06x07 - A Predator Calls

[bunniefuu]

Previously on expedition big foot...

We've come to Washington,
the epicenter of sightings.

Something is taking
place here in Washington,

causing that migration route
to fork right at that choke point.

Why is that taking place here?

That thing it's huge.

This is just way strange.

They found tree structures.

Take a look at this.

These tree lanes are pointing
in the direction of that lake.

Look at my trail cam.

I can see it in the top part of my hand.

Let me ask you this.

How many 13-inch hands are there?

I've never seen one.

Well, then what the heck
are we talking about here?

I'll go ahead and push out
into the middle of this bog.

Keep moving.

That thing is close.

You cannot outrun this thing.

There's something out there.

Biko, there's something...

Moving right underneath you.

There's something there.

Biko, there is something
moving right underneath you.

What I'm seeing is
upright and on two legs.

Okay. I can't see
anything on my thermal.

Maybe I can see it with my eyes.

He knows where you are.

While concealed in a water blind

primatologist, mireya mayor detected the

heat signature of an
upright walking creature

just under biko Wright's position.

It's no more than 50 ft away from you.

I can't see anything.

Yeah. Whatever it is, it's
moving away from the water

and going uphill.

I hear something going
up through the forest.

- Hey, biko.
- I've lost the visual.

Whatever it is has now
gone up and over the hill.

I'm gonna try and get down from this tree

and head that way I hear the sounds.

I don't wanna get boots on the ground.

There goes biko and his cameraman.

I think it went this way.

I keep hearing things
out there ahead of me,

and the only way I'm
gonna gain ground on it

is if I keep moving.

It isn't easy keeping up
with an animal at night.

It's gonna have all the
advantages over me.

Mireya to biko. Are you seeing anything?

I don't see anything now.

I chased it up the trail a little bit,

but I think I lost it.

I'm gonna keep going up this hill.

I'll keep on it.



Bryce drives to the eastern
quadrant of the target zone

to drop off supplies for Russell.

I can't stop thinking
about those woven objects

that mireya and biko discovered.

You know, before the
team arrived in Washington,

I got a chance to speak
with a father and son

member of the hoh tribe

about some of the strange and
interesting markings found around here.

For example, one family
would take fire sticks

and weave them in there and
stick them up in the... Into the trees.

Then, one family has a y

and they just go straight up like that.

One was staff

and it had three actual really good...

Sasquatch faces on them.

- Into the structure?
- Into the structure that they left.

So you're saying
different families of big foot

sort of use these different
markings as insignia

to represent their clan or family.

Right.

Just like every other
tribe has their own label,

- their own markings.
- Yeah.

Michael, maybe you can answer this.

What I'm really, sort of, curious about is,

if we're going in there
and investigate the area,

what type of signs will they leave?

They truly feel that when
they're ready, they'll guide you.

We felt like sometimes
we've been they led

- to different places.
- They will...

They will guide you with their sounds,

and they'll guide you with their noises,

and they'll guide you with your patterns,

and they'll put you
where they want you to be.

According to Jean and Michael,

the big foot use
different type of markings

to denote what family they're from.

Now, Russ found those woven rings.

Do you see this?

What the hell is that?

That isn't right.

That's not natural right there.

Could the rings that Russell found

and the woven objects
that mireya and biko found

denote some type of
family marker or family clan?

Now each team is in a different location,

so it's very possible that those
could have come from different groups.

But I'm curious.

Are they meant to Mark a
territory here in Washington?

Are they meant to lead
certain groups to each other?

I mean, I don't know. It just
raises so many questions.

But so far,

this phenomenon does
seem unique to Washington.

Yeah.

All right.

Man! This is... This is
the most comfortable...

Space we've slept in out
here in the woods, isn't it?

In the northeast quadrant
of the target zone,

Russell a cord has been
using an abandoned cabin

as a base of operations.

While prepping for tomorrow,

he awaits a supply
drop from Bryce Johnson.

What equipment are
you gonna bring with you?

I wanna bring the thermal,
and I wanna bring this too.

But I think I'd better
charge this thing back up.

Dude, that's that same sound.

Did you hear it?

