David Taylor is convinced he had an encounter with a yowie on the Sunshine Coast 10 years ago, and is part of a growing band of fellow believers whose aim is to prove once and for all that the mythical hairy beast of Australian folklore does exist.

How, exactly, do these amateur cryptozoologists (cryptozoology is a pseudo-science studying mythological creatures) plan on proving the supposed existence of the yowie?

Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume. Listen Duration: 4 minutes 43 seconds 4 m 43 s Yowie 'sightings' on the Sunshine Coast ( Yowie 'sightings' on the Sunshine Coast ) Download 2.2 MB

To find out, the ABC agreed to meet Mr Taylor — founder of the Sunshine Coast Yowie Research Group Facebook page — in a deserted section of forest on the Sunshine Coast for a guided lesson in the finer points of yowie hunting.

Encounters with the mythological bush-dwelling, ape-like yowie have been a part of Australian folklore since the late 1800s in the NSW Southern Highlands.

A notable case was that of cordial maker Arthur Marrin who was said to have been startled by a "hairy man" near his home in Braidwood in 1893.

The Braidwood Dispatch's report of the encounter described the creature as having a face "very much like a polar bear".

South-east Queensland has become a more recent hotspot for alleged sightings, with the small town of Kilcoy using a supposed 1980 sighting as a tourism drawcard.

In 1976, Queanbeyan naturalist Rex Gilroy claimed he had proof of the existence of the yowie.

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With social media now making it easier for true believers to connect, members of the Sunshine Coast Yowie Research Group Facebook page regale their fellow cryptozoologists with tales of yowie hunts, accompanied by blurry photos of camouflaged camp sites and Blair Witch Project-worthy descriptions such as this recent entry:

"Operation Return. Laurie and Daniel and myself Returned to Kilkivan. Was a interesting 2 nights to say the least. Lots of rock clacking in the 2 creek beds beside us had well over a dozen softball size rocks throwin at us and our camp. Had 3 Deer antlers placed over the track we drove in on set up in a way to puncher our tyres. We located them at different times and after we had already walked and drove the track ... Strange indeed."

Spending the day hunting for yowies

On the day the ABC goes a-hunting, it appears to be perfect yowie-sighting weather: a grey sky and light rain add an authentically eerie atmosphere to Mr Taylor's return to the exact section of national park where his yowie obsession began.

David Taylor began looking into yowies after what he believes was a sighting on the Sunshine Coast in 2010. ( ABC Sunshine Coast: Tim Wong-See )

Despite the cool temperature, Mackay-based Mr Taylor jokes he is dressed "like a typical North Queenslander" in thongs, shorts and a t-shirt — surprisingly casual attire for a possible encounter with a growling half-ape, half-human mythical beast.

After 25 minutes of crunching on gravel along a narrow path lined with thick vegetation, an opening to a small clearing appears and ahead there is an obvious fork in the track.

The story of Arthur Marrin (left) and his encounter with a "hairy man" in 1893 is part of folklore in the NSW Southern Highlands. ( Supplied: Lawrie St Hill )

Mr Taylor's eyes are restless, scouting the track ahead and the surrounding bush, and his breathing is quickening.

"Nerves," he admits as he recounts the fear that overtook him when he arrived in this spot 10 years ago.

"This is the spot," he says as he walks up to a small map that is stuck on a wooden post wedged into the ground.

Up until 2010, the 49-year-old day trader was a typical yowie sceptic, doubting the existence of the Australian hairy beast.

When he and his ex-partner set out to explore the remains of an old tunnel that housed a train line that formerly ran through Dularcha National Park in Landsborough on the Sunshine Coast, they reached this very fork in the dirt track, forcing them to consult the nearby map.

"The person I was with kept telling me we had to turn left. But the map said we had to follow the railway line and turn right," he said.

The pair agreed to continue right, but before Mr Taylor moved, something caught his eye.

