Would You Shoot Bigfoot?

[oldbillthundercheif]

I figure there are many northwestern woodsmen on this forum, so here's the question:

If you were to run into a mythical beast (sasquach) at close range in the forest, would you shoot it?

There seem to be many possible justifications for the act. Bagging a specimen could be a boon for science... large apes are dangerous in close-range random encounters so maybe self-defense... trophy hunting, possibly.

I know this is a funny question, but humor me. What would you do?

[Playboypenguin]

Nope, not a chance. If he left me alone I would let him alone.

I used to go on bigfoot hunts with an archeoligical group from college.

I actually have a gun related bigfoot story but that is for another thread.

[tomh1426]

If you didnt youd be just another nut bag that claims to have seen big foot or Elvis. (no offence)
So I guess YES as long as Im 1000% sure Its not some jack a$$ in a costume.
I believe Id come across a guy dressed like a sasquach way befor I would come across a real sasquach.
Is this any better than a zombi thread??
What would be the best round for a sasquach

[oldbillthundercheif]

Tell the gun-related bigfoot story! It only took you three minutes to find this thread, Playboy, I must have struck a nerve.

Come on. You have to tell the story. I have no feelings one way or another about the existance of mythical beasts so you won't get any guff from me.

[dirty habit]

Id prob hold off, theres some pretty hairy fellas running round in the bush, hard to know if its Bigfoot or one of these Hirsute Hunters...

[WeedWacker]

Putting the fact that two guys ADMITTED to the bigfoot thing beoing a hoax aside, I probably wouldn't. Then again since for bigfoot to be around still it would seem that there would be more of them to procreat and preserve the species, meaning that i might meet several of them at once, so if I was attacked I would start shooting.

[USNairman]

I would have to say YES I WOULD.

[Double Naught Spy]

Grover Krantz (deceased) who founded the bigfoot museum was a physical anthropologist at Washington State University who studied the ellusive creature's evidence for decades. He offended cryptozoologists by suggesting that science would not accept the presence of the mythical creature without an actual body and proposed one be taken. The notion of killing an obviously low population animal is what was so offensive as many of the taxa studied by cryptozoologists are on the verge of going extinct.

large apes are dangerous in close-range random encounters so maybe self defense

The would be the complete for killing other humans as well. Only an idiot armed with a gun and being attacked by a dangerous animal would not use the gun to defend him/herself (assuming no risk to other people.

The reason why animals such as bears or great apes are dangerous at close-range are because humans are naive enough to be in their environments and not playing by the proper rules.

[Sturmgewehre]

Yup, I would.

While I was in the Marines and stationed in Washington State, a buddy of mine and I used to read everything in the base library about Big Foot. We would then go hunting them on libo. Never seen anything that even suggested they existed. But if one showed its face we would have dropped it.

[22-rimfire]

Would never shoot one if such an animal/creature exists unless it was going to harm me. I would take lots of pictures!!!!

[pesta2]

Oh yeah, I bet he would be delicious! Big old Sasquach steaks, Sasquach jerky…

[Art Eatman]

Absent threatening behavior, nah. No point to it.

, Art

[roy reali]

What do you think would make a good "Bigfoot" cartridge? What would be the minimum weapon you would like to have on you in a worse case secnario?

[ZeSpectre]

I'd shoot him (her?) as many times as I could... with my camera!

I've often thought that bigfoot MUST be female because it vanishes between the trees and is impossible to find just like my wife vanishes between the clothing racks at even the smallest store and I can never find her

[Clayfish]

What do you think would make a good "Bigfoot" cartridge? What would be the minimum weapon you would like to have on you in a worse case secnario?

Minimum would be a .375 H&H but I would rather have a .50 bmg. Hey, do you think a .45 acp would produce a 1 shot stop if the stinker were attacking?

[22-rimfire]

Is there a hunting season for them?

[boltgun71]

Yes, so I could end the debate on wether its real or not. If not people would just think I was crazy and seeing things without proof. A photo could be faked so I wouldn't rely on that as hard evidence. Plus if bigfoot is real, it may have lived this long by killing all that may have ran into it, so I would shoot it before it got me and remained a secret!

[Cyrgelman]

Like others have said, sure I'd shoot it--with my camera.

But I think the likelihood of shooting a bigfoot with even a camera is equal to photographing a unicorn.

