Not That Kind of Sasquatch

There are many stories told by hunters of encountering the legendary sasquatch in the woods of the Pacific Northwest, and I'm familiar with a lot of them. This one, though, is among the weirdest I've seen, and not because it involves any actual cryptozoology or paranormal phenomena.

Oregon hunter Jeff McDonald was looking for deer when he spotted a naked man wandering in the woods carrying a pruning saw. McDonald assumed the young man was confused and asked what he was doing in the forest. The naked man, Linus Norgren, explained that he was a sasquatch. Then, when McDonald offered to help the man find his way out of the woods, Norgren tried to kill him.

In October 2013, 58-year-old Jeff McDonald ventured into the woods of Manning, Oregon for a chance at bagging some venison. It was an area that he was familiar with, and known to be popular with other hunters as well. That was why when McDonald first saw 22-year-old Linus Norgren, the hunter’s initial reaction was to wonder why Norgen was dressed in tan clothing in the middle of deer season. However, it turned out that McDonald mistook Norgen’s completely nude body for flesh-colored clothes. The only thing the other man carried was a pruning saw in one hand.

“I was armed with a high-powered rifle,” McDonald told The Oregonian. “I thought he’s probably not going to do anything.” Staying calm, McDonald asked the young man his name and what he was doing in the forest. Norgen simply responded that he was a Sasquatch from a family of Sasquatches. At this point, the hunter recalled making sure his gun was pointed away from Norgen to avoid upsetting him. McDonald even offered to help guide Norgen out of the woods. It was a bad idea. As the two men turned to leave, Norgen struck McDonald in the back of the head with a rock and the hunter lost consciousness.

When McDonald came to, he was on the ground and Norgen was attempting to strangle him. The hunter said that Norgen tried to gouge out one of his eyes and even shoved a fist through his mouth. With his shoulders dislocated from the fall, McDonald had a hard time fighting back, but managed to keep his attacker from inflicting further injuries. When the older man asked why Norgen was trying to kill him, the 22-year-old replied chillingly that “Sasquatch kills the hunter.”

Last week Norgren was convicted of attempted murder and sentenced to ten years in prison. At sentencing, he claimed that the attack was motivated by untreated mental illness and that he was irrationally terrified of McDonald when the two met in the woods. He made no mention of his sasquatch heritage. But I suppose it would explain why sasquatch are so hard to find. Apparently they look just like everyone else.