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Hopefully, given some time to process, that change won't be a bad change, just awareness. It was a similar concern .. what's my risk level here? .. that got me into research in the first place some years before I ever heard of BFF. Proving / disproving existence, validating / invalidating the PGF, blah blah blah .. means nothing to me. What matters is living vs dying and from what I've learned, dying is more likely on the highway driving to the trailhead than it is from hairy bipeds in the woods. Good enough. I hope she'll come to a similar conclusion, find peace with sharing the woods, and not be deterred from her regular activities.

https://abcnews.go.com/International/jane-goodall-famed-primatologist-anthropologist-conservationist-dead-91/story?id=109868347 Back doc brought this to my attention. Rest in peace Jane!🙏🏻

There is currently no measurable, proven chance it could have evolved anywhere else. We theorize and imagine, but we have zero evidence of multicellular life anywhere else in the universe.

One of my best friends lives in the La Grande, OR area and has for many years. He's a former USFS employee and his wife is an emergency room RN. They are prolific outdoorsy people who have spent most of their lives camping, hiking, hunting, horseback riding, and working in the mountains of Oregon, Idaho, and Washington. Super great folks. My friend and his wife have been skeptics of Bigfoot and whenever the subject came up, we would joke and laugh about it. They were both respectful, but just didn't believe. They had spent decades in the woods with no encounters, so couldn't wrap their heads around the concept. That all changed for the wife on Sunday. Her husband and his Navy buddy were with me at my family cabin in Idaho for the weekend, while she stayed in Oregon to take care of their horses. On Sunday, she decided to go on a hike/run in the mountains. What happened and what she saw/experienced is not exactly clear. She messaged me and asked if a firearm was a deterrent to BF. I said it depends. In most cases, a person having one means they are more likely to avoid you, but not in all cases. She then said that something happened and she wasn't sure what, but she is terrified and traumatized, and very confused. I was at work, so couldn't call her, but we messaged back and forth and she left an audio recording explaining why she was being vague about what she saw/heard. This is the location she gave me of the incident: I'll try to share what happened, but it's still unclear. Her husband returned home while we were discussing it and she understandably unloaded everything on him. Hopefully I can get more details after she recovers from the incident. Basically, she was in a pretty remote area doing a hike/jog as she is a fitness fiend and very active. She was wearing brightly colored athletic shorts, and a bright athletic top. She said she suddenly became aware of something large in the nearby trees/brush due to a vocalization that she described as both far away and at the same time, also nearby. She also indicated that there was some brush/trees being disturbed; something large was crashing through the trees. Her first thought was that she had surprised an elk. Whatever it was, it was very large and moved very quickly. Her words... "I think it was an elk crashing and then wolves but everything happened at once and I've been scared before, but never shaking head to toe... I heard grunting/growling but it was a ways away. At first I thought it was an elk, then crashing, then two howls or something. I realized by the second one it wasn't an elk." "I thought it was wolves but knew something wasn't good and I've had cats stalk me and other weird stuff but the fear I felt was weird." She indicated that she got into a stranger's pickup that came along, which she said she would never do unless she was terrified. Then she added this... "The weird part is its all confusing, I just remember crashing, grunting, and 2 howls and total body shaking lol like I don't remember it all which is also weird... all of the noises close and far... the guy that picked me up said I looked not OK." She then left an audio message that went into more detail about the strangeness of the incident due to the emotions she felt and a weird "connection" to whatever was in the woods. She was much more articulate and intelligent sounding in the recording than in the texts. I've known her for 15 years and she is extremely intelligent, rational, calm, and afraid of nothing. Current ER nurse and former rodeo queen who does horseback trips into the wilderness. In the audio file, she describes feeling like whatever was out there knew exactly where she was and what she was thinking. She stated that the sounds she heard were felt in her body, and she felt completely exposed and helpless. She also reiterated that she has had numerous encounters with predators over the years in the woods and has never felt anything as terrifying as this. She also says she may have seen something, but so much of the encounter is "missing" in her mind. Her reaction to anything disturbing in life is to research it. She does a deep dive on a subject until she feels properly educated about it. She was in the middle of this while we were messaging. I told her about infrasound and the effects it has. She said she found references to it and confirmed that's what she felt, but at a deeper and more psychic level. She said she was on the BFRO website and looking for encounters in her area. I encouraged her to make a report. She wanted to be sure it was anonymous. I assured her it was. I showed her pics of the tree I discovered the day before her encounter and she said she had seen the same thing. And she had seen the weird tree stacking and trees shoved into the ground with the roots sticking up. We ended our conversation with her apologizing for not believing me before. She said she believed deep down, but didn't want to acknowledge it because she didn't want to be afraid to run in the woods alone. Now she is. I hope she filed a report and I am planning on going down to visit soon and check out the site. It's great that now I have another friend that also believes, but I feel bad for her and her husband. Her love of the woods and her perception of the wild has been completely changed for the rest of her life.

