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Rachel L
Approved
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 688
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 Posted: September 4th, 2012 09:16 PM |
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I'd like to thank everyone who made the effort to attend this trip! You were all amazing and we had a wonderful time with you.
Something that made this trip special were the presentations on audio recording, game cameras, sasquatch behavior and footprints that we had. They were not only educational but interesting. Thanks so much to the ones who prepared and gave the presentations!
There were also a lot of local people who helped us out, and without them the expedition wouldn't have been possible. THANK YOU for being so helpful, hospitable, and open-minded to our research! 
Here are Steve's notes. They sum up everything very well.
"I arrived at base camp in the mid-afternoon on Wednesday and found Carter and Harold hiking a trail. We were later joined by Kathy and Gudrun, and treated to a dinner of Harold's delicious spaghetti. That evening we walked the trail. We heard movement near us and saw eyeglow. Kathy and Gudrun observed large shadows moving in the trees up a hill from us. Wood knocks were heard as well.
On Thursday morning I greeted people as they arrived at base camp. In the afternoon Rachel, Mark, Carter and I drove over to location two to meet with the landowner. The environment there is primarily hay fields and woods with two or three very small row crop fields, in a large valley that is intersected by small streams one of which is fed by springs along at least two branches. Numerous dry runs intersect the streams. Cattle were penned for our convenience, and gates opened. That night a larger group returned to location two. Harold conducted ops at base camp, which he was to do for the entire expedition. Carter and Rick and I walked a hundred yards or so into a thick forest. Rick scanned with thermal while Carter and I peered into blackness. Carter made two whoop howls, after which he and I observed red eyeglow coming toward us down a hill at about a hundred and fifty yards.
On Friday morning I was on a scouting trip at location two with Carter, Rick, Val and Ken. Ken wandered a dry creek bed near where other team members had sat and observed eyeglow the night before. Ken found a partial print that was quite large where Mark had seen a spectacular eyeglow display. We cast the print, which measures about fourteen inches from toe to mid-tarsal break with a toe box that's about eleven inches wide. We estimated the sas to be twelve feel tall or close to it. After looking at photos of the setting with the cast in the ground I can see why we found two and possibly three partial prints and not whole ones. The sas had likely been in a crouched position as it approached the group on the road the night before. Back at base camp Tom and I gave a presentation on print casting, using the historic cast collection that Tom brought with him, a cast that Harold had recently made at a location in central IL, and the cast that Ken and I had made earlier in the day. That night a large group of us returned to location two, and Blake, Mark and I walked a quarter mile or so up through a hay field to the top of a hill. Mark observed red eyeglow behind me in the woods. As he turned and looked past me it appeared to him as though the sas ducked down. As we rejoined a group of ladies who were sitting near the main stream we all heard movement very nearby in the woods, in the direction that my team had just come. It seems that we had brought a sas down the hill with us, which was our intention. Back at base camp at about 3:00 a.m., Harold and I heard an amazing howl which freaked us and several other folks out. Seven year old attendee Aaron had howled earlier in the evening which had elicited an instantaneous response. We felt that the sas had come looking for the little guy. Immediately after hearing this complex, fifty second long howl we observed red eyeglow just inside the woods moving from left to right. My tent was beyond the eyeglow in the woods and I decided to sleep in the 4-Runner. My audio recording of the event captured many stick breaks before and after the howl, which correlate with the eyeglow.
