What To Do When Confronting Bf?

[Drew]

Way back when I was an Army Ranger, we would be told that at night don't look directly at what you are looking at (The reason escapes me now) but look with a slight peripheral view or using your eyes do a "8" pattern which never worked for me... But I do agree whole heartedly with the sideways at night looking for a better view, this really works...

I think it has to do with you having more light receptors on the sides of the back of the eye. Directly in back of the eye are the cones, and they are not good for light reception.

[Guest]

Norcal what do you recommend when confronting a BF and you are unarmed? I know what you would do if armed....bang......thud.....and the mystery would be solved once and for all.

Sorry, missed this one. Well, my one and only maybe (probably) encounter was unarmed and one of our two dirtbikes had a flat so we just crawled back into our sleeping bags and watched those big yellow eyes bobbing and weaving in the firelight. They weren't bothering us and we didn't have a clue what they were so we just layed there.

If I ever had a daytime face to face I would probably just stare at him and if he charged I would assume my best Bruce Lee stance and if he kept on charging I would simply say, "Bon Appetit".

I do need to get a bigger gun. All I have is a snub nosed .38 special. I suppose that would work if the BF got down on his knees right in front of me and guided the barrel to a soft spot near a vital organ but other than that I think that gun would just be an agitator.

[Guest tracker]

Here's my 2 cents,

It really doesn't matter what you plan to do, things change in the bush. Sure they bluff charge when your a threat so there may be no turning away at the last second. What ever you do don't run or try to stare them down. Thats a challenge, so unless your up to fighting an 800 lb wild creature leave your ego out of it. Back away slowly keep your eyes on them. If they charge hold your ground or take a seat. If you shoot because your scared then your on your own. So expect to be scared and try to manage your fear so you don't do anything stupid.

Anyways use your perpheral vision it's better for spoting movement to keep an eye on them as you back away and its less challenging but not a total whimp out either. They are affraid of us too except your in their backyard. So think about it before you pull the trigger. I am sure everyone has friends and family they would like to see again.

The smart play would be to avoid the situation, hike like your in Yellowstone with the big browns around. You will still see them but not too close. If your not a threat they will walk away or they will watch you leave the area. How aggressive they are will be up to you.

[Guest DWA]

On ‎9‎/‎18‎/‎2010 at 2:54 AM, georgerm said:

I have read stories of BF chasing people out of their range. Violence never seems to occur but the victims are traumatized. If you don't want to run what should you do when confronting Bigfoot? If this happened to you, what would you do? Are there any real experiences?

 

Well, it's been often said that this animal is an ecological brother of the black and grizzly bears.  Both of these animals I have encountered, in situations most people would NOT! want to, and given that, like them, a bigfoot will kill you if it wants to, and you'll do nothing to stop that, here's what bears have taught me:

 

1.  Yeah.  DO NOT RUN.  It will make no difference, unless it gets you killed, so why do it?

2.  Don't stare at or act confrontational to the animal.  But hold your ground.  Make sure it knows what you are; put your arms up; talk to it in non-threatening tones. This will do at least as much to calm you down as it will the animal. And I don't know of ANY bigfoot attacks, so you won't get attacked. (Sez me. And if I'm wrong, you're dead, right?)

3. If you are with others HERD THOSE CATS.  Do not let them run; bring them close to you. Don't ever let kids get far away from you in bear country, which is bigfoot country. And in the woods in general, because sasquatch seem to be in some places bears are not, yet. In a griz confrontation in Alaska, I had to turn around to see that the bear was interested in the two of us who were running away; my wife and I got them to do a quick about-face and stand with us, and good thing because ONE OF THEM GOT PICTURES, and one of yours might too.

4. No, I am not sure what to tell you about leveling a camera at a bigfoot.  Patterson did; and my bear buddy didn't get us attacked.  So, you know, good luck there!

5. I'd follow the advice for grizzlies if you get rushed:  Drop down; curl up, protecting head and neck as best you can with elbows extended.  Pray.  If you feel like you are getting eaten, only then do you fight, and you are the genius getting eaten, brah, so I'll let you figure out when that is but hint, two or three or four bites, ain't it. That is bad human, BAD! For black bears, the watchword is FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT.  I'll have to leave it to you to determine whether you are confronted with a bigfoot you might be able to drive off. But in that case...GET PHOTOS FIRST.

6. What will happen with your bigfoot is almost certainly what will happen with Patterson's:  departure from the scene.  Many reports exist of a "Patterson-style" departure; many exist of a bat-out-of-hell departure.

7. One report I have read was two kids getting chased on their bikes.  Two things were clear: the bigfoot didn't catch them; and it would had it wanted to.

