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RB, WE do it for the love, you know that...;) WA is done for sure, BFRO definitely plus others, there's not a lot out there that's not in there. CA and OR, combined we are gonna go close to 1,000 no doubt for those as there are some big state specific databases for those bad boys we where the PNW is concerned, i think we will be looking at just shy of 2,000 which is crazy good data wise.. We do have JG reports in there (WA) but so many JG reports are lacking where data points are concerned that a lot of them are simply not sufficient to add unfortunately.

Don't let it freak you out too much. I think respect and caution ("as if they're a primitive tribe with different values, ethics, etc") in your assumptions will take you a long way without much danger. Proceed slowly and be willing to back out if things start to seem over your head. Save being an idiot and pushing forward despite the warnings for me. I don't know if it is relevant, but one of my plans is, if things get too crazy, to just sit down. From sitting you can't flee and you can't attack. It shows a willingness to accept the situation as-is. MIB

Bigfoots do share the same Habitat as Black Bears.

Hi Sheri - It may depend on your definition of the SE. If you have not, read Tal Branco's posts here and get his book. It's mostly Alabama I think. Also look into Tom Burnette's books. I'm not certain but I think he's from North Carolina. I've talked to people who research in the Ouachita Mountains and into Texas as well. The bigfoots there seem more inclined to push back when pushed. One of my acquaintances tells of having hunting dogs killed, deer taken, etc when hunting the swamps. He was vague but I think that was gulf coast. The only place in the Pacific NW that I've hear a concentration of stories of "assertive" bigfoots is from the Mollalla corridor sort of ENE of Salem, OR. They'll bluff here, push, try to herd people out of places, but I've called their bluff a couple times and they've stood down. It's had a feel, sort of grumbling, grudging, "you're no fun if you won't run away." So far so good. I don't know that I'd want to try that in the SE. Maybe the people telling the stories are puffing them up to make an excuse for their fear, maybe their experience wasn't any different than mine, maybe it's just a difference in the witness' perspective, not the bigfoot behavior at all. Maybe. I'd be cautious as I explored that possibility with feet on the ground. MIB

I just added them up 920 total BFRO reports left to classify, and probably many more to edit and correct. At this point I'm pretty much only working on BFRO reports. Once finished we move on to other databases like John Green's. We need it set up so we can link each report though. In Oregon (160?), California (190), and Florida (106) alone there are hundreds of BFRO reports left to classify. Another 161 or so (combined) in Georgia (24), South Carolina (29), North Carolina (41), West Virginia (29), Louisiana (25), and New Hampshire (13?). Then there will be Alaska (22?) and all of Canada (290?), places I haven't even looked at yet. There's definitely a light at the end of the long tunnel now, but are still probable months from being done. You're paying? Should I send a bill? I already had secret plans to put Washington State into my spreadsheet so I can see what's missing (maybe 100+)

Anthropologists have built a Gigantopithicus. From the point of one chinny-chin-chin and some teeth. That's like taking a headlight and constructing a '57 Chevy without ever seeing one. Imagine. Take the very point of your chin - not the jaw - the point of your chin - and constructing a ten foot creature. This is called science. But thousands of depictions and personal eyewitness narratives over the millennia, backed up by footprints - that's no proof at all. Something wrong here.

I looked at the basic premise of the Falcon operation, and in my opinion - it was flawed for a number of reasons. I was a hot-air balloon pilot, and had an AX-8 balloon - a six-man balloon. When flying, every cow for miles around was moo-ing, and every dog within miles was barking furiously. One might think the overhead approach would be the way to go, but it sure upset the local animal population. I made the mistake of flying over a long, wide steel building one day, and had no idea it was a dairy farm - and as cows came flying out and running around, the two men that came out shaking their fists at me - suggested I'd screwed up their milking process. I was always very limited in usage, as the winds had to be gentle - very gentle. I don't know where they planned on using their dual envelope 35-footer, but I can assure you it would have been of very limited use. In mountains - they are really tricky and given to sudden bursts of winds from multiple directions, including some very strong downdrafts. Then I saw that they planned on using a pretty good sized ground force. Another bad idea. They weren't going to get near these things. I can actually see if one is in flatlands, with a combination of pastures, openings, and meadows among trees, one may be able to get some indications with a simple helium balloon raising a camera for a look around - but you'll likely only get one good look - as that thing is going to stand out like scat in a dry bathtub - it's sure not going to sneak up on anything. And all they have to do is get on the other side of a tree, and they're "gone." Everyone likes tech. Tech is not a substitute for skills and patience.

