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I don't work on my cars either. But the fact that the BFRO is running a guided expedition business in on Federal Land without the the necessary permits is what troubles me. In Washington State a guide has to be licensed from the state too. Some of this is so the guides know the law and what their responsibilities are to the client. BFRO expedition members have been directed to lie to Forest Rangers and say it is a family reunion when asked what is going on.

Cost: It ranges ( based on state and location ) from 500$ to 300$ per adult, some organizers have discounts for kids under 17 or they can come for free. Repeaters ( folks who have attended expeds in the past ) can attend for half price. BFRO Org: The organization has publicly existed since 1999 if I remember correctly, I do not know the date we began offering expeditions. Thermal Gear: I honestly don't know where the 6 figure thermal investment number is listed but I can say that the BFRO has at least 4 functioning units ( from what I have personally used ) 1 operational Raytheon R2D2 unit ( roof mounted DVR system ) and several L3 Thermal eye X200XP's ( these are old and do not have on-board recording ). I asked about several years ago why our shared thermal equipment was lacking and i was told that a good deal of the units had been damaged or just entirely stopped functioning. I am unsure if we Matt has invested in any updated thermal equipment beyond these units. Many investigators end up buying their own night vision or thermal camera systems and allow attendees to use them. We do have videos, audio events, unknown nests and track castings that have not been publicly displayed as they are not strong enough to do anything but draw the same old questions and reservations. We do share some of this content on expeditions for those that are really interested. We also have MANY reports that never get published as they are part of private ongoing research locations or the witness has asked that we do not post the report. It is true that Sasquatch can find you but you can also find Sasquatch, this is a simple and primary fact ( assuming you believe/know they exist ). If you track reports, conduct area surveys, locate primary game corridors and understand that you are normally perceived as a variable and or unapproachable then you can greatly manipulate the odds of having an encounter. At this point it is a matter of opinion as to how much it changes but there is a notable difference in results. I can offer an one such example, we spent a long time examining reports to understand why some of the creatures approached a witness rather than backing off. In review we noted that the information suggests animals are more willing to approach if you are using red light VS white light. Red light has a very low eye impact on both you and your potential observers and helps encourage closer observation, now think back to all those reports where someone whipped out the flashlight and everything stopped. For these creatures it is a balance of risk and reward ( higher primates operate on this line of thinking, visible in social dynamics ) and in a red light situation the risk is just a little bit lower because if the subject feels the need to leave rapidly it will not be as effected by light blindness and therefore able to escape this situation without having difficulties seeing an exit point. We have adopted many of these types of principles and tactics that have seemingly encouraged interaction or provoked subjects to come in closer and check us out. We have members on this forum who have gone on expeditions with the BFRO who have taken the information they learned and put it into their field routines and had varying degrees of success. If you have anything more specific to ask feel free to PM me.

It was more poor investigation than true mystery. It didn't take long for folks here to point out what should have been obvious to me. Believe it or not, I zoomed in to some of those lines and thought I saw geologic features! 🙃

I made my peace with this whole subject when I realized all proof is personal. Everybody has to make that journey if they pursue the evidence, at their own pace, and within their own boundaries for comfort. It is not my job/mission/quest to convince anyone, or supply answers on demand to satisfy their own arbitrary deadlines, or demands to have their uncertainty allayed. In discussions with others, when the subject comes up, I only tic off the top four or five arguments for existence, but I always lead with this statement: "You've already seen a sasquatch (i.e. Patty)...you just might not be ready to deal with what that means to your worldview. I get that. It was very, very hard for me too ". I do know that if they are a person with reasonable intelligence, curiosity and time at their disposal, they will more than probably come around to the same conclusions many of us have reached, in the same way. My dispute with so many naysayers over the years is they want the easy way out...to have either their fears assuaged or their curiosity satisfied on demand. There is just something inherently lazy and au currant about that attitude that gets all over me. If you have done the work, and your conclusions differ from mine, one day we'll all solve the great mystery and find out who was correct when we get to the other side. Until then, vio con dios amigo. As for habituators and others who we might think "should" share their evidence with the world? They don't owe me a thing. I've already made my conclusions.

How do you know there is no hoaxing? Are those wood knocks out there a BFRO cadre with a stick? Howls? Etc. I dont trust "no kill" people looking to turn a buck. They can just do this forever. If you were a fishing guide that never produced a client ONE fish? Kinda like the BFRO guides have never produced ONE Bigfoot? That would be on par with each other.... But of course you did! While not a guarantee? The two examples do not reside on the same planet!

