Survivorman Bigfoot was an enormous breath of fresh air.
In this sixth season of Survivorman, survival expert and filmmaker Les Stroud jumps headfirst into the strange world of Sasquatching. As most by now realize, there are only a handful of individuals actively involved in Bigfootery who command unbiased respect. In fact, the majority are viewed so negatively that, despite incredible growing interest, the field is still firmly ridiculed. Enter Les Stroud’s Survivorman Bigfoot.
The Finding Bigfoots and Mountain Monsters no doubt grab ratings, but Survivorman Bigfoot is the most comprehensive, practical analysis of the cryptid on-location that I have seen. Les Stroud’s firm step into the field is incredibly refreshing. While well-produced shows like X-creatures, the Bigfoot Files, and Fact or Faked do a well, non-partisan job of evaluating Sasquatch, none of those programs feature the respected magnitude of the well-loved Stroud. For many, including me, this was a cryptoid godsend. Kind of like when your favorite team gets the best player in the league.
There was a lot to digest from this important two-specials and seven-episode stretch. Here are my highlights.
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THE TOP 10 | THE TOP 5
Obligatory Todd Standing ‘Blinky’ and ‘Ewok’ Mention
First, I have to briefly mention Todd Standing’s incredible encounter video clips of two stationary Sasquatch: the blinking Mexican wolf-man and the doll-eyed Ewok.
Since these clips have already been flung across internet, torn to shreds, revered, examined, celebrated, loved, and hated I would instead like to focus on some of the more subtle takeaways from Survivorman Bigfoot. These are fantastic encounters chew on, but they clearly deserve their own analysis and background investigation.
Survivorman Bigfoot Takeaway #20 – Even Les Stroud Gets Scared
Les Stroud is an absolute badass. He can survive anywhere.
But some of the most interesting moments in Survivorman Bigfoot occur when his fearless mental fortitude rolls back a bit. Even Les Stroud, god of survival, freaks out. There are few times throughout the season where he looks genuinely concerned with his safety. In those moments, it is fascinating to observe the mental transition into “oh shit this might be real.”
After two days of beach-camping at the ominous, north-end of Klemtu Lake in ‘Episode 1: Legend of Klemtu Hill’; Stroud was met with an aggressive display from something presumably very strong. Was this an actual Bigfoot encounter? In the 48 hours leading up to the event, Les intermittently performed inviting behavior, like wood knocking and food-gifting. Whenever he returned to the beach campsite he would discover unusual prints and missing food.
On his final day, Les was startled by the sound of a large tree or rock hurled down the beach in his general direction. On this windless evening, he appeared visibly frightened and shocked. He cycled through potential causes of this aggressive crash, but struggled for an explanation. This was one of the intense times when only two culprits surfaced: man and Sasquatch.
Watch Episode 1: Legend of Klemtu Hill here
#19 Bigfoot Might Spend Time in Hollow Trees
Was a Sasquatch, spiritually or physically, communicating with Les Stroud from within a hollow tree?
In one of the more spiritual segments of Survivorman Bigfoot, Les and his Hupa Guide Inker attempt to make camp in a relentless rainstorm in the wet Hupa Valley. Inker believes that the mystical presence of Sasquatch drained their electronics and cast bad luck upon the men. As experienced woodsman, the pair oddly struggle for hours to start a simple fire. Among the rain pattering, Les describes a persistent and deliberate knocking noise coming from a large, hollow tree.
The strange knocks escalate as the pair’s frustration grows. Their determination holds strong, and in divine-fashion, a different nearby tree falls in the windy storm. The fallen timber provides Les and Inker perfect dry, pulp to light their fire.
With this ordeal, Inker felt they were spiritually tested by the Sasquatch. Their persistent strength was rewarded with fire. And the odd knocking pushed them further and further.
Watch Episode 2: Where the Myth Began here
#18 Todd Standing Was Almost Ripped Apart by Sasquatch
No stranger to controversy, Todd Standing provided a swell of compelling material for Survivorman Bigfoot, especially ‘Special 1: Nordegg’. Despite his enthusiasm for evidence, Todd was a nice part of the show.
I have always thought that other than embellishing a few times to maintain funding and/or interest, Todd really had serious encounters with Sasquatch. And real or fake, he seems to have a growing collection of Bigfoot videos.
Todd provides a pretty intense piece of video evidence to the show. In the dark clip, Todd can be heard screaming like a drunk homeless guy “Gettouttahere!!! Gitouttaheeeeya!!!” into the blackness. The only light comes from a bright red flare… his anti-Bigfoot insurance policy. The dude sounds incredibly freaked out, and we can even here a deep, deep growling that more-or-less caused him to dip into shock. Todd says that over four Bigfoot surrounded him that night in remote Alberta and were supremely pissed off. If valid, truly an incredible encounter.
Watch Special 2: Radium Springs Bigfoot here
#17 Wood Knocks and Whoops Might be Legitimate…..
Throughout the two specials and the first season of Survivorman Bigfoot, both Todd Standing and Les Stroud invite audible contact with potential Sasquatch in the area. Hiking through the remote hotspots, they attempt to communicate via short whooping noises, rock knocks, and wood knocks.
