Sunday, 6 December 2009 - 11:19 AM EST

Researching Bigfoot is certainly not an easy task. After all, there is no body to study or any creature in captivity to observe. This means it is incredibly difficult to devise a research strategy that is specific to the creature. Much is left to speculation and conjecture. However, there is also a great deal of work performed by others that has been performed for well over 40 years.

Sunday, 6 December 2009 - 11:32 AM EST

It can be done effectively provided the researcher is thorough and deliberate. Thankfully, many researchers have followed this model and they have yielded some results thanks to their efforts. Will their efforts yield the long elusive proof as to Bigfoot’s existence? Only time will tell.

Sunday, 6 December 2009 - 12:42 PM EST

it's hairy and scary hope it's not real

Sunday, 6 December 2009 - 1:01 PM EST

Are you really afraid to go into the woods? I ask this because a co-worker and I were having a discussion about some nice camping locations, and she brought up a beautiful place that scared her because rumors of Sasquatch in the area. Both her dad and her sister have claimed to have seen 'something'. She has not been back for two years and doesn't plan on going back, despite the fact that she never saw anything. I told her that I might go there with family, and she scoffed at me. It's up near Okanogan county. I've been camping in that area a couple of times and never saw or heard anything unusual (Except for an RV full of partiers, but that's another post on a different site ). If our friend has an interest in scaring the sneakers off of a 40-something granny, well, then so be it. I would be flattered *lol* I imagine we'll have a better chance of seeing an Elvis impersonator, but we'll be bringing cameras.

Anyone out there really afraid of an encounter with Bigfoot? To the point that my co-worker is?

Sunday, 6 December 2009 - 1:03 PM EST

There are some mean creatures out there (though bigfoot isn't one of them- if they were killing people we would have more definitive proof. no doubt), but most if not all will be easily deterred by a nice can of mace or pepper spray.

If it weren't for those two great inventions, and maybe the invention of the firearm, i'd probably be afraid to go in too. But with all those advantages, i would think anything in the woods is most likely going to afraid of us and not vice versa

Sunday, 6 December 2009 - 1:04 PM EST

I am generally afraid to go into the woods now. Now that I know what it was that looked in my window and smacked my wall...before, I just sort of ignored it all.

But I am aware that my fear is more a case of being afraid all out of proportion. A sort of reaction, rather than anything else. Sudden frights tend to do that!

But, I have always let my kids wander the woods (like I used to) and camp out all they want. I've gone to great lengths to conceal my (silly) fear.

Sunday, 6 December 2009 - 1:06 PM EST

Yes, I can honestly admit that I am really afraid of an encounter with Bigfoot. I've never had one, so I have nothing to base my fear on. Other than just those childhood traumas and Bigfoot being my own personal big, scary, hairy monster. I don't want to have an encounter, but it doesn't keep me out of the woods. I am, however, much more aware now when I am out in the woods. Every little sound has me turning around expecting to see something. Little jumpy.

Sunday, 6 December 2009 - 1:06 PM EST

Don't be afraid but be aware of your surroundings. Not many things scare me in the woods but a bull moose in rut did. They are very large at 5 feet away. No open season on them in maine back then as I had a rifle and was hunting deer. He just didn't want anyone or anything in the woods that day. Thankfully I was in a stand of some big trees that even he couldn't force his way through.
Another was almost walking into a black bear on a foot bridge, while crossing a stream at night. I could see a shape and figured it was my neighbors dog. At 10' he made some grunts and I shifted into reverse and slowly backed off the bridge granting him right of way. Off he went and on I went.
Many things will get your attention, just think ahead of time how you are going to deal with them.
BUT get out and enjoy your woods.

Sunday, 6 December 2009 - 1:07 PM EST

Okanogan? It wouldn't happen to be Conconully would it? I've camped there a couple times with my family and it was really amazing. Then again, Okanogan is a pretty huge county, so perhaps I'm assuming much. Besides, the weirdest thing seen there by my family was the northern lights.