I can’t help but imagine him enthusiastically questioning Roger Patterson right now.

A couple of years ago, our group was putting on a conference in north western Wisconsin. We had Dr. Meldrum lined up as the keynote speaker, and I weaseled my way into picking him up from the Minneapolis airport and was to drive him to the venue. I was so excited because I would have him entirely to myself for several hours. I had so many things I wanted to talk about, but alas, Covid hit and the conference was canceled. I never got the opportunity to delve deep into my favorite topic with him. Fast forward to 2023, I got a call 2 weeks ahead of the Minnesota Bigfoot conference asking me if I could be a presenter, as Dr. Meldrum was scheduled to appear, but had the health episode TD-40 mentioned. I said yes, and made sure everyone at the conference knew how much I admired the man and honored him during my presentation. Sad day, all around.

I have. That ain't it. Seems to me it would be useful to move away from Standing's already-demonstrated hoaxes. Find something new to beat each other up over. Hoaxers CAN potentially see / report something real, what he says is not automatically null and void, it is merely that he's dug a hole and whatever he produces has to be of greater verifiability than what a person with a clean reputation has to produce.

This is 100% the case, human perception is much worse than we want to admit. I have interviewed many ( well over 200 people in person, one on one ) people and spent the time to try and gain an understanding of how " witnesses " interrupt an experience, many times there is massive gaps in the understanding of the situation when returning to a event location and also compounding effects of both the psychological impact in the moment and lower intelligence individuals that frequently submit a large volume of the reports. The short version is humans are terribly unreliable and add stress, low discernment and a desire to have status or experiences and this clearly shows what is going on. I will say it is a possibility that some events are demonic influences messing with people by playing into their fantasy or fascinations but the data over time does not suggest the species in reality is paranormal. The paranormal groups have the absolute lowest quality of evidence to back their claims over time and actually use the paranormal angle to absolve their failures and on the inverse the people ( not many of us left ) just following data and using actually biological patterning practices have a very strong base of information and methods that still yield results. We overestimate our perception and underestimate the Sasquatch.

No. Some people REPORT witnessing that. That doesn't make their claims truth. It remains to be proven same as bigfoot's existence remains to be proven. I have my own experiences, my own beliefs, in that regard which I've made clear here many times .. but all of that is merely my words, it is not PROOF. We have to be very careful about mistaking claims for proof. I hope what I've been able to share fills in gaps for someone but I hope nobody equates what I say to proof. I don't. You shouldn't. We have a lot of work still to do.

A narrative that is not factually true is often made up for entertainment purposes.

Interested in mysteries, monsters and cryptids. I saw the PGF in the local cinema in 1967. In recent years studied the available research progress. Wrote it off as fantasy. Then with more available evidence and having family members say they have observed the creatures. I am open to the creatures existence or at the least extinct creatures. Some Footprints seem to be unexplainable as fraud. The Patterson film subject appears virtually impossible to be a mime in a suit.

I agree. I'm thinking the good doctor is truly a "knower" at this point .

I watched it. There is way less “con” going on with the 411 books…. Than trying to convince the Canadian government THIS is a real animal.

Yep. Unless of course one is forgiving the many hoaxes. I believe that is called naive. The Muppets is the most laughable. Of course if one takes the subject serious probably best to move on from any and everything Standing.

I also did a one day 185-mileJeep trip through some very remote Idaho backcountry. No BF sign, but some beautiful country...

I have watched 57 head of elk in the middle of an expansive clearcut disappear into a little draw and though I could see the entire draw, I never saw them again. I even explored that draw and found no sign of them or where they went. It wasn't paranormal. The most intense feeling of fear i have ever experienced was caused by a squirrel starring at me. It was only when I saw the squirrel, that the fear went away.

