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Truer words were never spoken. Do I think that conventions and Bigfoot celebrities cause damage to the larger cause? No. Do I think that these strange people who try to become self appointed gatekeepers of the topic cause damage to the larger cause? Yes. If they had their way, only ‘serious researchers’ such as themselves would be permitted to speak about certain things, and free public discourse would be controlled or eliminated. Bitter, self-appointed experts who constantly demand that others be quiet and bow to their wisdom turn away more potential enthusiasts than Mountain Monsters. And one of those enthusiasts might just be the one to prove Bigfoot’s existence someday. I used to rail against BFRO paid expeditions on this forum, until a couple of members were kind enough to take the time to explain an opposing point of view to me. Just because I don’t find any personal value in those things doesn’t mean that other people shouldn’t have the opportunity to enjoy them if they so desire. At the end of the day, it exposes more people to the subject, many of whom are not able to do what we would define as field research themselves. Real field research is hot, dirty, expensive, time consuming, frustrating, and sometimes dangerous. Just because someone can’t or isn’t willing to endure all of that, doesn’t mean that they can’t have an interest in the subject…even if the version that they are interested in doesn’t necessarily reflect my own experiences. When the shut-in on Facebook starts to lecture you on Bigfoot behavior…just laugh and move on. There’s too many windmills out there to tilt with, so why bother? And if you do argue with them and successfully impose your own viewpoint…well, congratulations. There’s only a few million more out there, so you better get cracking if you want everyone to think the same way as you. At the end of the day, the person who wants to pay to go on a BFRO expedition has absolutely zero effect on me or my efforts. Nor does a little grandmother who collects Bigfoot memorabilia. Nor does a Bigfoot celebrity who brings out his own branded ‘Monster Hot Sauce’. I personally find it a bit cringe, but people might think the same way about me. And I don’t want those people to have the ability to limit or control my actions or speech concerning Sasquatch…so I will afford them the same courtesy. The idea of subjective control of the discussion seems to be appealing to a disturbing number of forum participants these days. I went to the Smokey Mountain conference, mainly because I enjoy watching Paulides give his presentation and I wanted to hear Ron Morehead speak. I approached it with a certain level of hesitancy given some of the participants. I ended up having a ball. A lot of it didn’t appeal to me, but I enjoyed being there and talking to some of the attendees…even the ones who I find to be polar opposite of me on the subject. Enjoyed the heck out of it, and even ended up buying some Cryptid related patches off of a kid who had a table there…just because I found his enthusiasm for the subject infectious. At the end of the day, if you think that Matt Moneymaker and someone’s grandma who collects Bigfoot tchotchkes is going to prevent the eventual proof of these creatures, or if you find yourself bitterly stewing over their very existence…maybe reflect a little upon why you are allowing others to affect you to such a degree. At the end of the day, this subject and it’s pursuit is supposed to be something that brings us joy. If you find yourself hating the subject and everything or anyone involved with it…yet are still involved because you feel that you and you alone can solve the mystery…then I don’t know what to tell you, other than maybe request that you don’t constantly attempt to poison the subject for the rest of us. No one person is ever going to completely control the narrative. This isn’t the day of the Four Horsemen, were only a comparative handful of people were conversant on the subject. There are more YouTube channels and podcasts than you could shake a stick at…. Most of them aren’t my cup of tea, but I don’t have an innate desire to control what others say, hear, or do…so I don’t care. And if you do care? More power to you. I only answered because you asked, and now I will continue my day free from the worry that Matt Moneymaker might be out there somewhere doing something that I disagree with.

BRB ---- three posts above is one of the epic posts on BFF. Thank you. I remember the time when the mere mention of this subject produced uncontrollable laughter and guffaws. Matt M. has single-handedly converted what was once a subject that people only whispered about to something everyone can discuss with complete comfort. People can discuss all aspects of how he did what he did, and that is fair game, but in the end he is a transformational person. Mega-kudos to MM. We all have our own talents and they each benefit what we're doing. Field work is only part of it. Sound and video analysis, analyzing database information to develop patterns, photogrammery, historical data input and so much more. I am honored to watch all this evolve before our eyes. The more we foster conventions, the more there will be competition amongst them. The more there is competition, the more there will be the drive for excellence. Rising water lifts all boats.

As being around a lot of like-minded folks who enjoy the subject of bigfoot. It would be a joy to talk about being in the field and how they approach it.

This is the best reasoning I've read in a long while and goes a long way towards changing my opinion of MM. When I wear the forum T-shirt, people of all ages, races, sexes stop and say something about it. 20 years ago, it wasn't so at all.