Sunday, 6 December 2009 - 1:08 PM EST

In the years prior to my Class A, I spent countless hours alone in the wilderness. Camping, hiking, hunting, fishing, cutting firewood and many more activities. I never gave the "Alone Thing" consideration back then. After my encounter twenty-seven years ago, I have NEVER returned to the woods alone. Each time I enter the woods on foot or just driving through on a highway, Bigfoot is foremost on my mind. My fear is of the RESPECT sort. I almost feel like an uninvited guest. My report can be found in Polk County, Oregon. I was hunting elk in 1982.

Sunday, 6 December 2009 - 1:10 PM EST

Maybe not so much of a fear or respect for BF but the few times I've been out alone and the stuffing scared out of me just from sounds I've heard have opened my eyes and mind to the fact that we're really on the lower rung of the food chain ladder when we're in the bush just because we don't spend all or our time there. Very few of us actually spend enough time there to know how to handle ourselves correctly and safely when we're alone so now I've learned to take any safety precautions I can when I am out alone. I'm a lot more aware of my surroundings and of the natural sounds that are there so that when I do hear anything I can usually identify what the source is. There is safety in numbers though and it does help to have an extra set of ears and eyes uot there with you.

Sunday, 6 December 2009 - 1:10 PM EST

I grew up with an extreme and irational fear of the dark because of "boogiemen" at first but at about 11 or 12 it turned to BF. Even while camping and growing up in southern africa I was more afraid of a BF in teh bush during day or night then anything else. It didn't stop there I wouldn't walk into a dark room at night alone because of it until I was about 16 or 17. I learnt not to control my fear but rather to rationalise what was scaring me. I have had countless other frightening things happen to me in the bush and around the house but the imagineary BF in the dark was always my worst. Now days though that fear has sharpend my awareness of whats going on around me to a knife point. And no longer dictates what I will or wont do, or where I will and wont go. That being said I still err on the side of caution

Was sh*t thing to grow up with but an awesome skill to have as an adult. I very rarley panic now

Sunday, 6 December 2009 - 1:11 PM EST

First, I hope all will understand that I meant no disrespect. I have an irrational fear of...Big Spiders *ack!*. Fear is real, and nothing to joke about.

I guess I'm wondering why I am not afraid of such an encounter. The one my dad had left him more mesmerized than afraid, and I'm thinking that is how I would probably react.

Coconcully is GORGEOUS and I have camped there. Hubby and I were just talking about that lake! From what I understand, it's not too far from there. I will post more about it when I have specifics on the area.

Sunday, 6 December 2009 - 1:12 PM EST

I have been in the remote woods as much as anyone, was out today. I still firmly believe what my grandpa told me " There is nothing out there that is not tying to avoid you and is not afraid of you". I believe that and that includes squatches. I think a lot of peoples fear comes from the fact that we are not "raised" out there and don't spend as much time "out there" as people used to.

Sunday, 6 December 2009 - 1:13 PM EST

I've never really understood a fear of the dark, although I understand it plagues lots of people. I suppose I can still get "twitchy" every once in awhile, but it is less common than before.

However, I must admit that my small set of encounters do make me realize that I am NOT the baddest dude in the woods, and that I do NOT know the "rules" of the other animals in the woods like I thought I did. That has increased my awe, my respect for what might be going on around me.

Sunday, 6 December 2009 - 1:13 PM EST

I wish the beasts in the woods would quit trying to avoid me so that I could enjoy them. I grew up coming home from school and wasting no time getting up and over the hill into the woods. I'm 55 years old now (I think, let's see... May 1953... yep) and I'm still spending as much time as I can out there. I'm a fan of the transcendentalists... Henry David Thoreau is my favorite. I agree with him that in nature is the preservation of man. I feel so much more at ease in the woods than I do in a mall. That includes an unfamiliar woods in the dark of night. I work in front of a computer in a cubical and it's absolute torture. Even some of my friends think I'm nuts. I'll be in the woods this weekend, when the temps are in single digits with a wind chill driving them lower. My good friend told me to seek professional help when I asked him to join me. I've spooked a moose with a calf in the woods in Yellowstone and just walked away. I've hiked alongside a mature black bear in Glacier NP. I've seen things I can't explain. I don't think anyone needs to be afraid in the woods unless it's filled with humans. That's when I get worried. At the same time I understand the fear that some people hold for the unknown, that some wild places represent. Fear is something that is shaped by experience for the most part, I think. I've been a caver for years, and I've developed a fear of crawling into tight passages even if I've been through them several times and know what's there. I can't do anything about that. I have a real fear of those passages. So I do understand.

