# AEP Camping



## Ohiobassman54 (May 28, 2004)

Just got back from spending the night at Sand Hollow.We caught a few Bass that was released, and a good mess of Blue Gill.Now for the scary part. We are on our way home on county rd.27 just pass the Keffler Kamp.The wife and I seen what we think was a Black Panther run across the road about 50 yards in front of us.It was solid Black,long tail,guessing maybe 125 pounds or so and was moving very fast when we seen it.We looked it up on the pc and they look like what we seen.Has any one else seen cats down there and could this have been a Panther.This is the 2nd summer we have been going down and today our tent walls got mighty thin ohiobassman54


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## maggot (Apr 12, 2008)

There have been several sighting of panthers reported over the past few years. About 3 or 4 years ago one was seen over by the mountain bike trails across St. Rt. 284 from campsite C. ODNR checked it out and said they found panther scat but nothing else, no tracks, fur, just the scat. So I guess it is very possible that what you saw could of been a panther.
Unrelated to your panther sighting......a couple of weeks ago on the sci-fi channel they have a show called Monster Quest and they featured Bigfoot sightings around SaltFork. They call this creature The Grassman. It was pretty interesting and I'm sure it will be reran later in the year so watch for it if your interested.


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## OSU_Fisherman (Mar 1, 2007)

I find that VERY easy to believe based on what I've seen in the area.

Last summer my dad and I took my jon boat down to a lake at AEP and blew out a tire on the way back. My grandparents live sort of close, so we took some obscure back roads since I didn't have a spare tire for the jon boat trailer. Anyway, we started down a hill on some back road and jumped a HUGE Bobcat across the road. The size made me think it was a cougar, but the longer hair pointed more towards Bobcat.

Later that summer, I was partially cornered by the biggest coyote I've seen in my life as well. I was fishing a lake that is WAY off of 284 (easily 3 miles), but I was still able to pull up to it with my truck. I had the windows down and a little music playing and was reeling in some great bass. Turned around after snapping off... and there stands a very, very large coyote with bloody mouth(probably just got done eating something), breathing very hard. Unfortunately, I had the passengers side of the truck facing the lake, so I had to walk around the truck, towards the coyote, to get in. Needless to say I had my buck knife out and did everything quickly.
The weird part about all of it was that I've never seen a coyote that was not afraid of humans. When I walked towards it, it took a couple steps my way. When I got in the truck, it came almost up to the door. When I went out the trail it FOLLOWED ME until I got on 284 and sped off. That was the last time I was at AEP, and I'm probably not going to go back without a shotgun in the bed of the truck haha.


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## shroomhunter (Aug 6, 2004)

The black panther is the one that started out in the New Albany/Gahanna area was spotted in Pataskala then Granville, Kirkersville and points East. I remember the news reports on this kitty and I figured he would end up down in that area somewhere. There is plenty of land, food and not much chance of coming accross humans. Keffler camp and the back end of D have been closed for a couple years now so it's nice and quiet with very little human activity this time of year. Thanks for the report, I don't doubt it a bit!!!


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## JignPig Guide (Aug 3, 2007)

Hey Ohiobassman54, 
You might want to report the sighting to ODNR.


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## FishJunky (May 20, 2004)

I was in my float tube last year and saw a very large dog sized cat going back into the woods from the pond I was in. It gave me the chills because I had never seen anything like in the wild.


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## Ohiobassman54 (May 28, 2004)

I think the next time I go down I may have to take my shotgun along just for piece of mind.I do know that my tent walls got mighty thin after seeing it ohiobassman54


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## basmuskyanglr (Jul 28, 2008)

Two years ago a fellow camper showed me around the equine area where his friends had seen these paw tracks so I told him to take me and lets have a look. Track book in hand. They were no dog tracks and it looked as if the cat was walking back and forth on the side of this pond wanting to get to the other side. Real erie feelings when i saw them. I also picked up a man hiking the buckeye trail and he stated to me he saw a cat take down a deer that had an arrow in its hind quarter. Last year a neighboor took me to hunt to his land in Adams county and his neighboor told us that a panther had been spotted in the area. So they are out there. Just make noise when your out there and don't go out and try to find him cause after a while he my be hunting you.


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## 1sick1 (Jul 23, 2008)

maggot said:


> Unrelated to your panther sighting......a couple of weeks ago on the sci-fi channel they have a show called Monster Quest



Actually this show is on "History Channel" - just a FYI

How crazy is it that you have to carry a gun to go fishing ? Hand grenades anyone? Dual purpose, personal protection AND you can fish with them !!

LMAO - kidding (don't send me nasty mail about fishing with explosives)


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