Monday, January 21, 2013

GPS COORDINATES FOR THE BLUFF CREEK PATTERSON-GIMLIN BIGFOOT FILM SITE AREA

BIGFOOT'S BLOG
Supplementary, January 21st Edition


Enlargement of detail of our widely published PGF Site grid map,
GPS reading clearly seen.
Click to Enlage, if you have to do so to read the numbers.
Certain "critics" of the BLUFF CREEK FILM SITE PROJECT have repeatedly cropped up saying things like we have not been open with the results of our PGF site research, and have been "secretive" about the true site location and coordinates. REALLY? I suppose the 72 videos we have done so far were not enough? Nor all of the blog entries right here that discuss the matter? Not even the maps published here that show exactly where the site is, along with GPS locations clearly marked? Not all the countless phone calls and visitors I've spent endless hours with in helping them find the place? Oh well.

To make it easier for everyone... HERE THEY ARE:  41,26.412, -123,42.115. 
That is right by the Patterson camera position. That reading is from Robert Leiterman's Garmin GPS device. Here is a map, with data points marked:
Upper Bluff Creek, area of the PGF stie. The Bigfoot film action occurs around "Leiterman 2 up to "Big Stump."
CLICK TO ENLARGE.

















Here is some data for you:
TOPO! GPS  Data  Format  DegMin  NAD83  ElevFeet  Local-Time
AL-Hodgson site, 41,25.520, -123,43.198, NA, 10/12/2010, 04:56:24, 09-OCT-10 12:49:55PM
Berm, 41,26.501, -123,41.966,2883, 10/12/2010, 04:56:24, 10-OCT-10 2:17:40PM
Big Stump, 41,26.450, -123,42.090,2606, 11/12/2011, 15:52:00, 09-OCT-11 4:07:13PM
BigRock, 41,26.281, -123,42.482, 2424, 10/12/2010, 04:56:24, 09-OCT-10 2:17:22PM
CellSpot, 41,20.554, -123,39.680, 4065, 10/12/2010, 04:56:24, 21-AUG-10 1:23:13PM
CellSpot1, 41,25.659, -123,40.101,4337, 10/12/2010, 04:56:24, 21-AUG-10 2:18:23PM
CellSpot2, 41,23.894, -123,38.799, 4209,10/12/2010, 04:56:24, 21-AUG-10 1:45:41PM
CellSpot3, 41,17.565, -123,43.786, 3497, 10/12/2010, 04:56:24, 22-AUG-10 6:13:05PM
Clearing, 41,26.295, -123,42.157, 2620, 10/12/2010, 04:56:24, 10-OCT-10 2:42:31PM
Dozer, 41,26.297, -123,42.151, 2532, 10/12/2010, 04:56:24, 18-SEP-10 1:15:58PM
EastBatBox, 41,26.303,-123,42.357, NA,11/12/2011, 15:52:00, 27-JAN-10 3:36:40PM
Leiterman1, 41,26.457, -123,42.180,2729, 11/05/2011, 16:26:13,
Leiterman2, 41,26.412, -123,42.115, 2544, 11/05/2011, 17:23:21,
Opening, 41,25.673, -123,43.223, 2340, 10/12/2010, 04:56:24, 09-OCT-10 12:50:42PM
ParkingMud, 41,26.316, -123,41.468, 3139, 10/12/2010, 04:56:24, 18-SEP-10 12:36:10PM
Rebar, 41,25.297, -123,43.283,NA,10/12/2010,04:56:24,09-OCT-10 12:03:43PM
RockSlide, 41,26.405, -123,42.003, 2889, 10/12/2010, 04:56:24, 10-OCT-10 2:24:18PM
Stream1, 41,26.266, -123,42.158, 2615, 10/12/2010, 04:56:24, 10-OCT-10 2:44:27PM
Stream2, 41,26.209, -123,42.457, 2487, 10/12/2010, 04:56:24, 10-OCT-10 5:36:25PM
TwinLakes, 41,19.203, -123,39.989, 3719, 10/12/2010, 04:56:24, 21-AUG-10 1:03:27PM
View1, 41,26.348, -123,42.031, 2600, 10/12/2010, 04:56:24, 10-OCT-10 2:31:37PM
View2, 41,26.312, -123,42.068, 3002, 10/12/2010, 04:56:24, 10-OCT-10 4:12:12PM

