Steven Bradley named 'Grand Champion' during recent 'Bigfoot Calling' contest in Conecuh County

Steven Bradley, left, with
master of ceremonies Scott Owens.

Local Bigfoot expert Ashley McPhaul and I judged the Bigfoot Calling Contest Saturday night during the 13^th Annual Baggett’s Chapel Wild Game Supper, and that was the most fun that I’ve had in a long, long time.

There were seven contestants in the youth division, and there were five contestants in the adult division. Contestants in the youth division included Will Acreman, Tristan Bradley, Hunter Nichols, Robert Farish, Bucky Farish and Brady Busby. Adult competitors included Sue Brown, Bobby McInnis, Steven Bradley, Dennis McKinley and Will Driver.

All of these contestants did an outstanding job, and each one of their Bigfoot calls was different in some shape, form or fashion. It was tough to pick a winner from among these outstanding competitors, but win or not, they all appeared to have a good time.

In the adult division, Steven Bradley was named the Grand Champion Bigfoot Caller, and Dennis McKinley finished a close second. Hunter Nichols took home top honors in the youth division, and Tristan Bradley came in second. All of the other contestants were honorable mention winners in my book.

Special guests at the event included Don McDonald and Rogan Bird, who are stars of the TV show “Killing Bigfoot.” Don, who lives in Mississippi, has been to the Conecuh County area a number of times before, investigating claims of Bigfoot sightings, and it was good to see him again over the weekend. It was also a pleasure meeting Rogan, who is from Louisiana.

Just prior to the calling contest, Don and Ashley spoke briefly about local Bigfoot reports and sightings, and the large crowd at the supper seemed to be very interested in what they had to say. Don, who is a professional surveyor by trade, mentioned that he is putting together a detailed map that shows the locations of local Bigfoot sightings and he’s already logged dozens of reports.

With that in mind, I’m going to try to do the same sort of thing at the newspaper, but it probably won’t be as high-tech as what Don’s putting together. I picked up a free Conecuh County map at the library a few days ago and I’m going to mount it on a bulletin board and use colored push pins to record the locations of the Bigfoot reports I’ve received so far.

For those of you who were unable to attend Saturday night’s wild game supper you missed a treat. I was looking forward to eating some rabbit for the first time ever, and I wasn’t disappointed. I don’t know who cooked the rabbit stew, but it was great. I also had a big plate full of deer, duck and barbecued wild hog that was outstanding.

An estimated crowd of over 500 people attended this event and by all accounts it was a big success, raising over $12,500. Proceeds from this year’s wild game supper went to benefit Leo Cobb, who is battling lung cancer. God bless Leo and his family as they go through this ordeal and God bless all of the good folks who came together Saturday night to make this event a success.