I don't see anything particularly "paranormal" in your waking up suddenly. Humans are still hardwired for survival and with a strong fight or flight reflex. A smell, or a pheromone, or any number of things could have alerted your "soundly sleeping" and "tired after a long days work" body that there was something amiss and awakened you. It could have been a noise your "soundly sleeping" consciousness didn't register but that part of your brain that is still working might have and awakened you. In the absence of anything else, your brain is now searching for an explanation and the only thing it could come up with was "woo" to fill in the gaps. I place zero credibility in the "woo" factor, none whatsoever. Sorry if that bothers you, but it's not my responsibility to participate in what I as a 27 year police veteran and current attorney consider to be "whimsical faux evidence lacking any scientific basis". Conversely, it's not your responsibility to change your mind because of my opinion. When I had my face to face, there were two days of very out of place vocalizations, building slaps, and disturbances in the tree line near our cabin before a very real, very physical, very zoological bigfoot stepped out in front of me at a distance of 10 yards and we stared at one another for 5-15 seconds before it broke to its left and went crashing through the thicket and pines. No "portal" opened up other than the one it created by physically busting through the brush. Call me old fashioned, but I place zero credibility in ANY paranormal, extraterrestrial, spiritual, ghost, or extradimensional connection to the phenomenon. Again, it's not my place or yours to change one another's mind but I am intellectually honest and won't compromise my conviction based on evidence to entertain what I consider to be delusion.

I grew up spending 2 weeks every summer in that area. There was a small lake we could walk to, about 15 minutes away. I've never in my life had the creeped out being watched feeling that I had at that lake, and it happened many times there. I also saw a black mass running up stream as we drove past a creek and it was running up stream as fast as we were driving, but I was 11 or 12 years old and just chalked it up to being a bear. Not so sure now. There is massive open country up there. Thanks for sharing.

Academics like @hvhart or @Darby Orcutt might have a reference. Henner Fahrenbach?

I recall another story, again I think from Peter Byrne (therefore, in a book, not a researchable internet source) where a sasquatch was hanging out near a camp for disabled kids somewhere in south-central BC. Eventually, a camp administrator, counselor, or employee (I can't remember which) sat still by a campfire one night as the sasquatch approached to within a few feet. The guy wasn't even armed. I have no doubt whatsoever that these creatures could respond well to body language, especially the females.

Yeah, I could be quite satisfied with close up, intimate video and documented narrative from a researcher like Goodall or Fossey who lived with a family of sasquatches, but yeah, humanity can't stop there. Better to just leave them alone, just like my Daddy said so long ago.............

Dr. Meldrum's obituary: https://www.wilksfuneralhomes.com/obituaries/don-meldrum

Absolutely. So called "mainstream" science and DOTGOV are never going to recognize or protect them until a PUBLICIZED actual body that is open to be studied by multiple primatologists, anatomists, forensic anthropologists, taxonomists, etc without interference from ANY government agency. Had I not seen one, I would be convinced by the extant evidence, that a living bipedal relict hominin was present in North America. 1. The P-G Film / Freeman Film 2. The footprint evidence 3. Credible eyewitness reports 4. Meldrum, Krantz, Steenburg, Dahinden, Bindernagel collectively and ALL their work 5. The collective Native American and First Nations cultural agreement that they have been a fact throughout their cultural memory Those are just the top five...but what I KNOW, and what I SAW, and what has convinced ME means absolutely diddly squat to 99.9999999999999999% of other people and what I believe, think, or have become convinced of shouldn't mean squat, and honestly I don't care because I am not personally trying to convince anyone else. But that doesn't mean I wouldn't like it to be proven to the mainstream in order for them to be officially and protected as a REALLY FREAKIN COOL North American Megafauna. I don't care if they are proven to be a great ape, a hominin, an adapted gorilla, or whatever. But to get there...we need honest, open, collegial, and courteous dialog. If you get to know me, you will learn I am absolutely the MOST non politically correct human being on the planet...but...I am "diplomatic" when it is appropriate. I always ask "Why?" or "What led you to that conclusion?" so I can gain insight to whether someone thinks, feels, believes, or is convinced about X Y Z. It's the cop turned lawyer in me. too many people conflate what they THINK with what they actually FEEL when they say "Well, I think...." they actually mean "Well, I feel..." so we need precision in our language and discussions amongst ourselves and a lack of Renee Dahinden emotion when evaluating evidence. Like I have said before. I am here to learn and discuss. Thanks for having me.

