Possible vocalizations heard by hunter at Bear Lake summit witnessed in Rich County, Utah

Open Map

I was alone hunting mule deer. I had been hiking for about 45 minutes to get to the spot where I had the encounter. I was sitting on a ridge between to rows of rimrock, looking into a draw that comes up the south side of Hodges Canyon. I bent over to retie a bootlace when I was startled by an extremely loud noise of short duration. I didn't have any idea what the noise was. Then I heard it again. I would describe it as a low pitched, guttural shout/growl. The volume and resonance were incredibly loud, but of short duration (about 1 to 1 1/2 seconds). I heard the vocalization about 7 to 10 times, at about 10 second intervals. Then I heard twigs breaking and brush popping, moving rapidly in my direction, just like an elk or moose was running toward me.I never saw anything, but I fully expected the animal I was hearing to come into view immediately. As the unseen creature moved toward me, I took the point and shoot camera from my backpack. I also released the safety on my .270 rifle. The ...