Sunday, 6 December 2009 - 1:19 PM EST

Past or present?

Like when you were a kid, you lived 3 miles from town. After a football game you would walk home by yourself down the dirt roads. When you got close to home you passed by some trees next to the road and you froze in fear? Feeling like there was some one, some thing watching you? Or when you would go out in the woods, below the bluff, close to the river. It's deathly silent and you look around every once in awhile because you just know your being watched?

Got past that point.

Sunday, 6 December 2009 - 1:19 PM EST

For me I think, Fear can be sometimes a good thing. The second I become on edge, I instantly become aware of everything around me, slight twig snaps, movement, anything like that. That increase my chances of a visual sighting.

Sunday, 6 December 2009 - 4:51 PM EST

My biggest fear is not from seeing a sasquatch, it's from being bit by a deer tick and getting lyme disease.

Sunday, 6 December 2009 - 8:32 PM EST

I know the feeling. I tag sharks on most weekends in summer. Means I have to go shark fishing. I do it very humanely. But sometime the rat in a cage feeling gets really me worked up and I just wish I could be fishing for anything at all not just sharks. And Ican't talk to anyone about it cause no one else does it or they think it's nuts. Never mind the fact it's furthering our knowledge of them in NZ sea's.

So if I bring up Bigfoot in a country where there are none and no one here is trying to research them. I bet a get crazier looks then most people

Sunday, 6 December 2009 - 8:33 PM EST

Yes, I can count myself in as someone who never used to be afraid of entering the woods UNTIL I started reading reports on the BFRO website. Now I find excuses NOT to go near the woods. I've never had a Bigfoot encounter nor do I want one. I am just scared of something that is probably 2-3 feet taller than me, weighs hundreds of pounds more than me and could possibly kill me if it got angry enough.

Sunday, 6 December 2009 - 8:33 PM EST

Afraid of the woods? I think that most folks suffer more from the fear of the unknown in the woods than the fear of the woods themselves. Being in the alien location and “what” might be making that noise is worse that what is making the noise 99% of the time.

Yes on that rare, 1% occasion Gene and Richard Simmons might come out of the dark woods and “need” you to spin the arrow for them in their game of Naked Vaseline Twister, but that’s about the scariest thing in our woods! J/K

We hafta be aware in the woods, but I don’t think afraid. That said, I know @ night alone in the woods my ears are ON for the slightest noise. I’m almost always out with the ability to dissuade even the most aggressive of aggressors, but I’ve had more trouble from people than critters in the wilds of PA.

We all should remember what Herger the Joyous said in the 13th Warrior, “The All-Father wove the skein of your life a long time ago. Go and hide in a hole if you wish, but you won't live one instant longer. Your fate is fixed. Fear profits a man nothing”.

That said, I detest little spiders, pineapple on pizza, and I’m far from a fan of heights. I loathed the thought of going on the Stratosphere rides in Vegas, but when it came down to it I simply HAD to do it… I mean after what Herger the Joyous said and all!

Derek

Sunday, 6 December 2009 - 8:34 PM EST

Although I have never seen a squatch, I have had many class b encounters on my research site -- the classic array of bf intimidation tactics of vocalizations, stalking, stone-throwing, infrasound, etc. Despite these experiences, I continue to go alone into the woods because I respect the restraint that these animals show. They may not want us in their woods, but they understand that a little intimidation goes a long way -- and I believe they know that a missing person or a dead one would bring more people into their backyard. I do research because I think it is thrilling and important. I am scared as hell about the prospects of seeing one, yet I suppose it will happen one day if I keep up my research. I don't know how I will react. Now that''s scary! Meanwhile, I worry more about bears, cougars, coy dogs, and worst of all, people. My uncle, who has hunted for over 70 years, told me never to go into the woods unarmed.

