Matt Moneymaker Q & A: Thoughts on Bigfoot from a Decades’-Long Believer


Ranking among the network’s top three series and delivering 1.2M P2+ viewers, the initial season of Finding Bigfoot this past summer found a sizeable audience among viewers, whether they believe in or question the existence of sasquatch.

According to crew member Cliff Barackman, the Animal Planet marketing team is currently ramping things up for Season 2 of Finding Bigfoot. And if you haven't noticed lately, the advertisements are showing up more frequently as the January 1st premiere date nears.

In the Discovery Channel Press Release page, the network posted a Q&A about team leader Matt Moneymaker:

MATT MONEYMAKER Q & A:

-- Thoughts on Bigfoot from a Decades’-Long Believer --

How did you get involved in looking for Bigfoot?

I had an interest since age 10, after I saw the original "Legend of Boggy Creek" in the theater. In my late teens, I met some eyewitnesses who directed me to a remote location in the Ventura Mountains where they had watched a nine-foot tall bigfoot circling their camp at night. I backpacked to the location a few months later and found fresh bigfoot tracks. From that point on, I had an obsessive desire to pursue these animals and figure out how they survive.

How did you meet Bobo, Cliff and Ranae and come together to find Bigfoot?

I met Bobo at a Bigfoot Symposium in Northern California in 2003. He attended all the expeditions in Northern California, and many other BFRO trips in other parts of the West. I met Cliff when he began attending BFRO expeditions in 2005. Eventually he organized and led some of those BFRO expeditions. Finally, I met Ranae by phone initially around 2003. A few years later she attended a BFRO expedition in Washington State and has since become a familiar face on the bigfoot scene in the Northwest. She's skeptical because she has not clearly seen one yet, but she's still very fascinated by the subject. We glean a lot from her biology perspective and her extensive field experience.

What is a Bigfoot/Sasquatch?

There are different schools of thought on this issue, but no one knows for sure at this juncture. Some think they are hairy Neanderthal survivors. Others suspect they are off-shoots of various pre-human lines, like homo erectus. I'm with the school that believes they are survivors of the giant Asian “wood apes,” like giganto-pithecus blacki. "Gigantos" were the largest apes that ever lived, and were thought to be long extinct. There's a list of reasons for leaning toward the Giganto explanation ... One of those reasons: When you map the locations of bigfoot/yeti sightings world-wide, they radiate out of southeast Asia, down where orangutans are from, and wear Gigantos once roamed. They do not radiate out of Africa, as you would expect for an African primate line, like Hominids. There are no sightings in Africa or Europe, for example.

What do you think is its closest relative?

If sasquatches are descendents of Gigantos, then they are basically giant cousins to the orangutan.

Why isn’t there more objective evidence of Bigfoot? (ie. Photos, videos, etc.)

They are rare animals to begin with, and they don't leave much evidence behind, because of the way they live. It also seems that one of their survival tactics to live in a way that conceals their presence or passage as much as possible, probably as a consequence of bad experiences with humans in the past.

Why don’t we find Bigfoot remains in the woods?

They are rare animals, and they live a long time, so they don't leave remains behind very often. Bones of rare animals are almost never found anywhere. Nature disposes of all remains over time.

How many Bigfoot do you think there are?

I still lean toward the most often cited parameters: 2,000 - 6,000 for all of the U.S., Canada and Alaska.

What is the most compelling evidence that you have uncovered while filming the show?

We heard and/or recorded sasquatch sounds several times during the filming of the series -- howls, knocks, screams. We pulled some great track casts out of red Georgia clay too, but the "evidence" that compelled us most on our journey was the continuous flow of credible eyewitnesses we met as we traveled from state to state, and from the U.S. to Canada. After you meet enough good solid eyewitnesses, you'll know that sasquatches exist. You'll know it without having to hold a piece of physical evidence in your hands.

Why does the cast use calls while searching for Bigfoot?

We use squatch calls because I figured out, back in the 80's, that sasquatches will sometimes respond to squatch calls, and will even approach them at night.