All right, let's grab our stuff.

Come on.

Let's grab our gear.

Okay, hold on. Hold on.

Take the nav.

All right, grab your pack.

Let's go.

In the dark with a brush this thick,

it's gonna be nearly impossible

to track down anything
that wants to remain hidden.

The advantage we have is that
we know that whatever that was,

it's close.

Unable to locate the creature
that was spotted earlier,

biko and mireya meet up
with a new game plan in mind.

Hey, let's get to the top of this hill.

You have that game caller, right?

I do.

Well, if something's
hiding out in these woods,

it's probably not gonna come out

as long as it knows we're here.

But if we can deceive it into thinking

we're another big foot entering its area,

then maybe it'll call back
and give away its position.

Look right here.

I think this is good.

We're at slight elevation.

We've got this open area,

and the sound should be able to
travel and bounce back from that valley.

Absolutely.

In the past, we've played
recordings of alleged big foot sounds,

and we've had great success.

So, it's worth a shot to try it now.

The other thing that I like to do

is to have the thermal ready...

- Okay.
- Just in case we do get a response

- and we're unable to see anything.
- All right.

All right. Let's do this.

I can't see anything.

I'm gonna go ahead
and play it one more time.

Okay.

I've never used an electronic
speaker, one like that,

for any hunting purposes, really.

Most of the calls I use are
made with your mouth, you know?

So do you think that you could
do a call like the one I just played?

I think I could definitely give it a try.

All right. Let's try it.

I actually think that call went a
lot further than the one we played.

- You wanna give it one more shot?
- -Sure.

You could hear that
one traveling way across.

- That was weird.
- That was a response.

That sounded like the vocalization

- that we just put out.
- Yeah.

That didn't sound like a mountain lion.

No, it did not.

Wow, that's exciting.

We got no response
from the recorded call.

But when I called, we
heard something back.

I don't know if that's because
my voice just carried further,

or if whatever we're dealing
with could tell the difference

between a recorded
call and live vocal cords.

Or maybe I just sound
like another predator

instead of a potential big foot.

It's not easy to pinpoint
where that came from.

But we can head in that direction.

That sounds good.

- You ready?
- Yeah.

All right. It should be...

Yeah, it's right up here.

All right. Let's see if we can find Russ.

In the northeast area of the target zone,

Bryce is scheduled to meet Russell

near the old cabin for a supply drop

and to pick up some footage
that needs to be analyzed.

Hey, Russ.

Russell!

Well, let's just, go down
and see if he might be there.

Yeah. There's the cabin right there.

What the.

I don't think they're in there.

Hey, Russ!

That was bags in there.

The slightest bugging out.

His bag's here, his laptop.

Do you guys see a note or anything?

Yeah, I don't either.

I'm gonna call.

We have safety protocols set up
in place to check in with each other

via phone, call, text or
in-person every 12 hours.

And this supply drop that
I was gonna do with Russ,

that was supposed to be our check-in.

It's ringing.

Did you hear that?

It's coming from in here.

That's not good.

Dude.

No. He doesn't have it on him.

Yeah. He's not supposed
to, go anywhere without that.

What time is it now, again?

Russ has never been late, not once.

After arriving for a supply drop,

Bryce and his camera team
have been unable to locate Russell

or his camera operator,

who are now over an hour
past their last 12-hour check-in

and currently don't have any means

of communicating their position.

He doesn't have it on him.

What time is it now, again?

Russell's never been late, not once.

You know he doesn't leave without that.

No. There's no note.

I don't know. His computer, maybe...

Maybe he logged in what
he's doing today or something.

Every 12 hours, the teams check-in.

That's a safety protocol
for the whole production.

So the fact that Russ and his cameraman,
Josh, have missed that check-in,

is very unlike them.

But things do happen.

They could be out tracking something

and might have just lost track of time.

So I wanna go through their hard drives

to see if I can find any clues
in their notes or camera logs

as to where they might have
been filming earlier today.

This was probably last night.

All right. They're back in the cabin.

I wanna go back to where...

Do you remember
where we were on that...

Is that bag right there?

Okay. Looks like he took his small bag.

Okay, so that's good.