"Still to this day I do not know what made me look, but about halfway up the track, bang there it was."

Kilcoy, in the Sunshine Coast hinterland, makes the most of alleged yowie sightings in the region in a bid to attract tourists. ( ABC Southern Queensland: Nathan Morris )

'Just the way it walked you could see the human in it'

Mr Taylor claims whatever he saw took three big steps before it was all over.

"First step it was almost in the middle of the road, second step it was in the bush, then the third step it was completely gone. Totally vanished, couldn't see nothing," he said.

"I started stuttering and I had goose bumps all over me and the hairs on the back of my neck stood up.

"Nothing makes you feel more alive than hearing it growl at you. It's that loud and it rattles every bone in your body. Then you appreciate life.

"Just the way it walked you could see the human in it. But it wasn't covered in clothes, it was all hair."

Mr Taylor had turned "completely white" and the pair decided to "get out of there".

Two days later, Mr Taylor claims, members from the national group of yowie believers, Australian Yowie Research, confirmed they found a footprint where the sighting took place.

Mr Taylor claims these footprints found at the Dularcha National Park belong to a mythical yowie. ( Facebook: David Taylor )

The signs believers look for

No footprints appear on today's yowie hunt, but Mr Taylor points out fresh evidence of a yowie's existence, the main sign being "snapped tree" — a phrase he uses repeatedly on this bush hike.

He is quick to rule out storm damage as the reason the trees are snapped "eight feet up" with the remainder of the tree intact.

"That's not a storm," he says confidently.

A clearing in the bush, flattened grass, the sound of rocks clacking together, and snapped tree branches high in the canopy — allegedly where the yowie has crashed through — are the main indicators of a yowie, according to believers.

But even on this spooky rainy day, with tall trees blocking out the light in an isolated forest, accompanied by a man with a look of terror on his face and a hushed tone to his voice, the evidence is not convincing.

Yowie hunters look for flattened grass, snapped tree branches and the sound of rocks clacking together as indicators of a yowie. ( ABC Sunshine Coast: Tim Wong-See )

There would be more evidence if yowies existed: researcher

And when it comes to the research, University of the Sunshine Coast wildlife ecology lecturer Scott Burnett is not convinced either.

"I just find it mind boggling that they have never been shot by a farmer or whoever or run over on a road or found dead of old age or have skeletal remains," Dr Burnett said.

"It doesn't stack up that there could be an animal like that roaming around in good enough numbers to breed and not get in-bred."

Dr Burnett said even wildlife experts "still get fooled by a quick glance while driving at night or in the rain".

"They think they see something, then it disappears before it gets close," he said.

"I've got enough stories now from people with impeccable credentials, whether they be officially trained or live with wildlife, who have seen giant back panthers, who have seen yowies, and the people are switched on and they have gone back to have another look and it's been something mundane.

"Even the people who most have their eye in for this kind of thing still get fooled.

"Our brain receives data and then tries to fill in the gaps and that's our brain's power to extrapolate."

Sunshine Coast yowie hunters check an area around Kilkivan. ( Facebook: Sunshine Coast Yowie Research )

Search will continue

And yet, the yowie following continues to grow.

Mr Taylor's gripping account of his supposed yowie sighting is not isolated.

Rod Benfield, one of the admins of the Coffs Harbour and Mid North Coast yowie sightings and research group, is from Macksville, New South Wales, and describes a "feeling of dread and outright fear" that consumed him when he had what he believed was an encounter with a yowie at Candole State Forest in 2007.

He describes a roar "louder than a lion's roar".

"The first thing that came to my mind was that I had to get out of there," he said.

Mr Benfield claims to have seen yowies multiple times around parts of NSW, Beerwah and the Sunshine Coast, which have convinced him yowies "can't be a myth".

He believes the yowie research community will be able to provide more convincing evidence in the future.

"I think if we pursue it with science we can solve the mystery. We don't associate the hairy man as a crypto animal anymore," he said.