[ZeSpectre]

Bah, photographing Unicorns is easy, they're all over the darn place! It's just that their horn never shows up in the photos so everyone thinks you are just photographing horses

[whitedemon89]

Id drop bigfoot. Then, I'd go drive around town with him in the back of my truck, then I'd go to the TV staition and show him off. Then I'd hit the daytime talk show circuits, and talk about shooting him. I would use my earnings to get him stuffed, and I'd put a suit on him and make him hold my beer and my pool cue.

[Heinrich]

I'd shoot him/her...

I'd love to have my face on Discovery channel as the guy who has proven his existence. In South Africa, there is a similar creature called "WATERBOBEJAAN" in english water baboon, and red in colour, nobody has managed to either take a pic, or shoot one.

We know that we have baboon, much smaller than a bigfoot, but very dangerous at short range. I shoot them as a rule.

[Playboypenguin]

Yes, so I could end the debate on wether its real or not.

That is one thing I would never want to do. I am a person that does not believe in alot of things. I do not believe in the Loch Ness monster, I do not believe aliens visit earth, I do not believe in mythical higher powers or gods, and I do not put much faith in my fellow man. I would feel that proving the existence of such a creature would be the first step in ending it. Too many guys with small IQ's, big inferiority complexes and big guns would set out to prove something if they knew for sure they were there. The same kind of guys that want to kill polar bears or elephants.

[kickshot85]

HOMOcide. If it would be found out that he was a member of the same genus as us, I imagine whoever shot him would be in for a pretty long stint behind bars. My guess, though, is that we as a species are too elitist to consider such a primitive "creature" as our cousin so you'd probably get away with it.

Now to answer the question asked, No. I would not shoot bigfoot. Why? See PBP's response above. I would have to treasure the moment and pray that I never forget it.

[Selfdfenz]

The notion of killing an obviously low population animal is what was so offensive as many of the taxa studied by cryptozoologists are on the verge of going extinct.

You're making a funny, no?

S-

[Playboypenguin]

Tell the gun-related bigfoot story!

This story took place about 15 years ago. At that time I was stationed in Arizona but would often take long weekend trips to Oregon and Washington to go one bigfoot hunting expeditions with some local groups from the area colleges (UC Davis and others). These groups were a mix of ex-big game hunters, zoologists, cryptozologists, palentologists, and people just interested in the folklore surrounding bigfoot.

This particular trip was one of the last ones I ever went on since I was leaving the area and heading back down south. This time I was not part of a core group but part of a tag along group that went and assisted with trip sets, riggings, etc. Since we were pretty much unsupervised and not affiliated with the school groups I decided to take my new (at the time) Taurus .357mag with me.

I was in a camp sight with abou six other guys. We were out late the first night doing night watch. When we returned our camp had been ramsacked. After a quick check all the gear (axes, laterns, compass, bags, etc.) was accounted for and the only things missing were two bags of apples one of the guys brought. All the other food was stored in the truck down at the fireroad but he had brought the apples up to use as bait in trip areas we were going to set the next morning.

We figured (or should I say "figger'd") that it was a bear and we were just glad he came and went when we were not there. The next night we had spent the whole day helping the school folk set camp, setting riggings for cameras, and laying lines so we turned in not long after dark.

Not long after we had turned in we heard weird noises. It was a distant highpitched howling noise. we had heard these noises in upper WA before on other trips. We decided to get out of our tents and listen. After awhile the sounds got closer and then stopped. For about 20 minutes we heard nothing. Then we started hearing what sounded like someone repeatedly hitting the trees with a log or club. it seemed to be coming from a few different directions and seemed to be getting closer.

At this point we decided to start yelling out to whatever was making the noise. We were well aware that local loggers and other people sometimes enjoyed messing with the college groups. We yelled out to them but we never got answers. Then the thumping started again aong with an occasion howl. This time very close. At this point I decided to tell them that we were armed. That did not seem to stop them either. Then, with the another campers approval, I fired a shot into the air (since it was dark and I could not find a safer target). The area immediately went silent and we never heard another peep from the woods all weekend.

What does this story show? Does it mean I believe in bigfoot? No, it does not. I have seen enough to believe there could be something out there...maybe even think there is probably something to all the stories...but what it really showed me is that whether it was man or monster moving in on us, both were smart enough to know that a loud .357 report in the night air is a good indicator that the time for games has passed and it is better to just move on.