Todd Standing's latest photgraphic evidence.

Les Stroud has posted on his Kickstarter page for supporters of his new Bigfoot show, the following. "Hearts have been broken throughout the Sasquatch community with the loss of our dear friend Jeff Meldrum. I have the unfortunate, honour of having conducted the last ever interview with him and it was by chance, a compelling long form discussion on all things Sasquatch and so I will remain honoured to include it in our film. He went places he rarely goes with the direction of the chat. You will also get it from me in its full version as a separate interview. Jeff was a legend and a gentleman and a very generous and giving individual. He was a titan in the research world of relic hominids." So there's hope to see the man one more time in this pending feature. Les is fortunate for that opportunity and sounds like he's grateful and wants to do it justice.

I got out for a solo run on Sunday afternoon to the Bear Creek watershed on the east side of Harrison Lake. The weather was mild and broken clouds, until I reached the summit of the east ridge of the valley, when the wind picked up and brought in cold showers. Of course, I didn't take any pictures on the way up, so all I captured was cloudy views of the lake, 4600' below. The only signs of wildlife were some deer tracks, bear scat, a few squirrels, and 1 skunk, but it was refreshing to get out in the mountains after a few weeks in town.

I often wonder why some people are interested in Sasquatch/Bigfoot. Personally, I had no interest in the subject, or any cryptid subject past seeing "In Search Of" when I was in grade school, or "the Legend Of Boggy Creek" when it played as the second feature at a drive in when I was in high school, and to me it was nothing more than a low budget "Mockumentary". I played baseball, threw the discus and shot in track, and had a full class load and none of it was on my radar. I hunted, fished, and did all the outdoor activities we could do in Michigan. I was born in Arizona, but went to high school in Michigan and lived with my maternal grandparents and even the idea that Sas/BF would even BE in Michigan, let alone Arizona was nonsense to me. I came back to Arizona, literally the day after I graduated from high school and worked once again for my paternal grandfather on the family ranch and at his Chevron station while I got ready for college at University of Arizona in Tucson. This was 1985. College went by, and I went year round and graduated in three years. I went to work as a police officer and used my vacation time every year to go to Michigan to deer hunt with my maternal grandfather. On November 13th, 1993 I had a face-to-face encounter. In one second, I went from 0 to 100 in the "not interested to knowing they exist" scale. I only ever talked about it with my grandfather because back then my job or anyone associated with it would have thought I was nuts. Even if they would have believed that I BELIEVED I had an encounter, they would have given me a rubber gun and a plastic badge and stuck me in the evidence room. So, I kept quiet about it for YEARS and packed it DEEP down in a box in my mind and never thought about it. But, my relationship with the outdoors had changed. I still fished, but I didn't hunt in Michigan anymore, I only hunted in Arizona and then only in the desert. Any time I went to the mountains in northern Arizona and was out of Prescott, Flagstaff, or Show Low...I was uneasy. I wasn't even uneasy about Sas/BF...I was just finding myself looking behind every tree like I was working a felony warrant, or clearing a building on an active alarm call. Then all the internet sites and documentaries and all the information became available on the internet and I started following the work of Dr Krantz, Dr Meldrum, Dr Sarmiento, John Green, John Bindernagel, Renee Dahinden, and Thomas Steenburg because they all appealed to my "Just the evidence" cop brain. I still didn't talk about it though. I sifted through a LOT of chaff and sensationalism and the "woo" and read all the books I could but STILL didn't talk to anyone about my encounter because I still thought people would think I had stepped out of my mind. It was getting bad though, I was starting to have nightmares and almost like a PTS over the encounter. I had been in lethal force incidents during my career and none of them affected me the way this had. Finally, I decided I needed to talk to someone so I talked to a counselor who specialized in PTS who was independent of the department. I hadn't retired yet, so I was still keeping my piehole shut to anyone else. I did the counseling, went back to Michigan where the encounter happened to face "my own ****", finished law school while I was recovering from a line of duty injury before I retired, and once I retired felt like I had put it behind me. But still....I didn't talk to anyone about it outside of the counselor I had seen. It was like..."Okay, dealt with". Then I heard Kerry Arnold on a podcast talking about his own encounter and it was like he was telling my own story. The time and place were different, but from an intellectual and emotional perspective...it was almost like a catharsis for me. The whole phenomena was still generally full of recondite information and speculation and the two ends of the spectrum from the "strictly zoological to the woo" seemed to be having continual clashes over who owned Sasquatch. Still, I kept my mouth shut until I finally had a talk with Kerry and he and I spent about four hours on the phone and he and I "trauma bonded" over our experiences, but I STILL didn't want to talk about it outside a very, very, very small group. He hadn't started his own podcast yet and I was retired from the department but was working at a law firm so STILL didn't want to come out of the woods in a public forum. Kerry encouraged me to put it on paper, so I did and eventually shared it and felt a weight come off my shoulders even though I took a bit of troll heat and then of course was contacted by some people who I thought were more than a little nutty telling me how they were "raising a bigfoot infant" and all sorts of other things that my mind as an "open minded skeptic" without corroborative evidence found hard to....buy into. But what I did do was start going to places like OR, WA, NorCal, ID, etc where high clusters of sightings had occurred and started hanging out camping with my dogs and just being something to MAYBE attract some curiosity. I couldn't do a lot of roaming because I have two artificial knees and an artificial hip due to my former career, so being a field researcher was out and hauling my horse across country was impractical. So, I don't consider myself a researcher, just a curious KNOWER who is at the point where I don't care if anyone believes me, what happened happened, and I don't even care if the "world at large" ever believes or if a specimen is ever taken to "prove" it to mainstream science or to force "da gub'ment" and "big timber and tourism money" to admit it. So, that's why I care, or I am interested in new credible evidence...for my own satisfaction and my own continued learning. Sorry about the long post, you can wake up now and flame away if you want to...but I'm curious....why are YOU interested?