What type of equipment is needed for a Sasquatch excursion?

If it's a day-trip then the most important gear is a sound recorder, because you are far more likely to hear a squatch than to see a squatch, especially during the day. A camcorder is a step-up, in a way, but people don't let them run continuously for hours, like you can do with a sound recorder.

Are Bigfoot dangerous?

They'll scare you out of their woods sometimes, but they won't hurt you, usually. They do throw rocks and branches sometimes. And sometimes those things will hit you, but the intention seems to be to encourage you to leave. Note: They are very dangerous to aggressive dogs. They will make short work of a dog of any size.

What are the best spots for Sasquatch excursions?

Your best chance for spotting a sasquatch would be along the upper half of Pacific Coast Highway, just before sunrise. From Eureka, California all the way up to Olympic rainforest in far northwest Washington, people spot them on or near PCH. It's a long, long highway. Squatches probably walk along portions of it in the middle of the night when migrating north-south along the coast.

Are Bigfoot limited to North America?

Bigfoot-like animals are spotted in many parts of Asia and even in Australia.

Why are they so spread out?

They are spread out because they each need a lot of territory to survive. They would exhaust local food supplies too quickly if they lived in groups like gorillas (which are strictly vegetarian).

What do you think of Bigfoot representations on television and in film?

Some are funny, but I don't like all of them. Too many of those representations make people think "Bigfoot" is a mysterious single being, a proverbial monster, rather than a species of animals that is often sighted by people, but only seldomly captured on film or video. Why do those misleading representations occur? Because people want to see a real bigfoot, but bigfoots will not cooperate with that ... so representations are made instead.

Comments

  1. I enjoyed that interview. I've wondered about how Matt got into the biz I see an earnest desire to learn more, hopefully not just a franchising opportunity in the BF business. If he's not trying to defend himself with the worst possible methods of name-calling and belittling others, he sounds fairly intelligent. I would say he could use a bit more time with humans if only just to learn how to disagree with intelligence instead of spite.

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  2. It's cool I heard about MM and those prints when I was you growing up in Ojai. If MM conducted all his interviews like this he would be much more respected. I actually enjoyed this read.

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  3. Softball questions......... WHY HASN'T THERE BEEN A DECENT PICTURE EVER? That's the crux of it. How is it that with all of the "sightings" (and seriously there are tons of them) out there and all of the cameras out there, we still don't even have a decent pic? Not one!!! We have wolverines in california pictures (and they think it might be the only one there!!) yet there's enough bigfoot to be spotted daily it seems, yet not one decent photograph? it's hard to buy into this.

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  4. History channel has a Bigfoot documentary on right now till 11pm EST.

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  5. I understand where Matt is coming from. When you have to deal with guys like the "last post" it must become very tiresome and annoying. Anyone can go on the internet and start shooting stats off about any subject their not educated in. Easier for him to go on the defensive, especially when you've never even met the person you are debating with.

    I could go into a chat room filled with wildlife biologists and start saying shit I have no idea about, and chances are there may be 1 personality in that room room that would treat me the same way as MM. Not comparing MM to a scientist, but in this feild he does have a lot of experience!

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  6. I question why Beer-Man finds tonights show on the History channel offensive. I believe this is a very informative documentary.

    The picture questions have easy answers. The top wildlife photographers attempt to photograph rare animals in the wild and if successful they are paid extremely well. Good photographs of rare known animals are very hard to come by. What do you think you will get in terms of quality from nervous weekend hikers.

    Take your Nikon or cell phone to the jungle and try and get a quality picture of a Tiger.

    The people with the talent to get a quality photo do not attempt to do it. Number 1- they need to get paid- you quit your job to look for Bigfoot- unless you find it your going broke. 2- any photo is viewed with so much skepticism it is probably not a good idea to go that route and deal with that hassle when you have another option.

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  7. The sad fact is people refuse to acknowledge that Bigfoot is really more likely than an interdimensional being than anything else.

