Has someone here on AH who hunted Tiger in Vietnam?

https://saigoneer.com/saigon-cultur...-of-hunting-in-vietnam-since-the-19th-century

Brief History of Hunting in Vietnam Since the 19th Century
Published on Thursday, 03 July 2014 10:58
Written by Dang Bui and Brian Letwin.
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While hunting was probably popular among Vietnamese nobles before the arrival of the French, it was the colonialists who popularized big game hunting in the country when it was still a land of wilderness.

Large-scale hunting was usually carried out in regions such as Lang Biang and the Mekong Delta where there were hectares of jungles that supported rich biodiversity. There were however restrictions and laws pertaining to hunting and wildlife management that were enforced by French officials known as Lieutenants louveterie (though it’s unclear how effective they were).

This title was bestowed upon Henri de Monestrol according to his 1952 book, Chasses et Faune D’Indochine (Hunting and Wildlife of Indochina), in which he wrote that he was a hunter in the service of Emperor Bao Dai.

The sport persisted before the American’s went all-in militarily, with a 1961 travel brochure claiming the country to be “…a hunter’s paradise,” that included “…elephant, tiger, leopard, wild buffalo bear, deer, and pheasant.”


A pre-war "License A" in Vietnam would set you back $4,800 Vietnamese piastres ($68) and for that you would be allowed to shoot one bull elephant, four bears, six deer, two oxen, two gaurs, and two buffalo, plus a small royalty or kill fee on anything you actually tagged, according to the materials.

With the outbreak of the American War, forests began to disappear (both due to the physical effects of the conflict, post-war poverty and more recently, development which has resulted in massive habitat loss), causing many species such as Javan rhinos and wild water buffalos to become endangered or even extinct.

Though hunting is now thoroughly banned in Vietnam, it still occurs regularly. The only difference between past and present is that it now takes place for profit rather than sport.
 

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Fascinating stuff. Thanks for sharing
 
Without meaning to derail the thread but still keep it semi on topic, although admittedly as far away from the steamy Vietnamese jungles as you can get, there is an account of the crew of a U-Boat in the Second World War hunting a polar bear.
The weapons of choice appear to the the MP40 and KAR98.

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surprised what pics I found.
Is here anybody who would share his pics (and stories) with us ?
Regards

Foxi
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I’m sorry but I could never shoot a tiger. They are such magnificent looking animals. I have a picture of a tiger in my office and he stares at me if I don’t keep working?
 
I’m sorry but I could never shoot a tiger. They are such magnificent looking animals. I have a picture of a tiger in my office and he stares at me if I don’t keep working?

Dr. Ray, I'm with you. I like visiting the tiger on the LSU campus in Baton Rouge and say hello to Mike the Tiger.

http://www.theadvocate.com/baton_ro...cle_4fa430da-7bab-11e7-922c-6767396b028e.html

LSU's renovated tiger habitat features 'above and beyond' comforts for new Mike VII

A home typically is given a fresh look before a new resident moves in. But Mike VII’s home at LSU got more than a fresh coat of paint.

With about $950,000 in donated money from the Tiger Athletic Foundation, the 15,000-square-foot tiger habitat next to the Pete Maravich Assembly Center will have numerous upgrades, some to make life better for Mike, some to make caring for him easier on LSU.

The addition most likely to please both Mike and his fans is a roughly 100-square-foot synthetic rock that uses glycol to stay cool in hot weather and warm in cold weather, said Emmett David, an associate athletic director in charge of the habitat renovations. Because Baton Rouge gets a lot more of the former, the rock’s temperature will give Mike a comfortable perch in full view of those who come to see him.

As for the rock’s location, the new tiger mascot can thank his predecessor.

“Mike VI stayed at this one little spot, and if you look back through photos, he enjoyed this one spot," David said. "He would always put his back toward the waterfall, because he knew it was protected back there, and he kept his face toward the glass. I think that was a natural way of protecting himself.”

Keeping Mike comfortable has long been a priority. The night house is air conditioned, which is unusual for big cat facilities, David said.

“It’s not that big of a deal because a majority of his time is spent outside in the habitat,” he said. “Some exhibits say they’re in the wild, they’re used to it, get over it. We don’t treat ours like that. It’s not the normal to be in an air-conditioned night house. That’s above and beyond.”

Speaking of above, the central support column that holds up the netting over the habitat has been redesigned to look like a tree, creating a more pleasing aesthetic, David said.

The pond and waterfall also have been refurbished. Longer-lasting LED lights have replaced older light bulbs that went out more often and were difficult to change. Ground lights have been taken out, replaced by LED lights on the faux tree for much the same reason, David said.

Visitors won’t see some of the improvements. The inside of Mike’s night house has been coated with a heavy-duty epoxy flooring to make it easier to clean. The coating has a texture designed to keep Mike from slipping when it’s wet, but one not so abrasive that it wears at his foot pads.


Azeo “Ace” Torre, an LSU grad in New Orleans whose company, Torre Design Consortium, has designed zoo habitats across the country, consulted on the project, David said. The deadline for having the habitat ready for occupancy was Aug. 15. David said some landscaping work may continue up until Monday, when classes begin.

Although LSU is seeking accredited sanctuary status for the habitat, the renovations are unrelated to that effort, said Ginger Guttner, communications manager for the LSU School of Veterinary Medicine, which oversees Mike's care.

