U.S.

If You're a Sasquatch in Texas, Run for Your Life!

If you've ever had the inkling to legally hunt down a sasquatch, your best bet will be setting up shop in Texas ... but if you're a bigfoot afraid of humans with guns, run, don't walk, to the safe haven of Tennessee! Or just stay put in Washington.

By Alexander Abad-Santos
This article is from the archive of our partner .

If you've ever had the inkling to legally hunt down a sasquatch, your best bet will be setting up shop in Texas ... but if you're a bigfoot afraid of humans with guns, run, don't walk, to the safe haven of Tennessee! Or just stay put in Washington.

The only reason we know these tiny tidbits are thanks to some recent sleuthing by Cryptomundo's John Lloyd Sharf and The Nashville Scene's Betsy Phillips. What Sharf found was that Texas Wildlife Commission officially considers the animal, which may not exist, to be legal hunting game:

If the Commission does not specifically list an indigenous, nongame species, then the species is considered non-protected nongame wildlife, e.g., coyote, bobcat, mountain lion, cotton-tailed rabbit, etc. A non-protected nongame animal may be hunted on private property with landowner consent by any means, at any time and there is no bag limit or possession limit.

An exotic animal is an animal that is non-indigenous to Texas. Unless the exotic is an endangered species then exotics may be hunted on private property with landowner consent. A hunting license is required. This does not include the dangerous wild animals that have been held in captivity and released for the purpose of hunting, which is commonly referred to as a "canned hunt".

That led Phillips to seek out her own answers on how Tennessee would deal with Bigfoot hunting:

It seems that Bigfoot would be protected by the same rules the Tennessee Wildlife Resource Agency has for alligators. Much like Bigfoot, some folks are certain alligators have made their way into Tennessee, even though sightings of them are still very rare. About alligators, the TWRA says:

There is evidence that alligator populations are expanding north along the Mississippi River into Tennessee. Species which expand their ranges into Tennessee (such as alligators) are protected and may not be taken until a hunting season is proclaimed.

That's pretty clear. No shooting at things until the state has had a chance to rule on whether you can hunt it.

But we were interested in the specifics of hunting bigfoot/yeti/sasquatch in the state of Washington, where they're alleged to live. So what's the deal there?
 
"No you can't legally shoot a sasquatch in Washington," a spokesperson from the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife told The Atlantic Wire. "Legally, in this state we have to call something a game animal before until you can hunt it.  And you can't shoot a sasquatch unless we put him on the list."   
 
Photo by: meunierd via Shutterstock. 

This article is from the archive of our partner The Wire.
Alexander Abad-Santos is a former writer for The Wire.