1967 Riding Mountain National Park Manitoba

It was late summer in 1967 and I was almost 7 years old. I was on a fishing/camping trip with my late father in Riding Mountain National Park.
A little background on my family. Both my parents grew up on farms North of Rossburn Mb. And my Grand Parents lived there till the mid 70’s North of Rossburn Manitoba up against Riding Mountain National Park.
My late father was a well-known hunter in that area from the age of 13 till he passed in 2013 at 88 years old.
He would not only hunt to provide food for his family...But other family’s as well.
Any way my father would take me with him on fishing trips/hunting trips since I was about 5.
One summer in 1967 Dad decided to take me on a fishing trip into Riding Mountain Park.
Back then if you knew the Park & the Rangers it was not a problem. Dad had a favorite fishing spot for trout. It was Bob Hill lake inside the park.
My Aunt & Uncle had a farm 1.5 miles outside the park and our family would spend summers out there almost every year.
In the summer of 67 and dad decided he was going to take me trout fishing in the park. It was a beautiful warm summer that year. So we headed to my aunts & uncles place to spend the night before uncle would drive us into the park and drop us off at Bob Hill lake with his 12ft flat bottom boat.
Dad & myself would cut branches off the spruce trees and spread them on the ground for our sleeping bags. And Dad would pound wood stakes into the ground so we could use the boat as cover.
We built a fire pit to cook Fish & other food my Aunt packed for us. It was a beautiful day bright & warm.
We fished and caught maybe a dozen trout. Dad had his 22 single shot rifle with us and we also took some big squirrels for supper.
Late summer in Manitoba it stayed light till 10:00pm maybe 10:30pm in June. It was about 7:30 and we just finished cooking & eating fish & squirrel and some vegi’s auntie packed.
Bob Hill lake isn’t a very big lake and where we were camped on the eastern shoreline We could see the western shore clearly which would be maybe 300 to 400 yards away from our campsite across the lake.
We had just finished eating & we heard a racket in the bush on the western shoreline. As we looked up dad & I saw a small heard of Elk running through the bush. It looked like they were spooked by something. Maybe a minute later we saw a Large human like creature chasing after the Elk walking very fast on two legs. As it was walking it pushed away 4 to 8 inch trees and their branches clearing a path for itself as it chased down the Elk.
I asked my Dad what was that a bear and he said I think so. But he looked a bit confused.
My father was a big man 6.2 210+ pounds at the time. But I could clearly see he was flustered!
As a hunter from a young age my father wasn’t scared of anything! But that was the 1st time I ever saw him this way.
Dad set up the sleeping bags & built a fire to keep us warm. I fell asleep beside him and I woke up a few times at night only to see my father on lookout. He had the Axe close by him and the 22 was loaded also.
The morning came & my Aunt and Uncle came to the camp site and we all had breakfast.
Uncle knew that something was wrong. And as soon as they started talking in Ukrainian I knew something wasn’t right also.
My uncle took my aunt back home and came back with one of our other relatives Matt about 2 hours later.
He pulled out a 303 rifle and a 12 gauge pump action shotgun and a 30 30 rifle and told my father to keep them loaded & close by.
My father & uncle made their way to the other side of the lake to where we spotted this creature with guns in hand.
As I watched dad & uncle walking by the trees that this creature was pushing aside to chase the Elk
I realized just how tall it was!
Like I said my father was 6.2 210+lbs and my uncle wasn’t a small man either. But when they stood by the trees that this creature pushed away...It was clearly 2 feet+ taller. And had dark black hair!
We stayed overnight at the same spot. And uncle and Matt stayed also.
It was late...Maybe 2:00am and I was waken by the sound of grunting/screaming. My father & uncle and Matt were still up talking by the camp fire.
The grunting was loud and close by. Dad & Uncle and Matt grabbed the guns and chambered shells.
The sounds came from the western side of the lake where it chased the Elk herd.
The moon was bright and we could see clearly and we saw a figure of the creature standing on the shoreline grunting and waving its arms at us. We were being warned to leave!
After about 5 minutes of it grunting and waving it became very quiet.
We all started to settle in for the night maybe 30 minutes later.
Next thing we heard is water splashing close to camp because we were on the shoreline close to the water.
The creature was throwing Rocks and pieces of wood like broken branches at us.
Uncle & Matt grab the guns & started to fire into the air. After about 3 shots they stopped. We all heard loud crashing as if something was running into the bush or maybe more than one.
All night we heard wild screaming. I asked uncle and Matt if they shot it? And they replied no because they didn’t know what it was So they shot into the air to scare it off.
Too this day I have never heard screams or grunting like that from any animal in real life or on Tv or the Web!
Uncle stayed up all night while we tried too sleep.
In the morning we packed up and left.
It wasn’t till I was about 11 or 12 when Dad and myself talked about what happened.
He told me never mention this to anyone because they won’t believe you or what happened.
He did mention when uncle and himself went to take a look that they found footprints. And they were twice the size of Dads feet which were size 12. And they were barefoot!
A year or two after this happened. Someone else had a encounter in that same area just outside the park.
Soon after that in the early 70’s men from the US and others came to Riding Mountain Park looking for signs of these creatures.
Still to this day I have vivid dreams about that trip. So vivid I can clearly see what I saw that day!
In one dream when I saw the creature on the shoreline Grunting & waving at us.
I swear it made eye contact with me and knows who I am!

I was staying over at a relative’s farm out there which happens to be about 7 miles from where this all happened and on a hunting trip 15 years later with my older brother.
And I had a dream the same creature was looking at me through the bedroom window at me as I slept.
The next morning, I was walking to our hunting shack when I had this overwhelming feeling I was being watched!
I stopped dead in my tracks. Every hair on the back of my neck stood up. I looked into the bush maybe 25 yards away. I knew it was there!
But couldn’t see a thing!
Even though I didn’t make Eye contact. I heard it walking away through the thick brush.
And though I had a loaded 308 rifle in my hands. I never felt threatened to the point where I would raise it up to defend myself.
And still to this day...I really believe it knew who I was!

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