YEAR: 2025

SEASON: Fall

MONTH: September

DATE: 1st

STATE: Wisconsin

COUNTY: Walworth County

LOCATION DETAILS: Investigator (MM) Notes:
I have removed the specific GPS point provided by the witness in order to discourage a crowd from forming at that exact spot. The general area where this encounter occurred is the Kettle Morraine Oak Opening (an official DNR-listed Natural Area), east of the Ice Age Trail.

NEAREST TOWN: Palmyra

NEAREST ROAD: Young Road

OBSERVED: On 09.01.2025 at about 9:20 at night, I was driving with my good friend and I went to the Kettle Moraine State Forest off of Young Road in Walworth County Wisconsin. We are both 19 by the way.

I parked my truck on this little dirt parking lot that was about 20 feet by 20 feet. Keep in mind, we pulled the truck into the parking spot and from the back bumper of the truck road it was about 15 feet maybe.

When we parked the truck, my friend who was sitting in the passenger seat next to me looks over and says “Man, I don’t know if we should be here. I feel like we are being watched.” I felt the same way deep down but I told him “nahhhh dude let’s go we will be fine.” So we got out of the truck and got out the bottle rockets we brought to shoot around on the road to have some harmless fun.

We set the bag of fireworks on the drivers side seat and left the door open on that side so the lights inside the truck would shine on them so we could see what we were doing. It was very dark back there, and the only light we had was the interior lights shining on the seat, and the back cargo light shining down on the truck bed (we did not have the headlights on).

We shot bottle rockets off for a good 20 minutes when it all happened. I was standing next to my friend grabbing more fireworks off the drivers side seat. I finished grabbing what I needed and went towards the back of the truck from the drivers side door to shoot them off by the road. As I was walking back I heard something walking in the grass across street from us. I looked up and saw a large white and grayish black shape moving. My eyes weren’t adjusted yet because I was by the light in the truck. Tried to reason it was a deer or something. But why would a white deer approach two guys shooting off bottle rockets making tons of noise?

I looked at it and I saw a leg step out on the road across the street from me, an almost human looking leg… Then I saw a large object start walking on the street from the left until it was right across from me. While this was happening I was trying to figure out what it was because I couldn’t make it out because of the darkness. Finally it stopped walking and just was looking at me across the street. My eyes started to adjust and I saw a very very large upright figure with white and blackish gray hair.

I immediately reached back and grabbed my friend and pointed at the figure and yelled “What’s that thing?!” My friend looked over at it but his eyes weren’t adjusted, but he saw the top of the head and shoulders. It started to walk toward me slowly almost in an intimidating manner approaching me without an ounce of fear. As it approached me and my friend it made it to the dirt parking lot we were parked at and that’s when my cargo light on my truck lit it up. It had to have been around 7 and a half, to 8 feet tall. It looked like it was aging as it had white and gray hair mixing with its black hair. The creature was very muscular and just unbelievably massive. The things face was blackish and almost oily looking. It had black eyes and a slit for the mouth and I could make out a nose. It was still dark with the dim cargo light hitting the thing. Also the moon was behind it and that’s how my friend and I saw the outline so well. Unfortunately my friend did not see as many details as I did as his eyes were not adjusted to the darkness yet.

Once I saw how close it was to us and how it was still approaching I stopped reaching for my phone camera and just told my friend “Get in the truck!” And as I said this I jumped into the drivers side and started the truck up. As I got in I saw my friend practically diving over the hood of my truck trying to get to the passenger door. Once he got into the truck I slammed the gas down and went into reverse towards the thing and it managed to jump out of the way before it hit it. We took off down the road at high speeds.

We came back with my brother and my dad with a high powered flashlight looking for any sign of it but found nothing. The next morning my friend and I returned and looked for tracks. We found spots in the grass where I first saw it pressed down from the things weight.

To conclude, I think this thing was watching us as my loud 90’s Chevy pickup was coming down the road and into the parking spot. It probably got sick of us shooting fireworks off and just got out of the ditch and walked over in an attempt to intimidate and scare us with its shear mass. And it worked.

This incident only happened yesterday and I decided to report it here. Many other anomalous activities has happened out there over the years such as whistles, rocks getting thrown, angry growls and howls.

ALSO NOTICED: It was odd how silent this giant muscular thing was. It also moved surprisingly smooth

OTHER WITNESSES: I was with my friend who was standing behind me getting fireworks under the light of the truck

OTHER STORIES: Yes there are years of incidents like rockets getting thrown, branches getting snapped clean in half, howls, whistles, and deep grunting roars.

TIME AND CONDITIONS: 9:20 pm. It was very very dark with the exception of the moon peeking over the trees with clouds.

ENVIRONMENT: A dirt parking lot with deep valleys and lots of oaks and pines and other tree species

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Tom Norstrem:

The following report was made after fellow investigator Mark Dominick and I (Tom Norstrem) met on-site with the witnesses. Measurements were made and double-checked as directed by the witnesses. As we continue to investigate the area, we are both confident that the witnesses are credible reporters of this event.

