about age 18, I was running my trap line on a creek in Iowa. Very early hours with just enough light to see my surroundings. I was on alert and on edge, as the previous week, a family friend and two neighbor kids had run-ins with what they believe was a Bigfoot. The family friend owned the land I was trapping. Earlier in the week he and his wife were in the house when they heard a loud and scary howl outside. They said it sounded like a cross between a big cat and an ape. He grabbed a golf club (no guns) and went out to explore around the buildings. He said it smelled strong and bad outside. It was strong like a skunk, but did not smell like a skunk. He finally was spooked enough to go back inside. This person was the type who would not say anything to hurt his reputation, and was also the type to generally feel he was above other people. I say this as he is NOT the type to tell his story and have people think bad of him. A few days prior, two neighbor boys were driving a tractor down a combined row of corn to pick up another load a corn. Something large and black stood up in front of the tractor. The boys know local wildlife, and no bears have been in the area for over 100 years, yet they said it was Bigfoot. It scared them enough that they would not go outside on the farm for over a year. So here I am less than mile away from these events I had heard. I was carrying my .270 rifle over my shoulder for protection, and admit to being a bit afraid. The first trap had a ripped apart duck in it. Had Bigfoot eaten it?? The next trap had a ripped apart muskrat in it.. Had Bigfoot eaten it?? Suddenly my hair was standing on end. I turned around while taking the gun off my shoulder. I was aware of something coming towards me, I felt, in the water. There was a slight bend in the creek, and something was coming right at me. I suddenly realized a Great Horned Owl was skimming the surface of the water, coming right at me. He went up and over me, never slowing down. It took a while before my heart quit racing, I never did get to see Bigfoot, and probably glad I didn't!!