Whether you call it Sasquatch or Bigfoot, it’s unlikely that you’ve grown up without at least hearing of the legendary creature supposedly roaming the woodlands of the United States and Canada.
And although there is yet to be any confirmed evidence of the creature’s existence after decades of searching, that hasn’t stopped modern Bigfoot aficionados from believing it’s out there just as hard as their forebears did.
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But curiously, modern Bigfoot searchers seem increasingly more interested in hunting the beast as opposed to simply locating and documenting it. Since it’s hard to argue that a creature we can’t confirm the existence of is any type of menace, it seems likely that the interest in killing it has more to do with finally securing concrete evidence of Bigfoot.
But regardless of the reason someone would feel inclined to hunt it, one Oklahoma state representative apparently wants to make sure they do it by the book.
As of January 5, House Bill 1648 has officially been filed with the Oklahoma State Legislature.
As KOCO5 reported , this means that when state representatives convene on February 1, they will have to discuss the merits of establishing an official hunting season for Bigfoot specimens.
The bill was introduced by Republican Representative Justin Humphrey, whose constituents are in the Atoka, Bryan, Choctaw and Pushmataha counties of southeast Oklahoma.
According to ABC13 , Humphrey was elected in 2016 after working within the state’s Department of Corrections and now serves on its committees for Public Safety and for Agriculture and Rural Development.
As his brief bill simply calls for annual season dates for Bigfoot hunting and the creation of any relevant hunting licenses and fees, it’s unclear exactly what prompted it or whether he even believes in Bigfoot himself.
What is clear is that should this bill pass, the responsibility for regulating Bigfoot hunting will fall on the Oklahoma Wildlife Conservation Commission.
According to the bill , they are who he apparently entrusts with setting the dates for this season, creating the licenses thereof, and establishing the rules for how one goes about hunting Bigfoot.
In the event that HB1648 goes through, they’ll have until November 1, 2021 to work out their regulations as that’s when it would come into effect.
As it’s unclear what the intentions behind this bill are, the reactions are mixed and operate on different theories.
As ABC13 reported , one social media user referred to the whole idea as “plumb dumb.” But even if this bill somehow resulted in a deceased Bigfoot specimen, that wouldn’t make it any better for them.
Expanding on this possibility, they said, “If such a creature does exist, they are obviously very intelligent, as they’ve been able to elude humans for centuries, and should not be subject to hunting.”
But the bill struck another user as less absurd and more “crazy like a fox.”
In their words, “This actually could possibly be a clever move, a way to provide more funding for the Wildlife department. As I understand, any funding to the department comes strictly from fees and licenses, so this would help further fund our state’s wildlife conservation.”
But regardless of the intentions behind the bill, another person believed that no good could come of it.
As they said, “This is a horrible idea, either : A.) someone actually does it and finds kills a Sasquatch, which in my eyes is murder. Or B.) Some hunter will be spooked by another hunter out there looking for the same thing and someone’s gonna get killed.”
Of course, the bill has to actually pass before any considerations of its potential results become relevant. I suppose that stranger things have happened.
h/t: ABC13
