Rod Hunter Posted July 24, 2020 Posted July 24, 2020 ..and if so what type of shelter do you use? I normally use a tent when I camp however in my pursuit to see BF for myself it seems fairly obvious I'm not going to SEE anything if I'm inside a tent and to be honest I think if I heard something out there in the dark I'd probably 'chicken out' and not want to look. I do have access to a Gazebo, which I considered could provide a reasonable degree of shelter from the elements whilst allowing me a 360 degree view of my surroundings. My only concern is how unstable it may become in windy conditions. It wouldn't be the first time I've had a gazebo take off on me! Any experienced campers on here? 1
7.62 Posted July 24, 2020 Posted July 24, 2020 (edited) Hauling something like a Gazebo out to a remote location is not something I would relish . My advice would be if you're camping out in an area that is a recent hot spot where your goal is bigfoot research and spotting a bigfoot I wouldn't be sleeping at all during the night. I would be up all night . I would nap during the day Also as to the chickening out part of your post if you hear something ? If you have done any kind of camping or back packing away from established camp grounds you will always hear things walking around at night . The woods come alive at night with all sorts of nocturnal creatures if you stay quiet and listen around you. Edited July 24, 2020 by 7.62
HeavyLoal Posted July 24, 2020 Posted July 24, 2020 Greeting Rod. I'm sorry to hear that your gazebo fell down! Camping in Sasquatch hotspots seems like quite a dangerous activity. You would be far safer in daylight. HeavyLoal
VAfooter Posted July 25, 2020 Admin Posted July 25, 2020 99 times out of 100, your biggest enemy in the woods is your imagination.... Like 7.62 said, the woods come alive at night. It does pay to learn the sources of nocturnal sounds so that if you do happen to hear something out of the ordinary....
Popular Post MIB Posted July 25, 2020 Moderator Popular Post Posted July 25, 2020 1 hour ago, Rod Hunter said: Any experienced campers on here? No experience at all. My favorite area requires backpacking in. I've done it as a round trip day hike but it's pretty brutal. Climb 1700 feet in 3.5 miles, then back down 500 feet in a mile. Trail is pretty rough, big loose rocks, some places stairsteps in the rocks, plus it traps runoff so it continually gets carved deeper. There is another way in, not as steep, but a mile farther and more exposure to direct sun .. hotter. There is no chicken out option. If you're not well on your way back to the trailhead 2 hours before dark, you are committed to staying. The trail is bad enough that a twisted or even broken ankle in the dark is a real good possibility. If you buy the ticket, you have to ride the train. I've had two fairly terrifying experiences in there. We had bipedal visitors the very first night I was ever there, at least 3 of them, and I got introduced to infrasound. It sucks. And the last night I spent there, last summer, started pretty cool with an hour or so of light wood knocks coming from 30 feet or so away in the dark while I laid in my sleeping bag and bivy. It stopped being cool when "whatever it was" decided to leave. It was the most chilling, "alien", crazy sound I've heard in over 50 years in the woods. I thought I knew what was knocking, now I'm not sure. 7-1/2 miles back to the trailhead, in the dark, on a barely maintained trail .. nope, the die was cast, we had to stay and ride it out. Fortunately nothing further happened. MIB 6
Kiwakwe Posted July 25, 2020 Posted July 25, 2020 Welcome to the BFF Rod Hunter! By gazebo do you mean large screen tent? I do a good bit of camping, my favorite by far is a cot under the sky but can't get away with that in buggy regions. I picked up but have not tried a mosquito netting to hang over it. Outside of that, there is a carpeted sleeping platform in the back of my truck which has a very nearly panoramic view. Screens for open windows knock that back a bit. My tent is mostly screen, the fly/vestibule providing the waterproofing but as you mentioned no view and difficult to get of quietly. I had something big come into camp with a stomp early one morning and left with knocking over an 8-10" dead tree. I just had to listen. That was back before I had BF on the brain. That scenario would have gone down differently today. I rarely use the Hennessy Hammock, It has some advantages but a bit claustrophobic. If the fly is needed and raised up enough visibility isn't too bad through the screen. But like most noseeum netting shining a light thru creates a glare. Good luck out there. 1
7.62 Posted July 25, 2020 Posted July 25, 2020 30 minutes ago, MIB said: No experience at all. My favorite area requires backpacking in. I've done it as a round trip day hike but it's pretty brutal. Climb 1700 feet in 3.5 miles, then back down 500 feet in a mile. Trail is pretty rough, big loose rocks, some places stairsteps in the rocks, plus it traps runoff so it continually gets carved deeper. There is another way in, not as steep, but a mile farther and more exposure to direct sun .. hotter. There is no chicken out option. If you're not well on your way back to the trailhead 2 hours before dark, you are committed to staying. The trail is bad enough that a twisted or even broken ankle in the dark is a real good possibility. If you buy the ticket, you have to ride the train. I've had two fairly terrifying experiences in there. We had bipedal visitors the very first night I was ever there, at least 3 of them, and I got introduced to infrasound. It sucks. And the last night I spent there, last summer, started pretty cool with an hour or so of light wood knocks coming from 30 feet or so away in the dark while I laid in my sleeping bag and bivy. It stopped being cool when "whatever it was" decided to leave. It was the most chilling, "alien", crazy sound I've heard in over 50 years in the woods. I thought I knew what was knocking, now I'm not sure. 7-1/2 miles back to the trailhead, in the dark, on a barely maintained trail .. nope, the die was cast, we had to stay and ride it out. Fortunately nothing further happened. MIB scream, roar , howl ?