These readings were taken by Ian C., BLUFF CREEK FILM SITE PROJECT founding member around the area and at the film site. The two "Leiterman" readings are the film site itself, added later to the above, though the reading for the upper maker was incorrect due to poor satellite reception down in the canyon at the time. The lower reading may be used on Google Earth and other places to find the exact position of the start of the film action. Some of the points above are off the map given, but still in the area, and may be useful to all.
Here is an early map sketch published a LONG time ago now on this blog.
Note the GPS coordinates we got at that time for the site of the first sighting, as per
the memory of Bob Gimlin. CLICK TO ENLARGE.
From Ian: "Finally dumped my GPS onto the computer.  The actual coordinates are below.  The Leiterman waypoints are from the grid work, I manually added them.  The Leiterman1 location is certainly bad, it is about 200 vertical feet above the creek!  However, that is what you get from a GPS down in there. The rest of my waypoints I have very high confidence in; they match up well with where I thought I was on the map at the time."
In case that wasn't obvious enough, here it is again, BIGGER.
Here is the latest map of the area that we have done. It is still being expanded and slightly revised. Note the GPS readings are on there, too.
2012 PGF Site Map. CLICK TO ENLARGE.
Here is what it looks like on Google Earth. Note that their notation differs in formatting.
Google Earth, around the PGF site. CLICK TO ENLARGE.
Thanks for reading, this time. I do hope I don't have to answer these same questions over and over again for the rest of my life.

Here are some images for you of the trip we did there this last summer, just for fun.

Here is a group photo from down in Louse Camp.
Bluff Creek Trip GROUP SHOT.jpg 
Back row: Todd Hale, Tom Yamarone, Steven Streufert, Ian C., Daniel Perez, Rowdy Kelley, Terry Smith, Scott McClean, Cliff Barackman
Front row: James Bobo Fay, Francis and Robert Leiterman, Bill Munns
Foreground: Monkey and Pre


Here is another, on the site right on the trackway, to include all members...
Group Shot at Site.jpg 
Cliff Barackman, Ian C., Rowdy Kelley, Todd Hale, Jamie Snowhorse, Robert and Francis Leiterman, Bart Cutino, Terry Smith, James Bobo Fay, Bill Munns and myself.
(Missing Richard L., the retired USFS hydrologist who joined us the first day, and Scott and Tom who stayed in camp.)


Here are the original BLUFF CREEK FILM SITE PROJECT guys, reunited with Ian's return...
Bluff Creek Project GROUP 2012.jpg 
Steve, Ian, Robert and Rowdy, in front of the Big Trees. 

Here is an image of Bill Munns just after he first saw the Big Tree, and then started pointing out the others seen in the background of the PGF.
Munns at Big Tree.jpg 
There you have it.
See ya.

ADDENDUM:
Here is a travelogue with descriptions of the route that Ian C. (crazy_ian) published on the old Bigfoot Forums back in 2007 from a trip in 2006. NOTE: Some factors may have changed since then. Enjoy.

So you want to visit the site of the Patterson-Gimlin Film? by CrazyIan

Background
The film itself has been discussed and analyzed on for almost 40 years. I will not try to add to the great information already in print and online. In short, I find the film very compelling evidence that there is a large unknown hominid roaming the Pacific Northwest, for the basic reason that in four decades no one has been able to demonstrate how it could be faked.

According to generally accepted information, the film was taken about 1:30 on the afternoon of Friday October 20, 1967 on Bluff Creek in Northern California. The actual site is in the Orleans Ranger District of the Six Rivers National Forest in Del Norte County, very close to the borders with Humboldt and Siskiyou Counties. The nearest town is Orleans in Humboldt County.

Getting There
The only main road to the area is Highway 96, the Bigfoot Highway. Coming from the north, 96 meets Interstate 5 between Yreka and the Oregon border. It is about 140 miles on 96 to Orleans. If you are coming from the south, leave I-5 at Redding and take 299 west about 100 miles to Willow Creek. Turn right onto 96 and go about 35 miles to Orleans. From Orleans, the fastest way in is to take 15N01 (on some maps just called 15) north. The sign in Orleans calls this Eyesee road, other forest service signs alternately refer to 15 as the G-O road. As a side bar, the G-O road was originally conceived in the 1970's as a connector between the towns of Gasquet and Orleans. For political reasons, the final miles in the middle were never completed; that area is now in the Siskiyou Wilderness. Just know there may be multiple local names for the roads, so I prefer using numbers for identification. Be sure to stop into the Ranger Station at Orleans for the latest road conditions; just remember like most Forest Service offices, they are only open weekdays, usually 9:00-4:30.

15N01 is paved all the way to the end at Elk Valley, about 30 miles, but you don't need to go that far. To get to the film site go about 17 miles and take a left onto 12N12, Cedar Camp Road. This road is also paved. Go about 1.5 miles and take a right onto 12N13. In October 2006, there was a small handwritten sign "Sasquatch Road" at this intersection. The road becomes gravel, but was easily passable on my trip. Now you are getting close. At about 3.5 miles take a right onto 12N13H. It's about 2.4 miles down to the creek, but if you are driving a regular car, you may want to walk down. The road is basically okay, but narrow enough to scratch paint at the top. Near the bottom there is a section prone to landslides and covered in wet leaves. My Xterra made it back and forth in 2WD without problems, but a rear wheel drive pickup did a little wheel spinning before getting out. The slightest rain or snow would make it a real challenge.

