Report 431: Sound and Footprint Reports from Stanislaus National Forest

I am filling out this report for a witness that I have already spoken with.  Witness had two "events"; one a sound report and the other a print sighting.  The sound report happened in 1981 in the Carson-Iceberg Wilderness.  Starting at about 11:00 pm and ending at dawn, a whole series of howls began and continued every night for three nights.  The howls would start after two men with dogs started out into the forest after dark.  The howls were very deep, unlike anything witness has heard before.  The sounds would circle around a ridge and then end up where it started near their camp. They had a dobberman dog who was very afraid of the sound, and this is what alarmed the witness about the whole experience.  Witness has heard many bobcats and mountain lions, and this wasn't even similar. Sounded to him like the howls on the BFRO website. Footprints were seen in summer of 1984 near Beartrap Cabin in the Mt. Reba area of Calaveras County.