June 3, 2008
Will anyone be killed in the woods? Someone has got to ask the hard question about the $1,000,000 Sasquatch challenge.
The Bushnell’s $1,000,000 Sasquatch Photo Challenge may be creative, a great piece of publicity for trail cameras, and gain some potentially intriguing photos. But at what cost?
Obviously, the company took the hoaxsters into consideration with this “Bonus Category” add-on in their contest:
For all you jokers out there – we’re giving away an additional Bushnell Trail Scout Pro camera for your best attempt to cheat Bushnell out of their $1,000,000 prize. So go grab your gorilla suit and head to the nearest woodlot. Just don’t get mistaken for a bear.
When I was consulting to the Wizards of the Coast about their “One Million Dollar Prize” for a Bigfoot or cryptid photograph, they ended up withdrawing their first draft of that contest because of the fear they would get sued if someone ended up getting killed in the woods, to “prove” the Bigfoot or Mothman or cryptid was real.
Bushnell has created a dual paradox in their challenge by encouraging hoaxes and also asking for million dollar winners of actual Bigfoot photos. Bushnell’s joking attitude to be careful because you might get mistaken for a bear is troubling, and doesn’t go very far to giving any hope that serious results will be forthcoming from this “challenge.”
The specifics of what a winner needs to produce is clear, as a
…participant can provide an unaltered photograph/video, verified and substantiated by a panel of scientific experts, the evidence required to prove a Sasquatch/Bigfoot/Yeti exists. Photo or video must be taken with a Trail/Deer Camera. A Trail/Deer Camera is defined, for this Sweepstakes, as any camera designed/sold for the purpose of being attached to a tree or other object to automatically capture images of passing wildlife. Either day or night, still or video, color, or black and white. Entries must be in jpeg format, un-retouched, unaltered and not changed in anyway, or it will be disqualified.
The parameters are clear also. Of course, most of us know that the evidence needed to proof a Bigfoot exists is usually held by zoologists to be a dead or captive Bigfoot. Who is going to fulfill that kind of proof?
Maybe this prize will go to ending the question, “once and for all.” Maybe.
Who will judge your photos or footage?
The photo/video will be reviewed by a panel of experts and a Bushnell Field Pro for authenticity. Panelists include a Bushnell-assigned zoologist, biologist and a Bushnell Field Pro. The winner must be a unanimous decision from all three expert judges. All entries are the possession of Bushnell, and will not be returned. Winner will be contacted via registered mail and announced on the website.
Okay, you’ve taken groundbreaking footage of a Bigfoot, and turned it over to Bushnell, with proof that this is a Bigfoot (what? a dead body?) and you immediately get a million dollars? Or, oops, you’re not picked, they keep your photos or footage and the Bigfoot proof? How confusing is that?
Oh well, if it is worth a million dollars, then you’ll get your money.
So what’s a Sasquatch, again?
Sasquatch, Bigfoot, Yeti or similar is defined as any bi-pedal, non-human/human that has not been classified as a bear (Black or Brown, Kodiak, Polar or Grizzly), lion (mountain, puma, cougar, panther, or others), jaguar, wild swine, wolf, coyote, wild dog, deer, elk, moose, buffalo, caribou, sheep, goat or any other indigenous or non-indigenous (Ape, monkey, lion, bear, jaguar, leopard or other) animal. Or any domesticated animal (swine, bovine, canine, feline, equine, sheep, goat, lama, birds, or other). All human, human costumed or statuary photos/video will be classified in the secondary sweepstakes.
Of course, one has to wonder about the M.K. Davis loophole, that being, what if “Bigfoot” is a form of human, does that mean you really should be submitting under the “secondary sweepstake” for “human photos/videos”? 🙂
This is getting very complex.
Ultimately, many of us feel, Bigfoot would have to be an “indigenous or non-indigenous ape,” so according to these rules, they would be excluded?
Send in the Bushnell rules editor, please. Wake up and take this loophole out.
Let’s just hope no one is shot in the woods.
About Loren Coleman
Loren Coleman is one of the world’s leading cryptozoologists, some say “the” leading living cryptozoologist. Certainly, he is acknowledged as the current living American researcher and writer who has most popularized cryptozoology in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.
Starting his fieldwork and investigations in 1960, after traveling and trekking extensively in pursuit of cryptozoological mysteries, Coleman began writing to share his experiences in 1969. An honorary member of Ivan T. Sanderson’s Society for the Investigation of the Unexplained in the 1970s, Coleman has been bestowed with similar honorary memberships of the North Idaho College Cryptozoology Club in 1983, and in subsequent years, that of the British Columbia Scientific Cryptozoology Club, CryptoSafari International, and other international organizations. He was also a Life Member and Benefactor of the International Society of Cryptozoology (now-defunct).
Loren Coleman’s daily blog, as a member of the Cryptomundo Team, served as an ongoing avenue of communication for the ever-growing body of cryptozoo news from 2005 through 2013. He returned as an infrequent contributor beginning Halloween week of 2015.
Coleman is the founder in 2003, and current director of the International Cryptozoology Museum in Portland, Maine.
Filed under Abominable Snowman, Almas, Bigfoot, Breaking News, Cryptomundo Exclusive, Cryptotourism, CryptoZoo News, Cryptozoologists, Cryptozoology, Evidence, Forensic Science, Hoaxes, Photos, Pop Culture, Sasquatch, Yeti