The Ghost of Fox Camp
 By Ronald

This is a true story that began in September 1986. My uncle and 
I are Deer hunters and have been for years. On Labor Day weekend 
we always go to the mountains of North Carolina and start scouting 
for deer sign before the season comes in. A tropical storm moving 
out of the Gulf of Mexico was headed up the east coast and it was 
supposed to rain all weekend. I decided to go up a day early by 
myself and set up camp.

 Jerry, my uncle was to come up the following afternoon. 

Fox Camp is the name given to the area because of a check-in 
station for Deer hunters that used to be on Highway 181 that runs
through the middle of the Pisgha National Forest in Burke County. 
It is a beautiful place to see and visit with good hunting all 
around the area. This was the Friday before Labor Day and I had 
arrived at our campsite early that morning. 

The day was cloudy and it had begun to rain on and off. The ground 
was getting muddy so I decided to set up a tarp over the back end 
of my camper shell. I wanted to be able to get out and do things 
without getting wet. The tarp was big enough for two trucks to get 
under so there was plenty of room for everything we had. 

Once camp was set up it was time to relax for a while before going 
scouting for the afternoon. Nighttime had come now and what a night 
it was. The air was cool and a steady rain had set in. Just what the 
doctor had ordered for a good nights sleep. I awoke around 4 a.m. to 
find that the rain had stopped for the time being so I decided to go 
ahead and fix something to eat. 

After breakfast and a visit to see Mother Nature it was time to lay 
back down and wait for daylight to arrive. What a wonderful morning 
it was going to be or at least I thought so. It did not take long 
for me to change my mind. I was lying on my back with my head toward 
the tailgate, listening to the radio and smoking a cigarette. I was 
using a drink bottle to prop open the camper lid so I could flip my 
cigarette ashes outside. 

I was having the time of my life, no bills to worry about, no grass 
to cut; I just could not wait for daylight so I could go out in the 
woods to play. Suddenly I here something that catches my attention. 
I listen and I hear it again. The bushes next to the truck are 
shaking like something is going through them. I reach over and turn 
down the radio to hear better when something starts sliding up the 
side of my truck. 

What could it be, a bear, a deer, a dog maybe? My hair is standing 
up on my arms and my senses are at full alert. 

All of a sudden the truck starts to rock from side to side and I 
scream. At the same time the tarp falls and I grab my pistol and 
spin around toward the tail gate ready to shoot whatever tries to 
get into the back of the truck with me. Then there’s quiet, no 
sound whatsoever. You could have heard a pin drop, all my attention 
is focused on that tailgate. I not dare open that lid and look out 
at this stage. 

After about fifteen minutes of so I have not heard anything so I 
feel like it’s safe enough to have a peek. It’s light enough now 
just to see the ground around the truck but the tarp prevents me 
from seeing anything else. What kind of tracks would I find on the 
ground? I could hardly wait to find out. Finally it’s light enough 
to get out and take inventory of things. 

I had to set the tarp back up and get everything in a little bit of 
order so I could get around. Lets see what we have here now, I start 
looking around and guess what? No tracks, everywhere I step there’s 
my tracks but where are the animal tracks? I can’t believe this, we 
have to have tracks but no there are none. I start looking all over 
the place but guess what, no tracks. 

Finally I gave up and just sat down trying to figure out what had 
just happened. I tried to replay everything in my head to be sure I 
wasn’t going crazy or something, but no one could be that scared 
over nothing. It’s later in the day now and while scouting I could 
not get this deal out of my head. 

All day I wondered about there being no tracks. I have hunted for 
years, go to the woods before daylight always being aware of my 
surroundings but never been scared of anything until now. What 
could it have been? I did have one funny thought about the whole 
thing, I’m just glad that I wasn’t visiting Mother Nature when all 
of this mess started. 

Saturday afternoon and Uncle Jerry has arrived now. I proceed to 
tell him about the events of that morning and he began to laugh. He 
said it was the boogeyman that was going to get me but I didn’t 
think it was too funny. He did listen, but just like me he did not 
understand what had happened. It had begun to rain again and was 
getting heavy at times. 

Not much scouting was done that day so we just talked and had a 
good time. Supper was good and the fellowship as well. It was 
starting to get dark now and it would not be long before bedtime.

 I thought everything was over and there was nothing else to worry 
about, but boy was I wrong.