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The witness and his friend were lighting off bottle rockets from a parking pad along [a road through the Oak Opening area]. The moon was approximately three-quarter, and overhead in the south, across the road. They mentioned to each other that they had weird feelings of being watched before lighting their fireworks.

After twenty minutes or so (around 9:45pm) the two had spent their initial stash of fireworks. Other than the moon, the only light was the cab light and bed light of the truck. They prepared the next batch of rockets on the truck seat. The witness turned toward the road to reach into his truck bed when he saw a figure’s legs step over a berm and into the grass to the east, about 25 yards away, along the far side of the road. He was unsure what he was seeing initially, as his eyes were not adjusted to the dark in which the figure walked.

He watched the figure move parallel to the road on the far side through the grass. The figure reportedly took short steps, in a way the witness described as “stealthy.” As the figure came in-line with the witness, it began slowly to cross the road toward the boys. As it approached the center line, about 18 yards away, the witness’ eyes had adjusted to the moonlight, and he recognized that the figure was indeed a Bigfoot. The witness reports that for a few long seconds, he and the figure looked at each other before he shouted to his friend, “What is that?”

The witness turned to run back into his truck because he felt the figure, by its body language, looked angry. His friend, now seeing the figure, too, had to run around the front of the vehicle to get in. Both reported that felt like a long five seconds before they were in the vehicle, it was turned on, and they were ready to leave. Looking back towards the road after throwing the truck in reverse, they did not see the figure after that point.

The witness reported that they returned the next day in the daylight and found the grass along the parking pad and along the road on his side to be flattened, but nothing more.

In re-visiting the site and re-creating the scene a month almost to the day later, the witness estimated the figure to be almost 7.5 feet tall, and 3 feet wide at the shoulders. The gently cone-shaped head, which he estimated over 12 inches wide, had white hair on it and a hairline that seemed to recede.

The hair on the body was mostly a grayish-black with occasional tufts of white on its chest and shoulders. The face itself was dark with a large eyebrow ridge and skin that seemed to be oily. The hands hung down by the knees of the creature, and they moved very little, if at all, when it walked. The witness felt this contributed to the feeling that, combined with short, silent steps, and a lack of any head movement (bobbing) as it walked, the Bigfoot was trying to sneak up on them as they lit off their fireworks. He also reported that throughout this encounter, the figure made no vocal sounds of any kind.

As on the night of the encounter, our re-creation was around 9pm with the moon at about three-quarters, and shining from the south onto us and our cars on the north side of the road. We observed that from the center line of the road, the entire outline of the boys was very difficult to see as they leaned into the truck. The sides closest to the cab light were obvious, but the sides of them furthest from the vehicle blended very easily into the dark of the night.

The witnesses themselves are young men of around 20 years of age. The primary witness is currently living in the area and learning a carpentry trade. He and his family have hiked and hunted the forests in this area most of his life; he has a great familiarity with these woods. One month after the encounter, the witness stated that he would no longer hunt these woods alone.

The geography of the area is classic Kettle Moraine, with high ridges and numerous ravines (kettles) of varying depths. The parking pad here is on the north side of a road that is mostly an east-west, two-lane highway. Mostly parallel and sometimes rather closely, a powerline runs along the road on the south side. The larger area is crisscrossed by hikers’ trails and horse trails, many of these with smaller connector trails not even marked on a map.

More specifically to this encounter, a short grassy berm with various species of growth runs on the south side of the road across from the parking pad. Over the berm continuing south, the landscape drops approximately 40 feet to the bottom of a large kettle, and though some charcoal and trash was found, no recent or strong trails were evident. This ravine deepens even further as it runs west, parallel to the road. The backside of the berm where the witness first saw the figure cross north onto the road’s shoulder is excessively steep; difficult to navigate, but possible. On our investigation a month later, no prints of any kind were visible, either at the bottom of the ravine or in the hillside itself.

To the west of the small parking area, a heavily-wooded trail drops down, again approximately 40 feet, then up to a similarly-wooded ridge that overlooks the area. To the north of the parking is more forest that, again, drops into another equally-deep kettle.

A short connector path through tall grass to the northwest from the parking area connects to a two-track road that runs generally north-south, but with a northeast bend. The woods and kettles border to the west of this road, and an open prairie field, dotted with occasional pines and oak trees borders to the east. The trail eventually turns more due north as it finally enters the forest and continues into the woods.
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Notes from Investigator Matt Moneymaker:

I spoke with both eyewitnesses by phone in depth about this incident, and everything else they know about this area. They are both very credible. This incident really occurred.

There are several notable things about this encounter. One of those things relates to the location. It's a very special area for various reasons. It is ecologically unique and particularly attractive to white tailed deer. Also, the Ice Age Trail passes through it. You will understand the significance of that fact if you're been following the reports coming from Wisconsin.

Below you will see the responses from ChatGPT to these questions:

Question #1) How rare and unique in Wisconsin is the Kettle Moraine Oak Opening natural area in terms of its flora?

Question #2) Is this type of ecosystem particularly attractive to deer?

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Answer to Question #1:

The Kettle Moraine Oak Opening State Natural Area is considered very rare and ecologically unique within Wisconsin—especially for its flora—because it preserves one of the state’s few remaining high-quality examples of an oak opening plant community.

