BFRO #20011: Hunters experience powerfull knocks on camper and hear vocalizations outside Jicarilla Indian Reservation

📍 Location

📝 Description

My encounter with ????????The area and time:My encounter occurred during the November rifle deer hunt of 1982. I was 14 years old, hunting deer with my father, grandfather, neighbor, and his son (same age as me). The area we were hunting is called Mud Springs in unit 5A. It is approximately 20 miles NW of Lindrith NM. The area we hunted is bordered on 3 sides by the Jicarilla Indian reservation. The terrain of the area is a long cliff bluff on the West that leads down to several hills, knolls, and small canyons that dump out into big open flat lands to the East and North. There are several deep arroyos in the flat areas (10 to 20 ft deep) that are not visible from the dirt roads that access the area. The Eastern border of our hunting area is a group of gradual slopping mountains. The best way for me to describe the area is like a huge box canyon (2 miles wide, 5 miles long) with the cliff bluff as the Eastern border, and the gradual mountains as the Western border. The flats dump out and slope downward to the North. There is pretty much only one way in; a dirt road that comes in from the highway (595) from the Northeast. There are several natural gas pumps (look like oil wells) that run 24/7, and a quiet �thump, thump� can be heard pretty much any where you are on the flats from the pumps.The vegetation consists of Sage brush (4 to 5 feet tall) on the flats, juniper trees on the hills and knolls, to Ponderosas on the top of the cliff and mountain tops. We have seen deer, elk, bear, coyotes, squirrels, rabbits, and a few mountain lions in the area. My father and Grandfather hunted the area since the late 60�s.The story: (forgive the over-explaining, trying to get all important details down)It was late afternoon, my Grandfather and I returned to the camper by truck from hunting a nearby knoll that over-looked a water hole. The camper (in-bed cab over camper) was parked in an opening on the Southern end of the box canyon with the cliffs to the West of it. The camper/truck was in a spot where the nearest trees were 60 to 80 feet away on the North, West, and South sides of camp, The East side of camp faced the flats and the road. We were back a bit early (we usually stayed out till dark) because we had not seen a thing all day or the day before. We did not expect my father, neighbor, or his son back until after dark. It was cold (November), so my grandfather and I stayed inside the camper.About a half hour after arriving, my grandfather started dinner so it would be ready when everyone else got back. Important note: My neighbor and his son had their own camper they were staying in parked perpendicular to ours. The back doors faced the center of camp where the fire pit was. My grandfather�s truck was parked hood to hood with my dad�s which had the camper on it. The tailgate of my grandfather�s truck was facing the flats to the NE. and the camper�s back door was facing SW. The hood of my neighbor�s truck was facing SE. (I wish I could submit a diagram of the scenario).Right around dusk there was a loud bang on the side of the camper, I thought it was my dad, so I opened the back door of the camper and stepped down (I was young, and excited, hoping someone had seen or shot a deer). There was no one around. I was not scared, but thought my dad or neighbor�s son was messing around with us. I walked around all of the trucks, thinking he or they were hiding, not the case. We never took truck or camper keys out in the field hunting and kept them locked-up while we were gone. We hid the keys under a rock so whoever got back to camp first was able to get into the campers or truck. My neighbor�s camper was still locked-up. I did not get the keys and check if they were inside, just assumed they were not. I went back inside our camper; my grandfather (busy cooking hamburger helper) asked where they were. I told him I didn�t know. He squeezed past me (I was in between the door and him) and opened the door and started yelling at my dad. Something like �come on you f***ers, dinner is almost done!�. I don�t remember the exact dialogue but it was in a raised voice, and my father was known for messing around with my grandfather especially when my dad and neighbor where together (big jokers that brought the best out of each other). My grandfather was easily irritated by their antics. No one answered my grandfather�s ranting, he did not step out of the camper, but slammed the door shut, cussing under his breath. We sat there knowing they would be opening the door any minute; my grandfather was scooping out dinner and putting it on paper plates.We sat there waiting for them for over an hour, it was well past dark when I heard them coming up the road to camp. They were walking brisk, talking, not worried about making noise as hunting hours were long over; my father was smoking a cigarette. My neighbor and his son got their keys and went inside their camper to put away their riffles and change clothes. My dad walked up to me and asked

🔍 Circumstances

5 of us (see above report)

🌤️ Weather Conditions

4pm to 11pmclear nightcoldno wind full or almost full moon (bright enough to see)

ℹ️ Additional Details

4pm to 11pmclear nightcoldno wind full or almost full moon (bright enough to see)

🔗 Sources (1)

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