Sunday, 6 December 2009 - 8:35 PM EST

for me i am very afraid of getting mauled by a bear or wolves. i am for sure going to invest in some bear mase. what about a bear horn do those work? just curious. like the kind people take to sporting events, you know the really loud ones but its only about the size of a can of pop.

on the other hand the fear i have of sasquatch is like a thrill type. i get excited and want to know more. kind of like when people go see tear-jerker movies they come out saying "oh that was a good cry" even though most people outside of a theatre don't really enjoy crying. its sort like a theme park ride for me when i am on it yeah its scary, but when its done i am always "oh man that was a good scare". but unlike a rollercoaster or movie it doesn't just pull at my primal emotions of fear. i. e. maybe not surviving. it goes deeper and even though it scares me stiff, i have to know what it is, it pulls at my intelligence as well. maybe its my brain looking for a way out, like if it can understand it, it can let go of the fear once it is rationalized. but right now it just pulls me in deeper.

a perfect example i might liken it to, hall8321 might remember the report of the guy who bumped into a squatch in a corn field and it knocked him down and he was able to get the deer it dropped. well in this story anyway it stuck out in my mind that when he heard it running and gaining ground right behind him. he felt afraid but he said he had to stop and face whatever it was that was coming after him. to give up the chase is understandable because a squatch could easily catch you. but to want to see whatever it was chasing, to me is the exact type i am talking about. you read some reports of people who close there eyes and hope it goes away, which is understandable too, its just i have to know. i have to know. i have to know as much as i can.

Sunday, 6 December 2009 - 8:36 PM EST

wolves won't bother you. bears won't if you don't surprise them or march between a sow and her cubs.
talk yourself into what you'll do and make something you want to do not the panic/run.
Maybe concentrate on if you see one, what are details on it's face? hair covered etc.
Things like this instead of worrying about someone that ran away and scaring yourself before anything happens.
If you can't do that, than bring along someone you are sure you can outrun.

Sunday, 6 December 2009 - 8:37 PM EST

I love the woods and mountains! I can't walk like I use to however, If I ever ran into one depending on the size ie: a small juvi I would probable try to talk to it (grandmother instinct) a large one I would probable faint. I am more afraid of Lime ticks than anything. My sister-in-law is just getting over the disease.

Sunday, 6 December 2009 - 8:38 PM EST

Hey - Maybe a way to start overcoming the fear would be to go and visit a local wooded area with a couple of friends? A place where there is very little chance of more than a squirrel - Maybe spend a little time just listening and seeing how the trees look with the company of friends. Try it a few times. Maybe by summer, it will help someone to be able to go to a wilder and less populated place.

Minnesota Dave - Be careful taking a bull horn out there - Maybe it will sound like a love call or something to them! (j/k)

Sunday, 6 December 2009 - 8:39 PM EST

Not so much a "fear", but a really cautious, maybe timid even, approach to being out there alone. It's tough to go on my own, but I'll do it.

I have dealt with a nagging fear since I was a boy. No real reason I could explain to anyone in my family why I did not like the woods around our place in rural WA state after dark... I just didn't.

There was a certain point in the late afternoon that I stayed out of the woods, then toward dusk I stayed up out of the creek beds and swamps I spent all day hiking, and then finally, when it was dark, I only stayed where the lights of the house reached. I would just get freaked out when my dad would make me go up on the hill to feed our animals in the dark. (sometimes I would lie through my teeth and just hunker down by the porch just out of the light and mentally "count off" paces to the different pens and then at what I thought would be the appropriate time, go back in the house like I had actually done the chore!)

my room faced the hillside and brush just about 60 feet away, and I always had the impression that at night something was out there. Now, this was long before we had all these slasher/vampire/gore-fest flicks and before we had anything but about five channels on the TV in my area. I really didn't have anything to make my senses run that wild! Just a deep, unsettled feeling of always being watched.

I still get those feelings sometimes when I'm out 'Squatchin' now. I use those feelings to "home in on" whether I think one's in the area or not. I've actually found that this awareness is pretty dead-on.

