Rex Houdyshel’s

Adventures of a Guest Bigfoot Researcher

Whoa!!! What fun. What adventure.

Before I begin I want to thank Tom Biscardi for allowing me to volunteer and travel along with him a second time. Last year I volunteered for eight days - found one footprint and videotaped the casting process. But that wasn't enough! This year I volunteered for four days, videotaped the team during that time, found two footprints, and cast two footprints. Twice the footprints in half the time. Last year after one day the team left me in town as the only non-local. This year the team left me in town as the only non-local for the last day. And what adventures I had!

I had been following the Searching For Bigfoot Team all year on the radio and on the website. I have been 100% confident that they would eventually succeed with a capture since they started on their first expedition January 31 (my birthday). My confidence has grown quickly as I read and hear more amazing stories on subsequent expeditions.

I had been "itching" to volunteer again all year, but knew I was too busy until August to do so. OK, I admit now, I sort-of hoped they would wait to succeed with a capture until I was available again to help.

And the adventures I had this year were more like what I had imagined last year was going to be like. Out in the woods by day, searching for evidence, and out at night searching for bigfoot.

In late July Tom called me and invited me to their next Texas expedition. Perfect! This was the place I wanted to go. I had just read Bob's report and seen the news clips. But just before this expedition started, Tom mentioned they were going to Oklahoma first. I wanted to go to, and he gave me the information. I left work on Monday just after my 1pm meeting. And I got to Oklahoma just an hour after the team did (hm, maybe I should have ditched the meeting). I met some of my old friends from last year - Bob and Tim - and met some new ones - Tommy, Steve, and Don. Don Monroe showed me his ‘bigfoot hand”. Wow! I had been wanting to see it since I heard about it, and was so thrilled to finally view it with my own eyes .Don and I hit it off well and we became friends this trip. I also met Steve, whom I had heard on the Joe Mazza radio show last February. At that time he had he had never seen the creature. Since then, he confirmed thatwith him that he had indeed had his first sighting in July in Texas. Would I have my first sighting soon?

Before breakfast the next day Tom and I had a quick meeting and he decided I would be the cameraman for this expedition. I am an amateur videographer (I made last year's adventure into a two-hour movie for my family), and their normal cameraman could not make it for this trip.

After breakfast we met up with the news crew who was going to follow us during our search for evidence in the area of the recent Atoka, OK, sighting. We split up into two groups. I was with Don, Steve, and the news crew. Our group started north and travelled south, while the other group entered the area from the south and travelled north. We were travelling up a once-wet now-dry ravine.

Eventually, I found a footprint. Actually, what I thought might be a footprint. I called Steve over and asked him if he saw what I saw - it was quite old and dry. Then he called Don over. Don pulled out his rubber tubing and blew out the loose dirt and leaves. It was a definite “maybe”. It was too old and dry and too worn to be positively identified as a print from a creature. The news crew that was following along with us also filmed it, but as we walked away Steve pointed out; "could've been a boot".

About 20 minutes later Don went up the side of the ravine to meet the other group. I started to follow, then just made a random decision to take a different path up - and found a second footprint. Don liked this one better, and the news crew filmed it, too. This one got on the evening news that night. Something that made me feel really proud!

But the big finds of the day were found by Tom and his group - a lair and a twisted tree. Those also got in the evening news. All evidence, whether conclusive or not, was judged old, and the conclusion was that the creature had moved on elsewhere.

So we packed up and went to Texas - for more adventures, to the hot spot I had read about on the Searching for Bigfoot website and was so anxious to see. Would I see my first bigfoot? If so, how close would I feel like getting with the team's video camera?

We checked into our hotel, showered and dressed for the evening activity, watched the news program, and ate dinner. Then we went out to the lake. When we arrived Tom said he wanted me to use the infrared mode of the camera. As I learned how to use it - with help from the book, Bob, and Tim, I missed the opportunity to film Tom getting stuck in the thick, sticky, sinking mud. Sorry - I guess you won't see that in the movie.

With no luck there, and such dangerous conditions, we moved to a second location. Steve and I immediately heard some "tree-knocking" to our left. We found some old footprints and a clam shell with suspicious teeth marks. I got it all on film, using the infrared mode in the low light of evening. We scanned the area with the scanning equipment and lights, but no other signs of “Bigfoot”. They seemed to be gone. Tom tried some tree knocking, but it seemed to me that some of that earlier excitement and energy had turned to frustration and disappointment. Tom did get some responses, faintly, - from across the lake.

Tree-knocking? A curious activity. I don't quite understand it. My skeptical imagination turned to imagining two bigfoot enthusiasts in different parts of the forest communicating with each other. Or a boy scout (I am a former boy scout) trying to answer a distress signal of "three" with the appropriate answer of "two". Or maybe a farmer or camper over there just trying to answer back. I don't know about all that, but I trusted that the experts did. Soon, I would learn much more about this curious activity!

By the way, I have never admitted to being anything more than a novice. My Bigfoot interest only started on August 12, 2005, when I heard Tom on the radio for the first time and was captivated by his project. I have learned a lot since that time, but there is still much for me to learn. Tom and the team are patient with me and remain open to my questions and inputs. They never try to push their ideas on me and simply let me observe and learn for myself. What an education I am getting. After all, seeing is believing!

Early the next day the team headed for Minnesota. Tom invited me to come, but I had to go back to California to attend my wife's birthday dinner in Los Angeles.

