Oklahoma House Bill 1648: Big Foot Hunting Season

House Bill 1648, an Act directing the wildlife commission to establish a "big foot hunting season", was introduced on 20 January 2021 to the Oklahoma House of Representatives by State Representative Justin Humphrey (Republican, House District 19). If enacted, it would be codified in Oklahoma law that "the Oklahoma Wildlife Conservation Commission shall promulgate rules establishing a big foot hunting season" and "shall set annual season dates and create any necessary specific hunting licenses and fees," effective 1 November 2021.

In a press release, published 21 January 2021, Humphrey clarified that "he doesn't want people to actually kill Bigfoot, so he will be working with the state wildlife and tourism departments to craft final language for his bill that specifies only the trapping of Bigfoot. He also hopes to secure at least $25,000 that can be used as a bounty for the first person to trap the creature."

The bill died in committee, but Humphrey continued to push for regulations on Bigfoot hunting, including a proposed state bounty for a captured live specimen.

Oklahoma was notably the location of two reported crypto-hominids: the Boggy Bottom Monster of the Kiamichi Mountains; and the 1971 Abominable Chicken Man, so-named for its apparent raid on a chicken coop in El Reno. In an informal study by Trevor Wheelwright, using data from the Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization (BFRO), Oklahoma was ranked 9th in a review of "U.S. States with the Most Bigfoot Sightings by Population" with 104 reports against a population of 3,956,971 (2.6 per 100k), and 15th overall (tied with West Virginia) in total number of sightings.

Resources

 * House Bill 1648, 1st Session of the 58th Legislature (2021), "An Act relating to game and fish; directing the Oklahoma Wildlife Conservation Commission to establish a big foot hunting season; providing for codification; and providing an effective date": http://webserver1.lsb.state.ok.us/cf_pdf/2021-22%20INT/hB/HB1648%20INT.PDF
 * Rep. Humphrey Bill Would Open Bigfoot Hunting Season: https://www.okhouse.gov/members/ShowStory.aspx?MediaNewsID=7865