The Ozarks have a reputation for a reason. A lot of people brush it off as folklore but there's something about that region that generates genuinely unexplained reports, consistently, going back decades.
What exactly did you hear? I ask because the details matter more than people realise. Rhythmic or irregular? Bipedal movement or something else? Any accompanying smell or temperature drop?
I've documented audio at a few haunted sites near Salisbury and the thing I always come back to is that our brains are wired to fill in gaps, especially at 3am when you're half asleep and vulnerable. That's not me dismissing your experience, it's just something worth factoring in before conclusions get drawn.
That said, some things genuinely don't have a neat explanation and the Ozarks specifically has a long history of accounts that don't fit any known animal behaviour. Would love to hear the full account if you're up for sharing it.