Two archery hunters recall a strong smell and find large tracks near Grand Ronde witnessed in Polk County, Oregon

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During the evening my friend and I parked at the end of an old alder road behind locked gates to bowhunt for elk. When it started getting dark we decided to circle back to the pick up; we were approx. 2 miles away on the top end of the mountain along the east side of the ridge line. I had forgotten to bring my flashlight so my buddy had to shine his light for both him and I while we walked out. During the walk while we were crossing the top of the ridge we could notice an awful smell; the smell was kind of moldy or musky so we thought it was probably just a bear that had gotten into some swampy skunk cabbage or something similiar. We continued to notice the terrible smell off and on all the way back to the truck. While on the top end of the ridge I managed to step into a very large hole that was in the rocks; somehow I managed to grab onto something to keep myself from falling completely in the hole as it was big enough for me to fall completely in it. If you consider the fact that...