Tyson museum takes visitors along on hunt for wild game
Staff Photo: Tom Seegmueller
Staff Photo: Tom Seegmueller
Staff Photo: Tom Seegmueller
Staff Photo: Tom Seegmueller
Staff Photo: Tom Seegmueller
Staff Photo: Tom Seegmueller
Staff Photo: Tom Seegmueller
By Tom Seegmueller
[email protected]
DOERUN ‒ When I woke up Monday morning, I had no way of knowing that I would witness an Alaskan brown bear take down a massive moose within minutes of observing a leopard tackling an impala. More surprisingly, both observations occurred in Doerun, thanks to the realization of James Tyson’s dream.
Tyson, a Doerun native and founder of Tyson Steel, has created an astounding museum of natural history, representative of Africa, South and Central America, North America, and Asia. For more than three decades, Tyson traveled the world, building an amazing collection of more than 175 species of game. His two sons, Brad and Jody, along with his wife Jackie also joined him on these global hunting and angling adventures.
“It’s been a lot of fun,” Brad Tyson said.
Walking me through the museum, Tyson fondly remembered when, at the age of 14, he traveled with his father to a point just south of the Arctic Circle, where they spent a week hunting caribou. During this early hunt, they not only harvested caribou but met Bob Nancarrow, a nationally acclaimed taxidermist. In the course of mounting the caribou harvested by the Tysons on that hunt, a lifelong friendship was established which led to Nancarrow mounting almost every game animal harvested by the Tysons. More importantly, it led to James Tyson and Nancarrow sitting down and designing a world class museum on a napkin.
Another aspect setting Tyson’s collection apart is the number of full-body mounts, which he and Nancarrow combined into dioramas depicting the interaction of multiple species. Tyson began focusing on full-body mounts after harvesting a musk ox that attacked the sleigh on which he and his guide were riding.
“He admired and respected that animal so much he wanted to do a full mount,” Brad Tyson said. “After that, most of the collection was mounted that way.”
Beyond establishing the museum, there is another aspect to the Tysons’ expeditions. The untold dollars generated by the numerous licenses and permits required to legally harvest this collection have funded global conservation. wildlife restoration, anti-poaching programs.
The museum is located at 361 Doerun Road in Doerun and is open to the public for individual and small group tours most weekdays between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. For more information phone (229) 776-7588.
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