8. Many people have been "chased" (for most "escorted" is more like it) off the animal's territory.  None have been hurt and many weren't traumatized.

 

Them's the basics.  More, just ask.

 

BTW, here is a report from an eyewitness who was far from traumatized.  And it is not exactly alone in the genre. In fact, I am sure I'd do just what he did in his circumstances, and have done it with bears.

 

http://www.bfro.net/GDB/show_report.asp?id=57053

 

 

On ‎9‎/‎29‎/‎2010 at 9:11 AM, georgerm said:

If BF holds it ground, growls, and appears he might attack, what about just sitting down and looking indirectly? Keep an indirect eye on what it is doing. Now if it decides to kidnap you, like 1 BF out of 100 might try, then what?

I think this one got answered well.  Running will do you no good.  And sitting will tell the animal, BUDGE ME, GO AHEAD.  You might get, um, budged.

 

If you don't have the weapon that your first respondent would have with him, you are gonna have to do with giving ground, talking softly, keeping your eyes on the animal.  Good luck. You are now in the wild.

[wiiawiwb]

On 9/21/2010 at 5:18 AM, ChrisBFRPKY said:

Georgerm, I think this is a good topic. With enough time in the field it seems more likely there will be a sighting made. Although I won't discuss my own personal sightings there are a few things I'd like to contribute to anyone heading out in the wilderness in search of large primates.

It's really more of a list of don't rather than a list of what to do.

1. First thing is don't go out into the wilderness alone. This is a safety thing of course. Everyone should have a buddy to go trekking with. This lessens the chance that you'll disappear without a trace. And remember to prepare for a wilderness trek, bring your compass, food, water, a lighter, etc. Maps of the area would be a good idea as well. GPS is cool but we Don't want to rely on it as our only source of info to tell us where we are or which way to go.

2. Don't go into the wilderness without some form of protection. This is completely up to the individual of course. Some feel bear spray is enough, some carry a handgun, a knife, etc..when we enter the wilderness we're in the territory of wild animals and although we've all seen the nature shows that show wild animals as serene parts of nature, remember that nature is also a violent place. A bear or mountain lion would have no problem whatsoever killing you and having you for dinner. So I personally carry a large caliber handgun to prevent such things from happening. At the least it gives me a small sence of security and that can be important to the mindset later.

3. Chances are if we see one of these creatures it's not going to be a face to face encounter. They hide from us. They'll more than likely have heard us coming from a long way off but sometimes instead of bugging out, they'll hide to hang around and get a better look at us "man animals" So we may have stopped to catch our breath and we feel a quiver at the back of our neck or goosebumps, we Don't want to ignore this. It's our long forgotten instincts telling us we're not alone. So after a quick look around we notice a creature behind a tree or behind a brush peering at us. Don't react and Don't acknowledge we see it. Look somewhere else for a few seconds. Remember our hairy friend is hiding, if we blow his cover by acknowledging we see him, we're forcing him to react in some way. After all, they're wild animals and who knows what may happen or how they will react? So, we Don't look directly at the creature. We Don't stop talking if we were having a discussion with our trekking buddy at the same time we notice the creature. We keep the conversation going and try to prepare our buddy to not react if he has not noticed the creature yet. We can say stuff like: "OK (insert trekking buddy's name here), We're not alone so Don't panic and Don't react. There's one in the bush at our 2 o'clock and he's looking directly at us. I'll start looking behind us if you wanna glance over at our 2 o'clock for a second. Just keep talking and don't let him know you see him."

4. Next is we try to control our fear, this is really hard to do because this is truly a frightening experience but we Don't run away. Running away does 2 bad things, one, it lets the creature know we see it which forces a reaction, and two, it may trigger a chase reflex in the creature and that could be bad for us. A chase reflex is associated with "predator/game" behavior, so if we trigger the reflex by running away, we've automatically put ourselves into the "game" side of that behavior. A creature will likely be confused by this as humans are not normally game for them but if we start the reflex it may likely give chase.

5. If we have a camera and raise it to take a pic, we don't point directly at the creature, this will acknowledge we see it, and that forces a reaction from the creature, so we point the cam off to the side as if we're just taking a pic or a tree to the left or the right of the creature's location and we make other pics nowhere near the creature as well. (like if the creature was at our 2 o'clock, we make most of our pics at the 9 o'clock position so he can watch us focus the majority of our attention somewhere else, maybe this will help the creature feel more secure.

6. End the encounter, Don't stay there for an inordinate amount of time. Take 30 or 45 seconds or so of observation and move on. Walk away normally, still having that conversation with your trekking buddy.

