“We didn’t come prepared because we didn’t really expect to find anything that first time,” Kruse told OK Whatever, explaining why they hadn’t thought to bring tools, such as casting material and a tape measure.

But they did find something. While hiking, they discovered a series of huge footprints in the gravel. They placed a dollar bill next to one of them for scale and photographed it. Kruse, who is relatively tall at 5-foot-9-inches, says the footprints were so far apart she couldn’t imagine what had made them. Even if she had been running or leaping, she couldn’t have replicated their wide-apart spacing.

“I was sitting down going, ‘I can’t believe what I’m looking at here,’ ” Kruse said.

Since then, they’ve done more searches throughout the Midwest, and though they have yet to actually spot the legendary creature, they have found numerous other footprints, structures made of sticks, and uprooted trees that they believe are associated with Bigfoot.

Over time, the She-Squatchers have discovered some of the challenges that come with searching for Bigfoot as a female. Other hunters have expressed concern for the safety of a small group of women alone in the forest at night, and some of the She-Squatchers have learned firsthand that not all bras are suitable for trekking through the forest.