Last week, a man called the sheriff's office in Stevens County, Washington to inquire whether he would go to jail if he shot a Bigfoot. Apparently the fellow had planned to hunt Sasquatch in the Big Meadow Lake are of Colville National Forest and didn't want to risk jail time. Generously, the fellow told police that he was only targeting male Sasquatches and wouldn't bother females of the species.
The sheriff's office first attempted to direct the man to the Washington state Department of Fish and Wildlife. However, the would-be cryptid hunter informed them state officials had already redirected him to the sheriff's office. Washington has the highest number of Bigfoot encounters in the country which prompted some counties to enact laws protecting the animals
For example, The Chronicle reports that "in 1969, Skamania County passed a law forbidding the harming of sasquatch. Doing so would result in a $1,000 fine and a year in jail. The county later changed the law to state that 'any premeditated, willful and wanton slaying of any such creature shall be deemed a felony punishable by a fine not to exceed $10,000, and/or imprisonment in the county jail for a period not to exceed five years.'
"It is unclear if Stevens County has any such ordinance or law."