This is the trail-camera
footage that Russ told me about.

Yeah. It looks like that's it.

Unfortunately, everything on that
hard drive is from the past few days.

So, we really have no idea
where Russ is right now.

So, the plan is just to wait here

in the hopes that he comes back soon.

While Bryce and his
crew are back at the cabin,

Russell and his cameraman
have traveled over two miles,

actively tracking the source of
the clicking sounds they heard.

There's something out here.

It was moving this way.

We're moving this way.

After 90 minutes with no response
from Russell or his camera operator,

the production team
informs mireya and biko.

Wait, what's going on?

So they went to the cabin
where he was staying...

- Right.
- And they found his big bag, his sat phone

- and Josh's computer.
- Wait.

Russ doesn't have his
backpack or his sat phone?

- No.
- That doesn't sound like Russ at all.

Like, he wouldn't just leave that.

- I know.
- -So what are we gonna do?

So right now he could
just be running late.

So the plan is to head
back to base camp,

wait a little bit longer.

- From there, we'll decide next move.
- -Okay.

- All right...
- So, everyone...

- Everyone, let's grab our gear.
- -Yeah.

- We're heading out.
- I'm scared now.

I know that Russ can
handle himself in the woods,

but we have to take situations
like this very seriously.

So I'm really glad that we're
heading back to base camp.

That way, if we have to do
anything, we will be ready.

What do you wanna do?

I feel like we're right
on the tail of this thing.

Let's track. See if we can't find anything.

If we don't see anything, let's tag it.

We'll just come back to
this place in the morning.

- All right. Yeah.
- All right, man. Let's go.

Here we go. Look at this.

Right here.

I know we're on the right trail.

That weird sound at the cabin,

I think it was letting
us know that it's close.

Did you hear that?

Put your bear spray
where you can reach it.

Keep it close.

Listen.

Somewhere out here, maybe
a hundred yards from me,

I'm hearing heavy impacts.

Twigs being snapped like they're nothing.

Undergrowth and dirt being
shredded and torn apart.

Holy

this is a very dangerous situation.

I definitely don't wanna be
in the middle of any of this.

But I need to know what this is.

Back at the command center

as it approaches 18 hours
since Russell's last check-in,

Bryce and the production
team make preparations

to implement the second phase
of the expedition's safety protocol.

So I got an update

I got a hold of the helicopter
company that got us in the air

to set up the seismic trip wires,

and they're gonna get us on the
first flight up to where Russ' cabin was.

Even though I believe Russ is okay,

part of our procedure is that if one
of our team members or their crew

failed to check-in after 18 hours,

we will initiate both an
aerial and ground search.

What I'm trying to do now is just
set up the initial search parameters.

I've put on the map where Russ cabin is.

Thankfully, Russ' cameraman
downloads his footage

to his portable hard drive each night.

So I've been going through
that, just trying to figure out

where these guys have been working.

I know that Russ set up a
perimeter of trail cameras

around the cabin,

but these creatures were evading him.

So he did something really smart,

and he set up some type of active
camouflage attached to a trip wire.

And something activated,
one of these cameras.

So this was the footage that I
was coming to pick up from Russ.

Right here. Take a look at this.

I found another really important clue,

and that was this footage of Russ
surveying this higher ridge line.

It gave him access to the valley below

as well as this logging road.

He thought these creatures
might be using this logging road

as a type of highway.

And I think he's right,

because I went deeper into that footage,

and I found this.

- Are you hearing that?
- -I heard something.

So it seems like over the past few days,

he's been operating on this
small search area around the cabin.

This is where we should
focus our attention.

From here, we're gonna start packing
up and heading out to the heliport

so that we can just take
off as soon as we can.

While the team prepares
to launch a search party,

Russell is approaching an area

where he heard a series of aggressive
sounds from deep in the forest.

Holy crap, look at this.

Right here.

I don't know.

This could have been a bear or
an elk, you know, when they fight.

This is not the time of year
they'd be fighting, though.

They tore this place up.

Holy. Look at this.

Well, that's stuck in the ground.

The forest floor is ripped apart.

Limbs on the trees as high as I can
reach that have been snapped off.

