I brought this up before on another thread and, although I can and will shoot animals I'm not a big game hunter, I'm curious as to what the heck you do after you shoot a bigfoot.

Let's say you're several miles from your vehicle...do you hack off it's hand/paw, do you take it's head, do you worry about being attacked by other possible sassies in the area. Even if I actually shot one dead, I don't think I'd know what to do with it...pictures, yes, if I had my camera with me...I don't think I'd feel comfortable leaving it and returning later.

This is a little gruesome of a topic but I think it's worth discussing b/c if someone does get one, and they've thought in advance about what they'd do, they are much more likely to get out with "proof".

I'd take the jaw off the thing if I had the time (as I believe this is what Dr. Krantz recommended as a specimen, not to mention that the teeth would be an excellent source for DNA), or if I were in a hurry, I'd get me a couple of fingers. I do believe that a hand or foot as a whole would be quite bulky and difficult to travel quickly with.

Is the jawbone considered anthropological gold?

Good lord, can you imagine being deep in the woods, your adrenaline is pumping out your freaking ears, and trying to extract a jawbone from that thing, wondering if his dad is watching.

I think i'd do a quick machete chop and run like a pansy shooting my gun the whole time to try to keep anything else off kilter.

:help:

The jaw (and teeth) would be really cool for a primatologist or anthropologist. Derived hominids (Homo and australos.) have unique characters in the teeth and dentaries that help difefrentiate them from other hominids (gorillas and chimps, etc.). So from a morphological point of view, this would definitely be the best "part" to haul out of the woods.

Removing a jaw from an animal would not be that hard, especially for someone with eitherexperience butchering game or medical expertise. A cut from the lobe of the ear to the corner of the mouth on each side, following by a cut across the underside of the jaw (draw a line from ear to ear passing under the jaw on a human and you have a rough idea of where I am talking about making this cut on an animal), would expose all of the subcut. soft tissues of the neck. Once you're at that point, you don't have to be neat, you don't have to be tidy just cut through all of the tissues connecting the jaw to the neck and the muscles connecting the jaw to the skull and then your next concern would be disarticulating the TMJ's (temporomandibular joints- where the jaw connect to the rest of the head) which can be best done in a situation where reconstruction is not a concern by slicing away as much of the cartilage and ligaments surrounding the joing as possible and then placing something sturdy (a small metal prybar would be ideal) between the two bumps on the top of the vertical part of the jawbone and the "cheek" bone and levering it downward until you see the jawbone come out of socket (there will probably be an audible POP or CRACK sound that accompanies this). Repeat on the opposite side and sever any remaining tissues connecting the jaw and you have completed the process.

Now, mind you, this is just a general ball park idea of how to do this, as I have never tried to take the jaw off of a BF before, but this is how I would go about doing it. If anyone else has a better suggestion, I would appreciate their input.

If I was out in the woods with a dead Sasquatch and no possible way to haul the entire body out of there I aint leaving without that head!!! Seeing as how I dont have a machete and dont normally carry my sword into the woods it would have to be time for the trusty Buck Knife. I would try cover the rest of the body or hide it in some way as quickly as possible. And of course hope like hell there was no other creature in the vicinity.

Ok....let's take a second and figure what a BF head might weigh: A human head weighs on average say 10 lbs (a fair guess and easy for the sake of argument and simplicity), which is 17.5% of the body weight for a 175 lb man (an "average size" man).....now if we apply that to a BF, who weighs say, 700 lbs, that would mean the head would weigh in at roughly 122.5 lbs. Not exactly easily portable (and I'm pretty sure it would be even heaver than that).


Besides, remember, chances are better than even that you will not get to keep the head of a BF you manage to kill.

Yeah, I'd probably do something along those lines. I don't see a hand being any more awkward to carry than a jaw. Ideally, I'd like to get a foot so it could be compared with the track casts.

You could take a lot of the weight off by dashing the brains out and draining the skull. But your still packing a hefty weight. If I'd have a long hike back I think separating the jaw would be easier. Of course taking the head apart and getting various samples might be an option. Definitely a finger, toe and plenty of hair samples. Could be a long time before another body is available. I'd take as many pictures as my camera could hold as well.

120+ lbs just for a head...that really puts the size of these things into perspective...I always read 7-9 ft tall, but until you stop and think about nine feet it's easy to forget how ginormous that is...

If I killed a big foot, I would be too afraid to get near it. What if you didn't kill it completely or like it suddenly came back while you were close to it!?!?! Just thinking of getting close to a dead big foot has me shaking!

Believe it or not I actually did a search for " wieght of a human head" and this is all that I could find.


