Brazos River campers encounter powerful vocalizations at close range witnessed in Palo Pinto County, Texas

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I was 14-15 years old. My father and I were camping with another father and son along the Brazos River. It was after midnight and my friend and I were running a trotline we had stretched across the river. As we approached the opposite bank from our campsite, we heard what was to this day an almost indescribable sound on the bank. It was a combination of a low frequency howl with varying low pitch grunts and growls. We immediately froze and shined our flashlights at the bank. There was a steep drop off into the river with a patch of evergreen shrubs and driftwood about the size of a single car garage. This vegetation started a few feet from the water and extending two thirds of the way back up the bank. Our flashlights were poor, as were most from this time period, and we could see nothing. We were within 30 feet of the bank and we both knew exactly where the sound originated. Whatever we heard was behind the described vegetation, so it was obscured. A second vocalization occurred withi...