I want to thank you for bringing up pleasant memories. Throughout my childhood I avidly read a daily newspaper comic by Al Capp, "Lil' Abner." You remind me of one of the characters in the comic, Joe Btfsplk. Poor Joe was a notorious jinx and everywhere he went he was followed, above his head, by his own personal rain cloud.

@BlackRockBigfoot All of that--well put and I fully endorse your message!

Hey wiiawiwb.....yes, one of my main hiking areas for many years, and an area that I used to hike with my wolf so she could be off leash with little chance of running into people, it is thick & remote. I talked to my good friend just the other day about his footage, he took it using a satellite phone at his ranch and can't find it (of course, the BF curse).....they are still having activity, so I'm going out there for a few days after it cools off.

I backpacked extensively when I was a teen. As soon as I arrived in Alaska, I found out what real "outdoorsy stuff" looked like.

Blue, because it's the real world, sorry so many have been poisoned by the Community narrative, be they hoaxer, "celebrity", podcaster, youtuber...... I'm still right. Are you suggesting the current model is the only model? It's an industry not research. Replace moose hunting with back packing outdoorsy stuff, and we would be on the same page.

What color is the sky in your world?

This past weekend my "brother from another mother" Bill and I did our annual backpacking trip. Usually we go into a particular basin and do bigfooting things. This year that whole area was smoked out by wildfires upwind so we stirred things up a bit. We hiked into Blue Canyon Basin in the Sky Lakes Wilderness. It is a broad, shallow glacial cirque in the head of the South Fork of Rogue River in the Cascade Range between Crater Lake to the north and Mt McLoughlin in the south. There was fairly heavy haze as we left town but it got better as we neared Blue Canyon trailhead. The trailhead is on top of a ridge. From the TH the trail drops steadily but gradually to valley floor passing one lake on the canyon wall and meeting at several at the canyon bottom. To that point the trail is heavily traveled but gets less traffic depending on which direction you choose. We headed east past some lakes under the back rim of the cirque. We passed the turnoff to Blue Canyon Lake which hangs high on the back wall of the cirque. (We came back to this trail and used it getting out of the basin .. more of that later.) On the way in we passed Horseshoe and Pear Lakes, climbed a low ridge, and dropped past Dee Lake to Island Lake. My intent was to camp at Dee Lake but we missed it ... out of sight of the trail. Though I had never been there I recognized Island Lake when we arrived. We set up camp at Island Lake, filtered some water, ate dinner, and went to bed not long after dark. Sometime not much later the wind blew what was left of the smoke out of the basin and we had a great view of stars, Jupiter, and later the moon. Saturday AM we woke up to this at Island Lake: ... no smoke!! NONE!! We got up fairly early but it was after 9:00 a by the time we had breakfast and broke camp. The day stayed clear, at least up high, but heated up a bit. We reversed course and headed back with intent to take a different trail up out of the basin. We stopped at Pear Lake for a while, then after a short walk, we stopped for lunch and a nap beside Horseshoe Lake: After a break we hiked the last half mile to the junction with the Blue Canyon Lake trail. At that junction, the fun ended and the work began. Trails within the basin were fairly level and more or less maintained. The Blue Canyon Lake trail was neither. The lake is about 2/3 of the way up the trail to the ridge but off a few hundred yards through some gnarly brush. There had been some maintenance attempted as far as the lake. It ended there. Also the yellowjackets, which had been noticeably absent, began there. We stopped about where we figured lake level should be and I bushwhacked to the lake. It was not a fun bushwhack. The lake was pretty gross. The water looked clear but the lake bottom seemed coated with a bright yellow-green plant layer. There were no obvious camping spots. I decided we should move on. The last 1/3 of the trail to the ridge, along with the Cat Hill Way trail which ran along the ridge 2.5 miles or so back to my truck, was littered with fallen logs and had a lot of impinging brush .. mostly huckleberry. That whole section was overrun with yellowjackets as well. I almost stepped in one ground nest. No stings, but .. close. From the trailhead, we drove back to where we had cell service, phoned home / checked in with Bill's wife and my GF, then drove to where he usually parks his trailer in hunting season and camped one more night to finish off the mountain house, etc. Good trip. No bigfoot. No tracks. No vocalizations (though I have not reviewed the audio recording from the night yet). No heavy "vibe" as the research area gets when they are around. Time to start figuring out something for next year ...

Ok, but you can easily host a local Town Hall style thing to, without all the Influencer nonsense, or having to pay the same "speakers" to come in and given the same presentation as last year..... Sorry, and downvote all you want but these two things are nothing more than mechanisms that reinforce the BS of the subject more than do anything fruitful towards actual research. The model at least, needs to shift.