Sunday, 6 December 2009 - 8:39 PM EST

Nikonman, your post is good and got me thinking. I wonder how many times when we're out in the woods, we could actually be being watched, and how many times it's just our over-active imagination? I mean I for one, can totally spook myself out just thinking about stuff. The other night I was out in my back yard covering plants, and started thinking about Bigfoot in the bushes. Hey, wasn't that a game we played when we were younger? Anyway, I had myself so freaked out that I RAN back to my house. Mind you, my house is in the middle of a development, outside Tampa. There are NO Bigfoots in my bushes. Pathetic.

Sunday, 6 December 2009 - 8:40 PM EST

Well, for this displaced New Yorker - moving to south Jersey at age 14, to a town that borders the Pine Barrens was quite a culture shock - to say the least.
My early experiences with the woods were mainly precipitated by the desire to hang out with friends by a bonfire and party. We'd sleep out under the stars in our sleeping bags, and I never gave much thought about Sasquatch.
Ever since I came across this website, and have had a renewed interest in the topic - I've been heading out into the woods to do research. I admit that at first I was apprehensive walking around all alone with no one around for miles and miles, but as I continued to go out regularly - the fear decreased.
Now, if I can't get out into one of my research areas, I actually get anxious and feel stressed out. I have even conquered my fear of being out after dark alone, but I will say that I feel much more confident with someone else along. I was out late last night with Tom - we hung out up in a fire tower - trying to draw them in. What a great vantage point!
I wanted to take a walk around the tower to see if we'd get stalked, but Tom preferred to stay up in the tower. After having seen eyeshine a couple of times, and hearing movements in the brush below - I decided I'd hang with him.

Sunday, 6 December 2009 - 8:40 PM EST

Stickwatcher said he appreciated the restraint that the critters show.

Ethics aside for the moment, I don't think I'd ever so much as point a gun at one of these animals. My concern is that their restraint isn't a sign of weakness, but rather an behavioral adaptation arising from the likelihood that they inflict/receive VERY serious injury when they shift over to truly aggressive/defensive modes.

More than anything, I am just glad that the females don't find us menfolk to be attractive. THAT would keep me out of the woods. For a funny (?) read on that topic, take a look at some of the asia postings.

Sunday, 6 December 2009 - 8:41 PM EST

You guys are all great...maybe I'm not as afraid as I thought I was, since I will go on down to the dock in the dark if I have to...I just feel twitchy about it, going through the woods and all...and I will happily go into the woods if I have (adult) company, even though that's absurd if you really ask: what good would another human do you?

Minnesotadave:
Bear spray works very well (on most black bears--can't speak for their larger kin!); I carry a can from time to time even outside the woods, considering that bears wander all over my property.
Mine's called "Something-or-other Assault" (can't remember exactly) and is the size of a can of hair spray.
I sometimes carry noisemakers too. It's either the boat horn (deafening) or an old metal pan and a wooden spoon.
One year I never left the cottage without a "Bear Bag" that contained everything to drive off a bear.
The bear bag now also contains a very long knife, since puma have moved into the area.

Ravellette:
Being more or less afraid of Lyme Disease should maybe depend on where you live. Here in NY State, where we have a relative lot of it, your chances of getting it are still less than 1%, same thing for West Nile. It's likely that a lot of people get such mild cases that they don't even go see the doctor.
Ticks are icky. They carry lots of diseases.
I go barefoot most of the summer...so I just spray bug stuff on my legs. No ticks.
In Canada the mosquitoes can be unspeakable at dusk & dawn; other than the full bug-suit I haven't found an effective defense. (Except for gallons of DEET!)
We won't talk about the black flies--how a Sasquatch would not be driven nuts by them is beyond me...I wondered about mapping running water/fly sources and Sasquatch sightings to see if there might be an avoidance pattern....

As a matter of interest:
Some southern states--I'm thinking Texas & Florida--have popped up with cases of in-state acquired Malaria from time to time in the last 40 years, so use the bug stuff!

Sunday, 6 December 2009 - 8:42 PM EST

Im not afraid of being in the forest or woods alone during the day , as i use to camp in the Allegheny Forest and be there alone all day while my son was at work.. I just don't like to be there alone at night, when the boys would go out i would have them lock the camper door and make sure it was really locked before they left, and they could only get in if i opened it for them.. Not sure how i would react if i ever saw a BF...