"An adult human cadaver head cut off around vertebra C3, with no hair, weighs somewhere between 4.5 and 5 kg, constituting around 8% of the whole body mass."

Considering that I estimate the wieght of a Sasquatch head to be around 100 pounds. I've carried a jackhammer over my shoulder that I estimated to be aproximately 100 pounds. I've had to help drag a deer that wieghed 150+ pounds across a field. And while it was physically exhausting it was far from impossible. Like I said I aint leaving without that head. And as far as keeping it I'm not sure I want to. I dont have much of a decapitated head fetish. Maybe take some pictures of me holding it like a catfish just so everyone knows who did the deed.

usafmedic45?

I think those sizes and weights are a bit "ify".... seeing how noone has put a BF on a scale and weighed it. <?>

Seeing that humans have a tendancy to over exagerate and over estimate a LOT of things....

...... you get the picture.

The head weight estimates seem to assume a same or similar ratio of head to body mass between a squatch and a human...
I doubt that would be the case..I suspect that due to a number of reasons, the squatch has a smaller head (relative to its body), by a larg measure, then does a human...I think weight estimates up to and in excess of 100 lbs are likely well over the true size.

You really want to try to open this thing's skull up and empty it out in the field? I sure as the hell wouldn't, especially not if they are a social animal....even if they aren't that's an awful lot of work for not a whole lot of gain (brain matter isn't very dense.....and it isn't what is going to weight that much (the average human brain weighs around 3-4 lbs (so just ballparking it up based on a matter of scale to the size of a bigfoot (assuming all else is equal-which it isn't) you'd save yourself around a whopping 12-16 lbs. Not much for all the effort that it would take to remove a brain from a skull......it's not as easy as you would think and you'd mess up the specimen a lot trying to do it.

Very f--king funny Wildman......

I'd still not like to try to decapitate an animal that has roughly the same type of neck as an NFL linebacker. Not to mention trying to lug that head back would not be fun (even if it only weighed out around 75 lbs or so, that's a lot of weight, particularly if you're carrying it over rough terrain, not to mention all the other gear you have to carry, and if you've got your victim's friends hunting you down.....well I'd like to be able to move a little more quickly than what a severed sasquatch head would allow. Besides why carry all that extra weight? A jawbone, as DesertYeti (who is an anthropologist) pointed out would be more than sufficient. If you're thinking of making a trophy out of the head, think again. The government will probably seize it faster than you can say Gigantopithecus.

Then it stands to reason that no matter what you bring out with you as proof, will wind up suffering the same fate.

First, I'm reloading...

Seriously, you've gotta figure that these things have really large and well defined musculature in the head. This includes some hellacious attach points on the skull. Pulling a jawbone off would definitely be a chore.

I've also held a gorilla skull - defleshed of course - and that sucker was heavy. Heavy for its size, and it was pretty dang huge. We had a human and a gorilla one side by side, and the size difference is amazing. I can't even imagine what a human to sasquatch comparison would look like.

Typical minimal requirements for a type specimen are a skull and skin. So I think huffing out that head would be necessary. Travois maybe? You can pack a pretty heavy load with one of those. Cutting through the neck presents its own problems. I vote chainsaw for that.

Then I call my attorney, the local tv station, the cops, and fish & game - in that order.

Regards,
unixguy

Well if it was me, the first thing i would do is wait a long time before approaching the body. It has been noticed in more than one report that where there is one bigfoot there are others. During the waiting period i would have my trusty cell phone and hope that i had a connection so i could call for reinforcements. All this while trying to stay alive in what could be a very hostile environment. If the call was succesful then getting the whole body wouldn't really be a problem with the invention of four wheelers and all. My main concern would be staying alive during the ordeal.

You're not looking for a type specimen necessarily, just something to establish that "yes there is this animal out there, and you (the scientists) have to go out and find another one." Animals have been named and described from far less (go look at a paleontology textbook to verify this ).

OK, I'll bite. I would sever his head, empty my pack, and lash the head to it. I would walk back to my truck using due diligence, especially near likely ambush points. I think I would make it back ok. Anyway, I would give it one hell of a try. I am not all that sure who I would give it to, though. I would probably contact someone I trust, who has put a little more time and thought into this than I, and let them handle the thing once I got back to a phone. Maybe BFRO or TBRC. But I think at this point, a BF would have to beg for it, before I would shoot one. Not fear, just lack of desire to see one dead. If it threatened me, I would shoot.
BSF

I'd take the head and a foot and mark the body on my handheld gps so a helicopter could be flown in. With all the adreneline flowing through your veins after killing a sasquatch do you really think you're going to notice if the head weighs 100 pounds?

