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| Yours truly openin' The Bowman Lodge gate ... |
Howdy! My wife and I just got
back from a 1,000 mile round-trip to attend the 2014 North American Wood Ape
Organizational Retreat, held at the exquisite Bowman Lodge in northeastern Oklahoma! The retreat was a recap of the North American
Wood Ape Conservancy (NAWAC) field investigations over the past few years,
which gave new members like myself some insight as to the depth of our study
and the direction we will pursue in the upcomin’ year. While I won’t ever divulge any information here
that might compromise our study, y’all can visit the NAWAC Web site, Facebook page or
listen to Brian Brown’s upcomin’ podcast on The Bigfoot Show Blog for more details. Now a few months back ... I was asked by a NAWAC
board member to write an article concernin’ why I had decided to join a group; specifically,
why I chose the NAWAC … and to further explain my personal conflict with the
kill/no kill stance and the reason that I now fully support the takin’ of a
type specimen. Any of y’all who have read this blog know that it details
my personal accounts and the experiences that I’ve had since actually havin’ an
encounter with an animal that has not yet
been properly scientifically documented.
What follows is the meat from the article I’d submitted to the NAWAC … with a few taters thrown-in along the way!
Growin’ up in the
south, huntin’ and fishin’ has always been a big part of my life. I reckon
that I’d much rather spend a day in the woods or on a body of water than almost
anywhere else. I also grew up readin’
about paleontology, archeology and anything concernin’ wildlife biology. And I can remember seein’ the Patterson Gimlin film on the
national news, as well as readin’ about it in several publications, such as my
uncle’s February 1968 issue of Argosy or my grandfather’s January 1969 Reader’s
Digest. I can also remember watchin’
several documentaries and movies in the early 70’s on the subject. However, due to my personal outdoor experiences,
I pretty-much well dismissed the fact that there could be an actual animal such
as this in my neck of the woods. I reckon that I fell into skepticism; but
only to the point that, because I personally
hadn’t ever encountered such an animal, it probably wasn’t very likely that
our local flora & fauna supported them.
Wow … how blind, ignorant, arrogant and absolutely
wrong I was!
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Our gracious host Paul Bowman addresses the NAWAC members and
guests after breakfast, which began our day of recap and plannin' ... |
My son and I had our encounter in June of 2009 and much has changed
since then. I immediately tried to read
and view everything that I could on the subject, even reviewin’ the
publications and documentaries that I had already seen many years in the
past. I’ve found that the internet is
hit and miss; I’ve learned that much of what is posted on the Web is
exaggerated and even those stories that I had read in the past were overly-elaborated
to the point of bein’ over-dramatic. I had
found several Web sites where there were groups of amateur researchers; some
looked legitimate while some preyed upon the novice, and others just flat-out
breached beyond the boundaries of the mentally stable! But upon viewin’ an episode of MonsterQuest, I remember seeing a group
called the Texas Bigfoot Research Conservancy (TBRC) who appeared so professional and sincere about their field
research that I actually contacted a member via e-mail, and can remember
tellin’ him that I thought they were “the
real deal”. Upon further
investigation, I decided to attend a conference in Tyler, Texas in September of
2010. That conference opened-up a new
door for me.
By that point, I was already investigatin’ the area of our
encounter. I had become so obsessed with
tryin’ to find out what this animal was that most of my normal outdoor
activities were ignored. I started
purchasin’ equipment and game cameras, as well as spendin’ an inordinate amount
of time burnin’-up the highway between home and the area of our encounter. By this time I had made a few acquaintances
over the internet, and had hoped to network with these folks to find out if I
was approachin’ my amateur research properly.
This is when I started to find out that there are no experts in this
field. Period. And this is when I learned that there were
basically several different species of folks in the “Bigfoot” community. I had pretty-much well decided that if I
wanted to learn anything, I might be better-off goin’ solo. In several months of communications with one
member of the TBRC, I had considered becoming a member at some point in time,
but my personal life wouldn’t allow me the time to commit. I don’t believe in doin’ somethin’
half-assed, so I did not pursue the issue any further.
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Daryl Colyer converses with NAWAC team members about past events
and future strategies concerning our ongoing study of the wood apes. |
My main goal was to photograph the animal that my son and I had
encountered. I wasn’t lookin’ for fame nor was I lookin' for any financial gain; I simply wanted to know exactly what type of animal that we had encountered. I began to photograph and document our trips
to the area, but soon realized that I was spendin’ more and more time away from
home, and money that could’ve been used for family needs. My son and I had decided to sleep out in the
area of our encounter, with no fire and all of the recordin’ equipment that we owned
at the time. Even though we shared a
very interestin’ night with the barred-owls, coyotes and somethin’ unknown that
had passed through our camp site, we had nothin’ definitive to show for
it. Afterwards, I spent even more time
out there alone; I would scout durin’ the day and roam the sloughs & swamps
at night via my bass boat or my kayak. I
went to a second TBRC conference in Tyler, and again had the urge to soak-up
anything that this group had to offer.
But somethin’ didn’t feel right on that trip; I felt more like an outsider
or some rabid fan that was shunned by the stars. I had gone as far as to prepare a booklet and
CD full of photos and audio documentin’ our encounter as well as my amateur
research for one of the keynote speakers, but heard nothin’ further from that person for my efforts.
