like, no, it was you know, it was a I don't know, circumstantial We were in the right place at the right time. The first one didn't even see us. But these things are real and and you know, I'm just like whoa and needless to.

17:42 Say, ah, it tormented me, and it tormented Jim Becky would not go out in that swamp hunting again. I went out there two more times, and I had the bad vibes out there because I started putting all these things together that it happened out there. You know, two things. It was them and they were warning me or trying to scare me out. So I left three tree stands in there. I never went back in there. And you know, last time I went in there, I was with somebody and I told him, I said, I'm done with this place. I'll never come back here again. And so in between that, I contacted the BFRO and you know, made a e siting report and all that, and he took Jim's name out of there. I don't know why, but anyway, she come out, one of the girls come out and met me, and we walked around, went back in there, and it was some interesting things that we found, but nothing, you know, no footprints or weird stuff.

18:49 But we did find a couple of branches twisted off and we found a few drops of blood on some palm nutters, which was kind of weird. But other than that, you know, nothing very pine straw ground, no evidence, and kind of left it at that, you know, she was very nice, and I said, well, you know, you probably walked up on a family pod or they were just passing through whatever, and so I just kind of. Left it at that and stopped hunting out there. And meanwhile, I'm having anxiety about this, you know, and it's really bothering me. Now Again, they did not threaten me. I'm threatening myself because what I've been taught, and this opened a huge rabbit hole about my education, about what I've been taught in life, where I come from, my origins, what am I supposed to eat, medical everything. Just this is where I woke up and I started investigating and talking to people and uh, you know, listening to.

20:02 Stories and I'm going there are thousands of them. This is real, you know, this is absolutely real. So how I dealt with it is. I'm not going in any state for us anymore alone. I don't want to go out and confront these things. And I know from my experiences listening and learning that you know, they're not. Most of them are pretty passive, but some of them are aggressive and they will hurt you and fully capable of doing it.

20:43 And I don't want to. Have to get in a fight with something like this, you know, because I'm probably on the losing end of it. And I don't care what your carrier. I have no military training. I'm pretty good with a bow, and but you know, don't even enter my mind. You know. I was growing up pretty ethically, you know, my father taught me. And so I was like, well, you know, these things are wild, and yeah, I have my own idea and when I think they are. But so when I moved to Indiana, which was forty three years after I moved to Florida, my life's parents passed away. They left some property to us her and she's like, what else time to move here? We got to either move or you know, get divorced or something.

21:35 And I was like, well, okay, So I moved up. I was one of my business up there or down there, and so I moved here. So that was a big deal. But the year before I moved here, because I would come here hunting for quite a few years. It's better hunting for me anyway, colder and I'm more open anyway. I'm getting out of my tree stand on this property and there was some frost in the ground and I see this big, huge footprint and I swear when I saw this, my words were, are you sing kidding me?

22:19 And I said it out loud and I looked down. Now it wasn't like the perfect footprint, but you could tell it was a footprint. And I still have the picture. I just have to dig it out of my cloud. But I put my foot in it backwards. That's how messed me up. I put it next to it. I took a picture, and I just got out of there, and it was only one and I go back and I tell my wife, I said, you you're not And I told my father in law first. I says, stand, I think we got squatches out here. And he's like, oh, yeah, you think so? Huh. I'm like, you just found a big old footprint right right near my stand.

23:04 And he's like, well, we got some big farmers around here, you know. I said, well, I don't know. I'm not even going to think about it. I'm just gonna let it slide. So that was that. But this is pretty much where I'm at now. I live been living here in about three years. We don't have a lot of sightings around here, per se. There has been some within I don't know, fifteen miles radius, but we live in a very rural area, spotty forest ridge lines, and I know these things can travel and do whatever they do. But now some of the state forests around definitely there's been sightings out there.

23:48 And I used to hunt out there, and I won't go out there alone anymore. I just don't want to be confronted with one of these. And now you know, I'm good now, really comfortable in this area hunting my little woodlots, and I mean we got thirty acres and I can hunt here or my buddies have some leases, and I don't really feel any threat. But I'll tell you when I'm walking in the dark, I'm sixty five years old, and I still get the ebgb's if I can't see. And I've seen something online the other day where these these contact lenses where you can see in the dark. You're like, man, I think I can't be a pair of them, because you know it might come in handy.

