2/17/18. The middle of winter in blustery February doesn't seem like a good time to go in search of a legendary monster in the forest of Wisconsin but, in fact, it is the perfect time. There are less people, the snow and mud make a great medium for tracks, and the trees have no leaves so you have a greater distance to see into the woods.
I was contacted by Chris Lindsey, a local to the Kettle Moraine Forest area, who had an encounter with the Beast of Bray Road and had discovered unusual footprints in the woods. We made a plan to meet up.
I was contacted by Chris Lindsey, a local to the Kettle Moraine Forest area, who had an encounter with the Beast of Bray Road and had discovered unusual footprints in the woods. We made a plan to meet up.
the werewolf
The Beast of Bray Road is described as a werewolf, dog-man, outright terrifying creature with brown or grey fur, muscular, claw-like fingers, yellow or sometimes red, glowing eyes, 7 feet tall or taller, walking upright on two legs. This creature is also spotted in Michigan and is called the Michigan Dogman. The first sighting to be publicized happened in 1999 when a women hit the beast with her car on Bray Road but could not locate a body. After she told her tale, others came forward with sightings. Local newspaper reporter, Linda Godfrey, wrote an article for the newspaper and the Legend of the Beast of Bray Road was born. Linda Godfrey went on to write many books about the creature. You can find a wealth of information on her website.
INterview with a monster hunter
We met up with Chris at a local coffee shop, Perk-Up, 27 N. Wisconsin Street in Elkorn, WI. I am not familiar with the area so I randomly picked a place by googling coffee shops. Luckily the place worked out perfectly. We left the Chicago area early that morning and arrived at the coffee shop to find it was closing in one hour. I thought we could get the interview done in that time period so we proceeded to check in with the staff to make sure it was ok to set up some camcorders and record in the shop. The staff was very accommodating, even turned off the music for us. Since our final video would be uploaded to YouTube, due to copyright infringement we cannot have any well known music in the background or YouTube will flag the video and take it down. There was only one other patron in the shop typing away at her computer. She did not seem to mind us. We ordered some coffee (I would recommend this local brew), videoed a brief introduction in front of the store, and set up two camcorders for the interview.
The final video of the interview and our hiking adventure will be on YouTube when it is complete. (Final video is complete. You can find it here.) We sat at a table with our coffee and Chris told us about his encounter with the beast while driving. He described something very large that had ran across the road in front of his vehicle. This peaked his interest in the beast and he and his friends set out to find evidence of the Beast of Bray Road. During their expeditions they came across a couple strange footprints. One was similar to a Bigfoot print. Sightings of Sasquatch are also reported in this area. The beast isn't the only strange thing going on here. Chris told us of an abandoned church where Satanic rituals were thought to be performed. They went inside this church and saw a real sacrifice on the ground. Chris looked very disturbed about this revelation and said he didn't remember where the church was located. Later, I did a quick google search but didn't come up with any information on the church. I will need to do some further research. Chris gave us directions to where he usually searched for the beast and where he found the tracks. He could not go with us however, as he had a prior engagement.
EXTRAS: Below you will find a short clip of Chris talking about a scary experience he had in a local, abandoned church.
The final video of the interview and our hiking adventure will be on YouTube when it is complete. (Final video is complete. You can find it here.) We sat at a table with our coffee and Chris told us about his encounter with the beast while driving. He described something very large that had ran across the road in front of his vehicle. This peaked his interest in the beast and he and his friends set out to find evidence of the Beast of Bray Road. During their expeditions they came across a couple strange footprints. One was similar to a Bigfoot print. Sightings of Sasquatch are also reported in this area. The beast isn't the only strange thing going on here. Chris told us of an abandoned church where Satanic rituals were thought to be performed. They went inside this church and saw a real sacrifice on the ground. Chris looked very disturbed about this revelation and said he didn't remember where the church was located. Later, I did a quick google search but didn't come up with any information on the church. I will need to do some further research. Chris gave us directions to where he usually searched for the beast and where he found the tracks. He could not go with us however, as he had a prior engagement.
EXTRAS: Below you will find a short clip of Chris talking about a scary experience he had in a local, abandoned church.
the hunt
The members of my paranormal group, Joe, Joey, Tristan, and I drove to the Kettle Moraine Southern Unit which was about a half hour drive from the coffee shop. We made a quick stop for a photo op at the Bray Road sign. When we arrived at the state forest we were disappointed to hear gun shots going off in the distance. We made a stop at the ranger station to inquire as we were concerned for our safety while hiking especially after seeing a sign that said you could get a yellow vest from the ranger to wear while hiking. The ranger told us there was a contained gun range nearby and it was safe to hike.
It was a cold day in the high 20s, clear with a chance of snow. We started out on the Ice Age trail. The path was very, very icy, slick, and treacherous, especially for Tristan who was filming us with the camcorder. We found it easier to walk on the side of the trail through the snow to avoid the slippery ice. Joey fell a couple of times, and I had a near miss. These mishaps should make for some good outtakes on our final video.
We saw deer and possibly raccoon tracks. The small footprints were so cute. We came upon a shelter with a fire pit that you can camp at. It looked like a great place to campout and look for the beast, in warmer weather, of course. We also hiked another trail that took us to an open field. We saw many large boot prints in the snow. When the edges of the print start melting, the print could be mistaken for a Bigfoot print.
We passed 3 backpackers who appeared to be hiking to a location to camp. Brave men. Too cold for me. My feet started to get numb so we turned back. It started snowing on the way home. We left the woods just in time.
It was a cold day in the high 20s, clear with a chance of snow. We started out on the Ice Age trail. The path was very, very icy, slick, and treacherous, especially for Tristan who was filming us with the camcorder. We found it easier to walk on the side of the trail through the snow to avoid the slippery ice. Joey fell a couple of times, and I had a near miss. These mishaps should make for some good outtakes on our final video.
We saw deer and possibly raccoon tracks. The small footprints were so cute. We came upon a shelter with a fire pit that you can camp at. It looked like a great place to campout and look for the beast, in warmer weather, of course. We also hiked another trail that took us to an open field. We saw many large boot prints in the snow. When the edges of the print start melting, the print could be mistaken for a Bigfoot print.
We passed 3 backpackers who appeared to be hiking to a location to camp. Brave men. Too cold for me. My feet started to get numb so we turned back. It started snowing on the way home. We left the woods just in time.
conclusion
We did not find any prints or sighting of the beast during this day time investigation. We have investigated the area over a weekend and conducted a night investigation in 2015. You can check out our trip here.