What to look for?

[SquatchRex]

Other than past reported sightings and ample habitat and food availability, what do you look for when you're scouting/checking out an area to conduct a potential expedition? Are there any certain natural features that seem to turn up better results than others? Mountain ridges? Valleys? Hills? River bottoms? Lakes? Game trails? Thick woods? High mountains? Swamps? Marshes? Transition areas between different types of habitat? 

 

What seems to work the best for you?

 

 

[wiiawiwb]

The areas I go to are ones that I've heard first or second-hand accounts of a sighting or encounter in the past. That tells me that at least there has been activity there at some point. The most important feature for me are ponds. Not one but several in the general area.  I'm looking for ones that are remote and access is difficult to physically get to. You mentioned several...maybe a long hike up a mountain, a swamp as a barrier to access, or a dense forest with lots of blow down, and hopefully no trail to the location. Most people stay on trails so having to bushwhack creates an environment that will keep most from coming near or through. After that, I'm looking for access to an elevation change from a pond as it offers a safe retreat or spot to view me without it being seen. 

 

Nowadays, there is access to an almost unlimited number of maps. You can do a lot of legwork at home with CalTopo and Google Earth. Triangulate sighting locations to see if you can figure out why they are producing results. Good old-fashioned gumshoeing.

With that said, perhaps a sasquatch prefers a more populated area, such as designated camping spots, where it can reliably find humans to do its own investigation.  I happen to think if I can get as far away from others as possible, and make myself known through some type of sound, that I'm a more likely target for it to pursue. Fewer humans to account for, safer environment, and terrain that allows for access to easy escape routes for them.

[Curtis]

I look for wide game trails and twigs snapped off or bent at head level or above. Where I'm located it's usually some place near a river or stream. Water is always a good starting point if you're trying to locate these creatures without use of a reported sighting as a starting point. Obviously, a reported sighting is always a great place to start any kind of investigation. Once I find good sign I'll usually attempt to orchestrate a "chance encounter" by camping, hunting or fishing in the area if possible. These are curious creatures and will often watch from a distance if you're in their area. Heck, I know people who have been chased out of areas by aggressive Bigfoot. Just listen and watch closely. 

[Madison5716]

On 5/8/2022 at 6:04 AM, SquatchRex said:

what do you look for when you're scouting/checking out an area to conduct a potential expedition?

 

Almost every place around us has forest cover, game animals and water, so that's almost a given here in Oregon, so we don't have to worry much about that.

 

When we are out and about, we look for things that look "wrong" for the environment. We look for large game trails, odd stick things that are out of place, etc. We also trust our guts - if it feels creepy or like you're being watched, that is a good sign. Places that raise the hair on the back of your neck are good stuff. We do not necessarily rule out things that stand out close to human habitations or towns - we just examine them more closely and judge whether or not it's more likely to be human. It seems to be true that they do and can exist alongside us, especially if it's a travel route.

 

If we were camping overnight, we go to 1) areas where others have had experiences, and 2) where we have had our own things happen. 

 

In summer, I'd look more closely at the north side of a mountain, or a shadowed valley because it will be cooler. In winter, the opposite. In summer, I assume they are generally higher up and further in the mountains and it has certainly been our experience that they are lower down in the winter, avoiding the deep snows in the Cascades and visiting the river/lake areas - hence the prevalence of our footprint discoveries in the muddy areas in winter. We also explore places that have traditional names that may have been given to the area for a reason - aka any place with "Skookum" or "Devil" etc.