Chapter Five
Connections and Friends

Whenever someone moves into a new area of interest, it is only natural to look for and meet like-minded individuals with whom to share your interest. I found that finding bigfoot pals was not the easiest thing in the world to do. It was hard enough to even bring up the subject — let alone get someone to meet you to go looking for the elusive beast. However, there are ways to meet people and network if you are interested. The cheapest way is to go online and type in bigfoot. You will get many choices. It will really be up to you to decide where you best fit in. For years, my wife (bless her heart!) was my sole bigfoot field partner. She only recently retired from that role when Jake was old enough to start going out with me.

I would like to suggest the Internet is the first place you should go to try to make some contacts. There are all kinds of bigfoot boards out there. Some are very open to all kinds of ideas about bigfoot and others are more pragmatic. Most bigfoot discussion forums have posting guidelines so you can get a good idea of where the website is coming from. My suggestion is to login as a visitor and read as many of the topics as you are interested in. See how people are posting and responding. If you are in agreement with the subject matter and how it is being handled, you just might fit in. It would be in your best interests to shy away from getting involved in any heated exchanges, which occasionally take place. It is better to make a lot of friends in the beginning than make enemies in my opinion.

As time goes by, you will become a familiar name on your boards as long as you are a regular poster. From time to time folks will put together expeditions to go out in the field. More often than not, it will be an open invitation. This is a good time to accept the invitation, go out and meet some people. However, it has been my experience you will find many volunteers to go out in the field with you but very few will show up. I am not spreading sour grapes here but stating some human facts. I personally believe most people are sincere in wanting to make plans and go out in the field but things get in the way. I’ve gotten all kinds of last minute excuses from my mom’s having an operation, to having vacation time changed by bosses, to “What? I didn’t say I could make those dates!” Nevertheless, in spite of the last minute changes you will have, there will usually be a hearty soul or two who will show up.

All this being said, probably some cancellations are legitimate, some are people just being flaky and some may just not want to go out with you and a kid. If you find someone to go out with multiple times, consider yourself fortunate. Many researchers seem to form cliques that are all but impenetrable so you may need to form your own clique. Then again, you may get lucky and find a group that accepts you in. I was fortunate enough to get a chance to join the Sasquatch Research Initiative group. Although I have not had a chance to go out in the field with anyone from SRI yet, I have begun to make more bigfoot friends online and hope to establish a positive reputation for my son and myself as field partners.

Some good message boards to try are bigfootforums.com and bigfootdiscussions.com. Both of these are “flesh and blood” boards where “romanticism” is not looked upon favorably. “Romanticism” is the belief that bigfoot has supernatural powers and is inter-dimensional. Other informative sites with less discussion are great to log into also.

Another good way to meet some people and get a feeling for the everyday movers and shakers in the field is to go to a bigfoot conference. I have been to two conferences and felt it was money and time well spent. You will find many good speakers and authors present, plus people who are there to meet other bigfooters and network. There are conferences held all over the country so you can choose the one that is best for you. Once again, the bigfoot message boards and discussion forums will usually have updated information on upcoming conferences so it pays to keep your eyes open and don’t be afraid to ask questions.