A lot of critics in the Bigfoot community dismiss these inviting tactics, but the men were relatively successful. In the first special, for example, a distant ‘whoop’ was picked up by the camera and stopped Les in his tracks. Todd confidently proclaimed: “THAT was a Bigfoot.” Les took the critical-thinking road and deliberately cross-referenced his internal survivor database. Crossing out bear, cougar, crow, quail, and other local fauna; he arrived at two possible culprits: man and something else that we don’t know of: perhaps a large ape.
Wood knocks returned a notable result as well. In ‘Episode 1: Legend of Klemtu Hill’ Les performed daily wood knocks at his beach camp. On his final early-evening on the eerie Klemtu Lake beach, something a few hundred yards away catapulted a huge object in his direction. The air was completely still and Les immediately sensed aggression in the act. Did the wood knocks invite a large predator to his camp? We will never know.
As Les regularly reminded us, though, mountainside crashes and whoops in the forest aren’t going to prove the existence of anything.
Watch Episode 1: Legend of Klemtu Hill here
#16 ….. Not to Mention Upside Down Trees
Les and Todd found an upside down tree near a logging road in remote Alberta. Perhaps more perplexing than tree-branch structures, these trees are basically ripped out of the ground and shoved back in upside-down with the roots in the air. How odd…
On this find, Les ruled out human hoaxing, due to the apparent age of the hole that likely predated the logging road. He believes the time, resources, and strength needed to flip the tree further ruled out human involvement. To accomplish this strange task, he determined one would need a gas-powered auger to dig the hole and sledgehammers to drive it in position that firmly. No hammer marks were found on the tree.
Watch Episode 4: Giants of the Forest here
#15 Tree Structures Might Be the Real Deal Too
Les and Todd regularly investigated long tree branches in the remote woods that were cross-stacked and layered like some sort of half-ass, broad teepee. Were these tree structures really built by Sasquatch?
A big portion of ‘Special 2: Radium Springs’ is basically Survivorman Bigfoot CSI. Les tirelessly tried to understand how the tree branches ended up in their positions. Did they fall naturally? Was it snowfall? Windstorm? He questions everything, arriving at the conclusion time-after-time that these structures were deliberately built.
This is another instance of ‘why would anyone do this?’ when it comes to hoaxed Bigfoot evidence.
Of course, humans can accomplish just about anything, so we must assume that they are responsible for every piece of Sasquatch evidence discussed on this show. But why on earth would hoaxers arrange these heavy branches in these twisting and strange positions.
Maybe they’re not hoaxing at all. Maybe we’re just misunderstanding the motivation.
Perhaps they are practicing their tree communication?
No, seriously.
Les references tree symbolism as practiced by the Cree Indians. Each notch and specific overlay position branch to branch meant something different. Modern day scouts and experienced woodsmen also implement similar trail signs/markers. These include tying long grass with cordage, arranging and stacking rocks, and stick/branch positioning.
Unfortunately, we must assume that these structures are human-built information markers. What do they inform? We have no idea, but…
#14 Trees Structures Are Probably Going to be Hoaxed Regularly Now
Just like wood knocking and monkey whooping before it, the concept of Sasquatch tree structures has already seeped into the hoaxing bloodstream. With enough determination, you and your evil buddies can accomplish a halfway believable tree structure in one fun-filled afternoon.
I really don’t doubt at all that about 95% of received whoops and knocks in the wilderness are just other people. It’s so effortless. If you are even a little aware of these sounds as they relate to Bigfoot, you would probably get a kick out of returning the call. It takes two seconds to whoop-out or knock on a tree… and you might just be making your distant pal’s day with an emphatic response!
#13 For a Bigfoot Encounter, Your Best Bet is to Get Them to Come to You
The notion of ‘finding a needle in a haystack’ is repeated several times in Survivorman Bigfoot.
This is one of my favorite Sasquatch-could-be-real arguments. Obviously, I completely agree with Les Stroud’s strategy. There is so much uninhabited wilderness. A 2014 article from the DailyMail cites 47% of land in the United States is uninhabited, based on ‘census blocks’. This also includes developed, but abandoned land so the numbers are skewed a bit high when we’re considering actual wilderness.
But Canada…. oh boy.
Canada is the second largest country in the world. And so completely empty.
The vast majority of the country is ‘sparsely populated’, which, according to population density reports, means that there is less than 0.4 persons per square kilometer. Most Canadians live close to the U.S. border. The sheer absence of humans in this huge section of North America is breathtaking.
So let’s take it up one more notch.
In my write-up about where specifically Sasquatch live, I proposed a range of the minimum viable species amount, mirroring that of the Gorilla (842 to 11,919 total gorillas). It’s impossible to tell of course, but if this species is “thriving”, there would have to be no less than 800 of them. They could very well be endangered though, in which case there would be less than 800. So that’s around 800 individual Bigfoot spread out across at least 1/3 of the United States, and the majority of Canada.
