John writes &quot;This happened on the opening day of rifle season 1998 in the southwestern mountains of Virginia. Now to give a back drop to the property we used to hunt so you can get an idea. The parcel of land backed up to the New River, less than a mile above it. When I say above, you could walk to the river if not for the 100 foot sheer rock cliffs, caves and caverns that fall off to the riverbank. We had built a tree stand in an oak tree about 75-100 yards down in a holler. This stand was a 2-sided stand with a roof over top. The front side of the tree where we built the ladder was about 20-25 feet off the ground, whereas the backside was probably 60-70 feet above the kill zone. It was strategically placed this way because of the kill zone. The zone I mention is what you would call a super highway for deer. 3 different points coming together in an opening with an unobstructed view and vantage point. The leaves had fallen, so that Sunday afternoon I had taken a rake and swept them off the path to the stand. I always like to get into the stand by 530ish so if by chance I did spook a a buck it could have a chance to settle down. I got to the stand about 20 minutes late cause of forgetting my knife. I had walked this trail many times over the years so no need for a flashlight. Climbed up in full ghillie suit, got settled and waited. 20 minutes or so later, start hearing something walking my way. I could tell that it was on 4 feet, so I was expecting a deer at least. The sun had just started to come up, so I was just waiting on it to come to the bait pile that was set up about 30 yards from me. In the Laurel thicket im seeing movement and notice its too dark to be a deer. Well, I’m sitting there thinking to myself that’s got to be a bear, because deer do not make that much noise. When this thing/creature comes into my view the first thing I think is what the hell is a gorilla doing in the mountains of Virginia. It/she (breast In full view) makes its way to the bait pile, looks around to the thicket and here comes a smaller one. When I say smaller, I mean it looked like Cha-ka off the land of the lost episodes on tv only it was black and not copper. The adult stands up on all fours, starts looking around the forest. She grunted towards the small one and it instantly climbed on her back. She is scanning the forest, I don’t know if she scented me or just knew something was off. I was sitting completely still, not sure I was even breathing. She glanced up to the stand I was in and with a scowl on her face stared for a few seconds. She dropped back down on all fours, with the little one still on her back and let out what I can only describe as part scream part growl. 2 seconds later I hear a scream to the north from what I assume was another one, but this scream was much more intense, louder and more deeper. She turned and walked off down the trail. I sat there for at least an hour, maybe more without moving, barely breathing. After that time,

SC EP:1013 Why Is There A Gorilla In Virginia?

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