Report 19926: Incidents and followup near Lake Hartwell Dam

I was fishing Friday from about 8 pm to a little after 9:30 pm on the Savannah river between Lake Hartwell and Lake Russel on the Georgia/SC line. I had walked up the trail by the river from the last parking area to try for some trout or maybe a walleye. It was after 9 pm and dark now. I was about ready to call it a night when I heard distinct footsteps coming towards me. I first thought it might be another fisherman, but the closest one to me was at the first parking area about a half mile away and he was fishing on one of the piers. I thought it was on the trail I had came in on but realized it was up on the side of the hill. I got closer and it stepped on a couple of limbs that cracked from its weight. I thought to myself it had to be another person but why would they be on a hillside in thick woods at night with no light? I broke the thumbsnap on my Sig 45acp just in case it was somebody up to no good. I only had my LED headlamp on and when I shined it at the sound it stopped. I would estimate it was about 25 to 30 yards from me at the time. I could see nothing, no eyes or anything. About a minute after I took the light off of it, it started walking again. I was getting a little concerned by now. I know it wasn’t a deer, as I have spent my whole life in the woods and know what deer sound like when walking. I eased out onto the trail and started walking back to the truck. The footsteps parralelled me back to the parking area but never came out of the woodline. I had Surefire G2 light in the truck and shined it in the woods to see if I could find the source of the sounds. I never did see anything. Nor did I smell anything. I don’t know if it could have been a BF. This area is pretty heavily used and in proximity to a major highway. All I know is the whole thing was very strange because usually a deer or other animals will spook when you put a light on them.