A West Virginia hunter who photographed what appears to be Bigfoot crossing an old mining road Saturday said the encounter marked the most significant wildlife sighting of his morning, which he described as “otherwise pretty disappointing.”
Josh Scott, of Josh Scott Outdoors, captured the distant figure from his hunting blind after spending several hours watching squirrels, falling leaves, and one particular stump that had looked like a deer since daylight.
“People spend their whole lives trying to see Bigfoot,” Scott said. “That’s fine. I was trying to see a buck.”
The photograph shows a large, brown, upright figure moving through the trees along a road beyond the blind.
Cryptid enthusiasts immediately praised the image as potentially groundbreaking.
Scott said he would have preferred something with antlers.
“I’ve got pictures of deer in here all week,” he said. “Then I show up and suddenly we’re hosting a paranormal convention.”
According to Scott, the creature crossed the road without breaking a branch, rustling a leaf, or otherwise announcing its presence.
A squirrel approximately twelve yards away spent the same period sounding like somebody throwing patio furniture down a staircase.
“That little thing weighs a pound and a half,” Scott said. “Whatever walked across that road could carry a refrigerator. Guess which one I heard coming.”
Researchers contacted Scott shortly after the photograph began circulating, requesting coordinates, access to the property, and permission to conduct an overnight investigation.
Scott declined.
“Y’all will run the deer off.”
One investigator explained that the discovery could establish the existence of an undocumented North American primate and fundamentally change humanity’s understanding of the natural world.
Scott asked whether they could fundamentally change it after deer season.
The photograph has prompted considerable online debate, with viewers divided among Bigfoot, a bear, a man in a costume, and an individual who commented “that’s a stump” before clarifying that he meant a different part of the picture.
Several demanded to know why the image was not clearer.
“I was in a hunting blind looking through trees,” Scott said. “I didn’t have him booked for senior pictures.”
Another commenter asked why Scott had taken only a photograph instead of recording a lengthy video.
By then, the figure had disappeared.
“The deer do that too,” Scott said. “Usually while I’m opening a snack.”
Local Bigfoot researcher Dennis Crum said the creature’s apparent lack of concern suggested it did not consider the hunter a threat.
Scott said the deer appeared to have reached a similar conclusion, although they continued scheduling their visits for 2:17 a.m.
Crum also noted that the figure seemed to be using an established travel corridor.
“It may have followed that route for generations,” he said.
Scott looked back toward the road.
“Then it ought to know where the deer are.”
Asked whether the encounter had frightened him, Scott said he had remained calm inside the blind.
“I figured if he came over, I’d ask what he was seeing.”
He added that he would have shared a snack, provided the creature did not make a habit of it.
“You feed one, next thing you know his whole family’s out here.”
By late afternoon, the image had been enlarged, sharpened, circled in red, and examined by people who claimed they could identify individual facial features that were not visible in the original photograph.
One enhanced version reportedly showed the creature looking directly toward the blind.
Scott said that would make two of them wondering why he was sitting there.
The sighting comes ahead of The Holler Herald’s Cryptid Field Guide, beginning Monday, October 26, at noon, with a new identification card and accompanying report each day.
Scott welcomed the publication of the guide but requested clarification on one point.
“Does it tell you how to get them to push deer toward you?”
Image: Comedy composite courtesy of Josh Scott Outdoors.
The Holler Herald — West Virginia’s Least Reliable News Source.
