I recently replied to a post on one of the Facebook groups I’m a member of. The question was if a .45 ACP was good enough for a defensive weapon in bear country. My reply was of course, if you’re good with it, comfortable with it, confident in your skills and reliability of the handgun, that’s actually just as good as just about anything else for that purpose. I state for the most part very few encounters with bears ever escalate into a confrontation. Even more rare, would a confrontation escalate into an attack. I also stated with the stats I can remember reading, for the most part any successful defense against a grizzly with a handgun is almost always after the bear and victim were already engaged. Very often the most effective shots fired were actually when the gun was pushing against fur and the victim was in the grasp of the bear. 

So then, I also later think about, what if the bear finds you in your tent at night while you are sleeping. What if he grabs your foot and starts to tug. Almost immediately you will be out of reach of your defensive weapon. My recommendation was, what I have always lived since the 70s in grizzly country, have your defensive weapon strapped to you at all times… Even when sleeping in the tent. Yes, I slept with my 8-inch 44 mag strapped on. Some discomfort sleeping but it was also peace of mind. If that big ole hungry bear was chewing on my foot I can still survive if I have a defense. 

So, after that, I start to think what else could be a threat in the backcountry? Other bears, wolves, mountain lions… Lots of threats out here what is the defense against all those?

Then it hits me, what about bigfoot? Yes! Sasquatch! 

I reflect on all the old stories about an angry bigfoot and grizzly in a confrontation and Bigfoot kicks the grizzly’s butt. Wait a minute here. Is that .45 now big enough to save you from bigfoot? That raises concern. Time to reassess. If Bigfoot wins in a fight – doesn’t that mean Bigfoot is tougher, meaner, stronger? How many folks have been attacked by bigfoot? How many were actually killed by bigfoot? Do we even know, if bigfoot kills someone, doesn’t he then drag them off and there is no evidence and now that bigfoot victim just becomes another of the thousands of unexplained missing persons? 

So, we need to think Whats the defense from bigfoot? How about this? Maybe it’s Bigfootette? Maybe she’s just looking for love in new places? Then what to you do? What if SHE grabs you drags you into the forest and plops you down on a stump, looks you right in the eye, batts her eyelashes and gives you that sultry smile. Then what? You have your.45. But she’s just looking for love and you know it. So you think a moment… hey she’s just flirting. We men love a flirt. What’s next? Is it the quick grab for the .45 and hope to win, or do you reach up brush the mustache aside and just lay a big ole kiss on her? Ok you do, she likes it now suddenly you think, she’s looking for love, is this going to be a black widow type of love or a married with children kind of love? 

Honestly, we’re guys. Any attention from women makes us giddy and happy. So we start thinking, hey this just might work. I mean… chicks in Europe don’t shave. That’s envogue in some places. I mean hey, Fur is coming back in style. Of course I’m kidding here. However, if this works out for me don’t tell my wife. I wonder if Bigfootette can keep a secret.

So, have you ever had a bigfoot encounter of any kind? Do you believe in Sasquatch? 

I had an encounter with an angry Sasquatch back in about 1985. I was out hunting, spotlighting predators in Montana. It was a very common pastime. Often, we would be out all night burning the candle at both ends of course we were young and bulletproof and gonna live forever. 

So, about 3 a.m. I got really tired and did the old pull off the road and take the power nap. I’m parked right near a creek and there is a gap between this brushy creek and the thick timbered ridge above. I wake from my nap and step out of the pickup to “check for a flat tire.” As I’m out there no vehicle running no lights on just enjoying the starry sky. Suddenly I hear this scream that made me miss the flat tire. No kidding this scream was quite close extremely loud and absolutely terrifying. OK now I’m a really big young man, strong a fearless. Afraid of nothing till just this moment. 

I am truly terrified and can remember being so scared I literally froze like the cartoons. This was a scream that had both deep groaning growling tones and super ear-piercing shrieks and screams. Now get this, Another one answers. Holy cow! I am truly terrified. I’m a fairly young guy. Not fully educated yet. So I don’t know all the sounds in the woods. I only know one thing at this moment, I’m absolutely, terrified. Of course, I don’t believe in bigfoot until this very moment. Yup this is bigfoot and I’m gonna die. So I finally get a grip on myself enough to move and get into the vehicle. Yes, I’m hunting predators, I’m armed and have lights. But wait. I have guns for fox and coyotes, 15-35 pound critters. Not for Sasquatch, 8-foot-tall and 800 pounds. I’m am so undergunned.

I get into the pickup, hit the great big spotlight on top of the pickup and start looking in the direction of the sound both eager and terrified of what I’m gonna see. At this point I’m convinced it’s something not normal, not of this world. I’m sure this is bigfoot because I cannot think of anything that can make these sounds. 

As I’m shining the direction of the sounds, every now and then I catch just a flash of a reflecting eye of an animal. Very high. No kidding this is a strong 10 feet off the ground. This is funny, as I type this I remember that moment, and the goosebumps just shot up on my arm. So I see these secretive shy eyes blinking about 10 feet off the ground. Nope this is real, these really are eyes of an animal. It’s too far away and my light is not good enough to clearly identify. I start the pickup and move closer to the shy blinking eyes. I finally get close enough I believe I can see with binoculars. As I’m looking in the general direction of the eyes, I finally catch another flash of the eye reflection. I am close enough now to identify these shy blinking eyes. With careful inspection, I see there is a bobcat up in a tree, occasionally screaming at another bobcat on the ground. The one on the ground had its back to me and never looked my way. 

It was late in the season and these were a male and female engaged in the mating ritual. As all cats do, there is a screaming, howling and growling courtship. 

Trust me in the middle of the night out in the woods, cat courtship is absolutely terrifying if you don’t know what it really is. 

Have you had a bigfoot encounter? Send me an email. Tell me about your Bigfoot of Bigfootette. Experience.