As someone who is now middle aged and interested in All-Things-That-Go-Bump-In-The-Night since I was a kid, may I ask what other outlet besides the BFRO does the average, 8-5 working stiff have to even get the slimmest chance of encountering Bigfoot evidence? I certainly haven’t found any. And not all of us have the time nor the resources to mount such an expedition on our own - or even if we did, what direction in the woods to head. So I’m seriously considering grabbing one of the kids and a buddy and going on such a trip in the future. (If I’m lucky, maybe I can buy a BFRO Expedition Commemorative PushPop if they have any of those left….)

The annals of scientific discovery are full of all sorts of apparently nondescript characters doing things the “wrong” way and somehow stumbling onto something wonderful.

You say that people must pay because of the expensive equipment. There is a word for this sort of thing and it is called “security deposit”. You pay and when the equipment is not damaged, you get the money back. Does that happen with the BFRO? I didn’t think so. I can’t really see why people should have to pay a nonrefundable deposit in order to use this equipment. I gather by the way you talk about the disasters of free expeditions and how serious these guys are that you aren’t all that informed about the way real scientific expeditions are done. They are not expeditions that allow in people who pay their 300 bucks and they are not an eco tourism venture. Even the people who make large donations are not just allowed to come along. I know of no groundbreaking research into real animals that operate in this manner. These scientific excursions go out with professionals with the means to verify what they find in a scientific manner and without an entourage of weekend warriors tagging along. To say that the BFRO excursions are so much more serious than this sort of scientific expedition is pretty ridiculous to me. You say that people willing to pay are more serious? I think this is simply not true. As you said, if you do not understand, then I feel you are not really trying to.

The people here are voicing their concerns about the BFRO and how do advocates of the group address those concerns? They make assumptions about the readers here. They become prickly, defensive, and accuse those on this site of not knowing what they are talking about or changing user names or not doing any research of their own. Is this the way these criticisms are to be dealt with? Granted, some of the criticism has been needlessly harsh, but I think that maybe that is not the best response to the people here who are questioning the BFRO and it telling how uncivil it is. Sorry, but if the expeditions are full of presumptuous, self important people who abhor legitimate criticism or the hard questions like you seem to be doing, then you are quite right in that at least I will have no desire to be amongst them.

Sadly for them, they won’t KNOW anything until EVERYONE does, and then, all they will need to do is change their username and become instant experts!

BFRO expedition participants are trusted with very expensive equipment. Things like thermal imaging devices and upper end night vision. Hopefully I am correct in recalling reading on their site that they offer camping gear to those who aren’t equipped.

If I were to start an organization like the BFRO and scout potential research areas across the US, then trust individuals whom I have never met with valuable equipment and gear, you can bet there would be at least a $300 tag on the trip!

If someone is willing to pay to do the trip, they are showing that they are mostly serious about finding out more about the research.

I wouldn’t want any tightwad screwballs who are there to act like fools and make things harder for the more serious folks. A free expedition would be a disaster!

If you can’t understand that, then you’re really not trying to!

When I go on my first expedition with the BFRO I will be very satisfied with the thought that some of the posters on sites like these will never be there.

I don’t know if that is what is really happening here, but if this is an attempt to dupe true believers out of their cash for a bogus expedition , I would think it should be exposed for what it is. This can and has happened to people desperate to believe and I have no stomach for attempts to capitalize on it. I really hope that this is not what is going on here with the BFRO, but I am a bit suspicious at this point in time. If those that have tried it enjoyed it, then fine, but I can certainly see why some here are a bit skeptical.

But I feel spending $300 and getting nothing just feels like a waste of time to me. With that many people clamoring about the wilderness IMO would scare whatever wildlife away.

I’d spend the money on a good camera and go out by myself. It just seems like my chances of finding something would be greater.

The video is well let’s just say my 300 bucks will remain in my pocket.

I suppose the BFRO has to get funding from somewhere, so more power to them, but this is hardly like a hunting expedition in my opinion. Hunters go out looking for a creature that is proven to be real, that can and has been found before. Maybe when sasquatch is proven to exist and is shown to be a creature that can be somewhat reliably tracked as well as routinely spotted, then these expeditions can be compared to a hunting trip and exorbitant prices can be charged. Sasquatch may very well be real as well, but I feel for now maybe sending out large parties of amateurs is a bit premature until more is known about this creature’s habits or indeed whether it even exists. I’d say it is Ok for someone to pay 300 dollars for a good trek, which is most probably fun, but do not expect too much on the sasquatch front. Of course, I’d love to be wrong.