'Bigfoot hunt' at Pine Orchard results in unusual noises and 'wood knocks'

Several weeks ago, local Bigfoot enthusiast Wesley Acreman agreed to let me tag along with him on a Bigfoot hunt, which is something that I’ve wanted to do ever since people in our area began to report sightings of these unusual creatures.

Many of you will remember that Wesley and his two brothers, Virgil and Roman, claim to have had multiple encounters with a Bigfoot-type creature between 2009 and 2015 while living in the Pine Orchard community, which sits on the Conecuh-Monroe county line.

During that time, the brothers lived in a house on the Conecuh County side of County Road 5, between Ramah Church and Monroe County Road 42. After the Acreman brothers came forward with their Bigfoot stories, a number of other witnesses came forward to talk about similar experiences.

When it comes to Bigfoot, I consider Wesley to be an expert. He not only claims to have seen one of these creatures, but he’s also heard tree knocks and vocalizations, watched numerous documentaries and read a lot about them. Over the years, Wesley and his brothers also claim to have gotten responses when they’ve made Bigfoot calls and knocked on trees at night.

Bigfoot hunter Wesley Acreman reviews map.

Several weeks ago, I asked Wesley if I could go with him one night to observe his methods and techniques for calling a Bigfoot, and he agreed to take me on a “Bigfoot hunt” on Friday night. We picked Friday night because of the full moon, which would allow us to see without having to use our flashlights very much.

We met at Pine Orchard around 6 o’clock in the evening, when there was just enough daylight left for us to get our bearings. Once the full darkness set in and the moon began to rise, Wesley demonstrated a wide variety of Bigfoot calls, and it was obvious to me that he’d had a lot of practice. Wesley is an average-size man, but he can impressively project his voice over a wide area.

Wesley’s two sons – 14-year-old Grayson and 11-year-old Gabe – were also with us and both of them also demonstrated their own Bigfoot calls. I was impressed by their calling abilities and their deep knowledge of the outdoors. I even tried my hand at making a Bigfoot call, but I’m going to need a lot more practice to match the lungpower mustered by Wesley and his two boys.

To my surprise, at least twice on Friday night, we heard responses to Wesley’s calls from some distant unknown source that we could not see. I have to admit that I was somewhat stunned, but Wesley didn’t seem surprised. He’d heard this type of thing before.

I heard these responses with my own ears, and they were among some of the most bizarre noises that I’ve ever heard. I would describe the responses as being similar to the calls made by Wesley, but fainter, either due to distance or low volume. In the darkness, it was hard to be sure.

Many Bigfoot enthusiasts also theorize that Bigfoot-type creatures communicate by hitting trees with pieces of woods, a behavior known as “wood knocking.” The idea is that they warn each other of danger with these noises or make their presence known to other Bigfoot creatures within earshot.

On Friday night, Wesley picked up a random limb about the length of a baseball bat and knocked it against pine tree trunks, creating a loud, clear “tock” noise. Again, it was obvious to me that he’d done this before, and he was able to make a noise so loud that it likely could have been heard from a mile or so away. I was impressed with his ability to do all this, and each time he would knock, we would pause, perfectly still, and listen.

Again, to my surprise, at least twice while doing this I heard two faint wood-on-wood noises that seemed to be responses to Wesley’s knocks. (I don’t believe that we were hearing echoes because the responses seemed to come much later than you would expect from an echo.) These responses, which were faint, came out of the dead silence of the night and were unmistakable in my book.

It would be an understatement to say that I was surprised by all of this. Wesley, on the other hand, seemed pleased to have an impartial, third party on hand to validate what he and his brothers have experienced for years.

Also, about halfway through our field trip, well after the sun had gone down, I came down when a serious case of the “willies,” where the hair seemed to stand up on the back of my neck. I kept silent and noticed that none of the other members of our small party seemed to be feeling the same thing. This strange sensation lasted probably about 20 to 30 seconds and then it passed. I couldn’t help but wonder if maybe I was spooking myself out or if something out there in the woods was watching us.

Later during the trip, one of Wesley’s sons said he smelled something out of the ordinary, a smell that he described as a “wet” smell. None of the others in the group, including myself, smelled what he smelled, and a few seconds after he reported smelling it, he said that it had gone away. This brief incident reminded me that Bigfoot sightings are often accompanied by reports of unusual smells.

Also on Friday night, we heard a wide variety of other noises that you would expect to hear on a moonlight night. We heard a number of passing cars on County Road 5, a variety of birds (including owls), howling coyotes and mooing cows from nearby farms. All of these noises were perfectly normal and very different from the responses and knocks we heard.

In the end, I appreciate Wesley letting me tag along with him and watch the way he makes Bigfoot calls and tree knocks. I was honestly surprised by the responses we received, and it makes me just that much more curious about the Bigfoot stories that I’m hearing from area residents. With that said please let me know if you’ve seen a Bigfoot-type creature in and around Conecuh County.