By John Green
Prominent figures in any debate as to whether Sasquatch exist are the hunters/trappers/prospectors/etc. who have spent a lifetime in the woods without seeing one of evidence of one. It is a fact that most people involved in these activities do not report having seen anything, but it is also a fact that some do, and that their reports represent a significant proportion of the total. In the 1,340 Western reports in my computer, 1,301 activities by witnesses are identified. Of these 139 were not accidental, in that the witnesses had gone looking for what they had found because someone else, whose activity is not identified, had seen something before them, or, in few cases, because they were specifically "Sasquatch hunting." Of the remaining 1,162 activities, more than 10 percent, 125 witnesses, were hunting; 34 were logging; 23 were prospecting; 10 were trapping, and another 77 were involved in various outdoor occupations. Altogether these account for almost a quarter of all reports. When it comes to finding tracks this group plays an even larger role, accounting for 38 percent of track reports. Their information is significant, also, in that they are more likely than the average witness to have considerable familiarity with wildlife (by a ratio of 17 to 10), and to have made their observation under good conditions of lighting, time and distance (43% compared to 25%). Hunters rank second only to hikers in finding tracks (30 to 36), and to people in cars in reporting sightings (95 to 209). Other commom activities for people reporting sightings include: at home, 85; outside on foot, 72; camping, 65; walking, 61; hiking, 48; fishing, 38; working outdoors, 33; on boats, 26 (plus 14 fishing from boats); logging, 18; prospecting, 17; inside a building, 17; on horseback, 16; flying, 12; on a motorcycle, 11, and playing outside, 9. Obviously there are a lot of different ways these categories can be combined, for instance everyone travelling by motor vehicle, 271, including snowmobiling (9) and on a train (4); or everyone travelling on foot, 182, including jogging (1). There are significant overlaps. People fishing from boats are automatically in two categories, and most hunters, for instance, would be either on foot or in a vehicle. For some reports both categories are specified, but for most only one. Something else to take into account is the number of people who are engaged in each activity. Nowadays many more people travel in vehicles than on foot, and the number of potential witnesses in buildings must be much greater than the number in vehicles. Perhaps statisticians can determine whether or not these figures relate appropriately to what could be expected in encounters with a real animal. I don't have that expertise, but the relationships do seem reasonable to me.
John Green, December 1995