Back in 2012, I exchanged whistles and knocks with something in the woods at my kids summer camp out in the Oregon woods. In 2018, my old dog and I kept finding frosty, barefoot prints at a lake. It intrigued me mightily. I met up with Tobe Johnson, and he taught me a few things about the species. For the next several years, NorthWind and I tramped all around the Oregon woods, eventually seeing two on FLIR on July 5, 2020 and one in a daylight, distant sighting in October 2020. I've spent this summer honing my backpacking and kayaking skills in preparation for multi-day adventures soon, and have upgraded some equipment. I used to care what people thought about my sightings, print finds, and audio, but now? Well, they exist and I've seen them. That's reality, and if someone can't acknowledge that or understand it, then that's on them; not my problem. They are free to believe what they wish, but I KNOW.

A lot has been said here about Zana, not all of which is accurate. Everyone should read the attached definitive article on the genetics, which goes way beyond the Sykes study.Advanced Genetics - 2021 - Margaryan - The genomic origin of Zana of Abkhazia.pdfAdvanced Genetics - 2021 - Margaryan - The genomic origin of Zana of Abkhazia.pdf

I don't know if "da gub'ment" allows Sasquatch to "harvest" people in National Forests....but I would certainly allow for the possibility that DotGov is aware of incidents where humans have been taken and possibly consumed in the same way that any other predator would if presented with an opportunity for an easy chunk of toothless, clawless, slow moving protein and for economic and political reasons keeps it quiet. Then the question of WHY? I have a theory that as the logging, outdoor, tourist, and camping (equipment) business is nearly a TRILLION dollar per year business and all the tax revenue FROM those businesses TO the government would be in the area of $300 BILLION. Roll that into all the special interests, lobbyists, and money flowing into the coffers of politicians, then there's one hell of a motive for silence on the part of DotGov and the politicians who benefit. Look at the timber industry....if Sasquatch was undeniably proven to exist...body, live capture, roadkill...whatever, the ensuing protection of the species in prime timber areas would halt that industry and cost billions alone. So, there's another billion or so reasons why a lid would be kept on the whole subject as far as DotGov is concerned. "Oh no, nothing to see here, pay no attention to the hairy biped behind the tree". Why would a National Park be a "center of exploitation" for the Sasquatch? Guns and hunting are generally prohibited in National Parks and I am convinced that they are well aware of what a gun or a bow can do EVEN if they have no cognitive ability on par with a great ape, just by seeing a BOOM stick drop a deer they would accrue a fear of guns or bows....I know plenty of dogs, horses, and even coyote that are scared to death of guns and they are not on par with a primate or relict hominid. So...easy pickins in the National Parks. Let me just sum up my personal opinion with "Hell, I wouldn't be the least little bit surprised" at anything DotGov would do.

