Bigfoot tracker to show off his catch in San Antonio, Houston

SAN ANTONIO — Absence of evidence is not the evidence of absence, scientist Carl Sagan famously said.

Those are words Rick Dyer, who describes himself as a “master tracker” of Bigfoot, never has to utter again.

As the website Snopes.com points out, Dyer made similar claims in 2008 when he claimed to have killed Bigfoot. When Dyer revealed the specimen at a press conference, it turned out to be a rubber ape suit.

But Dyer, 36, says he killed an 8-foot-tall Bigfoot in San Antonio in 2012 with a 30-06 rifle after he lured “the beast” near his tent with a set of Wal-Mart ribs he rubbed with a secret ingredient.

“I know it sounds crazy, but it's true,” said Dyer, who is coming back to the Alamo City and Houston in February to showcase his catch.

He tows the corpse behind a 40-foot coach in a trailer across the country to show folks just how real Bigfoot is.

Rick Dyer Rick Dyer Photo: BigfootTracker.com Photo: BigfootTracker.com Image 1 of / 42 Caption Close Bigfoot tracker to show off his catch in San Antonio, Houston 1 / 42 Back to Gallery

“A lot of times they don't believe it,” he said. “You can show someone something that is real, but they won't, or can't, believe it because they think it doesn't exist.”

Dyer killed the mysterious creature in a wooded area near Texas 151 and Loop 1604, he said Sept. 6, 2012.

After getting “leads” from homeless locals, Dyer set up a tent in the woods and booby trapped trees around his tent with ribs he purchased from Wal-Mart, who in fact does have the best ribs for Bigfoot-huntin', as well as the best return policy.

“I woke up to the sound of bones crushing,” Dyer said. “I knew it was a Bigfoot eating the ribs I hung, so I grabbed my cell phone and filmed it.”

Dyer then went back to his preferred hunting equipment super store to rack up some more ribs, returned to the danger zone, and lured the Bigfoot back within shooting range.

It's no wonder that Dyer calls himself “the best Bigfoot tracker in the world.”

Dyer says he killed the monstrous animal with three shots in the back and neck.

“I have a lot of haters,” said Dyer, of Atlanta. “But they can all kiss my a-- … because I have more proof than there's ever been.”

“We don't acknowledge that one exists, but if you wanted to shoot and kill a Bigfoot in the state of Texas you would just need a hunting license,” Major Larry Young, game warden with Texas Parks and Wildlife, joked Tuesday.

Young said that although it's legal, he doesn't exactly think it is moral.

"It's kind of like shooting a person," he said.

“We can't prohibit anyone from hunting fictional characters, including Sasquatch, Chupacabra and other urban myths,” said Steve Lightfoot with Texas Parks and Wildlife.

The master tracker says he refuses to give a hair or meat sample for research, because he already has the proof. He said “a university” is testing the animal, but that he has a nondisclosure agreement and cannot reveal which “university.”

Dyer said the locations in San Antonio and Houston and the exact dates still are being worked out.

Check mySA for updated details as soon as they are available.

Houston Chronicle reporter Craig Hlavaty contributed to this report.