24:40 But anyway, Jeremiah, that's you know that's and I know it's not an exciting exciting and it's not scary because I've some of the ones I've listened to are just absolutely petrifying. And I'm sure you want to know what it looks like and all that stuff, and I have my opinions. Are there any questions you have to me about this? I'm sure you absolutely absolutely it is in my opinion, it's a very unique one. I don't think I've ever heard one where there's a potential of being pregnant. That is a that's a brand new one for me. Before it gets away, I heard about those contact lenses too, And did you did you see this is all like allegedly, but what they were experiencing when they're testing them.

25:37 Oh well no, but you know that blue glass. There's a name for that blue glass that the military UH used to use. I guess they outlawed it. Class so I I don't know the exact thing, but it's pretty much what was happening when they were using that that same type of deal over in Vietnam. They're starting to see stuff. It's the same aim deal. Now this is all allegedly, but it makes for an interesting thing to think about for sure. Now definitely want to talk about about your Florida sighting. It's just absolutely incredible. Were there any weird sounds or smells in that same time frame that you were down there that you noticed.

26:26 Nope, no, But but you got to think before that I would smell something. In the swamp or whatever, and you know there's dead stuff around, and you know I would have went right over my head now if I smell the skunk, because some people call them skunk gapes, But. No, I I didn't. We didn't smell anything. There was no residual of it, and you know I would still was. But and you know, Jim didn't see anything. We didn't see it. We know we've seen right where they went across the road, but he just couldn't see anything. It was so dry, no imprints or anything. So absolutely and I wouldn't climb these creatures, at least the ones I saw. They weren't super heavy and super big.

27:23 H you know that the I say the male, I don't know that it was a male because I only saw his He come out with his right shoulder facing me on an angle, going down away from us. So he didn't even see us. He didn't even look down the road. He just entered out on the road and started walking down. But he his gate the way. He was swinging them arms and you really couldn't see a separation between his head and his shoulders. I don't know if that was hair, but it was a person. You know. I've had people call me about this back then.

28:04 I think actually did that. I'm supposed to say his name, and I just told him he because he goes. You think it could have been somebody in a suit, And I said, anybody that wears a suit in a wildlife management area during gun season is an idiot. I mean, this place sometimes had three hundred hunters on it. Now it's a big place, you know, forty fifty sixty thousand acres. I'm not sure the toll, but it's around it. It's huge, and there's no houses out there, plenty of food, plenty of water, plenty of mosquitos.

28:46 So I don't know, man, it's it's an enigma to me. But as I've gotten older, I know what it was. Right. You know. You said that, So we'll just say the male and female. So the male was around seven feet tall. Can you remind me how tall the female seemed to be. She looked like she was two feet shorter. Okay, but she was just stocky, you know, her chest and her belly and whatever was on her belly was round. It wasn't long, you know, food or stacks of.

29:33 Wood or a bag. This was the same color as her. So whether it was an infant, I don't know. But when she wobbled off, she was holding that belly. And I'm trying to think of how to describe how she ran. And the only thing I can think of is if you've done number two in your pants, right, yep, because I had children that are anyway. Yeah, That's not the only thing I could think of. But she wobble off like that, and uh, but you could see the reaction when she's seen us.

30:14 She went, oh no. Oh no, got to get whatever this is out of here, kind of you know. And we were within three minutes we were down there. Wow. So they were they were in there looking at us? Oh yeah, absolutely, I'd say there was a right call not to go in there. That probably would have gotten really bad for you if there was a young one being protected in some way. I agree. Uh, the so carrying carrying something on her stomach. Was that thing whatever was being carried? Was that covered with hair too?

30:55 It was the same color as her Okay, so I would say, yes, that's why I think it might have been, you know, her being pregnant. I couldn't see any definition head or arm going around her waist. I couldn't see that. It just looked like one color. So, you know, I don't know what these things do, if the babies ever. I know, I've heard of people. Saying that the babies crawl on you know, they so maybe so I don't know, but she definitely it was something to do with either being pregnant or had been pregnant.

31:35 You know. I think that's just. As a as a as a hunter and an observer. And bear in mind, I was quite a bit younger, My eyesight was perfect, and you know, I'm. Experienced in seeing things. So there's no way this was a bear. There's no way this was two people playing a gag on us. No way. I just completely I completely disagree with with that. And I thought about this for years. You know, well maybe, and I guess there is the maybe, but you know, logically I don't think so I think this was what And look, I'm not the only one that have seen him out there. That's the other thing. You know. I didn't meet this guy, but I read his report and he watched one for a half hour in his tree stand. And there's other places out there. One of them was called Island Pond.