    The laws of physics allow for "other dimensions" and many very respected scientists believe they exist. We also have the power of wormholes which can do anything and are believed to be able to act as dimensional portals.

    I think sightings are in areas of overlapping vortex and there world crosses ours.

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  8. Some of the poster's here need to find themselves a husband. A real man in the mold of Jim LeBus or Shawn.

    Moneymaker has spent more time looking for Bigfoot than anyone. Give him that and take it into account when you listen to him.

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  9. @ anonymous about docmentry.

    When I said "last post" I was referring to the last article in Shawns blog about "Lord Bearclaw", not the History documentry. Sorry about that.

    I'm in canada and probably dont have the same feed as u for TV. What documentry are you talking about? I'm sure I'd enjoy it!

    I am a person who thrives on Bigfoot video and pictures. I have an obsession with information and will always take more in. I will always do my best to with-hold judgemnt on anybody........ basically saying, there are a lot of people ou there that have been labelled hoaxers by others, but I will not follow accusations like that with-out substantial eveidence to back it. I get sick and tired of all the hearsay BS that goes around in the BF world. Unamed sources drive me nuts!

    I am a very "glass is half full" kinda guy. I will always give people the benefit of the doubt until they prove me wrong. You get burned sometimes, but I find it is working for me in my life, in both business and family.

    Hope that clears things up.

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  10. I have gone on nearly 50 week long expeditions the past 12 years. These were the real deal, we went very deep into the mountains and did not tell many people why we were going or where. The point was to get a specimen and we did not take casts or anything else that could get out and alert others to where we knew there were always small groups. The minute big groups of different people start coming around they move to different areas and you wont see them.

    I dont claim to know as much as Matt but here is what i will say. They have very sharp nails and teeth and also use stone tools. We employed nets on one expedition and we did get a specimen- and it cut through the net and was gone before we were within a mile. They wont do anything within smelling distance of a human- which we estimate at 1.5 to two miles. You may see them but they will take off- they wont touch peanut butter or anything else until they know your gone.

    We employ a method we call "no choice" we take a case of peanut butter crackers, alot of candy nuts and leave a huge pile where there is no way they can pass it up. Sprinkle around tobasco sauce to attract them and they will come. we used a 30 by 30 net with the bait in the middle. No trail cameras because this will keep them away just a small trigger alarm that gives a signal at base camp when tripped. The camp was 2.3 miles from this trap. It was triggered and when we arrives the net was ripped apart and looked chewed in places, and we found a stone type knife- a chunck of rock the bottom dull wide and very smooth while the upper portion was sharpened into a dull type blade.

    We tracked one early on and cornered it- we got a lasso around it and it cut the rope enough with its nails to break it.

    These are the only uniform traits i have seen- these things act differently. One summer we found 12 sets of tracks all belonging to what we thought was a different animal. Our cabin is at the base of a rocky mountain base. There is a ledge just above it we cleared off and through some old truck seats on it and created a small fire pit. This view gives us a great birds eye view of a large area. We will just sit for 12 or 14 hours there and we know we saw 8 different ones all with their own personality. They know we are there but dont know were watching and you see they all act differently. Some come out everyday and seem to prefer the light.

    We thought about using a sniper rifle but figured this would have them desert the area, and would be a waste because the chance of getting a good shot and the shot killing it, and actually finding the body when it takes off were so low.

    Right now we are in the process of digging a very deep dead fall and think this is the best chance of getting one and retrieving the body because this represents the best chance or really immobilizing it. We are digging out a natural gully so they wont automatically avoid it.

    I disagree with Matt on one big thing-he makes the Sasquatch out to be cute and cuddley and they are not. They are wild animals stronger than anyone knows. Early on a friend shot one with a .44- it did not flinch and acted surprised and then growled and took off. Nobody is going to shoot one and get a body because unless you have a very powerful gun and hit it in the perfect spot it will take off and you wont find it which is why we used the nets.

