Encounter with an Unusual Animal in the Wellsville Mountains

Have you ever been hunting and had an encounter that left you feeling scared and paranoid? A person was hunting deer in the Wellsville Mountains one day after their college classes ended. They parked in a small trailhead lot and walked around a field before sitting down on a steep slope overlooking a valley. As they sat there, they heard a loud crashing sound coming from the trees near a house that was under construction. "I remember thinking how stupid it was that I had to go to class during the hunt and didn't want to while I was driving/sliding my car up a snowy road," the person recalled. Through their binoculars, they saw a large black shape moving through the heavy cover. Initially, the person thought it was a black bear, but as they watched, they realized that it was moving on two legs and was very agile. The deer in the area were all running in fear, but the animal was moving in the opposite direction. "I've hunted and hiked alone for years and come toe to toe with both black bears and mountain lions and never, ever been that afraid before," the person said. The person watched in amazement as the creature plowed through thick brush and disappeared over a nearby ridge in just a few seconds. They were so scared that they immediately put a bullet in their rifle and backed away from the spot, never turning their back. They got in their car and left, and have never returned to that area since. "Even when I hunt the other end of the Wellsville Mountains, I stay with someone because of the experience," the person added.