Anyway, 12N13H ends at Bluff Creek. There's a small clearing with a fire ring and two, currently knocked down, bat nesting boxes. Here's where it gets interesting. Some researchers feel the exact spot the film was taken is to the left, down stream. Others feel it is upstream. I spoke with researchers who supported both opinions. I'm not going to name names, or say who's in each camp, but both views have some factual support, and I have a lot of respect for everyone involved.

Eventually I spent several hours hiking up and down the creek with print-outs from the film, and I believe it is just not possible to objectively identify the exact location. I did find two large Douglas Firs that could be the one seen in the background of the early frames. The under story in that area is so thick that there is no way to recreate any of the shots from the film. The creek has also moved around a lot over the years and has suffered severe flooding. Also, the road bed that Patterson and Gimlin followed is gone except for a few scattered places.

Once you are done at the film site, go back up to 12N13. If you continue west the road descends from the ridge top down into the Bluff Creek valley. After about 4 miles you will cross a concrete bridge (over Bluff Creek), less than a mile further there's another concrete bridge over Notice Creek, and just past this bridge is a left turn into Louse Camp.

Maps
Any good highway map will get you to Orleans. >From there I strongly recommend the Forest Service map for the Six Rivers National Forest. You can get it at any local ranger station, or order it by calling the National Forest Store at 406-329-3024. You can also find a good quality scan here: http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/sixrivers/maps/north/

The USGS 7.5 minute quad of the site is called Lonesome Ridge. The National Geographic Topo! Software for California is also very handy. It has all the topo maps for the state on CD, plus you can hook up a GPS and/or download maps to a PDA. The Delorme Gazeteer for Northern California is recommended as a good source of intermediate scale maps.

Alternate Routes
Bluff Creek Road, 13N01 will also get into the general area. It starts on 96 a few miles south of
Orleans. It runs 36 miles to join 15N01 about 10 miles south of Elk Valley. It is a good road,
paved all the way, but the Forest Service closes a few miles around Fish Lake each fall to prevent
the spread of a plant disease, so it's not a through road for a large part of the year. When it is
open, it is about 21 miles from 96 to the intersection with 12N10, which will take you to Louse
Camp. From there you can backtrack to the film site. One warning, in October 2006, I crossed a
small landslide on 12N10 near Laird Meadows. It had been packed down by other traffic and
was no problem for a high clearance vehicle, but it might hang up a regular passenger car. The
entire area is subject to this sort of thing, so be prepared!

You can also pick up Cedar Camp Road 12N12 south of Orleans and follow it all the way
to 12N13. From there the directions to the film site and Louse Camp are the same as coming in
on 15N01. Is a little steep and narrow in places and it's not paved all the way, so this an option
only in good weather and with the right vehicle.

One final important note, there are two roads shown on the Forest Service map that are no longer
open. There is a section of 12N10 shown running due north from Louse Camp to 13N01. I think
this is way Todd Neiss drove in 2002. This section is completely closed to traffic, berms have
been bulldozer at both ends. Also on the map, there's 13N01D running from Louse Camp north
west
to 13N01, this is closed too.

High quality image... Click to Enlarge.

****************************************************
This blog is copyright and all that jazz, save for occasional small elements borrowed for "research" and information or satirical purposes only, 2003-2013, Bigfoot Books and Steven Streufert. Borrowings for non-commercial purposes will be tolerated without the revenge of Angry Bigfoot, if notification, credit, citation and a kindly web-link are given, preferably after contacting us and saying, Hello, like a normal person would before taking a cup of salt. No serious rip-offs of our material for vulgar commercial gain will be tolerated without major BF stomping action coming down on you, hu-man. 

Thursday, January 17, 2013

VIDEOS from THE BLUFF CREEK TRAIL CAMERA SURVEY

Robert Leiterman and Rowdy Kelley at the crook in the creek near the
first frame, Jamie S. up on the sandbar near the Patterson camera position.
BIGFOOT'S BLOG
Mid-January, 2013 Edition

The members of The Bluff Creek Film Site Project currently have many high-grade game cameras mounted along Bluff Creek around the site where the Patterson-Gimlin Film was shot in 1967. This was a publicly funded research project, which brought in twice its goal in donations, enabling us to double our area coverage. Don't think of hoaxing us... the area is not only closed and completely snowed in, but we also have secret cameras monitoring the entrance to the are that will surely document any mischief. See below for the new VIDEOS showing the implementation of the cameras. We will have further results once we can retrieve the camera cards, either by helicopter or once the snowdrifts blocking the roads clear in the spring.

