Leaderboard

^^Well said. How many of the thousands of witnesses have received "fame, glory, or bragging rights" is a good question. So is what is their actual habitat. There have been many discussions here and elsewhere that have been educational on that subject. I'd think that the answers are clearly not simply mountains and forests. The last refuge of the proofer/killer sorts who require a form of legitimacy is the idea of "protection". If you study and get out there and actually see where they go, that concept becomes pretty ridiculous. Edit: Joe B, I don't understand why you ask what went wrong. Seems like you guys did what you usually do, peacefully coexisting in your camp. Some of them may even know you pretty well.

If they needed to be protected "legally" under the full weight of the law, it seems like it wouldn't be so impossible to get that "specimen" to "protect". How arrogant humans are to think we are somehow endowed with the ultimate justification to kill whatever life we want to study, just to satisfy our own curiosity.

Interesting rationalization. I think we're operating from completely different assumptions, different data sets, different understanding of what's out there. You seem stuck in ape-camp thinking trying to apply a wildlife management paradigm. I will tell you up front it doesn't fit and it won't work. (And I don't expect you to accept that, it's too contrary to your personal dogma.) At the same time, "human law" doesn't fit either because it makes assumptions that don't hold either. There may come a time for proof but there is necessary legal groundwork in currently uncharted territory to establish first. Otherwise, that proof you think will somehow save them will instead lead to extinction. In the mean time, an honest person has to ask themselves just how much protection is needed right now. There are certainly enough people like you promoting a killing .. yet it isn't happening or we'd have that body on the slab already. It seems you've ignored the implications of your own "facts". MIB

How 'bout "no" to treachery and deceit? Gig - I'm trying not to be judgmental but the whole notion of what you suggest turns my stomach. MIB

I've never been interested in "proving". Still, there have been long dry spells where I find (see, hear, etc) no evidence and doubts about my own remembrance creeps in thus I think I know what you're talking about. For me, that has not lasted yet. Each time it ends with an incredible slap upside the head which removes every hint of doubt. You might not realize it from the amount of time I spend here, but I really don't obsess over bigfoot, I don't spend any more time here on this forum than I do on others for other interests .. hunting, fishing, backpacking, etc. Sometimes I wish I had not seen what I've seen but since i have, I have. My capacity for deliberate self-deception just isn't great enough to let me pretend otherwise. It would be simpler if I could. I don't deliberately bigfoot very much, it's usually secondary, or at least equal to, some other concurrent activity ... same time, same location. I can't put bigfooting behind me without also giving up the other things I enjoy ... and I just won't. Sometimes there's nothing to do but get back on Rocinante and head of fin search of another windmill. MIB

Just like allot of people, I can honestly say, 4 years removed from my experience, that it is getting harder to maintain the level of belief that I once had for the creatures existence in my area. Now do not get me wrong, it does not in anyway explain away what happened to me that summer night. That will not be forgotten or filed away as something I imagined or mistook, but instead of me constantly replaying the event I have drifted away from the experience enough to say, I am not sure I want to hold on to needing the explanation. Now when I first began the research phase of my needing to explain the issue, that was tantamount. Lake County Bigfoot We have the need to know especially after an incident. My encounter lasted for ten seconds and years later still nags at me. Was it real or a dark forest illusion? Most of the time we win ....... meaning we find the answer. When something resembling a large hairy hominid comes across our path in the woods, the need to know grows. Even when we speak with trustworthy eyewitnesses the search for knowledge can grow. My goal has never been to prove BFs existence. My desire has been to enjoy the scientific method that includes reading eye witness reports and evidence found. The Forest People also provide a reason to walk the forest trails. The search has also been lonely endeavor for me since family members mostly made fun of the topic. No one cared to take ten minutes to look at the evidence such as what's presented in Meldrum's books. When people close their minds and refuse to objectively view field evidence, it's time to shut down. After about five years of these reactions, I simply stopped sharing this scientific endeavor with family members. My desire to know about bigfoot has not diminished, but I must accept that bigfoot may not cross my path again. Old reports of deceased BFs exist, and if true, this knowledge has slipped past us. However, I will always enjoy speaking with eyewitnesses and using the internet to connect with others about our Forest Friend.

It's a matter of what each one of us want the end-game to be, I think. Some want the mystery to last forever, they are enamored with it, It's like the never ending story. Some want to remain the privileged few who have seen or interacted with a BF, and selfishly hold on to that position for fame, glory or bragging rights, regardless of the cost to the population as a whole in the long term. The fact is that their habitat is getting smaller every day, the longer the species is unrecognized, the greater it's risk of extinction (if it hasn't occurred already). Some are in between. Some of us want the species to be accepted by science so they can be protected legally under the full weight of the law; unfortunately, that requires a type specimen. Many species have been saved once they are recognized as endangered under the law. It's for the good of the species, one subject to protect a whole population under the law forever. Think about it. I submit to you that my position is morally superior to the alternatives. It is the right thing to do.

I guess letting them think they can come and raid your camp without a nasty reaction could be a good thing if played correctly. Let them come again and again, maybe leave a few goodies... Then when the time is right, wham! a type specimen... its worth a try.