Two Hunters, One Wood Knock, Near Middlesex

Two brothers, both experienced bowhunters in their late fifties, were hunting separately near the West River about two miles southwest of Middlesex in October 2020 when each heard a loud wood knock from roughly 50 yards off. Neither knew the other had heard anything until they met back at the vehicle and realized they’d picked up the same sound from the same swampy patch of woods. Both described the forest going dead silent right afterward, the kind of hush hunters often flag as a sign something out of the ordinary is nearby. A similar knock turned up again about three weeks later in the same spot during gun season. It’s a Class B report, but two independent witnesses on the same sound in the same location is the kind of detail that keeps a case interesting.

Location: West River area, near Middlesex, Ontario County, NY
Source: BFRO Report #68896