This is the official crowd-funding page for the Bluff Creek Project's trail camera survey of Bluff Creek.
Summer 2014 update:
4-27-2014
This is the Summer 2014 crowdfunding campaign for the Bluff Creek Project. Right now we have 20 trail cameras looking for Bigfoot down in the Bluff Creek drainage including six at the Patterson-Gimlin Bigfoot film site. Right now we are focusing on getting Batteries and Bear boxes for the cameras. Twenty cameras is alot to service right now. Each camera takes 8-12 Lithium batteries which we buy in bulk. I thought we should do two crowdfunding campaigns this summer to give people a chance to come down there with us. Also this year we are trying to minimize our footprint down on the creek. We hope to have fewer trips that are less invasive. We now have a good trail cut down to the creek so we don't have to go boonie-crashing anymore. The cameras themselves are better camouflaged as well to minimize any interaction with the wildlife.
New target budget:
20 cameras X 12 AA batteries at $1.00 per battery is $240
7 bear boxes X $35 each is $245
12 bottles of 2014 Sierra Nevada's Bigfoot Barleywine X $2 bottle is $24
For a grand total of $509
Our first service is in the beginning of June where we will check the cameras that have been soaking for seven months. We will have an August and September expedition as well to take people down to the film site and see where the Bigfoot walked. We can also guide people down there in exchange for donations to the project. We run on gasoline, beer, and good food. This is a not-for-profit venture and we are just trying to get some pictures these 9' tall apes/people to people report seeing down there.
We would also like to get some more higher-end 12mp cameras to replace our older 5mp cameras. The new cams are about $200 each, which is about $300 with an SD card, bear box, and lithium batteries.
More updates coming soon!
Summer 2013 update:
Please help us get some trail cameras down at the PG film Site! We
need some help getting cams to put down at the film site. We have six
already but we need a few more to cover the creek and downstream by the
bridge. This is a not-for-profit operation and all footage is
open-source and not covered by complicated copyrights and NDAs. We are
sick of the other projects holding out on their footage for
documentaries or copyright issues. We will immediately release the
footage for all to enjoy. If we all work together and get the cams down
at the creek we have a real chance of getting a Bigfoot on camera.
This
is not for our personal gain or status, it is just for pure science.
These cameras take an HD video of anything that moves down there and run
all year long 24/7. They are silent and have their lights filtered so
they are practically undetectable.
If any donors want to go visit the site we will take you there. We
have a trip planned in late August after Bigfoot days, a couple in
September and one in October. If you help out with the project we will
cook you some awesome dinner and breakfast at camp and guide you down to
the film site.
I understand that we all have differing opinions
on the nature of Bigfoot, but we can't let these get in the way of
genuine research. We welcome all types of assistance and help with our
work.
About the project:
The Bluff Creek
Project is an open-source volunteer project initially formed to locate
the original Patterson-Gimlin Bigfoot film site. It consists of several
project contributors who volunteered their time and gas money to
complete the mountains of field work needed to confirm the site's
location. We have been researching the area formally on foot since 2009.
Recently, during the summer of 2011, we successfully located the
original film site and completed a detailed survey of the surviving
monuments and trees. This survey has been an enormous contribution to
the Bigfoot research community and can now be used to exact dimensional
data from the film and make accurate measurement of the creature's
pathway and size.
Trail camera survey:
The
trail camera project was launched in July of 2012, and successfully
raised enough money to purchase four high-end trail cameras. We
committed all of our personal trail cameras to the project as well, for a
total of nine cameras installed at the site. The cameras were installed
in late October 2012 on the 45th anniversary of the film. The cameras
spent seven months in total down at the film site, capturing the
movements of Bluff Creek's inhabitants. We had a few camera failures,
but all of the newly purchased cameras performed flawlessly.
We have learned many lessons and fought several battles to pull off
the project. We captured hundreds of videos of bears, deer, and a
cougar. I hope to publish a small research paper containing the findings
and data after the completion of a total of one year of deployment of
the cameras. We think that the summer and fall months are the most
active for the area and wish to include them in the paper. After all,
"Patty" was filmed in the PGF in late October, with reported activity
preceding that in August, yet we didn't install the cameras until late
October.
What we need:
We would like to continue the trail camera project over the winter of
2013/2014, and have a few needs for our continued success. We would
like to raise enough money to purchase a couple new cameras, some
bear-safe camera housings, and fresh batteries for the other cameras we
currently have. We had amazing success with the 2012 Bushnell Trophy
Cam, and wish to purchase new 2013 models.
A list of their features can be viewed here:
http://bushnell.com
The current price on Amazon.com for all items needed is:
$223.35 - Trophy can HD Max
$31.99 - Bear box for cameras
$20.37 - 32gb SD memory card
$22.99 - 12pk of Energizer lithium batteries
We
intend this trail camera survey to be an open-source project, where all
media and data is published immediately after collection for all the
world to see. The main problem with similar camera projects is that all
media and data is subject to strict non-disclosure agreements and
stipulations. This is to protect any cash value associated with a
potential Bigfoot image or video. We believe as a team that the
commercialization of such a project is fundamentally unscientific. As a
premise for the camera project we will practice full transparency during
the entirety of the project. All videos and photos of any note will be
published immediately after they are collected. They will be offered
freely on the internet for non-commercial use for anyone who wants to
use them for their own research. Any commercial use of the videos that
results in a cash profit will be invested back into the Bluff Creek
Project for use in the next season’s efforts.
While the subject
of Bigfoot is quite controversial, it is still an enigma that captures
the interest of people worldwide. The possible existence of such a
creature is highly debated and subjected to constant skepticism from all
sides. It is our opinion that if Bigfoot exists it is a physical,
biological animal, and not paranormal in nature. Any animal that is real
can be photographed and caught on video. Modern trail cameras are very
high resolution and can take clear HD video of any animal that triggers
the sensor. Such cameras have proven to be a valuable asset to any
biological study of rare animals.
Contributors making sizable
donations covering whole units will have the option of receiving back
the used camera unit after this coming winter of 2013-2014. It is,
however, encouraged that you contribute the camera to next year’s
project. We will ship the camera to you after June 2013 when we retrieve
the cameras. Any leftover cameras and materials will be put to use for
the next overwinter season. There is of course the possibility that the
camera will be damaged or stolen during the course of its use. This is
unlikely due to the remoteness of the area and the roads being closed
for the duration of the winter.
All contributors will have their
name cited in the accompanying summary paper of the project. If you wish
to remain anonymous please indicate so in a private message.
We
also will be accepting physical donations of equipment and gear. Please
contact one of the members of the project if you have some equipment to
offer. We could use some old trail cameras, audio recorders,
night-vision, binoculars, video cameras, etc. All donations are
non-refundable. We do not expect an image of a Bigfoot creature as a
result of this project (though that would be great!). We do however
expect lots of HD video of local wildlife including bears, deer, elk,
and cougar.
