# What if somebody DID shoot Bigfoot?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-somebody-did-shoot-bigfoot/678708
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [January 13, 2014, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-somebody-did-shoot-bigfoot/678708 "2014-01-13T21:17:15Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 3
### Author:  [@OldOlds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldOlds)
#### Post date: [January 14, 2014, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-somebody-did-shoot-bigfoot/678708/41 "2014-01-14T20:30:18Z")
> [@RedSwinglineOne](#):
>
> I think the difference might be that because Bigfoot has never been proven to exist, (one could argue that) something that looks like Bigfoot is more likely a person in a costume than an actual Bigfoot. At the very least it could be considered reckless to shoot at an unidentified upright walking creature. I’m not sure it is a valid defense to say, “I saw something I had never seen before so I shot it!”.
So I think you bring up a fair point- I was looking at it from the perspective that it would not be reasonable to assume “Hey- that thing I am shooting at must be a person in costume,” but it is also true that license to hunt something does not mean license to shoot anything.
I was really trying to zero in on the idea that being tricked into killing someone is not the same as trying to kill someone, which is in response to the statement that if a slain bigfoot were determined to be a person in costume the assailant would be prosecuted for murder. My general sense is that the authorities take the whole set of circumstances into account.
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### Author:  [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)
#### Post date: [January 15, 2014, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-somebody-did-shoot-bigfoot/678708/42 "2014-01-15T04:01:38Z")
Being shot isn’t the only risk of wearing a Bigfoot costume.
[Bigfoot hoax turns deadly: Montana man dressed as sasquatch to provoke sightings struck and killed by car](http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/bigfoot-hoax-turns-deadly-montana-man-dressed-sasquatch-provoke-sightings-struck-killed-car-article-1.1145823)
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### Author:  [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)
#### Post date: [January 15, 2014, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-somebody-did-shoot-bigfoot/678708/43 "2014-01-15T05:36:16Z")
BANG!
“Old man Jenkins?! Zoinks, he would’ve gotten away with it too, if I didn’t shoot him, Scoob!”
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### Author:  [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)
#### Post date: [January 15, 2014, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-somebody-did-shoot-bigfoot/678708/44 "2014-01-15T05:57:15Z")
> [@dolphinboy](#):
>
> or did you happen to find one going through your trash can?
That would be [Eerie](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eU-DAWveB_g&t=0m18s).
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### Author:  [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)
#### Post date: [January 15, 2014, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-somebody-did-shoot-bigfoot/678708/45 "2014-01-15T17:53:41Z")
> [@RedSwinglineOne](#):
>
> I think the difference might be that because Bigfoot has never been proven to exist, (one could argue that) something that looks like Bigfoot is more likely a person in a costume than an actual Bigfoot. At the very least it could be considered reckless to shoot at an unidentified upright walking creature. I’m not sure it is a valid defense to say, “I saw something I had never seen before so I shot it!”.
If you had a license, it would probably be better to say you thought you were shooting at a deer than at a Bigfoot. As long as the Bigfoot wasn’t wearing a fluorescent orange vest, you would probably get off.😉
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### Author:  [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)
#### Post date: [January 15, 2014, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-somebody-did-shoot-bigfoot/678708/46 "2014-01-15T19:22:20Z")
[It’s coming right for us](http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nt6kKhlX8vU)
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### Author:  [@vontsira](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vontsira)
#### Post date: [January 17, 2014, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-somebody-did-shoot-bigfoot/678708/47 "2014-01-17T14:43:24Z")
> [@randompattern](#):
>
> Even though the shooter was a licensed hunter, he wasn’t really hunting in the traditional sense. I’m pretty sure he didn’t have a Bigfoot hunting license so I would imagine he’d qualify for at least a fine. That said, **if he was really interested in “proving” Bigfoot is real, couldn’t he have shot it with a tranquilizer gun just as easily?**
Most of the points and thoughts brought up in this thread, have been discussed ad infinitum for years among the community of students of the Bigfoot mystery. The general consensus there about the use of tranquilizer darting to secure a Bigfoot specimen, would seem to be: the trouble is, that hard knowledge of the traits and characteristics of this alleged creature, is minimal-to-non-existent. Tranquilizer-gun activity requires a knowledge of the exact dose needed; which in respect of Bigfoot, nobody knows. Too weak a dose, would be liable to mean an extremely pissed-off Bigfoot in close proximity; too strong a dose – a dead Bigfoot.
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### Author:  [@ElderSign](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElderSign)
#### Post date: [April 14, 2017, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-somebody-did-shoot-bigfoot/678708/48 "2017-04-14T17:33:20Z")
Someone may have killed an unknown hominid/proto-human:
According to the July 17, 1899 Bismarck Daily Tribune, Archie Brower, an owner of a tent show, got into a fight with his attraction- a freak he dubbed the missing link. The newspaper described the brute as being higher than a monkey but below a human. Brower got angry at the being and hit it over the with a heavy club and killed it.
The police arrested him and he was charged with murder. His defense lawyers claimed that missing link was not human, so Brower should not be charged. Brower claimed the beast was really a monkey. Not sure why he got into an argument with one and murdered it though. The magistrate allowed a grand jury to decide.
I have no follow up to what happened.
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### Author:  [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)
#### Post date: [April 14, 2017, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-somebody-did-shoot-bigfoot/678708/49 "2017-04-14T20:38:25Z")
That seems to be the only mention of Archie Brower in that newspaper, at least what issues are digitized.
Dennis
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### Author:  [@jbaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jbaker)
#### Post date: [April 14, 2017, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-somebody-did-shoot-bigfoot/678708/50 "2017-04-14T20:45:10Z")
Other newspapers on [Newspapers.com](http://Newspapers.com) talk about the Archie Brower story, but don’t really add much to the story. I assume that it was subsequently determined that the missing link was not human, but that is not confirmed by the available record.
