TWO US professional Bigfoot hunters claim to have found a body of the legendary creature and will present evidence of the astounding discovery to the world's press and scientists tomorrow.

Matthew Whitton and Rick Dyer, who run Bigfoot expeditions, say they found a dead Bigfoot in the woods of north Georgia, in the southeast of the US, about two weeks ago and have put the carcass in a freezer.

They along with "the real Bigfoot Hunter" Tom Biscardi, who has endorsed the find, will front a press conference in California, where they say DNA and photo proof will be presented.

Mr Whitton, a Georgia police officer on leave to recover from a shooting, and Mr Dyer, a former prison officer, have posted photos of their "find" on their searchingforbigfoot website.

They describe the creature as being a 2.3m tall  "part human and part ape" male  and weighing over 230kg with reddish hair and blackish-grey eyes.

The infamous feet are described as being flat and 41cm long with five toes.

The hands also have five fingers and and the teeth are more "human-like than ape like".

The hunters claim several Bigfoots were spotted walking upright in the area the body was found but won't reveal the location "to protect the creatures".

Mr Whitton, Mr Dyer and Mr Biscardi say they will soon mount a secret expedition to capture a live Bigfoot.

Commenting on the discovery Scientific American said the apparent reluctance of the Bigfoot hunters to actually display or hand over the body would make those sceptical roll their eyes.

Although many would regard the Bigfoot as mythical, enthusiasts were given more reason to believe in October last year when hunter Rick Jacobs claimed to have taken photos of a Bigfoot in Pennsylvania.

The Bigfoot stir coincides with a supposed Texas sighting and filming of another legendary US monster, the chupacabra, which is a dog-like animal with a long snout that according to folklore attacks livestock, especially goats, and drinks their blood.

It seems to be a monster summer in the US with an unidentifed creature creating an internet sensation after it washed up near New York last month.

Bigfoot's erstwhile cousin, the yeti or Abominable Snowman, also came under renewed scrutiny last month with a scientist sending some alleged hair from the creature to a lab for DNA testing.