Read the first article posted about Bluff Creek Trail Camera Survey here:
http://bigfootbooksblog.blogspot.com/2012/08/bluff-creek-film-site-projects-trail.html
See final funding results here:
http://www.indiegogo.com/p/201772

PART ONE:


PART TWO:


PART THREE:
 

See Rowdy Kelley's BLUFF CREEK YOUTUBE SITE here for more cool area videos, including some grand footage of black bears:
http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVvj3IYinKJDkoj8hfX2hxQ?feature=plcp
Updates and results will be officially published here on this blog, but also on the BLUFF CREEK PORTAL site (currently under construction), run by Jamie S.
https://sites.google.com/site/bluffcreekportal/

Here are a few more photos...
Tracking dog, with Rowdy and Robert
Rowdy with dual camera coverage
Jamie S. and his baby
Jakob B. and the Big Tree
Bluff Creek PGF Site, seen from dirt road above.
All photos above by Steven Streufert, seen here with
what we jokingly thought of as a "Bigfoot Shelter".
This photo by Jamie S.
****************************************************
ANGRY BIGFOOT SPEAKS!

ME NOT TALKING. ME TIRED OF TALK, TALK, TALK, HU-MAN.

****************************************************
This blog is copyright and all that jazz, save for occasional small elements borrowed for "research" and information or satirical purposes only, 2003-2013, Bigfoot Books and Steven Streufert. Borrowings for non-commercial purposes will be tolerated without the revenge of Angry Bigfoot, if notification, credit, citation and a kindly web-link are given, preferably after contacting us and saying, Hello, like a normal person would before taking a cup of salt. No serious rip-offs of our material for vulgar commercial gain will be tolerated without major BF stomping action coming down on you, hu-man. 

Thursday, December 20, 2012

BIGFOOT DOWN: An Interview with the Author of the New Novel... BRUCE PHILLIP HOOD

BIGFOOT'S BLOG
DECEMBER 20, 2012... "End of the World" Edition

Just in time for you to read it before the end of the Mayan calendar brings devastation or fifth-dimensional evolution down upon our planet, here is an interview I did with the author of the recent novel, BIGFOOT DOWN, Mr. Bruce Phillip Hood. He is an interesting character, with whom I've had many hours-long phone conversations. If he seems a bit reserved in some of the responses below, just know that he is only trying to hide some aspects of the strange and interesting plot of his suspenseful and humorous novel about a captured Bigfoot.

I asked Mr. Hood for an author bio several times, but being a man of mystery of some sort he never sent one. So, I wrote one for him, which he, surprisingly, approved. Here it is: "Bruce is an artist, novelist, grand schemer, and transhumanist lapsed Catholic, and loves a strong martini shaken not stirred." He describes his book, alternatively, as  "a Dadaist thought experiment," or "A mule eyed piece of Dadaist humor." I found it to be a rollicking good read, with some intriguing suggestions about the potential craziness that could occur were a Bigfoot and human society to intermingle.

It should be noted that, despite the violence and suspense in the book, BIGFOOT DOWN is NOT a "Pro-Kill" Bigfoot book.
Back cover, detail. Art by Joshua Kemble
Here is a book review I wrote a while back:
BIGFOOT DOWN
is the Debut Novel by
BRUCE PHILLIP HOOD,
out now as an Amazon Kindle eBook.
"The Closest You Will Ever Get to a Sasquatch Without Smelling His Breath!"

This is perhaps one of the strangest and most challenging Bigfoot novels ever written. It depicts a creature at once not like that of the B-movies featuring a slasher/killer monster, but also not as corny as the "Forest Brother" featured in the recent "Letters from the Big Man." Instead, we find a being every bit as complex and intelligent as any human, if not more, yet one with the strength of a bulldozer. Part suspense novel with all the twists and turns and intriguing ideas of a Dan Brown story, part "Blackhawk Down," and partly like the novel "Ishmael" (which features interspecies philosophical discourse with a gorilla), BIGFOOT DOWN will twist your categories of of what is possible with a Bigfoot-human encounter, all while challenging at the core the idea of what it is to be "human." Who is the savage beast, and who is the higher intelligence? What is right and wrong when all usual parameters for ethical judgement have broken down? Who will one day rule the earth if civilization falls, or if Bigfoot proves to be capable of mastering technology? Who is civilized, and who the beast? Entertaining and intriguing, this novel is much a Dadaist thought experiment as it is an engaging read. Bruce Phillip Hood's Bigfoot suggests a scenario where we are not only not the only intelligent life forms on the planet, but in some ways, potentially, we may have been surpassed. When Claude Michel puts his big foot down it shakes the human world at its core, and it should shake you up as a reader, as well.
Here is a brief promotional summary of the book:
"Deep in the wild of Canada’s Boreal Forest, in a place chosen for its isolation, a botanist experiences a series of break-ins that threaten his life’s work. The perpetrator is caught in the act and gunned down. When the smoke clears the botanist and committed naturalist realizes he has bagged a live Bigfoot, now barely clinging to life. Stricken with grief, he summons all his resources to right this wrong. What happens next is a bloody clash of cultures with a creature filled with intelligence. An outsider chosen by the beast himself serves as biographer for a story of love and fear, hope and tragedy, humor and horror and, in the end, a true tale of friendship and loyalty. Bigfoot Down is as close as you will ever get to a Sasquatch without smelling his breath." 
The author, Mr. Hood