MIB Posted July 25, 2020 Moderator Posted July 25, 2020 9 minutes ago, 7.62 said: scream, roar , howl ? No, none of those. It was not a throat noise, it was more like 3-4 people, not cooperating, trying to play the same xylophone that had it's keys muted so there was nothing musical left, just a weird cacophony of clicks, pops, scratchy sounds, etc, some drawn out rising and falling in pitch, some short and percussive, all overlapping rather than in sequence. The nearest similar thing was from a sci fi movie 20 years or so ago and I can't think of the name or the cast so I can't find it to post a sound clip for illustration. It was ... truly chilling. 1
7.62 Posted July 25, 2020 Posted July 25, 2020 Wow . I wasn't expecting that answer. It would freak me out also. 1
hiflier Posted July 25, 2020 Posted July 25, 2020 Uh, depends, Rod Hunter. And welcome to the BFF I am not armed when I go into the field. Well, I should say I don't have a gun. I DO have an old army machete with a good blade. My plan? Oh, maybe something like this: 1
BlackRockBigfoot Posted July 25, 2020 Posted July 25, 2020 We go into active areas at night, but we are usually set up with equipment. We don't try to sleep and usually hike out while it's still dark. It's strange, but in a few areas we seem to get more activity while we are on the move. On our most recent outing (where we found that print that I posted in the research contest thread) we were having constant activity around us while we were on the move. We started to hear a slapping sound...the closest thing that I can compare it to is a gorilla's chest beating (as stereotypical as that sounds). We stopped to set up in that area for the night. As soon as we got our cameras and recorders set... nothing. It was like an off switch got flipped. We sat there for hours with nothing. The only weird thing that happened was that the forest itself was much quieter than usual. Once we got packed up to leave and began moving, weird stuff started up again. I wouldn't attempt to go into an active area and spend the night in a tent. I wouldn't want to be blinded by nylon walls. As far as chickening out goes, @MIB is right. Once you are in there, you are committed. It's 8 or 10 miles back to our vehicle usually, so we're not getting out of there quickly. I'm not outrunning whatever is out there, even if I dropped my pack. If it's something that I can't handle, I hope that I at least give it indigestion. 1
Catmandoo Posted July 25, 2020 Posted July 25, 2020 I am in the Roof Top Tent (RTT) category. No brand recommendations. My tent has 2 ways to enter and leave. One side has the ladder and the other side is the emergency bail out door. I have views on 4 sides, bug mesh and covers. The door flaps have small diameter weight rods across the lower edge. I recommend weighting the door flaps so that when the door flap is lifted and dropped in the middle of the night, it will wake you up. I have an 8'X8' canopy where I cook away from the tent / vehicle. It is possible to erect a canopy by yourself. Canopies usually come with a stake down kit with small cord. Optional weight bags are available for the legs. Never leave food out. I fold the vehicle mirrors back and remove the rear wiper arm. Don't need pesky bears tearing up vehicle equipment. Learning an animal inventory takes time. I take notes about the start and end times of bird activity. Small owls can make huge noises. Unusual 'bird like' noises when it is pitch black are noted. A small bounding rabbitt on dry leaves sounds like bipedal type walking. Be patient. Stay safe. 1 1
BC witness Posted July 25, 2020 Posted July 25, 2020 Our group often overnights in BF areas (We hope, it's where I had a sighting and found a snow trackway years ago). The local night life includes black bear, cougar, deer, bobcat, lynx, and noisy owls. Some of us tent camp, but since I now have trouble bending/kneeling, I use the back of my SUV. It keeps the bugs off, and allows 360* vision. We usually carry bear spray and rifles/shotguns when hiking. Cougar visits at dusk have been the most exciting encounters so far. 1 1
Arvedis Posted July 25, 2020 Posted July 25, 2020 (edited) On 7/24/2020 at 6:11 PM, MIB said: .... it was more like 3-4 people, not cooperating, trying to play the same xylophone that had it's keys muted so there was nothing musical left, just a weird cacophony of clicks, pops, scratchy sounds, etc, some drawn out rising and falling in pitch, some short and percussive, all overlapping rather than in sequence. It was ... truly chilling. There are similarities in this description to paranormal experiences. The experiencer is drawn into a scenario with odd sounds, kind of a "white noise" effect but with some of the other effects you mention. Seems to be an auditory hallucination with random oddities, like walking in the woods and hearing people having a party in the distance or something else out of place. Edited July 26, 2020 by Arvedis
norseman Posted July 25, 2020 Admin Posted July 25, 2020 2 hours ago, hiflier said: Uh, depends, Rod Hunter. And welcome to the BFF I am not armed when I go into the field. Well, I should say I don't have a gun. I DO have an old army machete with a good blade. My plan? Oh, maybe something like this: https://tenor.com/view/animal-vs-human-animal-attack-bear-gif-14527012 2
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