7. Don't start a chase. If we start a chase we force the creature to react. If we start a chase, at the very least we ensure we'll NEVER have another encounter in this area. So we Don't chase after them. Two words that we should remember are RESPECTFUL OBSERVATION. This is probably not all the Don't statements we should follow but I think if we follow along these lines we'll have more productive encounters. Chris B.

8. Don't shoot. (I'm adding this one as optional of course.) If you do decide to shoot , you better have a good plan put together in advance of exactly how you're getting out of there alive with evidence. Something to keep in mind is you'll likely end up shooting more than one creature before you make it out. If you have any plans at all to shoot one, have a good plan put together in advance, study some anatomy of gorillas and learn where best to place your shots. The creatures seem peaceful enough but it you kill a family member, it's likely everyone in the family group will try to rip your head off your shoulders. Chris B.

 

 

In general, these are all good recommendations. I choose to go against the flow and violate some of them.

 

First, I prefer to go out alone. I think it presents the best opportunity for an encounter. It is axiomatic that a sasquatch will be more at ease with one person than two, three or more.

Second, I always have a weapon with me and one that should do the job (454 Casull with 360 gr hard-cast, flat head, +P rounds). Having said that, I would not kill any living creature unless I had to and would only unleash the fury of my weapon as a last resort.

Third, I have taken a fair amount of wilderness survival training and am adept at wilderness navigation (SAR member) so being out there alone is a pleasure not a concern. If something happens beyond my control, I have a PLB and could summon the cavalry.

Fourth, all of us here have thought through what we'd do in the event of an encounter. Were it to happen in close quarters, we can never predict how we'd react. However, we've been given the advantage of being mentally prepared for it and that is a distinct advantage. We lived it already in our mind 's eye.

Finally, I think we are the apex predator to be feared by everything that inhabit the woods. We slaughter creatures the size of cape buffalo, elephants, and rhinos, with little or no hesitation. Granted, a sasquatch will have every advantage of the 5 S's (speed, size, strength, stealth, surprise) but, in the end, we have the boom sticks and they are the great equalizer. No doubt in my mind, a sasquatch knows it too. They also know that if you take a human, others will come.  I say this not as a badge of honor; rather, as a sad acknowledgment that mankind has ruled his environment with an iron fist. All creatures adapt or perish and sasquatches have adapted better any other, in my opinion. 

 

Edited June 14, 2017 by wiiawiwb

[Guest DWA]

3 hours ago, wiiawiwb said:

 

 

In general, these are all good recommendations. I choose to go against the flow and violate some of them.

Some might say, if you don't violate some of them, you may not really be having an adventure, and some of us want that.

 

3 hours ago, wiiawiwb said:

 

First, I prefer to go out alone. I think it presents the best opportunity for an encounter. It is axiomatic that a sasquatch will be more at ease with one person than two, three or more.

Second, I always have a weapon with me and one that should do the job (454 Casull with 360 gr hard-cast, flat head, +P rounds). Having said that, I would not kill any living creature unless I had to and would only unleash the fury of my weapon as a last resort.

I go alone most of the time, and without a weapon, which experience tells me I won't need, and yeah, that's until I do, but I like having an adventure out there.
 

Fourth, all of us here have thought through what we'd do in the event of an encounter. Were it to happen in close quarters, we can never predict how we'd react. However, we've been given the advantage of being mentally prepared for it and that is a distinct advantage. We lived it already in our mind 's eye.

Luck is preparation meeting opportunity, so they say, which seems to imply you don't get it without the preparation. 
 

Finally, I think we are the apex predator to be feared by everything that inhabit the woods. We slaughter creatures the size of cape buffalo, elephants, and rhinos, with little or no hesitation. Granted, a sasquatch will have every advantage of the 5 S's (speed, size, strength, stealth, surprise) but, in the end, we have the boom sticks and they are the great equalizer. No doubt in my mind, a sasquatch knows it too. They also know that if you take a human, others will come. [emph. mine]  I say this not as a badge of honor; rather, as a sad acknowledgment that mankind has ruled his environment with an iron fist. All creatures adapt or perish and sasquatches have adapted better any other, in my opinion. 

I happen to think the same is true of bears.  But there are young toughs; startled ones that believe it's **** hitting fan and react; old ones that are sick of our BS; and psychopaths that just don't care.  Just like with us.

 

 

[Yuchi1]

What to do when confronting a BF?

 

Whatever he tells you to do....

[FarArcher]

What to do when confronting a bigfoot?

 

I was steady backing up putting some air between us.

[Guest DWA]

Which I recommend as appropriate.  ;-)  Bears have been instructive to bigfoot science in more than one way.