Undergrowth flipped upside down.

This place is a b*ttlefield.

Where?

Holy.

Holy.

This was a serious fight.

I don't see any hair. Not one single hair.

I have to examine this area,

and I can't assume
that we're alone out here.

I have to be aware that
whatever creatures did this

could be just outside
the range of my flashlight.

Dude, this was not a bear.

Look at the height of these breaks.

More blood. Look at that.

This thing literally bled down the tree.

Like something held it up against a tree.

These things were throwing each other

around the forest like
they were rag dolls.

Held it against the tree and threw it back.

Or if this one fought
back and pushed back.

That is a lot of blood, man.

I can follow a blood trail.

And it went that way.

Generally, if something's injured,
it's gonna want to remove itself from

the area where the danger is.

Look at the breaks.

It's like it chased it
out of here. Holy crap.

Animals fight for territory, and
sometimes it's just like humans.

They're fighting over female
companionship or a mate.

This looks like something
was trying to k*ll the other.

Let me go back up here.

Let me get my backpack.

Let's put some of that blood
in a bag. Take it with us.

I feel like I'm in a crime scene.

I have blood from one,
possibly two different creatures.

Now I have to be careful and make
sure that I keep these samples separated.

Shh, shh, shh. Listen.

It's moving. Come on. Let's
grab it. Let's grab it. Let's grab it.

Grab your gear. Keep your thermal close.

If I get close and corner a wounded
animal, regardless of what it is,

that's gonna be a very,
very dangerous situation.

We have to step forward with
caution from this point forward.

There we go. Another
blood spot right here.

Right there. This thing's
been bleeding for quite a while.

That's a lot of blood still coming out.

After leaving the area of
what I believe was a fight

between two creatures,
I've stayed on the trail.

It's still wet.

There's blood on this forest floor,

which means something
out here is injured.

See all that stuff turned upside
down? Right through there.

This thing is losing a lot of blood,

but it didn't wound itself.

There's something else out here
in this forest that is strong, powerful,

and it's nerve wracking because
I have turned my back on it

to follow the blood trail.

Shh, shh. Listen.

Did you hear that?

Dude! Come here.

Can you see it?

Right there. Right by
that tree. Right there.

Did you see it? It was right there.

Yeah?

We've covered that distance
from where we were standing

to what we saw move,
couple hundred yards away.

Hold my light. Hold my light.

It's like this thing
vanished into thin air.

Let's get it through the thermal.

We need to get the thermal
out and keep it up and running.

Josh, that thing was right in front of us.

Which way did it go?

We got to keep going.

It went down this way.

Let's go after it.

Okay. We've been after this
thing for a couple of hours.

I'm following a blood trail,

and I'm pretty confident
this is the same creature

I saw pass between the two trees.

I think we startled it.

That's why it took off.
And if this thing is injured,

it's gonna be moving a little slower.

Maybe I can gain some ground on it.

The problem is, right now,
I'm six hours past check in.

We have a protocol for our team.

If we don't check in every 12 hours,

they'll send out a search team.

Which, out here in the mountains

means they'll probably send
aerial. They'll send a chopper.

I suspect if that creature hears
the chopper, it's gonna run and hide.

I think our best bet, we're
gonna stay on this blood trail.

That way in the morning,
when I hear that chopper,

I can lead them right to this location.

All right. I'm gonna shut this thing off.

Olympia tower angel,
three, one, flight of two,

ready for departure to the northwest.

Angel three, one,

flight Olympia tower,
operations approved.

We're just looking for
any sign of movement.

Looking for any sign of Russ.

His bag. Anything.

I don't see nothing.

After 20 hours with no
response from Russell,

Bryce and the production
team, begin their aerial search

of a five mile area around the cabin.

While on the ground, mireya, biko
and their camera team follow the protocol

and search a two-mile radius on foot.

Where the hell could he be?

Russ!

You know, in all the years
that we've been doing this,

we've never lost contact
with Russell before.

Hey, Russ.

Russ!

There's an impression here and here.

And it's deep enough that it
could definitely be a boot print.

Now, what I'm thinking,
if you're walking slow,

and look, there's another one there.