It was about this time that I started hearin’ the rumblin’s of the
pro-kill/no-kill controversy. I was
raised a hunter and an angler; so if I was going to harvest an animal, it was
for food. Period. Even though I was a more of a sport angler …
practicin’ catch and release long before it became chic, I was not by any means
a trophy hunter either. I thought that if this
animal was so rare, why kill it? Just
document it. Surely if one were to get a
good enough photograph, the proof would speak for itself; but in these days of
digital photo manipulation and rampant hoaxin’, maybe not. Bein’ a graphic designer and bein’ very
proficient in Photoshop, I could analyze most photos both visually and
digitally and immediately decide if somethin’ was real or not. So in a way, it made perfect sense to harvest
a type specimen. And after readin’ John Bindernagel’s
The Discovery of the Species, it
seemed that the only way to prove to the masses that this animal is real was to
give the scientists somethin’ definitive … as in a body. And afterwards, maybe the remainin’
population of this animal could be protected.
But, could I pull the trigger if I was blessed enough with another
encounter with one of these animals? For
example, if I felt threatened? Absolutely.
But to hunt this animal just to prove it was real? That was a very hard question for me to
ponder. Could I look an intelligent
being in the eyes and end its life?
Obviously, this animal is very intelligent to have evaded all of us for
so dang long.
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| Our gorgeous view of an Oklahoma sunset as seen from the back porch of The Bowman Lodge ... |
I then read on another Web site that someone from the TBRC had shot at and
possibly wounded one of these animals. The
“Bigfoot” community was up in friggin’ arms, and I soon learned from this
situation where the term “Bigfootery” had most probably come from! I couldn’t believe some of the things that
were said; but soon after, the TBRC posted a rebuttal to all of the drama that most
of the “Bigfoot” community was stirrin’-up over this incident. I was very impressed by the way that this matter
was addressed by the group, and it really opened my eyes to how frenzied the
masses became over this animal that has not been proven to even exist. Hell, I
know it’s real! So close … and yet,
instead of realizin’ that this group has been tryin’ to provide definitive
proof, they are persecuted by their so-called peers. I removed quite a few sites from my favorites
after that fiasco, and it made me realize that some folks are really both
paltry as well as petty. Sad …
I continued to socialize with a few folks in the “Bigfoot” community,
but in time that bit me more times than steppin’ on a cottonmouth. The last straw was early in 2013, and I
decided to quit interactin’ with “Bigfoot” groups in general. The last thing I wanted was to be sentenced
to death by association with folks in the lunatic fringe. I did continue to correspond, however with
someone who was a great help in the beginning of my amateur research, and
actually listened or answered questions when I was in need of advice. This person was also a member of the TBRC,
now known as the NAWAC. Shortly
thereafter, I started this blog … which is my creative release and an escape
from my daily grind. I turned my amateur
research documentation into somethin’ fun, but kept on a straight path and
didn’t exaggerate or overly elaborate.
Even though I tend to stray from the subject from time to time, I promised
myself I wouldn’t delve into the world of “Bigfootery”. It was through my correspondence with this
member and surfin’ through the NAWAC’s Web site that I stumbled upon an event
that I decided to volunteer for.
Through that day of volunteer work, I really began to feel the true
worth of this group. And afterwards, I
got to socialize with a few of the members and share some experiences out in
the field … which I like to call “doin’
my time in the grime!” I listened to
their accounts as well, and was amazed at what-all we had in common. I seemed to kind-of just fit right in, and
realized that these folks actually were
the real-deal. They were genuine, organized
and were truly on a mission … not some pipe-dream. No arm-chair researchers or wannabes; this
was an actual team. Soon after, I mulled
over whether or not I could add some worth to their effort. It didn’t take long for me to realize, well …
of course I can, because we share a common goal. We all just want to know more about this
animal that is now bein’ referred to as the North American wood ape. So I decided to contact the buddy that I had
corresponded with over the last couple of years and join. And I’m very
confident that I’ve made the right decision!
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| The NAWAC Training Camp held in Gilmer, Texas back in March. |
I reckon that the real deal-breaker for me was attendin’ the group’s
annual training camp last March; I learned so much in such a short period of
time. It was such a wonderful experience
being with like-minded individuals that all worked together as a team. I was absolutely humbled by the variety of
professionals who came from so many different backgrounds to attend this
event. And after hearin’ some of the
accounts from the other members, I cannot begin to tell y’all how strongly I
feel that this is one of the most important things that have happened to me
since becoming involved with this phenomenon.
Please realize that I didn’t choose to have an encounter with this animal, but I chose to
become a member of the North American Wood Ape Conservancy.
I now recognize that this group will most probably be responsible for (finally) properly and scientifically documentin’ this mystery species. And I now understand that to do this, it will take harvestin’ a type specimen. Period. As a
member of this team, I reckon that we may finally get some closure on exactly
what this mystery animal is, and then move on to the next step … which will be
the protection of this species and its habitat. I now strongly feel that this will be the
right course of action; because, if the goal of this group was just to “bag
one” for “braggin’ rights” … I reckon that y’all wouldn’t be readin’ this-here entry. Period.
So until next time, be safe out there in them woods ... and, y’all come
back now, you hear?