On Saturday morning I scouted location three and four with Carter and Gudrun, after being introduced to the landowner at base camp. We got a good look at large streams and forested hills near location two, but found that location three held less potential while the location four was going to be occupied that night by campers. Back at base camp Rick gave a presentation on the use of thermal imaging and game cameras in sas research. I then gave a presentation on audio recording. That night I was back at location two with a small group. When we first arrived Rick caught sight of a large thermal signature that was standing in the middle of an adjacent field. Rick later reported that it was a deer. This may have been after little Aaron gave one of his by then famous and much recorded howls. Gudrun and Rick and I walked a road to a large forest adjacent the property while Rachel and others observed from a prime central location. After I suggested that we enter a closed gate we walked some distance into a small field. Rick notified us that there was either a cow or a deer standing at the far end of the field. I quickly realized that it was not deer or cow, but was the owners bull, and so we hastily exited the field. As we turned to leave the area I heard six very staccato wood knocks, evenly spaced, all within about three or four seconds. It was a remarkable sequence the likes of which I have never heard before. We hung a while longer. Rick had Gudrun and I split up and go in opposite directions while he remained in place with his thermal. Gudrun heard quite a bit of movement in the woods, and she and I observed faint eyeglow. We heard what sounded like a distant tree being pushed down. Rick heard another quick sequence of knocks. We rejoined the rest of the team, and learned that Rachel had seen a dark figure on the road between her group and us, and had heard movement on the gravel road. Her team also heard movement in the woods, on the same side of the valley as we had.
During each night of the expedition I deployed an audio recorder at base camp and at location two, and also recorded audio as I walked on each maneuver. During the days I photographed some really incredible stick structures on the road into base camp. I returned home to eastern Iowa on Sunday afternoon."
~R~
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Rachel L
Approved
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 688
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| Posted: September 4th, 2012 09:22 PM |
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Here are CC's notes. He reports on some things that happened at basecamp.
"I only took notes on the manuvers I was on and what occured in basecamp.
5-24-12 Night Manuver (Harold, Dana, Scott, Ken, and Chris)
We walked the ATV trails behind basecamp where we whooped and wood-knocked. There were 3 separate groups about 100 yards apart, Harold was first, then Scott and Dana who were followed by Chris and Ken. Scott and Dana heard a grunt, then had a baseball size rock thossed in their direction, and heard 4 loud/heavy footfalls run across the trail in front of them (they were in a clearing/field at the edge of the entrance to the forest). Scott, a seasoned deer hunter stated that "it was not a deer" that crossed in front of them. This incident happened at 11:40pm.
5-25-12 Night Manuver (Harold, Scott, Dana, Chris, Aaron Sr., Aaron Jr., ???)
We repeated the previous nite's mission. Aaron Jr. made a whoop/moan call and immediately received at least 3, possibly 4 replies...2 very clear to the north and a faint one to the south. This happened at 10:25pm. He made several more calls, but received no further replies. Aaron Jr. also made a call earlier that evening in basecamp, 30 to 40 minutes later he received a reply that was heard by all present. Also, around 3am Harold and Steve heard the strangest moan/call directly behind basecamp kitchen. They also heard movement in the forest and eye glow was witnessed. This commotion awoke many people who rushed out of their tents to see what was going on. Harold began to call people to advise them to leave their tents and go into their vehicles until what was occuring had passed. Coyote activity has also heard around this same time by Scott and Dana, but they did not hear the strange sound at basecamp kitchen. 2 footprints were found and cast the next morning on the trails behind camp. Ken found and cast a footprint on the ******* property Friday morning.
5-26-12 Night Manuver (Harold, Emily, Blake, Scott, Dana, Ken, Cathy, Chris and Ben)
We repeated the previous 2 night's activities with the inclusion of female voices doing whoops, moans, and wood knocks. We heard a large branch or tree crash down close to our position (SW) of us, but could not determine exactly where it was. Nothing else was heard. Many ATVs had rolled through the trails that day."
~R~
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Rachel L
Approved
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 688
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| Posted: September 4th, 2012 09:41 PM |
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I'd also like to share some comments made on the private expedition board regarding the large footprint found at Location Two.
Tom wrote - "The creature that made the monster print that Ken found should have a name! If this has not been done then I propose "Big Ken" as a name. Of course, Ken should have final say."