I have thought about this and it comes down to two things for me. Am I trying to prove the existence of Sasquatch - or am I trying to get it scientifically placed as to genus?
It would be enough to establish its existence to get a very tiny amount of DNA. A drop of blood or a hair sample pulled out with root attached is more than sufficient for a DNA sample. The big plus for this approach is that you can get this fast and get out fast if you are scared or threatened. That sample would be sufficient to establish the existence of such a creature as many DNA samples can be shared to labs around the world for verification with very little product.
Then sit back and watch the fun begin!

uh, remind me to never get drunk and pass out at medic's house.

Yeah medic you sound like you have done this before! If i were the police in medics area i think i would dig around his backyard a little, no telling what they might find! Hey medic you a Ed Gein fan?

Wow we really must be bored...

hmmm- wasn't there a post about a Sas obsessed serial killer somewhere? :willies:

Don't anyone fool yourselves into thinking just hair samples or blood would pacify any scientist who doubts their existence. They would just call it inconclusive like before. A head would be the easiest and the fastest, with the foot as a possible second choice. They are the evidence that could not be questioned.

But is a very good possibility you would have to kill more just to get out alive, and that would be tragic...

If ever there is a reason for the pro-kill group to split into a desecrate/no-desecrate debate, this thread is it. Might a Sasquatch be intelligent enough to know something were seriously wrong with a human hacking off the jaw of one of its downed comrades? Shooting is one thing: maybe the sasquatch you don't see might not make the connection between a human with his boomstick and his suddenly felled companion. But that same human coming up and making off with a relatively non-nutritious body part...

Let's say the sasquatch doesn't come tearing out from cover and turn you into paste the moment you crouch next to the corpse. Let's say he instead goes on his way to somehow spread the fear and hate of humans to all others of his kind within hearing/smelling distance (assuming that if he recognizes desecration when he sees it, so too can he spread such a message). A pro-kill person might argue that killing a sasquatch is the only way to get it recognized by the scientific community and subsequently protected. How much call for protection of vengeance-driven mad ape is there going to be? How happy are people going to be that such a large animal has been "discovered" when they can never again be sure that they can go camping without being found by a Sasquatch who knows what humans are capable of and no longer finds their scent or presence tolerable. Of course if a Sasquatch does not think anything of mutilation, or not smart enough to realize not all humans mutilate the dead (oops... let's leave embalming out of this), then my argument is moot.

Lest I appear to be arguing against killing in a thread that's not about the debate, I'll say this:

There must be a point at which photographic evidence cannot pass by the eyes of the powers that be without raising enough eyebrows for serious consideration. It is my opinion that if one is willing to shoot a sasquatch and then take it's head, jaw, hand, or foot, and of course can do so (there are no other sasquatch nearby, or at least none that are pro-kill when it comes to humans), then one should be there with a friend (what, you're going to kill and cut one while alone? Wouldn't you run the risk of earning a Darwin Award?), both of you also armed with cameras, at least one a video. Then, according to the steps suggested in another thread, have one of you film the shooting (if possible); as well as the wounds; the physical sample taking (hair, mouth scrapings, blood, finger/toenails, and if you must, a clipping from the ear); a cursory physical examination (hell, if you're going to cut it up, why not film its anatomical correctness instead); castings (latex dries quickly, doesn't it?) of hands, feet, face; and so on. Then you could both leave without worrying about leaving a sasquatch-body-part scent trail for the horrified-yet-enraged Sasquatch-who-wasn't-there-but-is-now to follow.

In other words, if you are prepared to cut it up, then why not be prepared to just take extensive photographic evidence instead? While you may think the idea of scientists getting their hands on all or part of a body is a good one, that's not necessarily to only path to the official recognition that sasquatch exist.

I was not aware that viable DNA samples have been collected. Can you tell me the details? Who collected them, what was collected, when was it analyzed, where was it analyzed? Who reported the results?

Well... at the risk of being too graphic... this might represent the reality of what we are talking about. The kid in the photo holds a gorilla head that might be a bit smaller, but not by much.

I've seriously thought over what might be needed should such an event ever occur. I actually watched all of the beheading videos from Iraq to see how long it might take to perform that terrible task. Awful, yes, but it's the truth of how it would be with such a human-like animal.

I suppose once the deed is accomplished (as has been described already) then wrapping it up in plastic and humping it out of there in a backpack would be the way to go.

My chief concern at that point would be every little twig snap I might hear. Even the sound of the wind would make me think an army of pissed off Sasquatch was about to pounce on me.

I think the phrase "hasty retreat from the forest" would apply.