32:41 That's a big island in this swamp, and I think that's where he's seen his But there's other people that seen him out there. I talked to a guy one day that said he saw a giant barefoot. Footprint out there one time. And this is, you know, after I had seen it, asking questions. And you know, most people laugh seeing any of that. They're crazy. You know, all my friends they've hunted their whole eyes. I've been hunting, you know, thirty years. I never seen you know, that's nuts. And I'm like, all right, So this account that you read about this gentleman, was that on bfr O then. Or yes, okay, yep, And you can probably whether it's a year after, it might even be the same year ninety five. I mean, you're going back a long ways, and you know things that turned digital.

33:33 Now, so your report got put up there too. Then you're saying, oh yeah, oh yeah, all right, yep, I'm going to have to I'm gonna have to see if I can check that out at a later time. Yeah. So we already know that you weren't able to see details of the face, but were you able to see like a shape of the head at all? Yeah? Yeah, yeah, And I've thought about this a long time. It didn't look like an ape. Okay, it looked like a cave man. That's what it looked like to me. And I told Jim that, said Jim, I looked, didn't that look kind of Neanderthal?

34:16 Like? Yeah, it kind of looked like cave people. So that's what it looked like to me. Now, of course, my depiction of a cave person is what I learned in the Boston Museum of Science walking through and look at the cave people. You know, they were small. You know, I don't it's not exactly the same. But let's just say Neanderthal. That's what it looked like to me. And you know, I might views on what I think it is. I'm just going to say it. I think it's the missing link, or you want to call it nephelom. I think it's part of that too. And you know, you might have to take that out. I don't know.

35:00 But that's just my look. I'm not saying I'm right. I'm just saying that's my gut feeling because you. Know, we're we're not being told. The whole story here about everything, you know that, so somebody's hiding this now why. I mean, it's one's only guests. But these have been in the in the forest for a long time, now do they Is this an earthly thing? Is it extraterrestrial? Is it extra dimensional? I don't know, man, maybe wouldn't surprise me, but.

35:41 You know, they definitely can materialize, so they look real, you know, and. Maybe these different ones I don't know, you know, I know there's you know, like the dog Man and uh the Patterson Gilman one Patty, and so there may be different versions of it. I don't. You know, that's just my feeling. But these looked like Neanderthal people. That's what they look like to me. They didn't look like apes. That's fine. Now, if I got close to him and seeing you know, their face, their teeth, their nose, everything, I might.

36:23 Have had a different perspective on that. But my observation from the distance that I was at and my partners were that they looked like cavemen and they didn't look cuman. Now, the male, definitely, his arms were way longer than ours were because the way he strolled, he just had his his arms went way out in front of him and he was just ease and you know, but you could see his arms swinging real low by his knees. It just looked odd. So and and his color will look it looked just like buckskin, the same color as the deer, kind of a reddish orangish.

37:14 Were the female's arms hanging low as well. Yes, because they were underneath her stomach. So yeah, but you could tell she had him underneath her stomach when she started and when. She came across that road holding her stomach, because that was the weird part, like what she got. You know, we're thinking you had something like a pig or something, but it wasn't anything. Define like that. It just looked like the same color as her. It looked like she was pregnant. That's and Jim even said it gal, I'm like, yeah, it is a pretty gard one, right right. So look, other people have talked to me about wild people living out.

38:13 In the woods and all this stuff, and Indians possibly Native American people. It wasn't that now, you know, we don't know that it possibly could be wild people. I mean, who knows, you know, I don't know if this is somebody knows about this, but you know that's not really being offered. So we just have to make our own decisions on what we believe based on what we've seen and what we feel, you know. And I always go by my gut feeling, and I'm you know, it's not about me. It's not about money, it's not about anything. It's just about what's true. I'm a truther, you know. I taught that.

38:55 My dad taught me that. You know, there there's a are you. Are you okay if I bring up how this affected or asked questions about how this affected you emotionally mentally afterwards? Is that okay for sure? Man? Because dude, you know you've done enough shows. You know that it's what it does to people. Some people, it traumatizes them so bad. And can you imagine the ones. That have passed because of it? Right? I can see where somebody would just want to wash this down, and you know I can see that. So but you got to talk to people about it and there's always light in everything, Jeremiah. So look, it wasn't violent, it was an education. Why I was chosen to see this, I don't know. Maybe I wasn't. Maybe it's just or maybe bad luck. I don't know, but you know, it's I've learned to deal with it. But trying to express that to other people that are that are believers but not knowers.