Les’s approach is to enter reported Bigfoot hotspots, take up residence for a few days, and employ behavior that would invite these cryptids to him. Needless to say, becoming a needle-magnet, so-to-speak, is the absolute best approach.
#12 Native American Cultures View Sasquatch No Different than other Animals
In my opinion, one of the best supporting idea behind Bigfoot’s existence and not something like the Jersey Devil or the Loch Ness Monster, is the impressive amount of Native American reference. Most Native cultures tell stories about tall, hairy men in the woods and mountains. There’s also a huge amount of native art that clearly depicts these imposing, ape-like beings.
Les is very aware of this and dedicated an entire episode to Bigfoot hunting on the Hupa Indian Reservation in Northern California, a culture strongly intertwined with the presence of Sasquatch, or Ohma– as they call it. As Les says, “Most native cultures don’t fear Sasquatch. They respect them.”
One of the more intriguing ideas supporting the Native American & Bigfoot connection is the cultural context. The art depicts Ohma, Bigfoot, or Sasquatch right alongside other real-life, documented animals. They are presented along coyote, bear, squirrel, owl, or any other creature you could throw a stick at in the woods.
The Native Americans understand them as real beings. Maybe the rest of us just need a little more time living with them to gain that understanding. But as we build and build and build urban areas, I highly doubt we will make that connection anytime soon.
Watch Episode 2: Where the Myth Began here
#11 The Government Might Kill Bigfoot
Todd Standing provided plenty of food-for-thought in Survivorman Bigfoot. In ‘Episode 4: Giants of the Forest’ he brought Les back to their original Alberta location for another expedition. This was one of Todd’s hotspots, where he experienced a lot of activity over the years. Even Les noted the amount of strange evidence.
Their return voyage was uneventful. There was almost no activity. Todd ultimately explained to Les a “sinister” theory why the Sasquatch are all gone.
On a solo expedition in the “hardcore backcountry”, Todd found five sets of boot marks spaced 20 yards apart from each other walking through the bush. He made camp near where he found the tracks and was violently awoken by loud, rapid gunfire. He heard “multiple weapons discharging hardcore” followed by immediate silence. An hour later a helicopter landed in approximately the same area. Todd watched the descent, notching no lights and fast, deliberate, militaristic behavior. It darted in with no illumination, landed, and then went back up into the black sky.
Are Bigfoot hunted by mercenaries? If so, there’s definite financial motivation. What could it be?
Watch Episode 4: Giants of the Forest here
Survivorman Bigfoot Takeaway #10 – There’s No Shortage of Unique Bigfoot Bait
Les’s strategy to lure Sasquatch comes with no shortage of unique baits. In ‘Episode 6: Searching the Southwest’ he even uses his own son!!
Here’s a few more:
Apples:
Todd Standing and Les ‘gifted’ shiny red apples to the lurking phantoms. They climbed high into trees and supposed Bigfoot structures and fastened the fruit onto protruding tree branches. The men wanted to make sure that no bear could retrieve the apples. Of course, when the duo returned a short time later the apples were gone, but does that really mean Bigfoot took them? Not at all. Todd has been ‘gifting’ apples for years. In my opinion, I think he’s just been keeping the local racoon population fat and happy.
Marbles, Crosses, and Wind Chimes:
You have to admire Les’s dedication to Sasquatch fishing. He’s a man who is not afraid to cast unusual lures.In the Great Smoky Mountains Les and Bigfoot enthusiast Scott Carpenter used shiny marbles, specifically organized stone arrangements, and even displayed a cross made of sticks: a test to answer the question, are Bigfoot actually biblical Nephilim? The final episode of season 1 focused on the extra-dimensional, ‘hippy’ lens of Bigfoot. Thus, wind chimes were used for luring the creature.
#9 Scott Carpenter Recorded Some Eerie Vocalizations
Bigfoot screams and chatter are freaky. I thought I had heard most of them; at least those posted throughout the internet, but Survivorman Bigfoot provided us a brief listen to a new recording. They all possess creepy tones and a disorienting malevolence, but Scott Carpenter’s recording from the Smoky Mountains in Episode 4 might be the strangest and eeriest evidence of Bigfoot chatter we have ever heard.
Have a listen:
#8 Bigfoot Hunting Gets People Outside
Who ever said hunting Bigfoot is bad? It’s great!!
Any excuse to get people outside, hiking, camping, and appreciating nature is fantastic.
I never thought about it much, but Les has a great point. As this subculture grows year after year, it’s bringing like-minded people together and out into the vast expanses. And I think these expeditions into the unknown will ultimately help all of us understand that these areas need to be protected, Bigfoot or not.
Conviction in the existence of Bigfoot provides most of these folks an appreciation for the vast wilderness. Most of us reside in meticulously mapped-out regions with clear borders. This naturally feeds the idea that terrestrial Earth is, for the most part, fully discovered. More and more I read about the sheer expanses in Canada and throughout the Western United States (see Takeaway #15). Les makes consistent reference to this, as well. If anything, I believe that these Bigfooters cherish the idea that our planet is still very mysterious. Outside of our charted lines, a massive, intelligent, athletic species can eat, drink, sleep and reproduce. The more people venture to the lands beyond, I believe the more people feel the need to protect these beautiful, untouched areas from human destruction.