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### Author:  [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)
#### Post date: [April 14, 2017, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-somebody-did-shoot-bigfoot/678708/51 "2017-04-14T20:55:32Z")
Bigfoot is protected in Washington state.
Most states have laws protecting endangered species. Bigfoot seems pretty elusive and hard to find. Their population must be pretty small, assuming that they exist,
[http://modernnotion.com/dont-shoot-bigfoot-in-washington-its-homicide/](http://modernnotion.com/dont-shoot-bigfoot-in-washington-its-homicide/)
> [@](#):
>
> The law was amended in 1984 changing the crime from a felony to a gross misdemeanor punishable by a $1,000 fine and/or a one year jail sentence. The amendment also stated that if a coroner concludes Bigfoot to be a humanoid the killer would be charged with homicide.
>
> Finally in 1991, Whatcom County, Washington, a neighboring community to Skamania County, declared the entire area, about a million acres of land, a Sasquatch Protection and Refuge Area, creating the first ever Bigfoot sanctuary.
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### Author:  [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)
#### Post date: [April 14, 2017, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-somebody-did-shoot-bigfoot/678708/52 "2017-04-14T23:31:00Z")
> [@aceplace57](#):
>
> Bigfoot is protected in Washington state.
_moves_
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### Author:  [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)
#### Post date: [April 15, 2017, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-somebody-did-shoot-bigfoot/678708/53 "2017-04-15T00:35:40Z")
I’m dying to know what the great book cover was, since Exapno’s link is dead. The only book covers I can find on google are pretty pathetic: A blue background and a red circle: [https://img.fantasticfiction.com/images/n28/n140647.jpg](https://img.fantasticfiction.com/images/n28/n140647.jpg)
Going with the French title isn’t any better.
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### Author:  [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)
#### Post date: [April 15, 2017, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-somebody-did-shoot-bigfoot/678708/54 "2017-04-15T01:02:10Z")
> [@](#):
>
> What if somebody DID shoot Bigfoot?
Tyhe Six Million Dollar Man would rise up, & avenge his buddy.
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### Author:  [@DudeManBro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DudeManBro)
#### Post date: [April 15, 2017, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-somebody-did-shoot-bigfoot/678708/55 "2017-04-15T02:02:17Z")
Depends on what the authorities want. Probably confiscate the body and threaten you into silence.
Social media makes revealing them easier (if they exist), but any pics or footage could still be explained away as a hoax. Just because you can replicate something with CGI means it’s fake dontcha know?
Nearly ALL Native American lore contain their own version of sasquatch. Will there be a backlash from tribal elders who view them as literal forest people?
There seems to be very real complications if their existence is widely known.
IMO one would have to hide the body and reveal it at a football game or a big social event with lots of news media to really expose it.
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### Author:  [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)
#### Post date: [April 15, 2017, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-somebody-did-shoot-bigfoot/678708/56 "2017-04-15T02:17:29Z")
> [@kk\_fusion](#):
>
> A question related to [this](http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/man-claims-killed-captured-bigfoot-article-1.1567530) is circling the net, and I am interested in the American legal view on this.
>
> Suppose a surviving individual of a hominid sideline, so far unknown to science, is found and deliberately killed by a licensed hunter. Could he be charged with homicide? In other words, how is a “human” legally defined in terms of being a murder victim?
I think it is a crime to shoot a buffoon wearing a Bigfoot costume. That’s about as far as this conversation should go.
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### Author:  [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)
#### Post date: [April 15, 2017, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-somebody-did-shoot-bigfoot/678708/57 "2017-04-15T02:20:49Z")
What exactly do “the authorities” have to gain by keeping Bigfoot secret?
I mean, I get it. We don’t have any evidence of Bigfoot, so if Bigfoot is common, someone must being doing a lot of work to keep the existence of Bigfoot a secret. And who is that someone? “The authorities”.
But who exactly are these authorities? And how, if Bigfoot is a secret, do the lesser authorities know to keep Bigfoot a secret? Like, do local sheriffs and game wardens and wildlife biologists know all about Bigfoot, and know to keep it secret? But how exactly do the authorities enlist the assistance of all these hundreds of low level local dudes, and none of them ever go public, and we don’t have any documents or secret memos from the Illuminati to the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife ordering them to cover up the existence of Bigfoot?
And if the low level guys aren’t in on it, how exactly do the Men in Black swoop in every time someone finds evidence of Bigfoot? How does it work, logistically?
It makes no sense.
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### Author:  [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)
#### Post date: [April 15, 2017, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-somebody-did-shoot-bigfoot/678708/58 "2017-04-15T02:43:02Z")
> [@Lemur866](#):
>
> What exactly do “the authorities” have to gain by keeping Bigfoot secret?
[What did they have to gain by keeping mermaids under wraps?](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088161/)
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### Author:  [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)
#### Post date: [April 15, 2017, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-somebody-did-shoot-bigfoot/678708/59 "2017-04-15T03:06:37Z")
> [@Martian Bigfoot](#):
>
> _moves_
Thanks for the chuckle.
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### Author:  [@K2500](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/K2500)
#### Post date: [April 15, 2017, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-somebody-did-shoot-bigfoot/678708/60 "2017-04-15T03:12:09Z")
> [@OldOlds](#):
>
> Well, if I am someplace where I am authorized to be hunting deer, and some idiot decides to prance through the area in a reasonably convincing deer costume, I bet I would not end up charged with anything serious if anything at all. So I think the human in bigfoot costume would be a similar situation.
Perhaps all you had were doe tags and he was dessed as a buck? Would it be murder or poaching?
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