Les Stroud aka Survivorman Releases Entire Catalogue of Bigfoot Episodes on YouTube

I've been a huge Les Stroud fan for many years, going back to the original Survivorman series on Discovery/Science Channel. In recent times, Les has sort of deviated/pivoted away from survivalist-themed work more into filming and participating in Bigfoot research. He does still produce material about being in nature and different aspects of "survivalism", but I think the cryptid research idea really resonated with him, and it has greatly influenced his creative directions.

I support all his work, and though I much preferred his survivalist productions, I did watch the Bigfoot films he created. There's still his great film footage and terrific narration to enjoy. In these episodes, he is visiting various Bigfoot hotspots, speaking with eyewitnesses and presenting stories/myths/legends/concepts about Bigfoot, really focusing on how the idea of Bigfoot is perceived differently in the many diverse geographic locations across North America. And of course, he's surviving out in the bush, hiking/climbing/canoeing/backpacking, just not simulating a lost or stranded victim.


Les Stroud Bigfoot Video Playlist on YouTube


Les actually released his entire video catalog on YouTube, which is outstanding, although a bit of a bummer if (like myself) you'd already paid for much of the collection.

It'd be even better to find a way to get these films someplace else besides YouTube, as I find myself less and less enthusiastic about patronizing tech companies that participate in political censorship.

Fair Warning

The first two episodes of the series deal with Les interacting with Todd Standing. I know he has a major reputation as a fraud and hoaxer. I have not watched more than a minute or so of Todd Standing's self-produced footage outside of these two Les Stroud episodes, so I don't personally have any negative or positive feedback on Todd. I will say that there are no segments in these films I recall Todd making any outrageous claims or generally driving the narrative. It's usually a Q&A with Les getting Todd's thoughts about tree breaks, tracks and noises they hear during their time together.

Enjoy!

I love that man

a reply to: SleeperHasAwakened

So I take since its not in OP

Theres no footage of Bigfoot?

interest rapidly declining.

a reply to: Lysergic

Yeah, well, had that happened, it would've been plastered wall to wall on every media outlet already!



I'm not putting any spoilers here. There were a handful of interesting moments with Survivorman's filming out in the bush, I'll tease that. For me, the stories and interviews he did were the most entertaining parts. Looking for any blockbuster revelations will lead to a let down.

a reply to: SleeperHasAwakened

I mean I like Bigfoot and all, but its never bigfoot, its like weird howl sound, a rock was thrown, someone shook a branch etc.

Apologies if I am burned out on being lead on forever, SF.

a reply to: SleeperHasAwakened

Bigfoot is the hide and seek champion of the world. Also great at picking up after himself.

A few of the stories from Missing 911 from David Paulides were pretty suspect... and some of my personal experiences when I was an alpine guide were strange... but I'm generally unconvinced.

At the end of the day, the great expansive wilderness is still very much so unexplored completely. Biologists are the first to admit that we simply do not have a majority of species mapped. What's to say that homo denisovan didnt have an ancestor? They were, afterall, more equipped to deal with the harshness of the Earth than our particular branch of Homo.

(No homo)

originally posted by: Iconic
a reply to: SleeperHasAwakened

Bigfoot is the hide and seek champion of the world. Also great at picking up after himself.

A few of the stories from Missing 911 from David Paulides were pretty suspect... and some of my personal experiences when I was an alpine guide were strange... but I'm generally unconvinced.

At the end of the day, the great expansive wilderness is still very much so unexplored completely. Biologists are the first to admit that we simply do not have a majority of species mapped. What's to say that homo denisovan didnt have an ancestor? They were, afterall, more equipped to deal with the harshness of the Earth than our particular branch of Homo.

(No homo)

So you are saying bigfoot is gay? it would explain the low population totals and the general shyness from coming out of the forest closet for decades.

Generally, I like Les Stroud's videos for Standing not so much. I'll definitely give it a watch though.

originally posted by: Lysergic
a reply to: SleeperHasAwakened

I mean I like Bigfoot and all, but its never bigfoot, its like weird howl sound, a rock was thrown, someone shook a branch etc.

Apologies if I am burned out on being lead on forever, SF.

I hear you. I tried, honestly tried to watch some of those "Squatch Hunter" programs or whatever TF they were, but I just couldn't handle it. Trash TV.

When Les gets into recording some of the stories from native peoples, tribal elders, etc (many of those folks won't appear on camera), that's what fascinates me. There is enough of that cool story telling and narrative in this series IMHO to compensate for the tree knocking and whoop hollerin'.