#7 Bigfoot Might Dig Clams
In ‘Episode 1: Legend of Klemtu Hill’, Les talks about native legends describing Sasquatch as “diggers of the sand” and “clam diggers”.
Trying to attract attention on a dark night, Les dug up clams on the beach of a Klemtu Sasquatch hotspot. Though uneventful, it was very interesting to hear about Sasquatch clam digging in Survivorman Bigfoot. It’s something I’ve never really thought of. He also provided an eerie story about local clam harvesters.
In a voiceover, a Klemtu native describes a story about clammers harassed by creatures in the night. They screamed horrifically at him and his small group. He compared it to the shrieks of a violently tortured man. After a few tense minutes, they hurriedly collected their clams and started to leave. Before they could move two steps across the wet sand, a large rock landed next to the pale.
Here’s another account of these expert clammers:
In 1907 a “monkey-like wild man” appeared on the moonlit Vancouver Island beaches. The local indigenous population vacated the area out of fear as the creature dug up clams and howled “in an unearthly fashion.” They tried to shoot the five-foot high, hairy “monkey”, but couldn’t land a blow.
#6 Utah “Sasquatch” Paintings Feature Horns
In ‘Episode 6: Searching the Southwest’, Les seeks rock paintings in a “haunted” Utah canyon. The old, red markings depict elk, deer, birds, and other everyday animals found in the region. Among the smeared art, are also depictions of bipedal beings. The human-like figure stands straight up with long legs, large feet and… horns.
Many native cultures describe Sasquatch/Bigfoot as “devils”, or “mountain devils.” To many, they represent malice and fear. This must be a fairly recent portrayal, though. If I’m not mistaken, the concept of the devil is wholly European and mostly rooted in Christianity.
I’m not sure exactly when the European concept of the devil overlapped with the regional Ute or Pauite tribes, but I will say that the presence of horns does objectively convey aggression and power.
#5 Believable Hoaxing is a Serious Endeavor
Every Bigfoot sighting is either a bear or a hoax right? Les takes a serious stab at recreating a convincing fabrication in ‘Episode 7: Hidden World of Bigfoot’. His aim was to pull-off a set of tracks to trick the experts, trying to answer the question:
“How easy is it, or isn’t it to fake?”
It’s a little harder than everyone thinks. Let’s take a look at the elbow-grease put in to this endeavor.
Les heads to S.O.T.A. FX in Los Angeles to gather the materials needed for his hoax. The team explains that most every FX Warehouse in Hollywood has done a Bigfoot costume… but getting a stunt guy out on-location in the suit is “horrible.” Essentially, you’re sitting in a steaming cocoon of foam, two inches thick.
Rather than throw on a suit, Les decides to make some tracks. Easy, right?
Not exactly.
The S.O.T.A. FX team outfits him with some premier Bigfoot stomping boots. At this point he has spent over $1000 and four full days of his time. He can’t achieve the proper stride length. He can barely get the impression depth more than an inch into the ground.
He returns to the shop. Roy and Matt, the FX masters sculpt a new set of stompers made from polyurethane and attached to some stilts. Les heads out to a local creekbed and, after many trial runs, finally gets ONE track that looks good enough.
After all of this- time, airfare, custom feet, stilts, etc.- Les’s bill rings up to about $10,000…. And that’s even after the FX shop gave him a deal.
Watch Episode 7: Hidden World of Bigfoot
#4 You can Rent a Bigfoot Costume for $50
So cheap! Les says that S.O.T.A, specifically, houses dozens of costumes from Bigfoot B-movies. And if you want to rent them, it’s a pretty damn modest pricetag.
There are a lot of production stills from movies like Exists or The Untold that show the costume in a shot not included in the final film version. These stir the Bigfoot community a bit at first until someone explains the origin. But what if you rented the suit for a week and hit the local trails?
Chaos.
Could renting costumes from Sasquatch B-movies like Stomping Ground, Boggy Creek, or Night of the Demon be the next evolution of hoaxing? You wouldn’t even have to film me walking around. If you want to make a convincing video it’s all about the suit right? That’s kinda all you need. You can just film me sitting in the bushes in full fuckin’ Snowbeast garb, drooling at the camera like a maniac.
Anything is better than the Matilda Chewbacca mask.
Les’s point is proved in all of this though. If you want to hoax well, it’s going to cost you.
Watch Episode 7: Hidden World of Bigfoot
#3 Les Stroud Might Have Been Sat on by a Bigfoot
In episode 3 of Survivorman Bigfoot Les returns to the Canadian Rockies. Todd Standing retires to base-camp, while the Survivorman climbs the craggy overlook. He ascends to the top of ‘Bigfoot Mountain’ and makes camp for a couple nights.
On his second night alone on the peak Les is transported into the Twilight Zone.