Visit the BIGFOOT DOWN Facebook page and Like it for updates, book excerpts, reader reviews, and discussion about the book.
https://www.facebook.com/BigfootDown
Visit the dedicated BIGFOOT DOWN web site for a full array of ordering options and other cool things... http://bigfootdown.com/
Mr. Hood, Author of Mystery
*******

THE BIGFOOT DOWN INTERVIEW
 Bigfoot DownStarting November 23... An INTERVIEW between BIGFOOT DOWN author Bruce Phillip Hood and blogger Steven Streufert (Bigfoot's bLog), as conducted on the book's Facebook page.

  Steven Streufert: Hello Bruce, are you there? I'd like this interview to be just as lively and interesting as the many phone conversations we've had. But first, a simple question...
HOW DID YOU CHOOSE BIGFOOT AS A SUBJECT FOR YOUR FIRST NOVEL, AND WHAT ABOUT BIGFOOT INTRIGUED YOU ENOUGH TO WRITE ABOUT IT? HAVING READ YOUR BOOK, I WOULD SAY THERE IS A LOT MORE THAN JUST THE BIGFOOT TOPIC IN THERE.

November 23 at 5:20pm

  Bruce Hood: I was on a fishing trip with a couple of friends one of which was Canadian. We had been drinking a lot and got on the subject of Sasquatch and I came up with "Breakfast With Bigfoot" as a title and we all thought it was funny and after a half gallon of Canadian Mist it was pretty funny.

November 23 at 9:53pm

  Steven Streufert: Bruce, CAN YOU LET US IN ON THIS JOKE? AND, HOW DID THIS DRUNKEN MOMENT TURN INTO A FAIRLY SERIOUS (THOUGH STILL QUITE FUNNY) BOOK ABOUT BIGFOOT?

November 23 at 11:50pm

  Bruce Hood: I believe that a Sasquatch like creature or group of creatures exists so I am not mocking on that level. I am not so much making a joke out of Bigfoot like that stupid beef jerky commercial as I am exploiting the lore of Bigfoot. Gorillas eat their own feces, that’s a fact but when you see them chewing away on film its funny and that’s also a fact.

November 24 at 8:37am

  Steven Streufert: PERHAPS OTHER PRIMATES ARE FUNNY TO HUMANS AS THEY REVEAL THINGS ABOUT OURSELVES? AFTER ALL, WE ARE PRIMATES, APES, TOO. AND, IN MANY WAYS, OUR BEHAVIORS ARE ABSURD AND PRIMITIVE. HOW DID THIS AMUSING ASPECT FIND ITS WAY INTO YOUR NOVEL, AND WHAT IS THE FUNCTION OF THE BIGFOOT WITHIN IT? ARE YOU COMMENTING ON HUMAN SOCIETY, OR ARE YOU MEANING TO REVEAL IN YOUR BIGFOOT CHARACTER THINGS YOU BELIEVE MAY BE TRUE OF THE BIGFOOT AS A SPECIES? WHAT SORT OF RESEARCH MAY YOU HAVE DONE INTO THE BIGFOOT AS REPORTED IN THE RECORDS OF SIGHTINGS AND ANNALS OF THE SUBJECT?

November 25 at 5:10pm

  Bruce Hood: I disagree with your premise that humans are apes. I don’t eat my own feces and I can with others of my kind make war on a grand scale, go to the moon, write a novel. I agree that human behaviors and bio mechanics share many commonalities with apes but humans are not apes like ants are not small trucks. I am saying that what makes something what it is, is as much about its nature as it is about its D.N.A. In this book I have done my best to reveal everyone’s nature no matter how wild it may be.

The research aspect of this book covered a lot of ground. I have come to the conclusion that these creatures do exist and were most likely pack hunted in to the mountains by smaller more organized groups of weapon using hominids. I believe that Sasquatch spends a good deal of time in the canopy of the Forrest ambush hunting and storing meat caches. I think that researchers might think of setting camera traps in trees in areas where they lose tracks or sign regularly. That Sasquatch might be standing twenty feet over their head in a tree. In “Bigfoot Down” I also chose to incorporate some of the more mystical aspects of the creature including an association between B.F. sightings and UFO’s and Orbs and other things I prefer to keep under my hat.