I always wonder when I am out doing field work why a car is parked at the end of one blocked off logging road or another. Not hunting season, no sounds of gunshots, not much reason to be out there except hike and look for BF. In some cases I see the car at the same place fairly often. Do I dare check it out and discover a pot grow operation? Or is it a bigfooter visiting a tribe of BF? Of course when I am asked why I am there I lie. Especially if it is a logging company employee that asks. I am usually a wildlife photographer or a bird watcher. Well both are true to some extent but it is not honest to lie about it. I did encounter a human sounding whistling bird once. I was sure it was BF because it seemed to be following me and sounded very human but then finally saw the bird which seemed to be following me to some extent. Point being I guess is that I keep running into normal wildlife that I have not been around before. There is a lot of stuff out there, some of it migrates, so running into a particular bird species might take you years. I am still sorting out the different owls.

Who is "we" and who assigned "said" homework? Over and out.

Who cares what you personally believe!? Who cares what Meldrum or Bindernagel believe!? Who cares what thousands of witnesses have witnessed!? Who cares what I believe!? In order to claim a scientific discovery? Requires PROOF!!! It also requires independent verification of said proof! Thats science.....without it we would still be living in caves and painting ourselves with ochre. So rejoice that science consists of a bunch of hard asses that don't budge easily!

Somewhere in time on one of these threads, I'm pretty sure I stated my belief that these things can run down the fastest NFL player in short order. You noted the same thing I did - they are unbelievable fast - something just looking at them would seem counter-intuitive. I'd say the one you're aware of is not the one you should fear the most. These things can 'elect' to move quite quickly - silently - and I have no idea how they do that. So if one is letting you be aware of their presence - this just may be the 'driver.' The quiet one will be the one behind or on your flank you're not aware of. Sometimes, I believe, they're "herding" folks in the direction they want them to go - usually to egress the area. Other times, they're trying to create fear in someone, encouraging them to leave the area on their own. But I'd bet one won't be allowed to go where they don't want you too.

Right, Sheri. After that you're faced with a question ... do I take my survival and run while the running is good or do I take a chance the big guy will let me go again and return to take another chance. It's a real personal question, a decision only you can make for you. I've chosen to go back. I'm gambling they're truly disinclined to do anything but let me go rather than just waiting 'til I mess up just a little more to step on me.

gigantor - I'd more or less agree. I can't always remember the year, I can definitely remember the season. Couple examples from personal past. First, the track find. I think it was 1974 but it could have been 1975. In the spring of '74 we had a huge flood, not as big as 1964, but big. I remember the river lapping at the road shoulder about 4 inches below pavement level at a particular spot on the road. That extended period of high velocity water ripped many of the willows and alders out so the river banks were fairly defoliated. The plants on the clay bank above the tracks had not started to grow back. It was late summer / early fall because the original purpose of the trip was to pick huckleberries which were in season and, because I was eating too many my great grandfather sent me back to the boat to go fly fishing instead. The tracks were found in a "scunge" layer .. moss, sand, silt, etc and inch or two thick on top of a wide flat rock shelf. That scunge had been underwater the day before and was still wet, it had not yet been exposed to sunlight. In that crook in the river, the sun hits that shore about 11:00 am. In mid-late August, the river usually takes a big drop as the side creeks finally dry up. Based on all that, I reverse-engineer the date as the 3rd week of August, 1974. It could equally have been the 3rd week of August 1975, but likely no later and certainly no earlier. Dating my first sighting is similar. It was deer season, the purpose for being where we were was to meet my aunt who we'd dropped off high on the mountain to walk down through a traditional family hunting area. That puts it in early October. My cousin, 3-1/2 years older, was legal to drive. I was not. That gives us a 3 year window. My sense is I was at the younger end of that window so it was probably 1976 but possibly 1977. The only events I have issues putting a date on are ones where I spent so much time with the other people involved that I can't remember which trip it occurred on. In the case of details, you should either remember or know you don't remember, you should never mis-remember. In other words, someone botching the weather, moon or none, etc in a report is a huge red flag. MIB

I honestly cannot remember precisely when my encounters have occurred. I do remember to the foot where they occurred. Everybody's memory is different. I can remember conversations almost word for word, take me some place once I can almost always get back there without error, but introduce me to someone and I will forget their name 2 minutes later.

My possible encounter was also close to or around 93/94. I remember the general area close enough but nothing exact despite growing up in those woods. I'd guess I could get within maybe 30-40 yards of the area.