That evening, Les starts a fire to, theoretically, attract and calm the Sasquatch (they presumably feel more comfortable seeing you while not visible themselves). As he drifts off into sleep near the blaze he witnesses four strange lights floating completely still in the distant sky, estimating them as roughly 5x the size of the Concord. By the time he set up his camera, they vanished.
He finally falls asleep, but rises hours later in confusion. Les gives a midnight confessional to his camera explaining a surreal dream he had about being sat on a by a Sasquatch.
Was his mind simply swimming in the topic of Bigfoot and just dreamt the encounter? Or did a large being actually walk by and sit on him?
No one knows, but the next day he retrieves a bizarre trail cam video from down the mountain. The film shows an apple extremely high, fastened on a branch, completely disappear with no visible explanation. How eerie.
#2 Les Stroud is Haunted by an Alaskan Encounter
Les’s strange experience in Alaska arguable spurred this entire Bigfoot project. It was the first bit of Les Stroud + Sasquatch talk I had ever heard, and it absolutely thrilled me. I thought, wow, THIS guy thinks something is going on out in the wilderness. From then on, I was hooked by any involvement he had in the subject.
#1 The Power of Suggestion Blankets All
There is a poisonous byproduct to Bigfoot’s growing popularity. Perhaps the biggest takeaway from Survivorman Bigfoot is the fact that the power of suggestion is now completely interwoven into every piece of Bigfoot evidence. Everyone thinks Bigfoot did everything. To quote a hilarious Finding Bigfoot meme: “Pile of leaves? Definite Squatch activity.”
Todd Standing is the representative for this line of thought throughout the season. While Les takes a few moments to gather the evidence and employ critical thinking, Todd cries Bigfoot.
Indentation in the mud? Bigfoot.
Woop in the distance? Bigfoot.
Tree structure? Rock pile? Pile of shit? Claw marks in the tree?
All Bigfoot.
Although the casual viewer is probably bored silly by Les’s acute examination of tree structures, these are the most important takeaways. When a guy like Les Stroud just cannot find an explanation for an intricately woven collection of old branches, crashing boulders, or upside down trees, then I am REALLY intrigued.
Final Thoughts on Survivorman Bigfoot
To be honest, Survivorman Bigfoot is not for all walks of Bigfooter. If you lean paranormal and spiritual, you may not like it. If you lean full-on hoax/the whole topic is bullshit, you will passionately rip it apart. Given the most popular sorts of Bigfoot programming, like the entertaining Mountain Monsters and cultural phenomenon Finding Bigfoot, Survivorman Bigfoot is a huge breath of fresh air. This is the first uber-meticulous analysis of Sasquatch… even to the point where you might get uber tired of it. But one of Les’s biggest points is the insistence of meticulous evidence gathering, evaluation, cataloging & cross-checking. Since a body is unlikely to be dropped at CNN’s front door, this is the only way for serious believers to approach Bigfoot’s existence.
Les really blew it this time. He has lost all hope of his followers thinking he is the real thing now.
Oh, I forgot to say that I have a feeling that Les found some of those mushrooms in the bush, before he say the UFO’s and the had the ESP with Squatchy! Sorry Les, I respect you highly for everything else you did in your shows, I enjoyed everyone of them. Thank you.
I live on a creek now, my children commonly tell me they hear noises in the night that they call “The Tortured Souls.” Their hearing is better than mine now, but I finally got a chance to hear the sounds, which I knew from experience is the sound of mating wildcats (cougars, lynx, bobcats make similar sounds). I found a recording of one and played it for the kids, and yes that was the screaming of “The Tortured Souls.” I think the kids would rather them be “Bigfoot.” I must say that I do believe that they may exist, but with only at maximum 800 of them spread out over all of North America, to have so many in our backyard is not statistically possible. Besides, most of them are on Klemtu. Fortunately, no one can go there.
My comments:
1. I loved Stroud until this Bigfoot series. It just seemed all faked to me, maybe set up by others and maybe not know to Stroud, but he lost all credibility in my eyes, at least about Bigfoot anyway.
2. As a child, my family would go fishing in northern Canada every summer. Cougars (mountain lions) ‘female in heat,’ make the most terrifying ‘scream of terror’ you can imagine. When I was about 10, my father had to hold me back from trying to run and help “the woman is being murdered.” Many of the recordings I have heard of alleged “Sasquatch” sound in fact like the big cat in heat and being copulated.
3. When I was in Medical School, I heard a report on the radio of a Sasquatch sighting in Harrison Mills, around 1973. I happened to be nearby, and drove there immediately, saw the witness with police, and was able to track it through the bush. I could not find it, but found patches of “fur” attached to trees in the obvious path through the bush. I went back to UBC and analyzed the fur, found to be synthetic and not animal. Years later, I saw in the newspaper that the hoax was resolved, the perpetrator had rented a gorilla costume at a Maple Ridge shop.
4. I know a patient who commonly goes out with fake Bigfoot soles attached to his boots and enjoys watching people get excited when they find the fake Bigfoot prints. He has done this many times.