November 26 at 1:36pm

  Steven Streufert: Bruce, I DON'T THINK IT CAN BE ARGUED THAT BIOLOGICALLY WE ARE APES, BUT OF COURSE WE ARE APES OF A DIFFERENT KIND. IN TERMS OF SOCIOBIOLOGY, MUCH OF THE BASIS OF OUR HUMAN BEHAVIORS AND CIVILIZATION CAN BE FOUND ROOTED IN THOSE OF THE OTHER HIGHER PRIMATES. WE HAVE SOCIAL AND CULTURAL ORDERING, HOWEVER, THAT ALTERS AND MITIGATES OUR INSTINCTS, GOALS AND ACTIONS. IT STRIKES ME THAT YOUR BOOK PLAYS WITH THESE ISSUES OF WILD, INSTINCTUAL EXISTENCE, CONTRASTED WITH THOSE OF CIVILIZED AND ORDERED HUMAN MODERNITY. YOUR CHARACTER OF BIGFOOT IS DECIDEDLY ADVANCED, WHILE BEING SHOCKINGLY "PRIMITIVE." ALSO, YOUR HUMAN CHARACTERS DESCEND INTO WHAT WE COULD CALL INSTINCTUAL SAVAGERY, WHILE THE BIGFOOT SEEMS IN MANY WAYS TO SURPASS THESE HUMANS IN ADVANCEMENT, AND EVEN INTELLECT. CAN YOU DELVE INTO THIS CHALLENGING AND PERPLEXING ASPECT OF YOUR BOOK?

November 26 at 5:01pm

  Bruce Hood: We are said to share 96% of DNA traits with Chimpanzees which means that 4% is the difference between driving a fiat and chewing an old tire. I think that because RNA and DNA are still newer science that too much stock is put into the numbers. People might assume wrongly that these numbers reflect a closeness in nature that simply does not exist in real terms. The writer in me must deal with the nature of things for my work to feel real and at the risk of sounding boastful I think it does feel real. You have picked out a “Lord Of The Flies” aspect in my book that certainly is in there but as to my Sasquatch character he/she can hardly be judged as a moral agent. Claude Michel my Sasquatch is in a horrible spot and takes the necessary steps to make it out of a bad situation. I mean what do you do when a Bigfoot attacks? Sue it, or apply for a permit to kill it…..? So much of this book is dealing with the real issues that will arise with first contact.

November 26 at 5:58pm

  Steven Streufert: OK, BUT I WOULD ARGUE THAT IT ISN'T PURELY INSTINCTUAL BEHAVIOR, AND THUS ENTERS INTO A MORAL DIMENSION. ON THE ONE HAND YOUR CHARACTER DEVELOPS AND DEMONSTRATES A RATHER HIGH DEGREE OF INTELLIGENCE, AND YES, CULTURE, ONE THAT SURPASSES IN MANY WAYS MOST OF THE BARBARIC HUMANS THAT HOLD IT IN CAPTIVITY. ON THE OTHER, HE ACTS IN GREAT SAVAGERY; BUT IN HIS SAVAGE ACTIONS THERE SEEMS TO BE A CONSCIOUSNESS BEYOND IMPULSE, AND AT TIMES A CERTAIN SADISTIC AND WARPED AWARENESS OF THE "MIND-FUCK" EFFECTS HIS ACTIONS MAY HAVE. WHAT HE DOES TO THAT DEER, FOR INSTANCE, IS SHOCKING. PLEASE DISCUSS THIS. ONE FEELS INCLINED TO ASK YOU, DO YOU FEEL THAT FIRST CONTACT BETWEEN THESE TWO SPECIES WOULD HAVE THAT "LORD OF THE FLIES" ASPECT, OR WOULD IT POTENTIALLY BE MUTUALLY EDIFYING AND BENEFICIAL? DOES YOUR CHARACTER "GET" THE NATURE OF THE BIGFOOT IN THE END, OR IS HE HORRIFIED AT THE RAMIFICATIONS? ALSO, DOESN'T THEIR FRIENDSHIP IN THE BOOK, HOWEVER STRAINED, DEMONSTRATE THE CLOSENESS OF THE SPECIES, DESPITE ONE BEING WILD AND LOOKING LIKE AN APE? DO YOU THINK YOU HAVE ANTHROPOMORPHIZED BIGFOOT, OR DOES YOUR HUMAN PROTAGONIST GROW TO UNDERSTAND AND INTEGRATE HIS "WILD SIDE"?