Hello from North Carolina. I have interest in archaic humans species, and thought people on big-foot forum may have share my interest in archaic humans. Here is videos of potentially archaic human site from New World:

I was a cop for 27 years. I carried, in one flavor or another, a Glock model of some sort/caliber depending upon the whims and tides of the agency. I started with a Glock 17 in 9mm in 1990, then the department became convinced that we needed 40 cal, so we went to the Glock 22 in 1994, then for what seemed to be about five minutes in the early 2000s we went to the Glock 21 in 45ACP..........then back to the Glock 17 in 9mm again. Ugh. That said, I trust the Glock platform 100% and have carried Glock on duty, off duty, shooting in multiple competition disciplines for over 35 years and now since I am retired from LE and a practicing attorney....I still carry a Glock 19 in 9mm. That said....in the woods, mountains, or desert....I carry a Glock Model 20 in 10mm with Buffalo Bore Hard Cast 200 grain TCFP. It screams out at 1300fps, penetrates deeply, and gives me 16 rounds on tap with a pair of 15 round magazines on my belt for very little weight cost versus ballistic payload, and weight is a consideration because of two knee and a hip replacement as the result of a line-of-duty injury. But, let's be clear....I don't carry to defend myself from a Sasquatch primarily....it's probably 10th down on my list. The reality is I am convinced that they are dangerous, but not aggressive unless you push the action and so I consider the likelihood of having to engage one to be incredibly remote just based on the number of interactions I have had (1 in 1993) compared to the thousands of hours I have spent in the woods, mountains, and desert over the decades. Add to that the credible interactions that others have had where no one had to shoot one. Ape Canyon notwithstanding, but let's face it Fred Beck shot one of them, so yeah...they's be pissed. I'm not convinced Justin Smeja shot one as he claimed, so I am not going to say he did or he didn't, only that I am not convinced he did. So, the reality is that I carry my 10mm as insurance against bear, mountain lion, feral dogs, wild hogs which I consider to be the most likely threat, and of course humans with bad intent. Looking back to 1993 when I had my face to face encounter, with decades of hindsight....the thought I had back then that I was going to have to defend myself from the Sasquatch was PROBABLY initiated by ME and my body language or a scent I gve off that caused a defensive posture reaction response in the creature. I had been a cop for 5 years by this time and my thinking was "threat focused" and "threat management" and "aggression response" and the stimuli of being face to face with something I didn't believe existed back then, or at least didn't believe was a "Michigan Thing" reset my brain clock in a microsecond and my whole reality changed. I am still nine out of ten toes in the "no kill" camp, and I sure as hell don't want to ever be forced to shoot one. I'd like to see another one, not just hear wood knocks and a couple of suspected vocalizations, and see some suspected prints...but just have that moment where I could experience it again and NOT be thinking "tactically" but more like "Okay, what can I learn?". Sorry for the long post. Once I got to typing, I got too lazy to stop.

After having numerous encounters, with others having sightings at the same time, I became a little fearful of hunting and hiking alone in the woods. I enjoy it too much to stop and I face my fears. After being stalked by a mountain lion at close range, I fear that more than sasquatches especially after 56 years of being in the woods and no sasquatches or mt. lions for that matter have harmed me. So, I think that falling or having a medical emergency alone in the woods is much more likely to kill me than any critters large or small in the Oregon woods.

Bragging rights. He was the most amazing horse I had ever seen. And he was a real Appy. Ugly as sin. Rat tail, chicken specks all over him. But he was tough and super calm and smart. We shot a real nice mule deer buck up by bear pasture above the meadows. Almost killed two horses trying to get it out. Finally gave up in the dark. Took Chislum up the next day and loaded that deer up and he walked it right out of there. Big ravine we had to cross. No problem. Just an awesome animal. Worth his weight in gold. Packing was the most rewarding hobby I have ever did in my life.

I find it interesting to scroll to the bottom of the published report to see who did the investigation. A surprising (to me) number of the recent reports were done by Matt M. himself rather than his investigators. That probably says something though I'm not sure what it is.

So sorry for his family. A very courageous intelligent man. He will certainly be sorely missed.

Hey Bipedalist, how fortunate that you got to take the course with Jim Halfpenny and Jeff Meldrum. I received the flyer for it, and couldn’t make it— but how I wish I could have. We’ve had dinner with Jim when we were visiting Yellowstone,at an Asian place outside of Gardiner MT. He showed us his museum, which includes lots of track casts including Bigfoot. Anyway, message me if you want to chat about the class.

