Mr Rahman, I believe that Mr Delgado is attempting to make a joke about Mr Capstick embellishing his tales, tho I don’t think his tone is appropriate to take with a gentleman like yourself.
Your friend being attacked so terribly, recovering and going back to track dangerous game again is as brave as anything I have ever heard. What an amazing man your friend Jeddiah must have been.
Do you mind if I ask you a few more details? Such as how many days of the year you use ally spent guiding hunts? Were most clients after dangerous game or were most after fowl and deer? Did your firm charge significantly more for certain animals? I would guess that a tiger would be the most expensive? What was your favorite animal to hunt? Which animals that you hunted were your favorite to eat? Were there always 2 professional hunters assigned to a client?
Please forgive all the questions but I am fascinated!
Ryan80
Firstly , do not ever insult me by asking for forgiveness , my new friend . It is my pleasure to interact with an enthusiastic and appreciative young gentleman like yourself .
Let us assess each of your questions in a chronological order :
Question one :
Shikar season in old India used to last seven months from the fifteenth of November to the fifteenth of June . It was only during monsoon season that Shikar was closed. Therefore , we professional Shikaris were pretty active throughout . I would guide clients every day of the week except on Friday , which was my day off. Typically after guiding one client , l would take two or three days off before getting ready to guide the next one . Shikar was ( and obviously still is ) something which l used to enjoy very much
Question two
We had a roughly equal number of clients who would come to Darjeeling for Shikar of dangerous animals and animals for eating . We had many combination packages deals which would allow a client to secure different animals on one trip . For instance , a client could ( on a single trip ) secure a Sambhar deer and also a hunting leopard , like my client did in the photograph below.
Infact , most clients would come for Shikar to Darjeeling to secure at least two , three or even four different species of animals in one trip.
Question three
Oh yes . We charged different rates for different animals . Your speculation is most accurate . My outfitting firm would charge the most for a Royal Bengal tiger .
Among dangerous animals , my firm would charge the least for the Darjeeling bush boar , because these animals were always a threat to the crops of local farmers and therefore people wanted these beasts gotten rid of , in the cheapest manner possible. Here is a Darjeeling bush boar killed by one of my clients .
Question four
My favorite animal to hunt ( of the dangerous sort ) would have to be , without a doubt , the Royal Bengal tiger.
Hunting these great cats required a great deal of skill . My best Royal Bengal tiger Puroshkaar ( trophy ) was this last one which l shot , in 1969.
Question five
My favorite animal to eat of all time , would have to be the Nilgai ( or blue bull , as you English speaking gentlemen may know it ) . The loin of Nilgai , grilled to a perfect medium doneness and seasoned with fine grain salt , freshly ground black pepper and a little paprika , makes for very good eating . In modern times in Bangladesh , my favorite animal to eat will have to be , without a doubt , the Chital deer . Their skins are also exceptionally beautiful , as a lovely little souvenir . Here is my best example .
Question six
There was no hard and fast rule about two professional Shikaris always needing to be present with the client . This would vary depending on the particular set of circumstances . For instance , suppose it is a slow week at Sundar Raj Shikar Limited ( my outfitting firm ) and there are not too many clients to guide . Then , two professional Shikaris could be assigned to guide a client for Shikar.
However , suppose Shikar season is heavily underway ( Like February to April , during which time Sundar Raj Shikar Limited would get their most clients ) . In such cases , Sundar Raj Shikar Limited could typically only spare one professional Shikari per foreign client . For dangerous animals , we would typically try having at least two professional Shikaris guiding the client , for safety and precaution .
I feel honored to answer all of your enthusiastic questions . So please do not hesitate even the slightest to ask any questions as you see fit .
And yes . Jeddiah was a tracker like no other ! He was more than just a tracker . He was like family and without him , l would not have even a fraction of the successes which l did . Without him , l probably would have ended up losing a great deal of animals and my clients' animals as well !
Poton has an old advertisement of his Shikar outfitting firm , listing all of the animals which they would offer . Perhaps , it may interest you if he can share it here ?
@Major Khan could you please be a good fellow and share Allwyn Cooper's brochure with Ryan80 please ?
. I got that Weatherby Mark V ready for ya