November 28 at 6:43pm

  Bruce Hood: I once worked with a guy who had a nephew that worked security at a large shopping mall in Los Angeles. One day a woman parked on the sixth floor of the mall’s parking structure and walked to the open edge and sat down on a cement rail then proceeded to swing her legs around and let them dangle in the air. The motion caught the security guards eye and he jogged toward the structure across the parking lot and started yelling up to her. The woman seeing the guard stood up on the railing. This made the nephew run even faster. The woman jumped and the young security guard positioned himself and caught her in his arms. That young man’s name is Conrad Cave and he is now a quadriplegic, the woman perished a few days later. She was at the back end of a long bout with cancer. Instinct? Heroism? Foolishness? To this day I do not know what motivated this young man’s actions. I choose to see the scene as an act of chivalry. 

Claude Michel the Bigfoot in my book begins his interactions with humans from a position of weakness, flat on his back with serious injuries. Immobile, he is totally reliant on his captors for everything, so he learns to play the game like a dog learns to wag his tail; but he blames these people for his situation. In the bush Claude Michel asked no one for permission. He was a law unto himself, with the power to enforce. Now his survival required a social component. The once mighty hunter was now a salesman of sorts. This intake of human knowledge was a survival tactic on some level. This birthed in the creature resentment and some passive aggressive masochistic acting out as well as some out right physical assaults. The creature does his best to fit in, studies human nature; but is the interest real or is he just trying to look good at his parole hearing? That is for the reader to decide. 

I read a book about this guy that walked around Africa in the early seventies. I don’t remember the title or the author but I remember that he had made a friend of a bushman who had been taught English by some missionaries and was then sent west to Bible College. Five years later the bushman came back to his country with a doctor in divinity. He disembarked from his plane to a small crowd of people including the Author and a few missionaries. He stripped naked right in front of them, and walked from the tarmac straight into the desert, leaving his clothes and suitcase on the runway. You ask if meeting humans will benefit Sasquatch. Will the meeting be edifying? I say that it all depends on what’s in it for us. Historically we exploit. 

I think B.F. researchers are naive about the ramifications of such a find. What if a capture has already occurred? What if everyone involved was silenced by threat of prosecution under the auspicious of national security? D.N.A. is patentable. Pharmaceutical companies may find incredible curatives in the blood of such a creature. Lastly you asked about the buck that Claude Michel hunts down beats into submission then rapes. I don’t really know what you want me to say about that; I mean it’s not really bestiality is it? Out of context it sounds tawdry but I can assure anyone thinking of buying the book that the killing, raping, dismemberment, and consumption of this deer is handled by myself with dignity and grace. I would not have left the scene in the book if it was not crucial to the plot and served the higher calling of literature.

November 29 at 12:29am

  Steven Streufert: YOU SAY THAT IN HIS NATURAL STATE HE WAS A LAW UNTO HIMSELF. IN CONTACT WITH HUMANS HE ENTERS A KIND OF SOCIAL CONTRACT. HOWEVER, HE NEVER SEEMS TO BE COMFORTABLE WITH THESE CONSTRAINTS, AND RATHER RAPIDLY SEEMS TO MASTER NOT ONLY CERTAIN FORMS OF HUMAN KNOWLEDGE, BUT ALSO THE ABILITY TO PLAY WITH HUMAN EXPECTATIONS. IN ESSENCE, HE IS A CONSUMMATE GAMES PLAYER. DID YOU MEAN FOR YOUR BIGFOOT TO EXPOSE HUMAN SHORTCOMINGS, TO IN EFFECT REVEAL A SORT OF HIGHER WILD ETHICS? IT SEEMS TO ME THAT YOUR BIGFOOT REPRESENTS A COOPTING OF HUMAN CULTURE AND A SURPASSING OF IT, AS IF THE BIGFOOT REPRESENTS A POTENTIAL EVOLUTIONARY SUPERIORITY THAT MAY SOMEDAY TAKE THE PLACE OF HUMANITY WHEN THE SHORTCOMINGS AND FOLLIES OF MAN CAUSE OUR DEMISE. AM I REACHING HERE? WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THIS MATTER? WHAT IS THE FUTURE OF HUMANITY ON AN OVERCROWDED AND POTENTIALLY DYING PLANET, WHEN CONTRASTED WITH THIS AMAZINGLY ADAPTABLE AND INTELLIGENT WILD BEAST?

December 1 at 4:58am 

  Bruce Hood: Claude Michel may or may not be an intellectual superior to his captors. The question is does he in the wild really need any gold? The question being posed is does intellect make him morally responsible for his actions? What happens when humanity makes contact with a being that understands our ethics in detail and simply doesn’t care? I’ll tell you what happens; a whole lot of fun is what happens. As far as the future of mankind, I give the whole of humanity about twenty to sixty years without some divine intervention. Say the planet does die out... it’s just a whisper in a silent universe.