One of these day a big truck will hit Bigfoot on the highway and we will have a body to examine.

The irony being that when we finally get a good look at him we will discover that all those blurry photos of him were actually in perfect focus and his face is just blurry.

originally posted by: SleeperHasAwakened

originally posted by: Lysergic
a reply to: SleeperHasAwakened

I mean I like Bigfoot and all, but its never bigfoot, its like weird howl sound, a rock was thrown, someone shook a branch etc.

Apologies if I am burned out on being lead on forever, SF.

I hear you. I tried, honestly tried to watch some of those "Squatch Hunter" programs or whatever TF they were, but I just couldn't handle it. Trash TV.

When Les gets into recording some of the stories from native peoples, tribal elders, etc (many of those folks won't appear on camera), that's what fascinates me. There is enough of that cool story telling and narrative in this series IMHO to compensate for the tree knocking and whoop hollerin'.

Stroud is always entertaining, enjoyed his story about being in the Alaskan bush and hearing what sounded like a large monkey going ohh hoo

originally posted by: Iconic
a reply to: SleeperHasAwakened

Bigfoot is the hide and seek champion of the world. Also great at picking up after himself.

A few of the stories from Missing 911 from David Paulides were pretty suspect... and some of my personal experiences when I was an alpine guide were strange... but I'm generally unconvinced.

At the end of the day, the great expansive wilderness is still very much so unexplored completely. Biologists are the first to admit that we simply do not have a majority of species mapped. What's to say that homo denisovan didnt have an ancestor? They were, afterall, more equipped to deal with the harshness of the Earth than our particular branch of Homo.

(No homo)

This series is a good complement to Paulide's work. David is totally focused on the missing person data, but makes no claims about causality. He is very careful to not jump to conclusions or influence his audience to do so.

Les' work here is on the anecdotal side, and exploring stories, lore, and the "personal" side of Bigfoot encounters.

Both of them are approaching things differently, but their work has natural tie-ins to some extent.

After watching a lot of their videos and researching other sources, and it sounds a bit daft to even suggest, but I have come around to a greater acceptance of the thinking that the Bigfoot phenomena and UFO phenomena might have some connection to them. We don't seem to have a very good biological toehold in analyzing where a huge hominid would fit in the evolutionary tree, how it survives, where it lives, etc. There's not much there, scientifically speaking, other than some footprint casts, a few tufts of hair that's difficult to classify DNA wise, and lots and lots of eyewitness accounts. How can that be? It's either one of the most successful and widespread hoax phenomenons in history, or whatever it is, is exceedingly good and not being found or contacted, unless it wants to be.

I'd imagine he's seen or heard some things he can't explain while being alone in the bush.

originally posted by: Edumakated
I'd imagine he's seen or heard some things he can't explain while being alone in the bush.

Exactly.

He explained, though, that as he tried to build the Survivorman brand, he was very careful to separate out and exclude from his work, any potential stories/encounters/odd events that might misconstrue the plot for his survival show, or inadvertently link him to the Bigfoot phenomenon.

Les has demonstrated a pretty savvy mindset when it comes to self-marketing and building up his image/business. He's been very candid and open about a lot of creative differences he had with networks, battles around structuring his videos from a network program point of view, in a 60 minute airtime. I /believe/ Les said once that he actually owns all of the Survivorman footage (!!!) and not Discovery or Science Channel, which if true, would be a major business coup.

Truth be told, I really enjoy a lot more of Les' work when he was just starting out, more so than his recent projects, and that includes the Bigfoot episodes. I'd much rather watch Les struggling to survive for a week in the Serengeti or the Outback or Patagonia than talk about Bigfoot. Be that as it may, he is really good at capturing footage of nature, and he is a showman at heart, and good at telling stories.

Add shrewd businessman to the list too!

originally posted by: SleeperHasAwakened

originally posted by: Iconic
a reply to: SleeperHasAwakened

Bigfoot is the hide and seek champion of the world. Also great at picking up after himself.

A few of the stories from Missing 911 from David Paulides were pretty suspect... and some of my personal experiences when I was an alpine guide were strange... but I'm generally unconvinced.

At the end of the day, the great expansive wilderness is still very much so unexplored completely. Biologists are the first to admit that we simply do not have a majority of species mapped. What's to say that homo denisovan didnt have an ancestor? They were, afterall, more equipped to deal with the harshness of the Earth than our particular branch of Homo.

(No homo)

This series is a good complement to Paulide's work. David is totally focused on the missing person data, but makes no claims about causality. He is very careful to not jump to conclusions or influence his audience to do so.

