Oklahoma Bigfoot Hunting Season Law Fails, Bounty Soars to $2 Million

Do you remember the story about the Oklahoma state representative who introduced a Bigfoot hunting season bill at the beginning of this year? Today I saw a follow-up to the story from Coast to Coast AM. The Oklahoma Bigfoot hunting season story has progressed from cray to cray cray. Let’s check it out.

The Bigfoot Hunting Bill

Basically, House Bill 1648 filed by Oklahoma State Representative Justin Humphrey on Jan. 20, 2021, wanted to enact the following law:

The Oklahoma Wildlife Conservation Commission shall promulgate rules establishing a big foot hunting season. The Commission shall set annual season dates and create any necessary specific hunting licenses and fees.

It was set to be voted on as early as Feb. 1, 2021. Coast to Coast reported that it “ultimately got bogged down in bureaucracy and never made it to the Oklahoma House floor for a vote.”

But that didn’t deter Representative Humphrey. He found a loophole that he’s using in his quest to continue trying to catch Bigfoot.

Sasquatch Quest Tracking Permits

Who needs a law when you can just work directly with the state’s tourism department to issue tracking permits? As Enid News & Eagle reported, when “his legislative measure never made it out of committee,” Humphrey looked for an alternative way to keep promoting his Bigfoot hunting idea.

That’s how he discovered the state tourism department can also issue permits, no legislation required. Especially “since the intent is not to kill or injure the elusive beast.”

I’m not sure the goal is even to really seriously find Bigfoot as much as it is to stimulate his district’s economy, which happens to be a “heavily wooded district in Southeast Oklahoma that reportedly boasts the ninth most sightings in the world of the legendary ape-like creature.”

If you can cash in on people wanting to search for Bigfoot, why not?

My only thing is, how are they going to truly implement it? Who’s going to pay for such a permit? Who’s going to check whether they have or haven’t got one? It’s not like fishing where you have a pole and it’s obvious you’re after something.

Unless, I guess, for the super-serious Bigfoot hunters who may come prepared with cages and whatnot. That might be a bit of a giveaway.

But overall, who will know if you paid or not?

No-Kill

Another thing Humphrey wants to do since so many people, myself included, termed what he wanted to do as Bigfoot “hunting” is emphasize that Bigfoot shalt not be killed in the tracking process. It’s about capturing one, not killing one. He doesn’t want any Bigfoots harmed in the capturing process —or people either.

The Bigfoot Bounty

Another thing that Humphrey wanted to do with his original legislation was award anyone who caught a Bigfoot $25,000. Well, that ante just got upped thanks to a yet as undisclosed “upcoming Hollywood Bigfoot movie” that pledged about $2 million to whoever captures Bigfoot.

On top of that, a private business also said they’d pay $100,000.

Bigfoot hunting suddenly seems like a potentially very profitable undertaking…

The Bigfoot Tourism Campaign

Here’s the part I liked best from Enid News article, because it’s about paranormal tourism:

…state tourism officials now are developing a Bigfoot promotional campaign that includes license plates, decals, an annual commemorative tracking license and “Bigfoot checkout stations.” ….they’re also working on a map of the region to show visitors the best route to take to spot Bigfoot while promoting nearby businesses at the same time.

“Road Sponsored By Bigfoot” Signs

Another thing Humphrey hopes to do is use any of the tracking permit money to fund the state’s parks, lakes, and roads. “Roads Sponsored by Bigfoot” signs will be placed where improvements are made.

That sounds like the best idea of all.

Check-In

Would you pay for a Bigfoot tracking permit?