Steve: "Before I get into the circumstances of the picture, I want to explain what I was trying to do when I took it. Like many researchers, my comrades and I sat around a lot trying to come up with sneaky and devious ways to get close to the animals. One of the methods I decided to try was this: Pat Akin, John Prescott and I were normally the three that went on trips/overnights into our main research area in Pike County, west of Zebulon, Georgia. On a side note, this is approx. 20 miles from where the Elkins Creek footprint was found and cast. While we were walking through the area, Pat and John would hike at the front, going a normal speed, talking loudly and stopping occasionally.
I would hang back about 50-100 yards back, being as stealt
hy as I could, often crouching down and listening/watching. The idea was that if we walked through an area with an animal close by, the animal would key on Pat/John and try to cut behind them and tail them to see what was going on. If I tried to be as quiet as possible and keep low, maybe the animal would be concentrating on the other two and swing around close to me without realizing it. When out in the woods I like to hang back and on occasion suddenly stop, turn around and look around behind us for a few seconds. The photograph is one of those occasions where I believe the technique may have actually worked."On Sunday, March 7 1999, the three of us decided to take a day trip to our main area west of Zebulon. We actually entered the woods around 10:00 am and left around 2:00 pm as I recall. We had been walking around through one particular area for a couple of hours and had already had a couple of interesting noises/vocalizations and one crash through the woods. All three of us were armed with handguns. We went through one particular area and the two ahead of me decided to stop for lunch and sat down on a fallen tree in a small clearing. I was about 75 yards behind, and once I saw them sit down I stood erect and looked around. There, to about my 4:00 and about 75-80 yards away was an upright, pitch-black object standing in the middle of the trees. I was near a large tree (the one you see up close at the right end of the photo) so I stood behind it,
peering around the side and watched the object for about two minutes. I estimated it to be between 6.5-7ft tall (I'm 6'-6" and I seemed to be about even with it as best I could tell at that distance). Due to the dense trees apparent in the photo I really couldn't find an angle from my perspective where I could get a look at the entire object, only above where the knees would be. I could make out the general outline of the object and what I thought might be a face and the outline of an arm ( I didn't have any binoculars with me that day; they're usually useless in this area due to the density of foliage), but I was too far away to see any real detail. The object didn't so much as twitch the whole time I looked at it. It's funny what you don't think of when you find yourself in that situation, but it didn't occur to me to try to get closer. I just stood there and watched it. So after about two minutes I decided to take a picture, which is the one you see here, at an angle where it seemed I could get the most of whatever it was in the shot. At this point I began to get concerned about losing track of my friends so I turned back around to check on them. They were still sitting on the tree eating their sandwiches. I turned back around to look at the object, and it was gone. I was getting a little spooked at that time, and when I reached Pat and John I told them what had just happened, none of us felt like rushing over to the spot and looking around. On our next visit to the area some weeks later we did visit the spot but found nothing. The ground was still cold and hard and there was considerable leaf litter on the ground, so we didn't see anything there in the way of spore."What I think happened is that the animal was moving (with respect to the perspective in the photo) to the left and was tailing my friends. It would have been nearly 200 yards behind them at that moment. When I stood up and looked around, it saw me and froze. Unfortunately for it, at the moment it froze it was against a light background and its dark fur/hair stood out and I could see it. It stayed frozen and watched me until I turned around to check on my friends; it then saw its chance and escaped. Soon afterward I examined the photo with a magnifying glass and scanned enlargements and Dr. Jeff Meldrum looked at it with a microscope (he determined it was inconclusive), but until lately that is all the analysis that has been done on it. "
Finally Steve, Can you give any advice to the New Researcher in the field?
I think the most important things are:
1) To have a clear, solid understanding with yourself as to exactly why it is you want to go look for Bigfoot
2) Have a clear, solid understanding of just how you really intend to go about your research and how you intend to actually accomplish your goals (think persistence and LONG TERM).
3) Be as objective and scientific as you can, and realize that this is the only way you will ever be respected.
Have these to heart and you'll do as well as most anyone has.
I would like to thank both Mike and Steve for granting this interview.
*Photos courtesy of Steve*
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