40:15 You know the difference. When you're a knower, You've seen something and nobody can take that from you. They can say some stuff, maybe hurt your feelings or you know, but I don't second guess myself anymore. I'm not a stupid person, you know. I shouldn't say stupid, ignorant. I learn things that I don't need to learn me working, I have my shop, no one's here. I listen and educate myself every day on podcasts and truth channels and stuff, and some of you. You've got to learn how to decipher, you know, because it can be a little weird. But I've been doing it for years. I start back when podcasts weren't cool, you know what I'm saying, when they just and you know, I've done a few, but it helped me.

41:14 But I learned a whole lot more, especially you know, people that have gotten some crazy sightings. So there's a lot of diversity in this. It's not just one thing. It's it's in people. You know, like, oh, you know, there's probably three or four hundred of them. I think there's thousands. Yeah, it's definitely thousands at least too. And we've never really been told how much land there is in this country in Canada and stuff in the land bridges and the mountainous and you just can't go into these places. These things they climb up vertical walls like nothing. So you know, they've made a life out of hiding and they're good at it, and you know, kudos to them.

41:58 You know, I think they should be protected nationally, but we need to be protected, it seems like. Now that's sure. Yeah, yeah, that's that's some pretty wild stuff. Was there a way then that you were able to overcome that anxiety that came about due to this? Yeah, drinking a lot of beer. Sure, that's just a joke, gotcha. I'm a country boy. Many beers avery there, man, But. Yeah, no, I just dealt with it, and I dealt with it through listening and learning about them. And once I realized that real, I said, Okay, so I'm still gonna be paranoid.

42:50 When I'm in the woods, meaning that I'm you know, aware of things would help me. Jeremiah is knowing when I go in the woods, if I see stacked rocks, if I see bent over trees, if I see stumps sticking out of the ground upside down, if I see x's, if I see tps, which I've seen before. I don't know where, but I've seen stuff like that, and you always think turkey hunter or whatever. But those are the signs that these creatures leave. And what they're saying, you know, I don't know. I would interpret it as you know, this is my area, you know, don't better watch out or don't come on here. So so yeah, it has helped me, but talking about it brings up a certain level of anxiety. Yeah, it's And the only way I can really describe it to people is and you're going to find this amusing, I think is when you first go out on stage that first song, because you don't want to mess up. I'm like a perfectionist.

44:01 Everything has got to be perfect for me, and I'm very hard on myself and of course, that's why I make bows. And uh yeah, so that's it's you're on edge. And I've found in my life that when you're on edge like that, you run your life better. Your alert your senses, your gut feelings, your intuitions, everything becomes alive, you know, you listen to that. And that's my belief. So when I'm in the woods, I'm not just like, well, you know, I'm looking around, I'm smelling, I'm hearing, I'm listening to the animals. I'm looking at the ground, I'm looking at the trees everything.

44:47 You know, I look up in the trees. So yeah, now call it paranoia, I'll call it just being a great obviously, uh you know, observing. Well, I don't know, but yeah, but it has helped. Me though that that's good to hear. I don't think it's paranoia. I think it's you're you're aware of what's out there now, and you're you're more prepared and observant, as you said two, to just be prepared for something. After you had this situation in Florida, did anything out of the ordinary start to happen in your house or any other locations or is this not a thing where you've had to deal with things like that.

45:42 Nope, not that I can ever. Ever imagine the only thing. No, no, no, no, you know, I never not that. I don't believe in stuff like that. I just don't go looking for it. You know, I'm a pretty spiritual person. I'm not very religious, but I'm very spiritual. I believe in the Creator, and you know, if I've done bad, I try to apologize for my actions. And I believe the Creator is in our hearts, you know, and you have to apologize to yourself.

46:23 So, you know, as far as evil or funky stuff lights, infra sound, no, I've never heard any of that or saw never seen a UFO that I can well, I've seen some weird stuff, but not nothing that I could say, Wow, that was an aurable UFO. Or I did have one thing happened to me one time, but I think it was a meteor here in Indiana. I was in a tree stand. This is before the sighting. No no, no, this is not before the sighting. This is the way. I was sitting in my tree stand and I went out early, about four in the morning, and I wanted to get there before you know, the deer started to move through this area.

47:11 And all of a sudden, this green light goes through the woods. It freaked me out, and I couldn't see the actual light. It's just this light went through the woods and it was green. Really fast, and that was it. So I said, wow, that was a meteor. I didn't hear it. See, that's the thing. I didn't hear it, you know, or a boom or anything like that. So I just saw that. That's the only thing I've ever really seen that made me think, WHOA. Now, of course I was in an earthquake out here one time.

