January 4, 2012
Tyler William Bounds, of Animal Planet’s Finding Bigfoot, posted this comment to the post What Did You Think About The Season Two Premiere of Finding Bigfoot?.
I felt is was important enough to warrant a separate post.
I work on the show as a production assistant, cameraman, and as the hiking and camping coordinator. I am also a member of the BFRO. I won’t comment on the show and people’s seeming dissatisfaction with it in general, or the cast, or the production, as I have already done that back in June, when I discussed with Loren the discovery of possible bigfoot tracks while filming an episode in Georgia. But I will take exception to two assumptions made here in the comments.
1.) There is always a chance that there will be random people in our filming areas, but we go to great lengths to not tell anyone specifically where we will be filming. Maybe the person with a particular states’ Film Commission, who issued us the necessary permits to film in certain locations, told all of their buddies, and those people decided to come out and mess with us. I will concede that it is indeed possible. But in the majority of our filming locales, there was NOBODY around that would be doing that. We were often a long ways out in the wilderness, or had permission to be behind locked gates or in restricted access areas. We have necessary permits, or landowners’ permission, to go the places we went, and we strive to keep those places very secret. In some states, I can virtually GUARANTEE you that there wasn’t anybody within miles of us while filming. We film at night in out-of-the-way locations, and contrary to what you might think, there isn’t a Bigfoot Hoaxer Mafia, consisting of people obsessed with messing with researchers, or for that matter, film crews.
2.) In each state, myself and one cast member went and camped for 3 days, in areas of reported activity. There is NO other cast or crew members with us when we go out. We spend 3 days hiking and exploring, setting up audio recorders, trailcams, bait stations- all the things we, as dedicated and very serious bigfoot researchers, do when we are in our local areas, on our home turf, NOT making a television show. I took my responsibilities during those 3 days VERY seriously, and I worked very, very hard to make sure that everything that occurred during that time was documented, and that anything happening that could be a possible bigfoot interaction was investigated to the best of our abilities. It was my job to film the cast members out doing their bigfooty stuff, but, for me personally, my duty as a bigfoot researcher was primary, and my job as a film crew member was always secondary.
Thanks for watching the show.
About Craig Woolheater
Co-founder of Cryptomundo in 2005.
I have appeared in or contributed to the following TV programs, documentaries and films:
OLN's Mysterious Encounters: "Caddo Critter", Southern Fried Bigfoot, Travel Channel's Weird Travels: "Bigfoot", History Channel's MonsterQuest: "Swamp Stalker", The Wild Man of the Navidad, Destination America's Monsters and Mysteries in America: Texas Terror - Lake Worth Monster, Animal Planet's Finding Bigfoot: Return to Boggy Creek and Beast of the Bayou.
Filed under Bigfoot, Bigfoot Report, Cryptomundo Exclusive, Cryptozoologists, Cryptozoology, Finding Bigfoot, Pop Culture, Sasquatch, Television