Guest lightheart Posted January 20, 2015 Share Posted January 20, 2015 (edited) Have fun LCB. Florida has more reports than Oregon. Tons of green ways and blue ways, watershed protection areas, parks, WMA areas, and as you mentioned swamps. Check out Flying W WMA. That area and the river beds that flow around that area should be full of them. Had a lengthy night experience near there but cannot get specific. Good luck! Edited January 20, 2015 by lightheart Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest lightheart Posted January 20, 2015 Share Posted January 20, 2015 Oops. Flying Eagle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WSA Posted January 20, 2015 Share Posted January 20, 2015 From what I recall about my dirtbike riding days, a "flying W" is not a good thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest lightheart Posted January 20, 2015 Share Posted January 20, 2015 Ha Ha good one WSA... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lake County Bigfooot Posted January 21, 2015 Author Share Posted January 21, 2015 (edited) Wow I love that trail monster above, looks like it could sneak around without being overly loud, and seems to be really stable for uneven terrain, do not have to worry about the wheels wedging. I am thinking about making an early predawn run around the Green Marsh tonight, and will be paying special attention for a mud print in the road, because that might even be a realistic goal. Road crossings even in the right area and time do not happen in many life times, you just have to be that lucky person, being that person might be more than lucky if that person is actually going out expecting such a thing. Edited January 21, 2015 by Lake County Bigfooot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lake County Bigfooot Posted January 21, 2015 Author Share Posted January 21, 2015 (edited) On my way down to Florida I listened to a Cryptologic podcast, William Barnes called in to inform the listeners that the "Falcon Project" is set to launch this summer, apparently they have gotten a wealthy individual to fund them allowing them to build the craft as well as fund a team on the ground, which apparently has already been handpicked by Will. The researchers will go out in March and start the task of finding activity and patterns, then the craft will follow them when they have a probability in a area. I believe the project to be starting out in Washington State in an unknown area. They are looking for some individuals to haul supplies in to the team, and Will said that they might allow some individuals to help out at his discretion. I would contact him directly to see if you can be involved if your on the left coast and interested. He mentioned that the team would eventually be narrowed down and paid, it is a 6 month commitment to being in the bush, not for the uninitiated woodsman. Edited January 21, 2015 by Lake County Bigfooot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southernyahoo Posted January 21, 2015 Share Posted January 21, 2015 Most of my footprint finds are on trail margins. BF will not walk down a trail but will cross them by stepping on one side margin then stepping across the trail. So I am always watching the undisturbed trail margins as well as any game trail that crosses human trails. Speaking of horses, I had my Bad Dog two wheel ATV out yesterday. Too cold to be comfortable on it and still testing reliability. There are a few ATV trails, motor bike trails, but mostly I intend to use little used and overgrown logging roads to get into the really distant and high elevation areas where hiking or biking would be a hell of a climb. Who knows maybe I will encounter a BF that is like the dog on the corner near my house, that will want to chase me. Thinking about making a trailer for it so I can haul camping gear into remote locations that are not reachable with a normal vehicle. It has plenty of power. Get there, park it, and hike around the area. Nice Bike, that's about what I'm looking for to get up and down the trails on. What size motor do you have on it? Looks like maybe 200cc's. The torque converter will come in handy on the hills. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SWWASAS Posted January 21, 2015 BFF Patron Share Posted January 21, 2015 That is a 200 CC Honda. Works well on gravel and rock roads. Tires do not chatter around sideways on rock and gravel so very stable. I have yet to have it out on snow but am told it does a good job on snow too. Wish I had it with me yesterday. I found an old mine on a USGS map and decided to check it out. I have wondered if BF uses abandoned mines as well as lava tubes here. So I took off on foot over some old logging roads for a long hike in, then had to do the last mile overland using a handheld GPS to get to the location. Got pretty close in that I found an old overgrown road leading in but could not find the mine. The area had been logged, so wonder if the entrance had collapsed. Kind of worried about falling through and it was getting close to sunset so decided I better get out of there. On the way out two deer went tearing across the road ahead of me and I heard gunshots in the distance. It is not hunting season that I know, so wonder if it was a poacher. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lake County Bigfooot Posted January 22, 2015 Author Share Posted January 22, 2015 (edited) SWWASASQUATCHPROJECT, I think you made the right choice to leave, that was a recipe for disaster, or at least torture, did you have a way of contacting outside help? I have watched way to many episodes of "I SURVIVED". Seems like the worst things happen when we get overconfident of our safety while out in deserted areas. I need to heed my own advice though, I used to wade rivers in the middle of the night, no one knew where I was, and sometimes I would be out fishing for days, actually my family started a police search for me after two days of marathon fishing, I just could not stop casting, then I see my family running toward me and I'm thinking what the heck is wrong? Well that was before cell phones were usable, and I was a really free spirit, being married I have now tamed down a bit, but the tendencies remain. Anyone have any thoughts on the "Falcon Project" that I mentioned is launching this summer? see post above... Edited January 22, 2015 by Lake County Bigfooot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SWWASAS Posted January 22, 2015 BFF Patron Share Posted January 22, 2015 (edited) I carry a cell phone but normally in the mountains it does not work. It probably would in this area because it was so high that cell towers on Cascade mountains around would probably be line of sight. Since most of my field work is solo, I carry a personal ELT that is registered with NOAA. If I active it, they call several people I have on my contact list. I have instructed the people on my list to contact the Sheriffs Department and that I would only activate it if I was in danger. Broken leg or something like that. Supposed to be accurate to within 30 meters. Of course I have to be someplace that has a view of the sky. Sometimes big trees block GPS signals. I leave a detailed description of where I am going on my kitchen counter and tell someone I am going. But sometimes that is very inflexible. I might change my mind and would like to go someplace else. But I feel obligated to stick to the original plan. Probably overkill with safety but so often here in the PNW those they really have trouble finding, are those that go out without telling anyone specifically where they are going. Sometimes it takes days to find them. Snow and getting stuck are big players this time of year in the mountains. The lay of the land if I was at the location might have been a placer mine. There was a stream in the area. There has been some gold mining up in that area. If the Falcon project you mentioned is the balloon thing, I think it unlikely to work. I have looked at aerial photography from my airplane and the camera / optics issues are not promising. If FLIR is used, the resolution simply will not be good enough to show any useful detail. Daytime with high resolution photography and telephoto lens requires very low flying to get any sort of detail. Edited January 22, 2015 by SWWASASQUATCHPROJECT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WSA Posted January 22, 2015 Share Posted January 22, 2015 Just from what you say Randy, I think you are sporting a belt AND suspendors....a very good thing, and I can't say I've ever been that responsible when bugging out for the woods. My "safety net" at times has been to merely leave a note on the fridge for my roommate to find (or not) that would say something like, "I'll be alone somewhere in the Bridger-Teton Wilderness for the next ten days. If you don't hear from me by day 11, start a search" Maybe not the best way to do that, I'm thinking now. Of course, cell phones and GPS technology did not exist back "in the day", so many of us did this kind of thing. I'm sure you did too. In some ways, I really miss that. Where is a young man to get his adventure if he always knows where he is, and others do too? Uncertainty is not so bad a thing to know better in this life, in measured doses.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest DWA Posted January 22, 2015 Share Posted January 22, 2015 I tell folks where I am going...and try not to let my actual destination vary by either one national park or three zip codes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WSA Posted January 22, 2015 Share Posted January 22, 2015 Price of adventure my man... price of adventure. ^^^^ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JKH Posted January 22, 2015 Share Posted January 22, 2015 Most of my footprint finds are on trail margins. BF will not walk down a trail but will cross them by stepping on one side margin then stepping across the trail. So I am always watching the undisturbed trail margins as well as any game trail that crosses human trails. Speaking of horses, I had my Bad Dog two wheel ATV out yesterday. Too cold to be comfortable on it and still testing reliability. There are a few ATV trails, motor bike trails, but mostly I intend to use little used and overgrown logging roads to get into the really distant and high elevation areas where hiking or biking would be a hell of a climb. Who knows maybe I will encounter a BF that is like the dog on the corner near my house, that will want to chase me. Thinking about making a trailer for it so I can haul camping gear into remote locations that are not reachable with a normal vehicle. It has plenty of power. Get there, park it, and hike around the area. The first somewhat strange thing I found in the forest was a print that suggested toes on a trail margin in some mud. It was small, and probably a human with those weird shoes, but it was cold spring weather. I noticed it because I thought who runs on the side of the trail? In the hmm pile. That really looks like a fun vehicle. If you're hoping to get chased, outfit it with dash cams or a Gopro rear-facing perhaps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SWWASAS Posted January 22, 2015 BFF Patron Share Posted January 22, 2015 The first somewhat strange thing I found in the forest was a print that suggested toes on a trail margin in some mud. It was small, and probably a human with those weird shoes, but it was cold spring weather. I noticed it because I thought who runs on the side of the trail? In the hmm pile. That really looks like a fun vehicle. If you're hoping to get chased, outfit it with dash cams or a Gopro rear-facing perhaps. Camera will be part of the deal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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