December 2 at 5:16pm

  Steven Streufert: I'M TRYING TO GET AT WHAT YOUR BOOK IS ABOUT AND WHAT IT MEANS. IT IS PART SUSPENSE THRILLER, PART COMEDY, AND PART PHILOSOPHICAL CONSIDERATION. WHAT MOTIVATED YOU TO WRITE IT, AND WHAT WOULD YOU HOPE YOUR READERS GET FROM IT BEYOND A GOOD READ?

December 2 at 7:25pm

  Bruce Hood: I know you are and I know that you might get the feeling that I am being aloof, but I feel like readers should fill in the gaps for themselves. I love that Joe Cocker song, “You Can Leave Your Hat On.” I think that a reader knowing all my motivations takes away the fun of the read. I remember when I first started talking with you and you agreed to read the book. I didn't hear from you for some time and I emailed you and asked if you had finished the novel. You wrote back and said that you had finished in a very short and curt answer that did not include the slightest hint of how you felt about the work one way or the other. I know you better now and looking back it's funny, but at the time I thought, Oh well he must have hated it. I waited a day or two then emailed you again to ask how you liked it and you said you were still too traumatized to know. I have had some good reviews since then but that was and will always be my favorite.

December 3 at 11:24am

  Steven Streufert: OF COURSE YOU KNOW I WAS KIDDING ABOUT BEING TRAUMATIZED, BUT THERE WERE INDEED SOME RATHER SHOCKING MOMENTS IN YOUR BOOK. BEYOND MY INQUISITIVE QUESTIONING, IS THERE ANYTHING YOU'D LIKE TO SAY ABOUT YOUR BOOK AND YOUR IDEAS, OR ABOUT YOURSELF, THAT COULD SERVE AS A CONCLUSION AND SUMMATION? DON'T HOLD BACK. CONSIDER IT AN OPPORTUNITY TO SAY EVERYTHING YOU'D LIKE ABOUT YOUR BOOK TO THE READING PUBLIC IN GENERAL AND PERHAPS THE WORLD OF BIGFOOT AND BIGFOOTING IN PARTICULAR.

December 3 at 4:31pm

  Bruce Hood: If you say you weren’t traumatized Steven I believe you, but you would not be the first person to admit to having a white knuckle read. I was traumatized writing the book. This book progressed when all of the characters started speaking for themselves. I might have started out as the director but in the end I was just a scribe. I wrote the entire novel from cover to cover without a story line, I was rudderless until the characters came to life and guided me. To the Bigfoot community, I now count myself among your numbers. I believe that we are 6 to 16 months out from real PROOF of the creature’s existence.

I think with that proof there will come a time of prideful vindication for those in the fold but I believe that time will be followed by others rushing in picking up the torch and running away with it. Just remember that you believed when no one else believed. Then the game will be about law and advocacy.

In closing I want to give you my heartfelt thanks, Steven. I love that you like the book; you own a Bigfoot bookstore for crying out loud. bigfootdown.com


December 3 at 6:29pm
  Steven Streufert:  IT REALLY IS A GRIPPING AND OFTEN FASCINATING READ, AND IT HITS THE GROUND RUNNING. THOSE WHO HAVE READ THE BOOK WILL KNOW WHAT I MEAN WHEN I SAY I AM LOOKING FORWARD TO... THE SEQUEL! THANKS FOR DOING THE INTERVIEW, BRUCE.

December 3 at 6:52pm

 Bigfoot Down: OK, that was great! Thanks to both of you for the interview.

December 5 at 4:22pm
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Original cover art sketches
You can download the current eBook version or get a sample segment via Amazon here:
Barnes and Noble has one for the Nook Reader and other compatible devices here:

A "hard-copy" version will be published soon, for those of you who don't like using e-texts, collectors and libraries.

There is a Facebook page where you may read more, find links and reviews, and get updates soon to come:
http://bigfootdown.com/
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ANGRY BIGFOOT SPEAKS!

Me hear about this "The Four Bigfoots of the Apocalypse" thing and world ending. No need Maya calendar. No need four Bigfoots. Me do it all by my self.

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This blog is copyright and all that jazz, save for occasional small elements borrowed for "research" and information or satirical purposes only, 2011, Bigfoot Books and Steven Streufert. Borrowings for non-commercial purposes will be tolerated without the revenge of Angry Bigfoot, if notification, credit, citation and a kindly web-link are given, preferably after contacting us and saying, Hello, like a normal person would before taking a cup of salt. No serious rip-offs of our material for vulgar commercial gain will be tolerated without major BF stomping action coming down on you, hu-man.