Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting 1973 deer hunting season - Bengal tiger in WI

Yes, there was BS before the internet and before Photoshop.

The tiger had escaped from a private zoo in southern WI during the 1973 deer season. Authorities tracked it down and shot it. Arrangements were made to have a taxidermist do a full-body mount of the cat � this is where the BS starts.

The taxidermist tabbed to do the work - my uncle, happened to be at his north woods deer camp at the time, so he made arrangements to get the cat to his studio and would deal with the animal when he got home.

In the meantime, another uncle and my father caught wind of the tabby�s arrival at the studio. The plan was simple � wait until the taxi�s wife left for work, then get into the studio and borrow the cat for the day. Plan made, and, executed to perfection.

It was quite common in those days to visit many a tavern with the quarry bagged that day � the two of them were more than happy to oblige. Soon, there were stories from all around about the tiger that had been shot in NE WI. (I�m hoping he can chime in with some of the stories)

Of course, the day would not have been complete without a photo opp. I recall the photos providing years of story fodder at parties etc. I had completely forgotten the tiger story until my dad sent this photo to me a couple of days ago.

Here�s Whelen Nut with the tiger. My father - the catnapper.

Now that is one funny story!

I'm in my office laughing my ass off. Great story!!!

Ah man,..you should have made up a fake hunting story and posted the picture..

Something along the lines of "the Tiger used to be owned by the Circus and one day the Tiger got loose as it was looking for a better life away from the torturous Lion Tamer, but was gunned down by the evil hunter."

We could have posted a link in Democratic Underground and had some fun...

Cool pic..

Not just yeah, but HELL YEAH!!!!

That is a win on so many levels it is amazing.

That is one heck of a story and beats all the crazy Wisconsin northwoods stories I have heard.

That's too cool!!

I didn't think they had TSX bullets in 1973.

What's stopping you from doing it now? d:^)

That is a great story and the type of story that lives forever in a hunting camp

After a full day of touring the local watering holes, farms, and hunting camps we somehow found our way back to the "Popple Palace" just before dark.

When we arrived it looked like there was an auction going on! Word had spread like wildfire by then and there were many, many versions to the story. There were cars parked all over the place as people came from miles around to see the big cat I had shot.

A couple of old farts who lived about a mile away said they had seen the big cat a couple of days before and it was attacking their dogs!

For the record I used a 12ga Rem 870 with 28" modified choke with 1oz. Slugger @ 43yards...DRT!

I assume there was a wrastlin' story too?

As I recall, we stopped by the local feed mill and weighed it on their scale. 350#+ rings a bell!

Of course, the BIL involved in this fiasco also weighed in @ 350+...and an iron-worker at the time so he did all the heavy lifting!

WN

Scott; TFF!

Several years ago my dad had a friend in PA who had a stuffed
animal made that looked like a dead black bear and would hang
it a tree in his yard in bear season. From a distance it looked
like an actual dead bear until you got closer. People would
drive buy and slow down to see the bear, and several got out
of their cars and walked up to it to discover it was a joke.
This guy had one heck of a sense of humor, I believe he passed
recently.

I take back all those things I said Scott...I understand now.

I was 4 or 5 years old at the time. Wish I could recall more of it.

Some folks outside WI Rapids has a couple legal cougars a few yeaars ago. One of them died of old age and they arranged for a local taxidermist to pick it up and do a full body mount.

Guess where his first stop was? And his story of the cat being shot while attacking livestock at a nearby farm, and the doubting DNR biologist....

Hilarity ensued.

12 gauge slugs way over-penetrate on tigers...

Awesome story and photos.