On Jan. 22, Oklahoma state house representative Justin Humphrey introduced legislation that, if passed, would create an official state hunting season for Bigfoot.
Now, this has got to be the best thing to come out of Oklahoma since the shopping cart.
Humphrey hopes to work with the Oklahoma Wildlife Conservation Commission to establish this system, if the legislation passes.
However, Micah Holmes, spokesperson for the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation, told KOCO-TV “We use science-driven research, and we don’t recognize Bigfoot in the state of Oklahoma.”
While Holmes and Humphrey may disagree on the existence of Bigfoot, and Humphrey’s reasoning for pushing this bill might be a little out there, they are both missing a major impact of this bill: the fundraising opportunity. An official state hunting season could mean licenses and an increase in their tourism.
Humphrey’s Bigfoot proposal would be a great way of promoting his district’s parks and natural beauties.
According to Humphrey, “The overall goal is to get people to our area to enjoy the natural beauty and to have a great time, and if they find Bigfoot while they’re at it, well, hey, that’s just an even bigger prize.”
The notion of catching Bigfoot might seem silly, but rich people go to other countries and pay big money to kill endangered animals, so why not try something like that here?
Just without the killing, because as Humphrey put it, “We are not going to kill Bigfoot. We are going to trap a live Bigfoot. We are not promoting killing Bigfoot.”
However, to be honest, Humphrey, I don’t think you are going to get the chance to do either.
State-sponsored cryptid hunts just might be a good way of funding conservation efforts and state and national parks — and this isn’t just limited to Oklahoma. Every state has their own cryptid, many of which are just variants of Bigfoot. A program like this could become a nationwide phenomenon.
Just think about: backpacking in the Pine Barrens for the Jersey Devil, air boating in the Everglades for the Skunk Ape, movie night with Mothman, sail boating and scuba diving in Lake Tahoe for Tahoe Tessie. There are plenty of opportunities to use urban legends to draw in tourists.
Humphrey’s Bigfoot proposal might be a little out there, but it does have some promise to it… if you treat the idea of catching Bigfoot as a joke. I think that Humphrey actually wants to catch Bigfoot. This legislation is unlikely to be passed, so Bigfoot is safe in Oklahoma… for now.