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  11. Curious so why no trail cameras or night motion censors that start recording video when triggered? If they won't do much and can smell us from a mile or two out why do they let us catch them on camera?

    Just really curious not trying to attack your story or anything.

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  12. lots of fantasy here

    is anyone else tired of Finding Bigfoot non-news

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  13. Interesting story from anonymous above about attempting to get a specimen. It sounded somewhat plausible until the line, "We tracked one early on and cornered it- we got a lasso around it and it cut the rope enough with its nails to break it." Really? You went up to a squatch, cornered it, and then lassoed it? That sounds like 100% B.S. Of course, the rest of the story instantly becomes 100% B.S. as well.

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  14. If Moneymaker has had an interest in bigfoot since age 10, he must know that the only way to find/prove bigfoot is to provide a specimen for science. Why doesn't he and his colleagues try to do this (and only this) on the Finding Bigfoot show?

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  15. I also wanted to add that when we sit on the ledge it is not as if the Sasquatch are dancing around. Many people would write them off as being a bear.

    One of the most amazing things is watching animals like bear, deer, and cougar just stop and take off and then a Sasquatch will appear. Anyone who does not see this will have a hard time saying Sasquatch are not bear as they stay close to the ground. You know its not a bear when it stands up and runs on two legs back to the woods.

    This is how we did the scent tests the minute one of us would get within a mile of the area we would see them take off.

    Nests or huts are only built and used in the early spring. They come to the lower areas and use these until it is warm enough where they dont have to. We know for a fact that a nest means one thing- they could not find any dead trees large enough to hollow out which they prefer.

    We have found a total of 6 shelters like this- very old think trunk trees that are dead and the inside hollowed out. The inside is always very clean of any debris with the floor having the same combination of materials to use as cushion. There is a certain type of moss always found that only grows in much higher elevations. The outside of the tree is always surrounded by a thick ring of scat. In three of these we found stone tools and animal skins that looked almost folded. What i thought was most interesting was all 6 had holes dug out at anywhere from 7 to 8 feet. We pretty much know these are to look out.

    They go up to the higher elevations in winter and live in caves and old mines. We found this area but the weather made this a very short one time trip.

    There are mines in our area but we think thy dont use them because they are often filled with rattlesnakes- which they dont like. There is an area where rattlesnakes sun themselves and we have seen the Bigfoot avoid this area. We saw a Bigfoot poking around some logs and then run like hell- the person who went out to look has no fear of snakes and went to the log and found a huge Rattlesnake.

    Please remember that we dont look to take pictures or video- we know they are there and want to bring in a body. This is strictly financial for us and we have a deal in place that will compensate us financially and our only goal is to take advantage of that.

    This may be why we picked up alot of information- we only look at this from- why can't we get one and then see what they do to avoid this. Something very interesting i left out is that we have never had instances of rock throwing absent twice while traveling into the area. This is the only time they have the "high ground" on us. We think that this is designed to scare off people coming into one of there well used living habitats. Once you are in they then keep their guard up but avoid interaction.

    A new team member just told us that he stayed in a cabin and was the victim of rock throwing. His crew anticipated this and studied where the rocks were coming from- they then drove a day in that direction- which was maybe ten miles on an old overgrown logging road because they had to use a chainsaw to clear it and they had a special souped up 4 X 4 designed to do it. They were not going in without a truck to sleep in and sure enough when they got to a point where they could see a valley they just sat and then started to see them crossing meadows and appearing to drink at streams.

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  16. We lassoed it by using a snare type device- it stepped on it and triggered it. How could you think we threw a lasso. I said we tracked it and cornered it and did not think i needed to explain setting a trap more.

    Trail cameras are Sasquatch repellent. They sense the thing is there and just avoid the areas. I dont know if it is the frequency or the fact that they stick out and cant be hidden in all the areas where they would be useful. Maybe the scent of man or the scent of plastic. I just know they avoid them- we actually have them hammered to the cabin because that keeps them away.