Ken wrote - "The combined knowledge of this group of folks is truly amazing, thanks again for all you have shared. I came away from this experience, not just with new friends (a huge success) but with a sense of true kinship towards people who were formerly complete strangers. As to your track naming suggestion, WOW, I am truly honoured & I accept your idea, but how does 'Big Kenny' sound some of my closest friends call me 'Kenny'."
And Big Kenny he is!
~R~
BFRO IL |
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cmknight
Approved
Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 618
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| Posted: September 5th, 2012 12:31 AM |
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Excellent reports with a lot of activity. I'm jealous.
Ya got nuthin' ta lose but yer Zagnuts. |
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BethinFL
Approved
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 1247
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| Posted: September 5th, 2012 12:34 PM |
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| Thanks for sharing these Rachel. Sounds like a good weekend! |
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Indie Farmer
Approved
Joined: Oct 2010
Posts: 209
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| Posted: September 7th, 2012 10:04 PM |
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Rachel,
Thanks for making this expedition such a success. It was a wonderful experience.
Steve
"When a true genius appears in the world, you may know him by this sign, that the dunces are all in confederacy against him".
Jonathan Swift |
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Rachel L
Approved
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 688
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| Posted: September 8th, 2012 12:51 AM |
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Hi Beth!
Steve, I'm so glad you could make it. And thanks for taking such good notes!!
~R~
BFRO IL |
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SilentJohn
Approved
Joined: Jul 2011
Posts: 278
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| Posted: September 16th, 2012 11:28 PM |
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This report has been the most anticipated one yet for me….been waiting since the expedition took place. I had originally planned on participating in this expedition, but I had last minute duties of attending to an aging parent and could not even sign up.
Thanks for the report.
...better luck for me next time around, perhaps?
The place where the tangible and the mythical become the same . Edward Abbey |
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KerryVinoregon
Approved
Joined: Aug 2012
Posts: 33
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| Posted: November 9th, 2012 08:02 PM |
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| What was the weird noise behind the kitchen that caused everyone to run for their vehicles? I'm consumed with curiuosity! |
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Indie Farmer
Approved
Joined: Oct 2010
Posts: 209
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| Posted: November 24th, 2012 08:31 PM |
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I have the vocalization from behind base camp kitchen recorded and will put a link to it here as soon as I locate it. Shouldn't be hard to do. It was a creepy howl. It was complex. We saw red eyeglow immediately after hearing it. I had a second recorder out in the area that the howl came from and recorded a lot of stick breaks at around the same time. Give me a few days on that recorded howl.
"When a true genius appears in the world, you may know him by this sign, that the dunces are all in confederacy against him".
Jonathan Swift |
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Steve Moon
Moderator
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 273
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cmknight
Approved
Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 618
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| Posted: November 25th, 2012 09:05 PM |
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Sounds like it was trying to pass a kidney stone !!
Ya got nuthin' ta lose but yer Zagnuts. |
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SilentJohn
Approved
Joined: Jul 2011
Posts: 278
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| Posted: November 25th, 2012 11:09 PM |
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Using headphones it sounds like two of them, Possible three, the third one sounds more distant. One of them in mid call, cuts the call short, then continues. Like it heard something it wasn't expecting.
The place where the tangible and the mythical become the same . Edward Abbey |
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BethinFL
Approved
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 1247
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| Posted: November 26th, 2012 01:05 PM |
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| It's more high pitched than I thought it would be. I always think of them as being very low pitched and bass/baritone sounding. To me it sounded like a coyote or something except for the weird way it would just cut off and kind of fluctuate. Really cool and thanks for posting. |
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Indie Farmer
Approved
Joined: Oct 2010
Posts: 209
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| Posted: November 26th, 2012 10:50 PM |
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Thanks for your thoughts on this. A few investigators are leaning toward sas on this one, as am I. There are perhaps three whoop-like sounds in the first minute or so.
"When a true genius appears in the world, you may know him by this sign, that the dunces are all in confederacy against him".
Jonathan Swift |
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