From Wikipedia:
"Cryptozoology is the search for animals that are rumored to exist, but for which conclusive proof is missing. This includes the search for living examples of animals that are known to have existed at one time, but are widely considered to be extinct today. Those who study or search for such animals are called cryptozoologists, while the hypothetical creatures involved are referred to by some as "cryptids", a term coined by John Wall in 1983.
Invention of the term cryptozoology (adding the Greek prefix kryptós, or "hidden", to zoology to mean "the study of hidden animals") is often attributed to zoologist Bernard Heuvelmans. However, Heuvelmans himself (in his book In the Wake of Sea Serpents) attributes coinage of the term to the late Scottish explorer and adventurer Ivan T. Sanderson. Heuvelmans' 1955 book, On the Track of Unknown Animals, traces the scholarly origins of the discipline to Anthonid Cornelis Oudemans and his 1892 study, The Great Sea Serpent. Loren Coleman, the modern popularizer of cryptozoology, has chronicled the history and personalities of the science in his books.
Another notable book was Willy Ley's Exotic Zoology (1959). Ley was best known for his books on rocketry and related topics, but he also wrote a number of books about animals. Exotic Zoology (which combined some of Ley's older writings with new ones) is of some interest to cryptozoology, as he discusses the Yeti and sea serpents, as well as reports of relict dinosaurs. The book's first section ("Myth?") entertains the possibility that some legendary creatures (like the sirrush, the unicorn or the cyclops) might be based on actual animals (or misinterpretation of animals and/or their remains).
Heuvelmans argued that cryptozoology should be undertaken with scientific rigor, but also with an open-minded, interdisciplinary approach. He also stressed that attention should be given to local and folkloric sources regarding such creatures. While often layered in unlikely and fantastic elements, folktales may indeed contain grains of truth and important information regarding these animals.
Some cryptozoologists align themselves with a more scientifically rigorous field like zoology, while others tend toward an anthropological slant or even a Fortean perspective. Cryptozoology is often considered a pseudoscience by skeptical mainstream zoologists and biologists."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryptozoology
I don't consider "Bigfootery" to be a subculture or a cult. We're far too disorganized for that.