I did stay in town that afternoon - and Tom was glad I did. I was still intrigued about what was on the other side of the lake where we got the tree-knocking response. Was it a farm? A campsite? On the hotel's internet computer I looked up a map of the area and discovered it was remote forest, with some farms north of it. I found a road marked on the map and decided to go there. But the road dead-ended in less than an eigth of a mile at a private farm. Apparently, the map was wrong. I asked a couple of local people working outside if there was any way I could get to lake from there. “No” was the answer I received? I also identified myself as part of the bigfoot search team and asked if any neighbors had ever seen “Bigfoot”. Once again, “no, not recently” was the answer I received. They said they understood from the news that bigfoot had moved on north to Oklahoma.

With still a couple of hours of sunlight left, I was still determined to try to get to the lake by another way. I found two more dirt roads, but couldn't get past the downed tree on one and the deep ruts of the other. Thwarted but not willing to give up, I kept looking. I could see remote forest all around me. A good place, this novice thinks, for “Bigfoot” to hide.

At sunset I went back to our location from the night before. And by seemingly "good luck" met Mike and Sandy Sells. Mike and Sandy are the local Searching for Bigfoot team members who monitor this area. As it turned out, Tom had called them and asked them to check out the other side of the lake where the tree knocking was heard. They had talked to Tom and told him about some footprints they had found. He told them that I was still in the area, and they had come out to look for me.

We hopped in their truck and off we went on another adventure. We got to the creek after dark. I had my video camera with me but not my flashlight. We used Mike's small flashlight and he showed me three old prints and two new fresh ones – this was a perfect right and left. He also showed me three eaten turtles - probably eaten by the “bigfoot” Mike believes inhabits this area. Then I heard a big splash. I asked Mike what animal around here could make such a big splash. Since it had to be bigger than a beaver he said bear or “Bigfoot”. Next, Mike tried some tree knocking and got responses nearby! No farmers or boy scouts this time! He said we were being watched. Wow – several evidences of “Bigfoot” in the area. Here we were, just a mile and a half from where we were last night. In the same area of the tree knocking Steve and I heard the night before! We just missed them, by just a mile and a half, or by just one day! I knew there was something here, and very close by! Could it be the “Bigfoot” I was hoping to see!

Then, to my surprise, Mike said we needed to leave. Tom told me later that Mike felt there were five creatures in the area and he feared for my safety and the safety of his wife, and he got us out of there. I had not recognized his fear at the time. I wasn't scared because he (an expert) didn’t seem frightened.

They, Mike and Sandy, drove me back to my car and we parted our ways. When I drove back into cell phone reception range, I discovered that Tom had left me a message four hours earlier to call him, it seems that a man named Mike wanted to show us some prints and I was the only guy left in town with all the materials needed to take casts. I called Tom and he wanted me to get casts of the footprints first thing in the morning. I also told him about the big splash and "they were watching us".

I was too tired to drive back into town, so I just camped at the campground. That was a big mistake. Around midnight some teenagers came and gabbed all night long. I got less than an hour's sleep. In the morning I went into town to buy additional plaster and returned to cast the prints. I had seen it done once, and tried to remember each step, but forgot one important step. I brought a straw with me (I didn't have rubber tubing like Don) to blow out the loose dirt, but forgot to use it. Poor toe casts – it looks like “Bigfoot” has little pit holes in his toes. (And that wasn't the only thing I forgot to do that morning.)

I finished and quickly packed up and left town and arrived home the next day only 10 minutes later then my schedule permitted. Hurried and my son and I got down to LA early for mom's birthday dinner with her parents. Whew. Whirlwind trip - and well worth it. Can I go again?

I recently told my wife that I would like to go on the next Texas expedition. She responded by saying she needs to start wearing a "bigfoot widow" button. So, I think I better finish painting the house before Tom's next call....

-Rex

PS. Thank you, Tom, for letting me come along. And I'm glad I could help and contribute. Link: http://rexandbigfoot.freewebspace.com

Posted by JavaBob

SEE OTHER STORIES FROM PEOPLE JUST LIKE YOU

OR ADD YOUR OWN STORY

Go Back To; TABLE OF CONTENTS or HomePage

   *  Stories From People Just Like You  (Our first story from ROGER PETERSON)
      *  Arizona's Roger Peterson Bigfoot Encounter In May 1987  (READER SUBMIT also listed under Arizona)
      *  Arizona's Roger Peterson Bigfoot Encounter At Gillespie Dam In June 1988  (READER SUBMIT also listed under Arizona)
      *  Rex Houdyshel - Adventures Of A Guest Bigfoot Researcher  (READER SUBMITTED also listed under Arizona)  
      *  Arizona Locations Where Roger Peterson Spotted Bigfoot  (READER SUBMITTED also listed under Arizona)
      *  February 14, 2007   (A story from GREG CHRISTMAN)
      *  February 17, 2007   (A story from WILLIAM H. CONARROE)
      *  Charlene from Oregon   (A story from our good friend Charlene up in Oregon with pictures)
      *  John from the Radio Show   (A story from a listener of the Bigfoot Live Radio Show)
      *  Shawn's Experience   (Shawn Jones shares his experiences about "Bigfoot" for the first time)
      *  Leanne and Adam Smithers   (A newspaper article sent to us from Australia)
      *  Leo Gav   (A RUSSIAN SCIENTIST SHARES INFORMATION ABOUT THE YETI)