Les' work here is on the anecdotal side, and exploring stories, lore, and the "personal" side of Bigfoot encounters.

Both of them are approaching things differently, but their work has natural tie-ins to some extent.

After watching a lot of their videos and researching other sources, and it sounds a bit daft to even suggest, but I have come around to a greater acceptance of the thinking that the Bigfoot phenomena and UFO phenomena might have some connection to them. We don't seem to have a very good biological toehold in analyzing where a huge hominid would fit in the evolutionary tree, how it survives, where it lives, etc. There's not much there, scientifically speaking, other than some footprint casts, a few tufts of hair that's difficult to classify DNA wise, and lots and lots of eyewitness accounts. How can that be? It's either one of the most successful and widespread hoax phenomenons in history, or whatever it is, is exceedingly good and not being found or contacted, unless it wants to be.

This topic is literally why I joined ATS it's so fascinating, and even if you aren't a knower or a believer the what if? characteristics are off the charts. So many stories so many eyewitnesses across all demographics. As been mentioned the tracks are we supposed to believe people go out and fake tracks in the middle of nowhere, on the off chance they are discovered.

In the middle of reading Raincoast Sasquatch and the number of stories and the depth of those witnesses knowing that it wasn't a bear or moose. And highly recommend bigfootforums.com... just a great site no BS, authors and researchers and a wealth of information, and discussions on all kinds of evidence often with a skeptical eye thats refreshing for a site that is about bigfoot.

a reply to: putnam6

Cool; will check out that forum!

If les says there's something out there than there is

Most people who have spent time out in the sierra nevada's at night will tell u it really fells like your being watched

originally posted by: markovian
If les says there's something out there than there is

Most people who have spent time out in the sierra nevada's at night will tell u it really fells like your being watched

Well, Les goes out of his way in this series to inform viewers that he's adopting the role of a skeptic. He doesn't really make any claims about the truth or falseness of the phenomenon.

It's funny you bring up the Sierras, one of my favorite Survivorman episodes was when Les visited that area. The episode opens with him setting up his base camp, looking around off camera and making a remark about every once in a while peeking about to see what might be watching you.

Dave Paulides also has an interesting segment in "Missing 411: The Hunted" on the famous "Sierra camp" where Ron Morehead and several others recorded very .....interesting.... sounds of an alleged Bigfoot moving around their location at night.

I offer Les the opportunity to walk through Prime Bigfoot Habituated territory...whereupon I shall teach him how to track Bigfoot in Prime North American Bigfoot terrain.

I will also go over his raw footage and work with him so he can recognize the many Bigfoot signs he missed during his travels.

Les is in a position to play in Integral part in the discovery and authentication of Bigfoot as a Species.

Les sticks to the facts and has hands on Survival experiences.....this is why its been so hard for him to adjust to the new reality he is now participating in that is disclosing Bigfoot for what it is.....a Proto-Human Species.....a Vanguard Proto-Human Species and that exact designation needs to be applied ,created then applied.

a reply to: markovian

If les says there's something out there than there is

Does he say that there is?

Of course there is something out there. There is something everywhere. There ain't no such thing as nothing.

I just watched one of his videos....where the Fellas were putting large rocks on a log trying to initiate responses......waiting for Bigfoot to take his move in some bizarre rock-chess game these hooligans are playing with themselves.

Les is in Prime Habituated Bigfoot Territory in that video....he is researching @ a log much like hundreds I have seen......

These Fellas think Bigfoot is leaving rocks on logs to communicate a trade request or a signal to them of some sort....

In REALITY.....they are in Bigfoots Kitchen....literally....that log is a food source for them......they eat the mushrooms.....they mark the good spots with rocks on logs because NOTHING ELSE IN THE FOREST EXCEPT THEM WILL PUT ROCKS ON LOGS.....it makes it really easy for hem to find the mushrooms later...they never take everything.

There are clear conventional traditional Bigfoot signs all around Les in that video....NONE OF WHICH HE RECOGNIZES OR COMMENTS UPON.

Les doesnt understand the Forest he is like a hitchhiker......he just travels through it and his understanding comes from that mindset and perspective....he is very good at what he does.

Les produced content much different than say the Alone content of today.....where people LIVE FOR EXTENDED PERIODS IN THE FOREST.....clearly Les is not in their League.....Les Stroud is his own Brand.....they arent in his League either.....those people would be easier to teach than Les in terms of optimal investment of time and resources....but Les would pay much larger long term dividends.

I have had Bigfoot try to hide mushrooms from me by covering them with large strips of tree bark and branches.