5. This week I was driving in a remote area of a local park to go for a hike, when in the rearview mirror I saw a “Sasquatch?” run across the road. I turned around and went back, unable to find anything. There were no cars or people for miles around, no side roads to park on, and not even a shoulder to pull over on. I reported it, but then changed my mind, when my sister got mad at me. “Leave them alone;” she lives close by and sees them occasionally too.
6. Looks like the woman has rented the gorilla costume again!!
I cannot comment upon Standing, but I tend to believe him. Why do all that bush whacking if one does not have an objective.
I have been Chief Parks Naturalist and have a good understanding of bush and been out bush hiking and canoeing since I was 14 or earlier.
I was given a decades old Sighting Report, earlier given to the police. Fishermen had found bones and had their camp invaded by Sasquatch. I have spent the last three years investigating. I have had an encounter and the whole study has been the most exciting adventure of my life. It has just got more complex.
So I have a book written and soon should be able to publish. But I also need help and funding. I expect to be back at it next spring. Be nice to hear from some of you that are very interested and have the means to spend time at it.
I now need to use some technology that is costly.
One comment I would make about fraud is people that do that almost always just make negative comments and never have anything to back them up with. Those who have experience usually can provide a lot of detail in a realistic way.
I do think we need to set land aside because I don’t think Sasquatch can compete with hunters with much technical equipment and thus Sasquatch are likely short of winter food supply.
Hope we can get together and protect this animal.
Will
9/12/2019
So last evening I finished watching this episode with my wife. I must say the series did present some interesting historical facts of North American legend “Sasquatch” . Bet yet after almost 60 plus years of tracking, filming ect.., well where’s the smoking gun? In one episode I believe Les uses three cameras in a triangle position to ensure if the creature touches one the other two cameras will catch it on film. Next scene we find one of these cameras is taken down however we never see what the other two camera caught during the event.
There are numerous times it appears Les being a tiny bit sacartist but keeping himself professional and careful not to hurt those who seek the truth.
With that said this series is probably the most informative shows on this subject matter with a objective approach to the viewer.
Worth watching for believers and non believers, If anything Les Stroud gives us some beautiful filming of our own backyard without the BIgfoot!
I am 62 and have four kids – two of them were in Scouting and I went along on a few overnighters. We live north of Seattle. On one trip in July, 2011, our group was four adults and about 7 kids. All were in tents, mostly one-man tents. I was up later than most just because it is hard to sleep on the ground. As I lay there, I heard something walking through the green bush – I estimate 150-200 yards away. There is nothing dry on the ground in the Cascades so you hear more cracking of green branches than anything else. I didnt’ pay attention to it, figured it was either a bear or mountain lion – no danger to us. Then I started to listen more carefully and realized it was definitely on two feet, and it was headed directly at our camp – the cracking brush was getting louder. The amount of crunching green branches indicated a large foot. And it was intelligent enough to slow down it’s pace and place its foot on the ground slower as it got closer to camp. I timed it. The length of time between paces grew to 5 seconds, then 8, then 10, then 15 – as the crunching got louder. I couldn’t believe it, I was pulling my hear out. I knew it wasn’t a psycho in snowshoes – it came straight out of the tree line high in Cascades (Heather Lake). I called out the adult next to me but he was asleep, so I woke him but the foot steps stopped after I called out, and the guy went back to sleep. Fifteen minutes later, another foot step – it was still coming. By this time they were over 10 min between steps, and taking a full five seconds (of crunching bush) to lay its foot down. It was like a ninja creeping up on us. And then silence for a long time. I was freaking out but the Tylenol PM I took earlier finally caught up with me and I fell asleep. In the morning, others thought I was joking or trying to scare the kids – pissed me off. I do think the sound of kids playing and goofing around attracts their curiosity. I know there is a species out there – I don’t need further proof.
OK, I’ll comment. Kept quiet for quite some time but let that go many years ago. Never have written about it though.
My experience occurred in the Boundary Waters area of Northern Minnesota.
A friend and I had set up camp on a small lake. One trail led to the lake, one trail led out. The lake contained a single allowed camp site. For those of you unfamiliar with the Boundary Waters access is limited by permit only and camping is only allowed at designated sites, a clear spot does not mean you can pitch your tent. The campsite was on the shore of the lake with a 30′ stone cliff immediately to our right. Once night fell and we were by our fire both of saw a large rock, easily the size of a bowling ball, thrown out from the top of the cliff into the lake. This was followed by a vocalization where the term roar does no justice. Let me pause here. I listened to a podcast very recently on vocalizations and how the human brain correctly interprets them. I found the podcast interesting remembering my experience. At the time of my experience there was no doubt whatever produced this sound was very large, angry, and directed at me and my friend. After the “roar”, another equally sized rock was thrown in the lake directly at the base of our camp followed by yet another vocalization. There was no doubt left that these actions were directed at us. Our safety is important as well as that of whatever was in the woods. We decided to fend off any possible confrontations by firing one of our rifles into a dead tree at the shoreline. All activity stopped, no rocks, no further vocalizations. The following day we attempted to climb the cliff and look. We found it unnaccessible with what gear or lack thereof we had. Scouting the area around our campsite also showed nothing.