47:56 That's another, well, I guess an ant story. I was in a blind on the ground not too far from the house. All of a sudden, the ground starts feeling like jelly. It's moving, and I'm looking down thinking something's trying to get out of the ground, like you. Know, goonies, those worms that come out or something. And oh man, I could feel that gut feeling, you know, that gut feeling when you're scared. Oh yeah, that's what happened in my feet. I could see everything moving and I'm like, why is this Because I've never been anything like it. So I didn't see anything.

48:36 I went back to the Pops goes, do you feel that earthquake and shook the whole house or over? Burber, I said, I was wondering what that was because I thought it was giant worms under the ground. You look at me, laughed. So, but no, I don't think I've seen anything that's. Or heard anything that is related to that. That's really I don't want to, you know, I don't be freaked out. I'm good with what I know. Now. Would I want to see one? I would like to be friends with one and trust it, and you know, like I hear, some people have relationships with these things, you know, you know, distant type. But do I want that to happen now?

49:27 I think I'm too old for it. I don't know I'll be able to handle it, you know. So I think I'm safe, absolutely, Steve. This has been just a really fascinating conversation. I do mean it is. It's very unique in my opinion, thinking over all the ones that I've heard over the years. I do want to make sure that you were able to share everything that you came to the show today to share. I just want to thank my parents and my father for teaching me things. My dad's ninety. And he's he's old and he's failing, and so it's going to come a time he's gonna leave us.

50:14 But you know, he did a good job. Whether or no he thought he did, I don't know, but you know he always taught me things. And as you get older, things change, you know, life becomes more important, family becomes more important. I'm not a killer, and I've said this before the people. I love animals and I hate killing. When I kill a deer, it brings it. It's emotional for me. And I like to hunt. I do, but I don't like to kill animals. So I guess what I'm saying is is when you get older, you mellow out a little bit, and you're more accepted of time and what's about to happen, and you know all that stuff. So I'm just happy I had the experiences that I've had and I was given the chance to see something weird like that, And you know, I'm blessed with the talents that I've been given that I've polished over my careers, and you know, I'm very thankful. I don't have a lot.

51:29 I'm still working, but I love what I do. I love where I am and I enjoy doing farming and just having a peaceful life. You know, I still hunt. It's not as important to me anymore, but I still enjoy it, but you know, and I like to eat your meat and all that stuff. But I have a big respect for the environment and animals and the place for everybody and you know, the trees, and I just want people to protect what we have, you know, and sometimes you have to stand up and yell at somebody want because people do weird stuff.

52:14 Thank you for coming on the show today, and I think a lot of people are going to learn some things from what you've shared, from what happened down in Florida. And definitely, you know, keep in touch if anything else happens to you while you are out hunting in Indiana as well, Stephen. I will. And it's been my pleasure. And I feel like you and I know each other just because I've been listening to your voice for a long time. And you have a very soothing voice. It's not aggressive, and it's I can see where people open up to you.

52:55 And kind of like a counselor, you know, a bigfoot counselor. There you go. Thank you for the kind words. Man it has been. It's been a fun time. Yep, enjoyed it. Jeremiah, you take care of yourself, brother. You as well. Steven. Thank you for listening to this episode of the Bigfoot Society podcast. Stephen's story is one of the rare encounters that lingers, not just because of what he saw in the Palmettos, but because of how close it came to being something much more and huge. Thanks to Stephen for opening up about his years and the Florida Swamps and for reminding us that sometimes the unknown is standing right in front of us in the middle of the road. If you enjoyed this conversation, please subscribe to the show on YouTube, hit the bell icons you never miss a new episode, and share this one with a friend who's in the Bigfoot, the Florida Swamps, or just a good mystery. If you're listening to the show on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, and make sure you're following us there, and if you leave us a five star positive review, it really helps more folks find us.

53:53 And man, are we guys? I just checked the rankings on Apple podcasts and it's crazy to think how like we are pretty high up there, and it's all because of you guys listening. I just want to say thank you for that. So that's why it's important for you all to share an episode with your friends, someone who's never heard the show but's in the Bigfoot and sky's the limit. Sky is the limit. If you or someone you know has had a Bigfoot encounter, please send me an email at Bigfoot Society gmail dot com. I'd love to hear your story. If you haven't seen the new members community yet, you can check that out over at www dot Bigfoot Society podcast dot com. Click on the members login area. That's where you can get early ad free episodes, members only episodes every week, and a lot a lot more fun activities that members get to take part in. So thanks again for following along with a Bigfoot Society. You're listening helps make this possible, and your accounts help the truth get out there and more people to come forward. And disclosure is coming, guys, you know it is. Every account gets as closer to disclosure until next time. Keep your eyes open, trust your gut, and never stop asking what else might be out there? And see you in the woods.