LSU announced Aug. 1 that it has located the tiger that could become Mike VII. The plan is to keep the tiger quarantined in the night house for about a week, where he will not be visible to the public, while he acclimates to the environment. If that goes well, the tiger will be released into his yard and officially become the university's new live mascot.

LSU said it would announce in advance when the tiger will be in his yard for the first time. David has a prediction.

“Mike goes to class the same day the students do,” he said. Classes start Aug. 21.
 
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One of the most unusual tiger stories to arise was the case of the 3rd Recon Battalion Marine who survived a tiger attack while on patrol in Quang Tri Province in 1968, near where a Marine had allegedly* been killed by a tiger in November 1967. The 400 pound man-eating tiger attacked swiftly and silently, and the first warning the six-man patrol had was screaming from one of the four sleeping Marines. Startled while feeding on the man by the other Marines, the tiger started dragging its prey away before it was killed. The lucky victim was medivaced suffering lacerations and bites on the neck.

Wheels, back in early 1968 I was in the Gulf of Tonkin off the Quang Tri coastline at the DMZ. We were with a Marine Corps med-evac squadron evacuating both wounded and dead out of country. I remember several stories of tiger sightings and encounters such as what you mentioned. That incident was quite likely one of them.
 
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Great stories! Crazy how many places one COULD have hunted years ago. Thankfully we still can in some places.
 
Why don’t the Vietnamese open up hunting. I know that they are communist, but they allow foreign corps in. Look like a dream.
 
Why don’t the Vietnamese open up hunting. I know that they are communist, but they allow foreign corps in. Look like a dream.
Tom there are no more tigers in Vietnam, and I'd think leopards are a lot easier in Africa. There are probably sambar but very few, guar gone. No elephants that I know of. Hunting is mostly by ethnic minorities living in the highlands along the Laotian border, Hmong, Kamu, Tai Dam, Akha, and Akha Goh. What used to be subsistence hunting to supplement the domestic pigs and chickens grown by villagers is mostly all for market hunting now. People mostly snare. The roads are good enough that people can bring game to market without too much effort, and with the wild game is worth a lot more in money than in food. One can sell a civet or wild pig and purchase a lot more domestic pig, rice, beer, etc. There is a large demand for exotic wild foods.
 
Why don’t the Vietnamese open up hunting. I know that they are communist, but they allow foreign corps in. Look like a dream.

Communism has nothing to the with hunting.
I believe that it is more coming from cultural heritage.

For example, in all then-communist countries of eastern Europe hunting was allowed, and promoted.

However in Asian, far eastern countries much less: obvious examples are China (communist), India (non communist).... for Vietnam, I have no idea of local hunting situation...

Social and legal non acceptance of hunting, as budist or hindu heritage, is more likely, rather then political.
thats how I see it. Probably more examples could be taken on that grounds.
 
The cultural is a reason , but the main problem remains the gun ownership. All of these countries have very restrictive gun laws and sometimes gun bans. This very limits the hunting possibilities.

Many animal species like buffalos , big cats and elephants are threatened with extinction , even if it is not the case locally , but therefore still worldwide protected.

I hunted several times in the nineties in Malaysia in the sultanate of Pahang near the NP of Taman Negara. The sultan had to give permission to hunt , and hunting was limited to the sultanate. The top police chief in Kuala Lumpur had to give permission to carry rifles and ammunition. All this was only possible because the european PH who was living in the country was friend with all these people.

At that time , all attempts to hunt in other countries in south-east Asia failed due to cultural aspects , gun-laws and protected game.
 
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and ammunition. All this was only possible because the european PH who was living in the country was friend with all these people.

.
an Austrian ?
Kathan randomly ?
 
Yes , that's was Horst Kathan from Austria.

As far as i know he has not found a successor to keep up the hunting in Malaysia.
 
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Everyone I knew was busy doing other stuff......

Do you mean in Vietnam during the war. I think so too.

I know that from Africa where we often saw game during military operations , but there were other priorities than going hunting. In spite of everything i remember Gerenuks and especially a herd of Oryx beisa , which I saw from the helicopter on the border of Northeast Ethiopia. All of these game species do not occur in the areas where we still hunt nowadays.
 
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I worked with a guy who was in Vietnam, and encountered a female tiger that had been killed by a booby trap. Her kittens were near death, and he shot them to put them out of their misery. Forty years later the story brought tears to his eyes.

I have an unusual book in my library that has a chapter on tiger hunting in Vietnam with a hunter named F.J. DeFosse during the 1940's. "Look to the Wilderness" by W. Douglas Burden. The book was gifted to me by my Uncle, who got it as part of a "get free books if you subscribe to Outdoor Life" promotion during the 1960's. Burden hunted all over the world under the guise of collecting specimens, but what little I can learn about his life he seems more like a rich playboy who had a lot of money and time on his hands. But, if his hunts are described accurately he was a tough dude and the writing is a very good description of the habitats and animals. And he was an unusual writer in that he admitted his inexperience and frequent mistakes. You can find a few used copies on Amazon and it has long been out of print.

Jeff
 
And he was an unusual writer in that he admitted his inexperience and frequent mistakes.

I think that greatest hunting writers admit their mistakes, in their writings. Ruark, Hamignway, etc
The lousy ones, are always perfect (and probably sponsored).
 
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I’ve seen lots of GIs with tiger hunting pictures. It happened quite often I was told.
 

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