My encounter happened a few years ago, in South Jefferson Parish, Louisiana. Here in Louisiana, we call county's parishes, in case you didn't know.

 

​I was hunting deer or wild pigs one night, on a protection levee system that was built to protect the town from hurricane flood waters. As I walked to where the levee turns off to the left, there was a canal woods that was about a 100 yards from some houses. To the left was a natural ridge that goes out, into swamps and marshes. Well; as I made that turn from the ridge of oak trees, I heard a growl. I thought it might have been a coyote or dog, so I walked slower. Then, I heard brush and a smaller size tree shake and another growl. I shined my light in the direction of the sound and saw a pair of eyes that were reflecting an amber/yellow color. What surprised me was the fact that the brush was about 6 foot high and the eyes were about a foot above the brush! When I saw those eyes, I slowly backed up, while keeping my light on the thing. As I walked back to the turn, to head back to my truck, which was parked about 3/4 of a mile away; it came out the woods. I lit the thing up with my light again. Now; I was probably 30 feet from it. I saw its whole body and face! The body was covered with black hair, with some brown mixed in. The hair was thickest around its head, neck, chest and upper back. It looked a lot like a lion’s mane, but wasn’t as pronounced; since all of the hair was the same color. It had pointy ears, with a little bit of hair coming off the points, making the ears seem a little longer. It stood on two legs, but the legs were weird and backwards like. The arms were really long; longer then the legs. Its hands were like a mixture of human and bear; like really big Raccoon front paws. It had paws, but it also had fingers. That’s the only way to describe it. If you watch the movie, “The Howling,” you’ll get an idea what this thing looked like. It's as if whoever made that movie new something others didn’t.

 

Now; at this point, I was freaking out, so I pulled up my rifle. I hunt with a Romanian AK, with a camo paint job, I did myself. The way I was hunting wasn't exactly legal. That’s why I took my Romanian AK. If I had to toss it, I wouldn’t be out much money. The rounds I use are special rounds, made to hunt feral hogs. I’ve dropped deer and hogs with these rounds before. 1 shot and they’re done.

 

But back to the story; as I pulled my rifle up, to the ready, it growled and walked a few steps toward me. I fired a round right into its chest area. I knew I had hit it, because the creature took a step back. As it stepped back, I ran toward my truck. That’s when it let out a loud growl and a howl like I had never heard before. I grew up hunting and fishing and thought I knew everything in the woods, but I hadn’t heard anything like the sounds it made before. As I ran back to the truck, it stalked me, but kept its distance. As I got close to the well-lit area, where my truck was parked, by the town library and elementary school, it stopped following me.

 

I tried to find anyone who may have had similar encounters in the area, but all I could find was old legends of the Rougarou; which is pronounced, “Rue-Ga-Rue.” I told my grandpa about what had happened, but told him it was a friend who had told me it happened to him. I also told him that it sounded like a crazy story to me. He told me when he was 17, in the same area, at night, hunting, he heard a howl like nothing he had ever heard before. He also told me that something had stalked him, as he ran home that night. He said he never saw what it was, but could hear it following him through the brush and swamps.

 

That encounter has changed my life. My perception of what is real and what is not will never be the same again. I still haven't gotten over that night. I went back a few days after that incident and found 2 large dog tracks, as big as my hand. I wear a size LG glove.

 

Anonymous

Time: 2:00 AM

Date: 11/17/2012