Report 10093: Vocalizations, heavy footsteps & tree shaking

At around 9 p.m. at night, I was standing outside of my house in rural Washington Co., AR right near the Madison Co. border.  While standing in the yard, I heard a noise from the woods north of my yard (16 acres of my 24 were wooded) that sounded like a hooting/deep throated howl coming from the tree line.  This noise occured about three times withine a 15 second time frame.  At the time, my wife had just left the property about two weeks prior, and I briefly considered the noise to be made by my grandfather, who lived next door.  I shouted toward the tree-line, "Hey, that's a good way for an old man to get shot!"  Afterwards, the hooting/howling occured twice more.  My dogs, two coonhounds, a rat terrier, and shephard mut, all bolted from the porch and headed to the treeline, barking and growling as if they saw something.  I ran to the house and grabbed my .22 rifle.  Running out the front door and angling west along the tree line, I noticed my dogs "dogging" something along the woodline, with the brush and tree limbs thrashing.  I followed this "thrashing" line of of brush approx. 1500 along the woodline in the pasture behind my house.  As I tramped along, I realized that my dogs were still barking vehemently, yet they were still in the confines of the yard.  I was alone along the tree line with my brush-thrashing guest in the dark.  I paused and observed the continued "limb thrashing" progressing toward the west of the property.  Also, during this run, I could hear thumping footsteps as if someone were wearing heavy boots.  In sudden realization of my potential vuneralbility, I returned to my house, where-upon I immediately phoned my next-door grandparents.  My grandmother answered the phone.  I said, "That was really funny!"  She said, "What?" I told her of my theory of my granddad hiding in the woods to scare me.  She said, "Well, he's sitting right here, ain't been out all night."  Indeed, I spoke with him, and he certainly did not have time to make it back to the house and decrease his rate of breath (75 yrs. of age) within that time frame.  I believe that I walked out of the house and disturbed an exploring sasquatch.