What Makes Its Flora Unique

Part of the “oak opening” natural community: Oak openings are an open savanna-like ecosystem where widely spaced oaks occur with a rich herbaceous layer dominated by prairie grasses and wildflowers—distinct from closed forest or prairie. Historically this community was widespread, but today it is among the rarest plant communities in the Upper Midwest with only a handful of quality remnants remaining.

Rare plant species and prairie elements: The groundlayer includes prairie grasses such as little bluestem, big bluestem, and side-oats grama, along with prairie forbs such as pasqueflower, purple prairie-clover, white camas, lead plant, and Illinois tick trefoil. These species are characteristic of dry prairie and savanna ecosystems rather than typical woodlands.

Dry prairie pockets: Within the oak opening there are small dry prairie areas on gravelly knobs and ridges that support species more typical of prairie than forest.

Rarity in Wisconsin

Oak openings are extremely scarce today: Once covering millions of acres across southern Wisconsin, oak openings have largely disappeared due to fire suppression, agricultural conversion, and woody encroachment. The best existing remnants, like those in the Kettle Moraine area, occur on challenging terrain (e.g., kettle moraine ridges) that escaped agricultural development.

High conservation value: Because oak openings rank as one of the rarest natural communities in the state (with very few high-quality occurrences left), areas like the Kettle Moraine Oak Opening are designated as State Natural Areas to protect these rare plant assemblages and their habitat.

Ecological Importance

Supports biodiversity: The mix of oak savanna and prairie flora supports a diversity of plants not commonly found in surrounding forests, including species more typical of tallgrass prairie ecosystems.

Fewer high-quality sites remain: Most historic oak openings in Wisconsin have degraded; the ones in the southern Kettle Moraine are among the better examples left.

In summary: the Kettle Moraine Oak Opening is ecologically rare in Wisconsin because it preserves a nearly vanished plant community—oak openings with prairie elements—that historically was widespread but now is among the state’s rarest natural communities with distinctive and uncommon flora.

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Answer to Question #2 (regarding deer):


Yes — oak opening ecosystems like the Kettle Moraine Oak Opening are particularly attractive to white-tailed deer, often more so than closed forests or uniform agricultural land.

Here’s why:

Why Deer Are Drawn to Oak Openings

1. Exceptional food diversity
Oak openings combine elements of forest, savanna, and prairie, which creates a rich and varied food supply:

- Acorns from bur, white, and red oaks (a major fall and winter food source)
- Forbs and wildflowers (high-protein spring and summer forage)
- Shrubs and young woody growth at the edges
- Grasses and sedges used opportunistically

This mix provides forage across multiple seasons, unlike closed forests where understory food is limited.

2. Open structure with nearby cover
Oak openings have:

Open, sunny areas for feeding
Adjacent brush, shrubs, or woodland edges for quick escape and bedding

Deer strongly prefer this edge habitat, where they can feed while maintaining visibility and access to cover.

3. High-quality browse
Because these systems historically evolved with fire, they support:

Many palatable native plants
Regular regeneration of browse species when managed (burned or thinned)

From a deer’s perspective, this is “high-quality habitat.”

4. Thermal and predator advantages

* Open areas warm quickly in spring and fall
* Scattered trees provide shade in summer
* Good sightlines reduce predation risk

Ecological Tradeoff

While oak openings are excellent deer habitat, high deer densities can be a serious conservation challenge:

* Overbrowsing threatens rare prairie and savanna plants
* Regeneration of oaks can fail
* Many oak opening remnants in Wisconsin require active deer management to preserve their unique flora

Bottom Line

Yes — oak openings are among the most deer-attractive natural communities in Wisconsin due to their food abundance, structure, and seasonal benefits. Ironically, this attractiveness is one reason these ecosystems are fragile today: without careful management, deer pressure can degrade the very plant diversity that makes oak openings special.


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From "iNaturalist" web site:

Kettle Moraine Oak Opening lies in the heart of the jumbled and rugged landscape of the interlobate moraine, an area of glacially-formed kettle holes, kames (conical mounds), and gravelly hills and ridges. The area is a mixture of oak opening and oak woodland dominated by open-grown bur and black oaks. Small dry prairie openings occur on gravel knobs and steep south and west-facing ridges. Bald Bluff, the largest and most diverse of these, contains short grasses such as little blue-stem, side-oats grama, and prairie drop-seed. Forbs include pasqueflower, silky aster, grooved yellow flax, and rough blazing-star. It also has historical significance: it was visited by Abraham Lincoln when he was in the U.S. Army and it is thought to be a Native American signal hill.

About BFRO Investigator Tom Norstrem:

Tom is a retired high school English teacher with a Masters degree in school administration. A part of the "In Search of…" generation, Tom had a couple of Class B experiences many years ago in different years in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area. His first official BFRO expedition was in 2021, and he continues to be a part of a number of group and solo outings around Wisconsin, especially in the North Kettle Moraine near his home.

Tom will be co-leading the upcoming Wisconsin BFRO expedition in October, 2026.

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