I've been on one BFRO trip. I found it thoroughly enjoyable and I have every intention of going again with the same group of organizers. Sure, it cost a little money, but compared to other activities, it seemed overall a bargain. There was no hoaxing, no hype. If there were I would call them out on it. I don't care about the for profit aspect. I used to be a fishing guide. Do you think somehow being paid disqualified me from teaching people to fish, teaching them about the local flora and fauna, history, etc? I don't. And I don't see this as any different. No bigfoots are guaranteed. You know what? I could not legally guarantee fish, either. MIB

I have my suspicions but I can't say with any degree of certainty how far off the beaten path, how far from the road, many Bigfoot expeditions really go. Little rocks being tossed at me would be an absolutely HUGE thing where I typically like to go. Given my preference for being miles from civilization, it would mean I'm quite comfortable that rock wasn't thrown by a hoaxer. The same can be said of tree knocking. The farther you go from humanity, the less likely you are being hoaxed. Almost two years ago, I had two tree knocks which were in response to my single knock. They both came from two different locations and both were so close to me my immediate reaction was, "Oh my God!". One came from across the pond and the other from the same side of the pond as me. It was late at night, pitch black outside, and the knock across the pond came from a vast swampy area you wouldn't dare go by day. That wood knock location was only accessible by going past my location unless you like wading through a half mile of swamp, in the dark, in hopes of responding to some human who might wood knock. The recent addition of a decent thermal imager means I'll have a fighting chance to confirm on "film" who, or what, it was that threw that little rock should one be thrown at me in the future.

I work for the BFRO and have attended ( 2011 MI, 2012 MI UP, 2016 OR ) and now organize expeditions here in Washington state. I can clear up a few opinions of what the policies are. The BFRO does not guide you out to gander at Sasquatch the way people do at animals in Yellowstone and nor do we put you on a pack-horse into the most remote locations where a tire may not have met the road in a decade to prepare for a 6 month grant program to be the next Jane G. This is a common misconception of what we are about as an organization ( I am not speaking for ever single expedition or organizer, some members have their own code of ethics and conduct ). The BFRO as a whole provides a form of education on the entire subject and how it relates to area ecology and history. Folks have the opportunity to learn and connect with BFRO members for guidance on some of the points below. We provide attendees to accessible locations that repeatedly generate reports at particular times of the year, we put people in the best position possible to have an experience but we do not promise anything except research methodology and environmental education. We give directed presentations on witness evaluation, reported behavior, field operations, implementation of thermal/audio technology and basic ecology. We also offer classes on habitat evaluation, report documentation, data mapping, track casting, DNA collection and nighttime observation. We offer perspective, knowledge, methods, tools and hands on experience so you can go out on your own and maximize your odds of encountering these animals. It is not impossible that hoaxing does take place on a small percentage of expeditions, both attendees and X-members have been caught in the past doing so. I can speak for the majority of the western US expeds as being honest and professional in nature, no monkey business. Honestly it is getting more and more difficult to hoax in events like this because of thermal cameras and drones ( the BFRO has a number of units ). On the expeditions I have been a part of we did allow folks to have handguns as long as they abide by the laws of the region and do not make presence of it in group settings. That being said some organizers are exception as they personally feel the risk of something going wrong is high, having a bunch of folk running around in the dark all jazzed up over something popping in the bush could end badly. On another note, if an attendee was inclined to try and hoax something then there is a possibility they themselves could be hurt or worse if another person carrying reacts incorrectly. I had never heard that attendees had to stay in their tents, that is new to me. On the expeditions I have been a part of we actually encourage folks to stay out as late as 3 am to try and provoke interaction or possibly get something to follow groups back toward base-camp . We do setup folks in groups to be moved with a member or repeater, this is a safety policy so nobody is hurt or lost. Fishing is very different than looking for sasquatch, you need to have a basic species knowledge, rod, tackle, a pole and a license to go fishing. In the subject of Sasquatch it takes a great deal of time, skill, money and luck, there is still far to much that is unknown about this creature for anyone to really have any measurable degree of success. This forum has nearly endless mentions of the challenges in Bigfoot that range from interest to population size. I am not going to argue that this is the best way to go about getting people involved or even reaching the goal, I do however believe it is the best way have at this time. We have very little support in this subject to really make strides toward fishing guide success rates, most of the time and money going toward active members goes back into equipment, gas and projects related to conducting field research. I promise you, nobody is getting rich off of doing this. The reality is that the research community is maybe 5% the size that Facebook says it is and you can bet the bottom dollar that most of them started with the BFRO.