Could have been a bear; could have been "something" else. A friend of mine was hunting with me at Big Sandy a few years ago when he saw "something" else. He no longer deer hunts because of this sighting and insists I am crazy for walking thru the woods in the dark.

Something wierd is going on at our place in Hickman County.

There have been 2 instances (that I have heard) where something is causing a stir with our neighbors in the middle of the night. Once was about a month ago...A lady (that I know) was woken up in the middle of the night by her dog trying to get in her house. The dog was scared to death. She got in a closet with all the guns she owned and called all the neighbors. They came and tried to find what was causing the scare, but didnt see anything.

The second occurrance was about 2 weeks ago where her 1/4 mile away neighbor (her 38 year old grandson that watches over our place). He was in his house and his wife heard a loud roar outside that she couldnt explain. She opened her backdoor and all of their rabbit beagles were in their doghouses screaming bloody murder, the cows were all mooing and hearding up in the middle of the field in defense mode as instincts tell them too. They have lived out in the country their whole lives. He went outside with a shotgun and a spotlight, but didnt see anyhing.

One of the county deputies with the sherrifs office said that he spotted a bear about a mile from there about 2 months ago. I didnt really believe him, but now, I'm kinda having second thoughts. Remember, this is Hickman County....just southwest of Nashville by an hour or so.

Whats yalls thoughts? Could this be a bear? I NEVER woulda thought there would be a day where a bear would be seen anywhere around there

Cool!
Where abouts in Hickman?
Cats don't usually roar.

Cool!
Where abouts in Hickman?
Cats don't usually roar.

Sounds like a bear to me.
Probably a young male looking to establish a territory.
A bear showing up in Hickman County doesn't shock me at all.
Really surprised we haven't had more showing up in lots of places across Tennessee. The bear population has been exploding in East TN.

I haven't heard any recent reports, but my wife's grandfather and brother both say they have seen bear in SW Hickman County (this was 20 years or more ago). I wouldn't say that it is impossible for there to be an isolated one, with all the hills and hollows and caves back in the hillsides.

The guy that helps me cut firewood says that his grandfather cut the paw off of a "panther" (not a black one!) about 35 years ago. The story goes that he was in the chicken coop one evening right at dark and something started ripping one of the boards off of the coop. He happened to have a hatchet with him and when it stuck its paw back in to rip off another board he swung the hatchet and cut off its paw, and whatever it was ran off screaming. Supposedly he kept the paw and many people saw it; my firewood guy said it looked just like a tan housecat paw but was bigger than a man's fist.

I have had one pretty weird Hickman County sighting myself, two years ago (on Halloween morning, of all days!). It was right at 6:00AM as my wife and I were driving to work on Highway 100 a few miles from home, so it was still dark. As I came around a curve I saw something pretty big crouching next to the highway that ran (actually, it was more like "glided") across the road very quickly in front of us. It was very dark in color, about the body size of a small/medium deer but with much shorter legs and a very long tail. I didn't say anything because I thought I might have imagined it and my wife was probably snoozing and as she tends to do on the trip into work, but about a minute after we passed it she quietly asked me if I had seen something running across the road in front of us back in the curve. She described exactly what I had seen, so at least I knew that I hadn't imagined it. I'm guessing that it was a black coyote, but I see a bunch of coyotes out where we live and this one looked to be at least 2-3 times larger than the biggest one I have shot (41 lbs), and the tail didn't look right at all. I'm not jumping on the "black panther" bandwagon, but it was certainly the most unusual animal I have ever seen.

I remember talking with you woodchuckc....you know just as well as I do that there is PLENTY of woods out there in Hickman County with absolutely nothing. Heck there is about 6,000 acres of timber company within a mile where there is no electricity run anywhere around there. It's all clearcut and pines. It kind of reminds me of Canada when I was up there bear hunting years ago.

I didnt want to get into the whole "big cat" debate, but I am one to believe that at times, there is a "big cat" somewhere in the state of TN, whether its passing through (more probable) or lives here. I dont doubt your story at all woodchuckc....its very likely, imo. Anyways, I do not think it is a "Big cat", but more probable a bear (99% probable). But I just never thought about a bear being anywhere around our place.

My dad once told me of a study back in the 70's (I believe) where they placed a bear in West TN, and they tracked him over several months ALL THE WAY back to East TN....thats all I know about it. Whatever it is, it seems to be somewhat aggressive and not scared to get into trouble at night. With dogs trying to get inside and jumping full throttle into doors, I know its not the usual coyote after them....1st of all because they live with those wild animals annually, and 2nd of all, they heard the sound of something big, deep, and unlike anything they have ever heard.

I would like him to scat

Many reports back in those days. I never saw one but the reports around the Turney Center exit were almost daily.

Aliens

My dad once told me of a study back in the 70's (I believe) where they placed a bear in West TN, and they tracked him over several months ALL THE WAY back to East TN....