- Dfoot

HEAD
"It's What's For Dinner"

This just might be the frickin' funniest thread I have ever read! But for some strange reason I feel the need to add my two cents. There are two possible things I would do.

1. In this day and age most people carry cell phones, I would call the nearest game warden or any type of law enforcement agency.

2. I would chop off his left ear. The reason I would do this is because according to my calculations the ear would only weigh 27.3 lbs. The other reason is that it would look great in my collection of left ears.

Bigfoot Country,,, Are you a Vietnam Vet??? Man, if so, you're giving us some BAD PR for sure!!!!!

Crew Chief

Great posts all. I'd like to add a couple thoughts.

I think Lowland has it right. There is no way I'd even attempt this without at least a two person team. Even if I were some sort of Rambo armed with a bazooka (which I'm not), no way am I shooting at a 600lb potentially territorial and aggressive animal without backup. Three would even be better. 2 shooters and a cameraman.

I still think you've got to perform an impromptu vivisection. Describing it as a "desecration" might be a bit much. I think you are making several assumptions about sasquatch behavior and society that are unwarranted. For example, do sasquatch regard corpses as sacred? That would imply sasquatches have a religion or at least a societal code of ethics.

I agree that photographing the entire procedure would be necessary.

As far as DNA goes, the whole problem with this is that you have no baseline. We don't have a sample of known sasquatch DNA for comparison. So the best result that you can hope to get by collecting DNA evidence without a baseline is that the sample is "unknown". I think people have already tried this with no success.

Finally, on a personal note, I don't think that I would be able to pull that trigger unless the animal was threatening me. Yes, I do realize that I am pro-kill and this makes me a bit hypocritical. For whatever reason, I have no problem with game birds or fishing, but big game has always been hard for me. It's a personal thing. So that rules me out as the shooter. I'll volunteer for cameraman and pack mule though.

Regards,
unixguy

*edited to add comments concerning desecration of a corpse*

There are also numerous counties and parishes where shooting the local sasquatch/bigfoot/mo-mo/booger/whatever is illegal.

Sheriff: "Whatcha huntin for?"

Hunter(s): "Bigfoot!"

Sheriff: "Really? How will you know one when you see him?"

Hunter(s): "Easy, we'll look for somethin that looks like a man and shoot it."

Sheriff: (!!!!) "Run that by me again?"

Should you really want to recover the whole body and don't care that the law takes it. Then (if available) just get on your cell phone and call the law and tell them that you think you just shot a man and give them the location. You will have plenty of help very quick and maybe even that helicopter.

I would most likely(depending on location and time of the year) in the event i couldn't get the body out and don't want to call the law then i would first take the cojones and get them on ice asap and i would take at least one side of the lower jaw. It is said that they call tell body weight and size by the front molar.

I am not addressing the topic of having to defend ourselves.

If the body became frozen then you hack it into for easy transport.

The person that owns a set of Bf cojones will have a lot of people wanting them. Imagine a army of BF RANGERS. The army could sell off most of their Humvees then.

If you see something that looks like a 7-9', 500-800 lb., fur covered, red eyed man with no neck or clothing, and that smells like the devil himself, I would say it is probably safe to assume it is not a lost cub scout. Still sounds pretty funny, though. How could you explain what you were hunting without sounding like a screwball?
BSF

If I was alone....

Make sure it's DEAD...
Quickly take a couple photos...
Un-sheath hatchet & lop off a hand...
Secure trophy, reload, scan area, LISTEN ...
HAUL ASS OUTTA THERE, firing intermittent warning shots into the air, all the way back to the truck ....
Go straight home & ice it down....

FREAK OUT !!!

What is the Big Foot had a disease? Something life threatning to humans.

I think I would only take a finger. If you messed up the face, the TV reporters around the world would crucify you for messing up the face and lowering their ratings. I don't think I would like to be associated with a mangled head for the rest of my life. I would only shot as a last resort though.

I would cough on everyone that ever made me mad.
JK, but I guess that is a possibility. Like something they are somewhat Immune to, but kills humans. That would be the least of my worries if I bagged a sassy. Not sure I would worry too much about network ratings from the mutilated head, either. I think I would put the head on a silver platter, and present it (unveil it) at some sort of scientific symposium. Put an apple in his mouth, and a pink bow in his hair.
BSF

BSI precautions just like you would do with a human. At a very minimum I would wear latex exam gloves.

Have a Bigfoot BBQ!!!!! What else?

If it were me I wouldn't want to be alone in the first place. I'd do what BSF would, Cut the head off and hands and maybe the feet. Then I would have me partners run interference. You know like what the do in a football game. If there is ONE, then there is most certainly another....


Belle

Sass burgers...mmmm