Reflecting on this early after the event we both remembered when we first arrived at the campsite. Quite a bit of very nice camping gear (I still have and use it) had been left behind by previous campers, strewn around the area, some far from the site. We found this odd as it is Boundary Water etiquette to pack out what you pack in. My friend remembers my statement of “looks like somebody left in a hurry” .
Asking my friend several years later what he thought it was that night he replied probably a bear. I told him yeah you’re right, what threw the rocks. No reply.
So I make the same statement made by Les Stroud. Ok I get it, bigfoot does not exist, so what lives in the woods, yells and throws rocks at you.
Back in the 80s my wife and I were camping in an area outside of Divide Colorado in the middle of the week. It was the Manchester Creek area. We had been shooting and fishing off and on all day. Just as it was getting dark we heard an extremely loud drawn out screaming roar just over the small hill next to the camp. This area was always very quiet and deserted during the week and we knew for sure there was no one around this day. I was bent over a frying pan so I didn’t get the full effect like my wife and dog did. I have never seen her so terrified and the dog ran in the tent and peed. I had camped in that area dozens of times and never had heard anything remotely like that. I’ve heard all kinds of wildlife, I know what they sound like and have encountered many types in that area but nothing like that. We stayed the night because getting out after it had rained was difficult in the daytime and next to impossible at night. I didn’t sleep at all and I don’t think she did either. I tried to make light of the whole thing for her sake but I’ll admit it scared the hell out of me. Funny thing was a few months later on I read in the paper that there had been several encounters from Green Mountain Falls all the way up past the Divide area over a period of several months. I continued to camp that area but was never really relaxed like before and I never camped it alone again.
Belated post, but I am ambivalent to the existence of Bigfoot. However, I have had one or two fairly strange experiences on a fishing trip in the Rockies’ back country. One time I back packed to a high mountain lake in late June to fly-fish. I was the only person, from start to finish, expect for unwary fisherman starting out at the trailhead when i returned. they were even less equipped to handle the snow than I was (tennis shows, gym shorts). It was like the last few days of June but the snow pack about a mile from the top was still waist deep. I cursed myself because I was not prepared for deep snow, but I decided to plow on in hiking boots. I was trudging small step, by small step in waist deep, razor sharp snow. My tracks were simply just one long, connected line because I couldn’t lift my foot out and up, I was basically just just pushing my way through, kinda like walking through water, thigh high (i’m 6’2” btw). Then I notice huge, foot shaped tracks going through the snow in front of me. The tracks were big, human foot shaped, and they went deep. However, the stride was about two feet apart. So basically the tracks were stepping out and up from eachother making individual prints, not just pushing through like me. I guess its possible they were old snow shoe tracks. But later that night, after I failed to get a fire going because everything was soaked, it was eerily quiet and windy, I went to sleep early, and was awoken by something that gave me a very stern, loud, and crisp growl, like right at my face, just on the other side of the tent. I kept still, and that was it. I didnt notice tracks of any animal around camp the next day but at the time I guess I wasn’t really looking. The next day, all of the lines tying down my rain fly had been severed, which was kind of weird (it was only connected by the clips). I went fishing, but the overall feeling was weird. Maybe it was because I felt defeated from my miscalculation on the snow pack, but also, being around the tightly enclosed lake by dark, silent forest, I just didn’t feel comfortable for some reason. I remember looking back over my shoulder one or two times for no reason at all. I decided to just go back a day early because whether it was the snow, or something else, I didn’t feel welcome. I didn’t immediately conclude or even think of Bigfoot. However, later while just randomly browsing bigfoot topics I heard a growl recording someone posted online that summer (I think in Oregon). The growl they recorded was spot on to what I heard, and I began to think how strange everything had been, the tracks, the absolute silence, the growl, the severed lines, the just weird vibe I got while fishing the next day. I am in the bush quite frequently and never had, nor have since, had such strange vibes or occurrences. I will certainly be on the lookout from now on.
3/4 into the episode entitled ‘Giants of the Forest’, Season 6, Ep 4 of Survivorman Bigfoot, Less and Tod share a theory that sent a chill down my spine. What if there are forces out there that do NOT want Sasquatch, a hominid, to be discovered by modern science? Think. How much are those vast forests worth to logging corporations. What would happen to that ‘habitat’ once Bigfoot is proven to exist? Those forests would have to be declared ‘protected hominid habitat” and close to logging. Indeed. Someone might just send very skilled and equipped trackers to eliminate any trace of a Bigfoot.
Chilling to think about that possibility.
Working overnight at a sawmill I heard a very strange noise from the wood line (approx 300 acres or more), it was like a deep tone roar / growl followed by a grunt. I have seen deer herds, bobcat, coyotes, fox, coons, opposiums, turkey, etc…. But never a sound like that, it sent a chill down my spine and it was several weeks before I would venture into the darker isolated area.
I watched the Finding Bigfoot series for fun. During turkey hunting season I decided to head out early from work to scout an area where I had found sign. Nobody was out in that area . It was the middle of the day.
