BF or crazy person Print & Trail?

[NCBFr]

We are in a draught and the lake's shoreline around me have receded significantly over the summer and fall.  I took the opportunity to walk my dog around one when I noticed a weird looking foot print.  This side of the lake is a fairly remote and hard to get to area and it was the only print I had seen.  Looking closely I noticed toes which I thought was really strange as the exposed shoreline is littered with sharp rocks, protruding limbs, and all sorts of garbage tossed out by fishermen.  Looking closer the front of the foot was much deeper than the heel and it had about a 6 foot stride.  I followed the trail off and on for maybe a half mile when I noticed the front and heel were now evenly depressed.  I concluded the person was first walking then proceeded to run for a short distance.  Running on this shore with bare foot is extremely insane because of all of the debris.  Then towards the end of the lake it randomly walks in to the muck for about 50 yards, circles back to relatively firm ground and proceeds in to the woods.  I could not imagine going out in to the muck with shoes let alone bare feet.  It rained pretty hard 4 days ago so the trail had to have been created prior to the rain.  I circled the lake's north side and saw a similar trail but much washed out which must have been created before the rain.  The pics are not great because of the lighting but it was pretty clear that they were not shoe prints and were made by something with a very flat foot and no visible midtarsal ridge.  The prints are not large, maybe size 10-11, but the depth was significantly deeper than I could make even jumping up and down.  Attached are some of the pics.  What do y'all think. 

 

Also, this location is about a mile from a spot where my next door neighbor's son swore he saw a 5-6 foot bigfoot at night watching him ride his bike in their backyard last June.  He only saw it for a moment when he flipped on the bikes light.  I studied the location the next day and saw a couple signs of things out of place but nothing definitive other than someone/something took a lot of effort to build a hunting blind/nest 100 yards from the location and right by the lake.  

[norseman]

1 hour ago, NCBFr said:

We are in a draught and the lake's shoreline around me have receded significantly over the summer and fall.  I took the opportunity to walk my dog around one when I noticed a weird looking foot print.  This side of the lake is a fairly remote and hard to get to area and it was the only print I had seen.  Looking closely I noticed toes which I thought was really strange as the exposed shoreline is littered with sharp rocks, protruding limbs, and all sorts of garbage tossed out by fishermen.  Looking closer the front of the foot was much deeper than the heel and it had about a 6 foot stride.  I followed the trail off and on for maybe a half mile when I noticed the front and heel were now evenly depressed.  I concluded the person was first walking then proceeded to run for a short distance.  Running on this shore with bare foot is extremely insane because of all of the debris.  Then towards the end of the lake it randomly walks in to the muck for about 50 yards, circles back to relatively firm ground and proceeds in to the woods.  I could not imagine going out in to the muck with shoes let alone bare feet.  It rained pretty hard 4 days ago so the trail had to have been created prior to the rain.  I circled the lake's north side and saw a similar trail but much washed out which must have been created before the rain.  The pics are not great because of the lighting but it was pretty clear that they were not shoe prints and were made by something with a very flat foot and no visible midtarsal ridge.  The prints are not large, maybe size 10-11, but the depth was significantly deeper than I could make even jumping up and down.  Attached are some of the pics.  What do y'all think. 

 

Also, this location is about a mile from a spot where my next door neighbor's son swore he saw a 5-6 foot bigfoot at night watching him ride his bike in their backyard last June.  He only saw it for a moment when he flipped on the bikes light.  I studied the location the next day and saw a couple signs of things out of place but nothing definitive other than someone/something took a lot of effort to build a hunting blind/nest 100 yards from the location and right by the lake.  

Hard to say, but in any breeding population they are not all adults. 👍

[NCBFr]

I have learned over time that they are migratory and pass through this region in the fall and spring.  

[NCBFr]

So I was thinking, why does it wonder off through the muck barefoot, get to fresh water, and then come back to drier land.  Two different times, same behavior, different side of the lake.  Of course, to get a drink of water. 

 

I have tracked them for over 20 years in this region though tree breaks but never foot prints because of the floor vegetation.  Pretty cool.  Anyway, have not posted in a while, hope you found the time spent putting it together for you worthwhile.

[NCBFr]

On 11/9/2026 at 12:06 PM, norseman said:

Hard to say, but in any breeding population they are not all adults. 👍

You mean kind of like this?  I found tracks of at least 3 different prints (called small foot, narrow foot, and big foot) going from woods to a stream along a very muddy and slippery trackway 1 mile north from my previous prints.  I got  few more coming that I may post later tonight.  

[JKH]

Very cool finds, NC. Here in the west, there are similar seasonal patterns arounds lakes and reservoirs. I've seen or heard of quite a few researchers observing many mostly juvenile tracks. Check out Madison's topic on these:

 

 

[Will]

Definitely Human