Totally shocked. Had the honor to eat supper with him in Gardner, Montana one night during a tracking course he presented with Jim Halfpenny. He was such a gracious and humble man. May he rest in peace.

Extremely sad. First and foremost obviously for his family. He seemed a very genuine and likeable man. Secondly for the Bigfoot community, who've lost one of the most intelligent, erudite and respected believers. Thirdly, for the man himself, who sadly never got to see the object of his interest confirmed by the mainstream and never got to study Bigfoot as a proven species rather than a cryptid.

RIP, Dr. Meldrum. You'll ever be an icon to the bigfoot enthusiast community.

I did a day long Jeep trip over the Freezeout pass in Idaho last week. Dang close to grizzly country on the Montana border. I took a picture of the two guns I brought with me... A Marlin 1894 carbine and a S&W Model 686. Both in .357 Magnum. I did not feel under-gunned at all. I have spent nearly 50 years in the Idaho wilderness camping, fishing, hunting, shooting, exploring, hiking, ATV riding, off-roading, and just plain relaxing and enjoying nature. All of those activities were done while being armed. In all those years, I was threatened with violence, or felt threatened maybe 4-5 times. Twice was by animals/Bigfoot and the others by people. The worst was a few years ago when me and my dog Rowdy camped at a remote spot on Bonami Creek in a pop-up camper, and a pack of wolves came in and surrounded our camp at night. I was blissfully unaware of the threat having downed a couple or a few 7&7s while listening to satellite radio by the fire. Rowdy was a 105lb Lab/Great Dane mix who was afraid of fire and nothing else. He normally stayed away from it and would lay down behind me as I sat near the fire and drank. But that night, he decided to lay very close to the fire and my rifle... The next day, I awoke with the worst hangover I have ever experienced. I thought I had been shot in the head with a .22. I poured out the remaining Seagrams 7. After I drank a bottle of water and downed a few aspirin, I stumbled outside to the camp and observed Rowdy diligently walking the perimeter of camp, sniffing and marking his territory. I got dressed, grabbed my rifle, and headed up the crude trail behind our campsite. Rowdy was busy peeing on everything and sniffing furiously... I followed him about 25yds from camp and suddenly realized why he had acted so strangely the night before by staying close to the fire, and why he was so obsessed the next day with marking his territory. I found a piece of wolf scat that was very fresh and left while the wolf was in motion and moving away from our camp. It had to have been left within the past 8 hours. I began doing a search of the area around our camp and found sign that a pack of wolves had come in the night before and walked around the perimeter of our camp. No wonder Rowdy was acting so strange the night before! The rifle I had was a Marlin 1894 in .45 Colt, with a Surefire weapon light attached, 6 extra rounds in the butt stock pouch, a green dot optic, and smoothed action. Pretty much the perfect weapon to be holding when a pack of wolves comes in.

I've been remiss in not reporting my field trips for the last couple of months, so I'll try to get back into it. I've made a number of outings, but had some problems with making my phone upload photos to the computer and got frustrated with trying to make it work. This evening i made a run up one of our local research areas that had been gated for active logging for almost a year, and took Thomas along for the ride. I'd heard that the gate was now open, since the logging had ended for the season, and we found the gate was indeed open. However, the contractor had obviously just completed cutting drainage cross ditches on the road, and did it very thoroughly! The new trenches were aggressively steep and very frequent, slowing progress to a crawl to avoid suspension damage or noggin bonking on the roof! We only got about 2/3 of the way to the summit before we decided that the effort to reach the top wasn't worth it. Here's a video that Thomas shot on the trip back down: https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1WbkQxebhb/

Todd Standing =Red Flag.

One day the public will have definitive proof of Bigfoot. If this happens Jeff Meldrum will be viewed as a visionary. It will be mentioned how he was ahead of those colleagues who lived in his times. He became respected even among those who were skeptics and essentially modernized the study of Bigfoot. There will be a Meldrum- Patterson wing of the Smithsonian. RIP

Of anyone I might deem myself "associated with" Norseman, I would expect and trust your awareness and preperation/contingency planning to be on a level above the rest. I very been reading your perspective and experiences hunting for what, 15+ years now, and I take your word on all things hunting. Just saying in case it seemed like I was casting doubt on your statements.