The United States is, no doubt, a diverse land of many different forms of life. From the fierce grizzly bears in the mountains of Alaska, to the stealthy alligators in the swamps of Florida. Wherever you may be, there is always something unique about your state. That is until you get to Oklahoma. You see, Oklahoma is without a doubt, one of the most boring places, maybe…ever. Having lived here for 18 years, I’ll be the first person to tell you that. Sure there are large cities, just like any other civilization, however they are spread out over tens, even hundreds of miles apart. What you are left with in between those cities is what some refer to as “The Sticks” or “The Boondocks” or “The Country” whatever you choose to call it, and that is where I’m from. In the sticks it consists of 4 main elements: Lots of trees, lots of crops, lots of wildlife, and the occasional Walmart or Dollar General. Since there is not a lot to do out here, that is where most Oklahoma residents take up the past time of hunting, and that is where my story begins.
It was a cold November night, right in the heart of deer season. I was laying in bed enjoying a video game I was playing, when there was a knock on my bedroom door. It opened, and my dad walked in. “Hey kid.” He said. “Yes dad?”. “You haven’t been hunting this season yet, why don’t you take my bow and I’ll get you set up, and in the morning you can head out there, and go kill us something.” “Wow he’s really putting me on the spot here.” I thought to myself. “Yeah sure, why not.” I said to him, He told me to dress warm and to meet him outside by the front door in 10 minutes so we could walk out to the spot, so I would know where to go when it was time to leave tomorrow.
We began our walk into the woods. With every step we took, I began to get a little bit more annoyed. “Where are we going?” I thought. “I thought we were just gonna go behind the house, I didn’t know we were gonna have to hike to the hunting spot.” “Damn what was I thinking, I should’ve just said no.” When we finally arrived at the hunting spot, we were more than a mile out into the wilderness behind my house. He finally stopped by a huge oak tree and pointed his flashlight at some cedar trees that were off to the side. “Do you see it?” he said. “No?’ I replied. He walked closer and shined his flashlight into the trees, to reveal a tiny chair that was hidden under some tree branches and sticks. “That is where you’re gonna set up in the morning, got that?” I nodded my head as he tossed out some dried corn, to attract the deer in the morning, when I came back.
“What time do I need to head out here?” I asked my dad, expecting him to say 6 to 7AM. He then muttered “You need to be up and ready to head out by 4:00AM.” My heart sank, it was going to be pitch black outside. There’s no way I was going to be able to make it all the way out here in the pitch black. We finally made it back to the house by 11:30 and I headed up to my room, to get as much sleep as possible before this hunting trip.
I awoke to the painful sound of my alarm blaring into my dark room. I looked at my phone and it was 3:40AM. I sighed and sat up. I put on the warmest clothes I could find and made my way out into the living room. There on the couch sat my dad’s bow, 2 arrows, and a small but sharp hunting knife. I grabbed the gear plus a flashlight and made my way out the front door. Navigating the woods at night was an extremely frightening experience that took much longer than what I would’ve wished. I left my house at 4am and I did not arrive at the hunting location until 4:37. I was impressed with just how many trees I managed to walk into and how many times I almost tripped over large logs, even with the help of my flashlight. Once I arrived I sat down in the little uncomfortable plastic chair and began waiting. My dad wanted me out here so early because it makes it a lot easier for the hunter to sneak into his spot and the deer not being able to watch him. I’ll never forget the paranoia I experienced in those woods, in the pitch black. The feeling of not wanting to breathe too loud because something or someone might hear you is like no other. After roughly 15 minutes of sitting in the quiet darkness, I heard it. Sticks snapping and leaves crunching. It was a deer walking to my spot! My heart began to pound as I listened closer. The leaves continued to crunch with each footstep, but that’s when I picked up on something strange. “I-is this thing walking on two legs?” I thought to myself. It sounded just like a pair of human legs walking through the leaves.
“Is it my dad?” I thought. “Maybe I forgot something at the house. Surely it has to be him.” But no, it couldn’t have been him. The footsteps were coming from the woods, not the trail we walked. The footsteps emerged from the woods, and stopped. After a short pause it took one step towards me. A moment later it took one more step in my direction. I began to get nervous. “Deer shouldn’t be acting this way, what the hell is this thing?” I raised my flashlight up from my lap and in a moment of pure bravery and stupidity I clicked my flashlight on.
What I saw in front of me, still haunts me to this very day. In front of me stood a creature no shorter than 10 feet tall. It stood on two legs. It was covered in black fur. The face..was human I believe. The face looked to be of a man’s face. The eyes were closed and the mouth was contorted into a sinister grin. It had two great big antlers that seemed to come off of an elk or a moose. It had hooves for feet and its arms were long and skinny but had what appeared to be claws on the end of its hands. As soon as I saw this thing, I clicked off my flashlight, praying it didn’t see me. Too late. I almost started gagging from fear when I heard this thing sprinting at me.
As fast as I could, I loaded an arrow and drew back the bow. Without hesitation I fired the bow into the darkness, hoping I could hit the creature, but I missed. I heard the arrow whistle off into the woods before striking a tree. “Shit. Stupid idea.” I thought. I immediately stood up and began sprinting down the trail. The creature was in close pursuit. I ran faster than I knew I could down this trail. When I was almost half way home I began to naturally run slower because of fatigue, and that’s when it swiped at me. It hit me directly in my right calf. I stumbled and fell off the trail and into a nearby ditch. Once I fell in I could immediately feel the warm blood begin to start gushing out of my leg. I quickly tore off my hoodie and wrapped it around my leg as a temporary tourniquet. However my bleeding leg was the least of my worries.
The creature jumped down into the ditch with great force and began swiping at the ground, hoping to hit me. Luckily the thing landed about 20 feet away from me so I had some time to spare. I hurriedly pulled out my flashlight and threw it behind the creature. Upon hearing the flashlight hit the leaves it turned around and began swiping at the ground once again. As quickly and quietly as possible, I crawled out of the ditch. On my way out, I heard the creature begin to make a clicking noise from its mouth. Now I can’t confirm it but I assumed that noise was the creature using echolocation to find me. “If this thing is blind how did it see my flashlight back at the hunting spot?” I thought. Then I realized I had to click my flashlight on, and the creature probably heard that. Despite now knowing it was using audio to track me, I still ran to the best of my ability out of the woods. The thing didn’t follow me out. I made it home and crashed through my front door, bleeding all over the place. My parents took me to the ER to get stitched up. They asked me what happened and I told them what happened, but of course they didn’t believe me. They assumed I fell while walking through the woods and tore open my leg somehow. And after a while I began to think the same thing. “Maybe I was sleepwalking and fell, maybe I was hallucinating, who knows.” is what I used to tell myself.
I almost forgot about my experience until today. My dad went out hunting and was supposed to be back 3 hours ago, me and my mother began to get worried. I walked out my front door, I planned on going to look for my dad and that’s when I heard it. Screaming. I don’t know if it was my dad’s or if it was just a wild animal but we called the police anyway..And as I type this, I can hear a faint clicking out by the woods and if I look hard enough, I think I can make out a human face, looking up at my window. Please, if you are ever in the forests of Oklahoma, be extra quiet. You never know who or what is going to hear you.