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  17. If you want the full story we kept baiting an area with salt and peanut butter crackers for a solid week. Everyday these items would be gone and we would attempt to track it just enough to know the direction it was traveling.

    One day we planned to track it and try the capture. We broke into groups- the first tracked it while the others broke off to make it follow the only path it could to avoid being seen. This path was one where there was an area of dead trees and brush and a 3 foot drop after. The creature was taking off and trying to avoid us heading right to where the snare was set up- in the drop area of the gully.

    Breakdown of the trap was a loop type lasso placed a few inches above an area we dug out in the gully. Its foot got caught as planned. We are not "novice outdoorsmen". We used a special rope that does not allow any friction- this means the following: when it moved forward tightening the noose it could not loosen in- the rope wont allow it. We had the lasso on its leg but it was able to cut threw it.

    The rope is made of a bungie type material with very small razor type fibers that prevent backward friction. Special ops use it for missions where they have to make sure a knot will hold and it will hold- but a sharp implement will still cut it.

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  18. It's so deep in here tonight I need to put on waders...

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  19. agreed...lord..
    writing a book? looking for audience feed back? it sucks...too many inaccuracies, too many internal inconsistencies, spend more time researching and try again

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  20. I will also tell you I was part of a team that went to Golden Provincial 7 years ago.

    The area was deserted at that time and they are all atleast 20 miles in. Hang tape anywhere and it will pick up random hairs. The hair they have has likely been there for awhile. You will have sightings because of the area and the fact they are around but your not seeing where they are "living". You are seeing curious ones or those traveling through to get to the other area.

    I will guarantee if you go 20 miles northwest of where the Brisson stump is and camp for three days you will see one.

    Believe me or not its up to you. I would like people to check out what I say and they will see it is true. Once you get to their home area through the attempts to scare you away they begin to sort of ignore you and dont hide their daily business.

    These areas are just not the type most can travel too. Bear and lion are more common than sasquatch in these areas and you really need to be at an advanced level to be able to safely navigate these areas.

    Our expeditions have a specific purpose- get a specimen for a genetic research company for purposes of experiments. If someone else proves it exists they do us a favor and allow us to be low key.

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  21. And Brisson's stump is where? Somewhere close to what parking lot?

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  22. Ah yes. . . The old Brisson Stump. I know it well. Many a danger, toil and snare comes about near the Brisson Stump. It holds the key that unlocks many doors.

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  23. lmao, SEE? THE CRAZIES ARE THE DEATH NAIL TO FOOTERY!! get rid of them, ridicule them, chase them back to UFO land. Cuz as long as people view this community through the lens of the insane...well, insane will be how they view it.


    seriously, one piece of evidence that isn't murky, or mysterious, or blurry or just bad ... not one?

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  24. Look someone here is a bold faced liar and wont stop with the stupid conclusion Brisson's stump is 250 yards from the parking lot.

    It is not get over it. You are an idiot. Debate his hair and picture if you like but stop making up utter bull about the area being close to a parking lot.

    I challenge you to get a camera and then walk from the parking lot to this area in the time it would take to walk 250 yards. Do it. You have annoyed me with this stupid claim for weeks prove it or shut up.

    You like that stupid idiot who would come on here and say Bigfoot are people like us. Yeah thats it moron.

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  25. Matt Moneymaker is both thin and intelligent.

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  26. To the anonymous poster who is using bait to try and snare a sasquatch: we should talk. sasquatchecology@gmail.com

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  27. Is it just me or is Ranae hot?

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  28. Of all the Sasquatch discussions I've come across, the lengthy accounts given by Anonymous above are the most unique yet. If it's not true, what an elaborate story he's come up with...and based on his (try not to take offense) lack of grammar and writing skills....he doesn't sound like a literary genius like J.K. Rowling. Sounds like this guy has spent some serious time in the wilderness studying these things. His story sounds completely believable and plausible as parts seem to fit well with established behaviors while other parts are new and unique and explain unknown behaviors filling in the gaps. Would like to hear more accounts if he has more to share...

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