Right? You're not gonna take big strides.

Mireya for biko.

- Go ahead, mireya.
- -I just found an impression here.

It's definitely deep enough, but it's

difficult to see if it's
got any tread on it.

Yeah, I'm still following this trail.

All right, let's keep looking.

You got it.

I mean, the challenge is, is that they've
been working this area for a few days,

so we might be seeing signs and
definitely seeing some prints but

don't know if it's from now or from
when they were in here working.

So let's keep going in this direction.

Hang on a second. I
think I got something here.

Biko for mireya.

Go for mireya.

Yeah, I found what appears
to be some matted down plants

like somebody walked through here.

Do you see a boot print on those?

It's too hard to tell on this ground.

But it definitely looks
bipedal, judging by the strides.

All right, keep calling out and let
me know if you... If you find him.

Okay. Copy that.

Russ!

Looks like the tracks continue this way.

Are you seeing anything?

I'm not seeing anything.

Yeah, me neither.

Hey, I think I see
some smoke right there.

- Twelve o'clock. Do you see it, Dan?
- I see it.

Yeah. Down here.

Yeah, I got two individuals.

That's gotta be him.

They got us. They got us.

Dan, can we land right there?

- I think we can land her.
- I got them in sight.

All right, we're gonna pick 'em up.

Yeah, we got 'em.

Hey, Russ. Boy, am I
glad to see you, man.

Bryce, I completely messed
up and forgot my sat phone.

Yeah. We've been up
here for a few hours, man.

I am glad we got protocol, man.

When I heard the
chopper, I knew it was you.

I'm gonna go ahead
and, get a hold of mireya.

Hey, this is Bryce to mireya and biko.

- Guys, we got Russell.
- We found him.

- You found him?
- Is he okay?

Russell's good.

That's good news.

All right, biko, start making your
way back to me and we'll head over.

Bryce, we gotta get the team together.

You are not gonna
believe what we found.

This is like, when you see what
we've got, it's gonna blow your mind.

I cannot wait, man.

- There they are, right there.
- There they go.

Good to see you guys.

- Russ.
- Hey, guys.

- Look who I found.
- It's good to see you, man.

- I was worried about you.
- Hey, good to see you.

- Good to see you, brother.
- Good to see you. Awesome.

So we were at the cabin.

I was working with the gear
and we heard those sounds.

It had that kind of a
popping chatter sound to it.

Shh, shh.

It was just maybe 100 yards
away you could hear it down the trail.

That's that same sound.

We went for a mad scramble,
grabbed some gear and took off.

I just had to stay on it. I
started hearing crashing,

do you hear that?

You know how when two bears
will fight, you hear the growling

and the impacts of something hitting.

I mean, just very, very violent.

Do you think something was fighting?

Sounded like a couple of
bears, actually, that territorial fight.

And when I got to the area, the
whole forest floor was just trashed.

Holy crap. Look at this.

All the twigs were snapped off the trees

to as high as I can reach.

There was blood, and a lot of it.

This is a first. I mean, we've heard of
these creatures fighting over territory,

but we've never encountered
hearing, one take place

or even being able to follow the
aftermath of something like that.

The further along I got,

those blood specks were
becoming further and further apart.

Six, eight feet, sometimes


But you can still see the underbrush,

- so I feel like I'm on the right track.
- -Yeah.

See all that stuff turned upside down?

Right through there.

Shh, shh, shh. Listen.

Did you hear that?

Dude! Dude, come here.

Can you see it? Right there.

Yeah?

As I'm tracking through forest,

I saw something at night move from one
tree to another about a hundred yards away.

And I had my flashlight
on it, my camera guy, I said,

"hey, look, there's something moving."

He was actually over my shoulder
and we saw this... this movement

of something traversing
from one tree to another.

And I got excited. I'm
not gonna lie, I got excited,

grabbed up the gear and
said, "let's go, let's go."

Holy.

Was from where the fight was to
what I saw in the forest and beyond.

It was all the same direction.

So I just kind of stuck with that
and went and just kept going.

In the early hours of the
morning as I came up over the rise,

I had this broad
expanse, kind of like this.