I walked a few miles around a high area that juts out into low wetlands that go for miles in all directions. On the way back I thought why not just for the hell of it do a tree knock so I picked up a baseball sized dead branch and wacked a tree 2 times. I very quickly got a one knock response!
Suprised the hell out of me! It was off in the distance back in the direction I had just scouted. I tried again but nothing responded. If some one was playing me then why didn’t they respond again? I can’t explain anything beyond that but I am sure that what I heard was a response to my knock. It was clearly the same sound and the timing was spot on for it. Not coincedence. Kind of creeped me out.
I was surprised he didn’t mention the foul smell. I was on a trail in the North cascades with my dog running ahead, Suddenly the dog was running back to camp and there was a horrible smell which gave me the creeps. I have always thought there was a Bigfoot nearby.
I had an encounter on a early May week trip to Kiosk in Algonquin Park in 2015. A friend of mine was with me after a full day of kayaking and exploring we headed back to our campsite just down around the bend from the ranger cabin. After dinner we set up a fire and as night fell all was very quiet. Almost an hour went by and I suddenly smelt something. But this smell was like 10 wet dogs and a landfill site plus a ruptured septic tank. I asked my friend if he could smell it and he said he could and found it revolting. In the next minute the smell subsided to nothing and we heard no noise anywhere in bushes or trees until a small rock seemed to fall from syraight abov our firepit. We both were amazed and looked up but saw nothing. It was basically a WTF moment for us both. Then suddenly another small rock flew across the fire between us. Thats when my friend said he was kinda scared and took off inside his tent. I stayed up and by the fire but heard or saw nothing else. I put out the fire and headed off to bed. Later the next morning before we set off for kayaking again I noticed some wierd looking barefoot marks although not complete on the beach headed towards the forest away from our site. My friend laughed it off and nothing else happened on our trip….I am an experienced woodsman and have been camping i was a small boy and have been to every provincial park in Ontario several times in all seasons….with only this one enconter….hopefully there will be another.
Love this information … thank you I’ve watched the Les Stroud episodes many times and always learn something new . Thanks again
I believe there’s something out there for sure. It would be great to be able to prove the existence of BF w/o harm coming to any of them (body). Can you imagine the craziness of a lot people hunting them if it ever is proven 100% they’re real!? Maybe it is best to keep the mystery of them secret, for their safety alone.
Les Straud is an interesting guy to watch maneuver through the woods and try and figure out these amazing animals. He definitely gives fresh perspective. Awesome article!
Exactly…WISE words…they are better off left alone.
Nice article. Les is the most believable in my book. You missed the most important part of Les Stroud’s Bigfoot adventures where he talks about receiving mental messages from Sasquatch after he saw the UFO’s. Les talked about this on podcasts. He got the mental note that they were only two hills away and if he waited there they would come to him. Les said he wasn’t ready for that and packed up and left. And anything that Todd Standing does or says esp the Bigfoot attack that he filmed or the faces of Bigfoot, it’s all a hoax. He has lost his credibility. Once you hoax even a small part, you are done. I believe he has had experiences probably but in his quest to prove Bigfoot he has lied and he is done.
I am trying to find out what Todd Standing did to make him a hoaxer, can you please elaborate?
There are those who say his pictures and video of Sasquatch have been faked. It is also said that what ever Tod finds in the woods, he yells Eurika! Sasquatch. He is not objective. Perhaps, but that man has the balls and the skills to go out into the woods and actually look for what might be the most elusive primate on the planet.
I was a writer/editor on an alternative media website for several years. We got into a full on knock down drag out encounter with Standing. During that event (all in the comments section of a bigfoot article) we essentially exposed him. In fact, he was so concerned that he actually started commenting as two people (proven by the IP of both). He had a production company long before his alleged “bigfoot encounters” and that was a big sticking point where we got him. Not to mention, we had him so confused, he said things he likely didn’t want to say and kept backtracking.
That said, I do think it’s possible that he later decided to go straight and become a serious researcher. His most recent stuff if far more legitimate (more believable) than it was years ago. So, it’s hard to tell if he’s gone straight, or not.
Donna makes a good point and it’s possible that “once a hoaxer. always a hoaxer”, but I think people can have a defining moment that sets them straight. Then again, if interest begins to wain, who knows if a reformed hoaxer will revert back to their old ways, just a little to get their footing again.
Although I believe he was being overly dramatic and sensationalistic on the Stroud series, for the most part, he seemed to be serious. However, I was getting the feeling he was setting things up ahead of time to reinforce himself. But, that could have just been my doubt kicking back in.
If one is lucky enough to really listen to their vocalizations, with humans, one can realize the amount of absolutely profound information these beings are capable of imparting.
Animals, in a sense, but with the acumen and memory of a human being. Invisible, silent and capable of speed even a trail cam can’t capture. The fact they even exist is a testimony to how intelligent and, to us harmless, that they really are.
Global Warming? Definite Squatch activity.
Great write up. I’ve got to watch this now since I’m a huge Les Stroud fan.