Sunday, 6 December 2009 - 8:43 PM EST

Quote: Andy wrote: You guys are all great...maybe I'm not as afraid as I thought I was, since I will go on down to the dock in the dark if I have to...I just feel twitchy about it, going through the woods and all...and I will happily go into the woods if I have (adult) company, even though that's absurd if you really ask: what good would another human do you? Minnesotadave: Bear spray works very well (on most black bears--can't speak for their larger kin!); I carry a can from time to time even outside the woods, considering that bears wander all over my property. Mine's called "Something-or-other Assault" (can't remember exactly) and is the size of a can of hair spray. I sometimes carry noisemakers too. It's either the boat horn (deafening) or an old metal pan and a wooden spoon. One year I never left the cottage without a "Bear Bag" that contained everything to drive off a bear. The bear bag now also contains a very long knife, since puma have moved into the area. Ravellette: Being more or less afraid of Lyme Disease should maybe depend on where you live. Here in NY State, where we have a relative lot of it, your chances of getting it are still less than 1%, same thing for West Nile. It's likely that a lot of people get such mild cases that they don't even go see the doctor. Ticks are icky. They carry lots of diseases. I go barefoot most of the summer...so I just spray bug stuff on my legs. No ticks. In Canada the mosquitoes can be unspeakable at dusk & dawn; other than the full bug-suit I haven't found an effective defense. (Except for gallons of DEET!) We won't talk about the black flies--how a Sasquatch would not be driven nuts by them is beyond me...I wondered about mapping running water/fly sources and Sasquatch sightings to see if there might be an avoidance pattern.... As a matter of interest: Some southern states--I'm thinking Texas & Florida--have popped up with cases of in-state acquired Malaria from time to time in the last 40 years, so use the bug stuff!

Well thank you Andy, I have learned through the years and also instill in my grandchildren that "There is nothing to fear but fear itself".

I think I need to take my own advise huh?

Sunday, 6 December 2009 - 8:44 PM EST

Nikonman and Beth:
I totally relate. There have been times when we were out mountian biking when I got really nervous even with my husband right behind me. There is one particular set of trails in the woods on a university campus. I always am a little scared there. One time, my husband and his friend got way ahead of me. The woods are so thick you can only see a few feet off the trail. I thought of big foot and totally freaked out. I was considering going on an expedition then, but decided not to after that. On the part of this site that describes expeditions it says "not for the faint of heart". That's me, "faint of heart".

There are other trails where the woods are absolutely beautiful! I love those trails and feel very comfortable on them. There were a few rare events when I felt like I was being watched in one spot. Another time later we rode the same trails and I felt nothing. Could there have been a bf there the first time, but not the second time?

It's the mystery of what might be out there that I find sooo... intreging (sp?) and some times frightening.

Sunday, 6 December 2009 - 8:45 PM EST

I was really never afraid of the woods as a kid. we lived pretty rural and yet we would walk those woods all times, day and night. I knew about BF then, but never thought of it being in our area. Now that I know it could be here, there is no way I would walk the woods at night. I understand the feeling of being watched. We have a park near us known as "Ringing Rocks". It's a strange place and some of the rocks do ring when tapped with a hammer. The feeling in this place has always been weird, like you're being watched. I wonder if the big guy is around this area at times and that's why the feeling? There are several sightings close by this area, so who knows? My point being, I'm much more afraid now than as a child of being outside after dark and I can honestly say that part of that fear is BF.

Sunday, 6 December 2009 - 8:46 PM EST

As to being afraid to go in the woods here is a thought . I have been hunting in the NH woods since 1976 and have never had a serious problem with any wildlife . A few close encounters with deer / moose / bear /coyotes etc. have always resulted in each of us going our seperate ways in peace . I enjoy watching them and during hunting season harvesting them but to provoke them is irrresponsible . Having fieldcraft skills and keeping them tuned up will always put you at ease in the woods so as to eliminate any fear . I am more afraid of driving on the Spaulding Turnpike at rush hour than I am about being surrounded by trees and fields .