You see... how you see all
this vast expanse behind me.

You're not gonna believe
what I have from the other night.

Let me show you. This is what we got.

Did you know that
the state of Washington

is home to a legally protected
sasquatch refuge? I'm not kidding.

In fact, it was first founded in 1969,

when skamania county,
which contains mount rainier,

and the gifford pinchot national forest,

two very well established
big foot hotspots,

passed an ordinance prohibiting
the hunting of sasquatch.

Then in 1991, what com
county created a similar law.

And these laws weren't passed
as some sort of publicity stunt.

In fact, the 1969
ordinance was so serious,

that the law effectively stated,
if anyone k*lled a sasquatch,

the local authorities had the right to
pursue charges equivalent to m*rder.

As some people argue, this is a
waste of government resources.

While others believe
these laws are proof

that the government knows
these creatures are real.

And personally, I just love knowing

that big foot has a safe home
in the state of Washington.

And let me show you.
This is what we've got.

After missing contact for 27 hours,

the team has reconnected to debrief
about the activity Russell experienced

while tracking what he believed
were two big foot fighting.

- You guys able to see that?
- Yeah.

Look at this whole
hillside right there, here.

There could be anything on that hillside.

I think I see something
moving down here.

Okay. You see that little
bald spot on the ground?

Right on the... Like, the second one in.

Zoom in. Check that out.
Zoom in. It's right there.

Is that a bear?

There's something right... Right
on that clear spot right there.

It's dark. It just moved a little bit.

Do you see anything?

No, not the first one, not the first one.

Drop down. It's the second one.

There's three little bald spots there.

Look at the second one through.

There's something dark right there.

I think I saw it move.

Right there!

Are you seeing that? Holy.

Right there. Just... zoom in.
Right there. Are you seeing that?

- We gotta...
- We gotta get down there.

I saw something.

Holy smokes!

- Yeah, yeah, yeah. Look at that.
- What?

- Look at that.
- Okay.

Now that doesn't look
like a bear, does it?

- No. It's crazy good.
- That was upright.

- Watch it again.
- Yeah, it's walking.

- That is walking upright.
- Okay, right there.

That is bipedal upright walking.

God. And you know
how far you're away too.

That thing looks pretty big, man.

Those legs look long and lean.

I mean, that just doesn't look like...

They don't look like bear legs.

- It didn't look like a bear head either.
- No.

Can you go back a frame?
Is there any arm swing?

- Where is the right arm?
- -Yeah.

- You see the left arm?
- Yeah.

Where's the right arm?

It almost makes it seem like maybe it...

It might have injured the
arm or broke it in the scuffle,

and then maybe it's holding it

- close to its body, you know.
- Holding it, maybe?

Getting something like
this is why I couldn't stop.

There was no way I was gonna be able

to get down that mountain
fast enough to catch up to it.

And I knew you guys
would be looking for me,

so I thought my best
bet was to get together,

take you all to the area where
I last had eyes on this thing.

I want to go back to where this fight...

And we can start working that area.

I can show you exactly
where the fight was.

Okay.

Right here is where the cabin was.

The fight scene took place right here.

And this is where I got that footage.

That creature is going west.

Based on Russell's account,

after leaving the cabin, he went
north to the site of the animal fight.

Followed the blood
trail northwest to the spot

where he saw a creature
pass between the trees

and continued west to the hillside,

where he captured the footage
of the upright bipedal animal

just two miles south of the
team's trip wire surveillance array.

Russell, great job, man.

This is obviously the turning
point in our investigation,

and I think it's one to move on.

I'm gonna head back to the command
center and start making some calls.

But we need to move fast.

Biko and I will go get our gear,

- and then we'll meet you in that area.
- Yeah, perfect.

- I'll hop in right with you.
- Let's do it.

We need to act fast, because
if there's an injured animal,

this is the best chance we
have of actually finding it.

This is the most compelling
evidence that I've seen so far.

I want to get down there

and try to find some tracks
and pick up this thing's trail,

because this is closer
than we've ever been.

With the entire team,
using all of their skills.

I am more confident than
ever that we have what we need

to show the world that big foot is real.

Holy.