The Largest Man Eating Panther I Had Ever Shot

Very interesting read. Can you elaborate on the soaking of your clothing in kerosene for one hour? I’ve not read about this anywhere before. What was the purpose of this? Really enjoy your hunting adventures you share.
 
"I merely finished them (wounded man eating tigers) off after following them into the thickets".(MK).............................my favorite line from the story, and evidence of true bravery vastly understated.....................thanks for posting, Major.................FWB
Thank you so much for your kind words , Flat Water Bill . I assure you that l was not brave at all. I merely got very lucky to remain unscathed in my entire 10 year career as a professional shikaree .
And please , no Major. Just call me Poton .
 
Very interesting read. Can you elaborate on the soaking of your clothing in kerosene for one hour? I’ve not read about this anywhere before. What was the purpose of this? Really enjoy your hunting adventures you share.
Thank you so much for your kind words. Royal Bengal tigers have a dastardly proficient sense of smell , especially at the close ranges ( shot gun range ) where l had to kill them . Thus , it is imperative that the shikaree always use an agent to mask his scent.
 
What I do before hunting season:
I boil a water, 20 liters, with leaves from local bushes and plants.
Then I soak my hunting clothes in that soup, when is warm, but not hot. keep clothes inside for 20 minutes, at least. And then dry.

If hunting clothes need to be washed in washing machine, after washing in machine, same procedure to be applied again.
 
What I do before hunting season:
I boil a water, 20 liters, with leaves from local bushes and plants.
Then I soak my hunting clothes in that soup, when is warm, but not hot. keep clothes inside for 20 minutes, at least. And then dry.

If hunting clothes need to be washed in washing machine, after washing in machine, same procedure to be applied again.
That is a very wise policy , Mark Hunter . I always prefer hunting clothes which are easily hand washable and do not require dry cleaning .
 
Yes i agree. But i am not speaking of dry cleaning. All households im my country have washing machine, wet washing in warm/hot water wit a spoon of detergent. Similar to hand washing really. So whem my wife takes my hunting clothes to such type of washing, i need to make asap, corrective action. I cannot smell like cloth water detergent in the woods! (y)
 
I will share a humorous and a bit scary story about scent control from this hunting season. I met two of my friends at a cabin in Virginia a few months back to bowhunt whitetails. Let’s call them Friend A and Friend B. This is our first time hunting this property and we don’t have much daylight left the first day. So we just go out and scout as best we can and attach each of our climbing stands to trees in different parts of the property. Back at the cabin I ask them what’s up with the bin outside. Friend A explains that he is a bit of a fanatic about scent control and keeps his hunting clothes and boots outside in a waterproof bin with baking soda and never brings them in the house so they don’t pick up any smells.

Sure enough, the next morning, Friend A comes out of his room wearing nothing but underwear and socks. He makes himself a peanut butter sandwich for breakfast and heads outside to get dressed, then douses himself in hydrogen peroxide to further mask his scent. We all gear up and head to our respective stands while it is still dark.

We all come back to the house to grab some lunch after a deerless morning. Friend B instantly starts telling us that while he was sitting in his stand right as it was getting light, he saw the biggest black bear of his life running full speed down a dirt road away from the property.

Friend A says, “yeah, I did that.” This got our attention. Apparently Friend A got turned around in the dark and couldn’t find his stand—very understandable on a new property with so little scouting time. He decided to hunker down behind a tree and wait for the sun to come up so he could find the stand. After a few minutes of waiting, he started hearing something crashing around in the bushes and working its way towards him. He is hoping it is a deer, but it sounds way too big. As it starts getting light, he sees that a giant bear is sniffing around and getting closer and closer to him. This is his first time bow hunting and he didn’t have a quiver, and so had just carried 1 arrow with him. Now he had a 500 pound bear just a few feet away, he was on the ground, just 1 arrow, a compound bow, a small folding knife, no human scent--but with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich in his pocket that he suddenly realizes the bear can likely smell and is trying to find.

He freezes in place, but the bear keeps getting closer. When its only about 10 feet away, Friend A unleashes his brilliant plan…which is to yell “whoop” loudly in hopes of scaring away the bear. Amazingly, the bear pops his head up, spins around and streaks away at full speed down the trail, right by Friend B’s stand.
 
I will share a humorous and a bit scary story about scent control from this hunting season. I met two of my friends at a cabin in Virginia a few months back to bowhunt whitetails. Let’s call them Friend A and Friend B. This is our first time hunting this property and we don’t have much daylight left the first day. So we just go out and scout as best we can and attach each of our climbing stands to trees in different parts of the property. Back at the cabin I ask them what’s up with the bin outside. Friend A explains that he is a bit of a fanatic about scent control and keeps his hunting clothes and boots outside in a waterproof bin with baking soda and never brings them in the house so they don’t pick up any smells.

Sure enough, the next morning, Friend A comes out of his room wearing nothing but underwear and socks. He makes himself a peanut butter sandwich for breakfast and heads outside to get dressed, then douses himself in hydrogen peroxide to further mask his scent. We all gear up and head to our respective stands while it is still dark.

We all come back to the house to grab some lunch after a deerless morning. Friend B instantly starts telling us that while he was sitting in his stand right as it was getting light, he saw the biggest black bear of his life running full speed down a dirt road away from the property.

Friend A says, “yeah, I did that.” This got our attention. Apparently Friend A got turned around in the dark and couldn’t find his stand—very understandable on a new property with so little scouting time. He decided to hunker down behind a tree and wait for the sun to come up so he could find the stand. After a few minutes of waiting, he started hearing something crashing around in the bushes and working its way towards him. He is hoping it is a deer, but it sounds way too big. As it starts getting light, he sees that a giant bear is sniffing around and getting closer and closer to him. This is his first time bow hunting and he didn’t have a quiver, and so had just carried 1 arrow with him. Now he had a 500 pound bear just a few feet away, he was on the ground, just 1 arrow, a compound bow, a small folding knife, no human scent--but with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich in his pocket that he suddenly realizes the bear can likely smell and is trying to find.

He freezes in place, but the bear keeps getting closer. When its only about 10 feet away, Friend A unleashes his brilliant plan…which is to yell “whoop” loudly in hopes of scaring away the bear. Amazingly, the bear pops his head up, spins around and streaks away at full speed down the trail, right by Friend B’s stand.
To think that all this was caused by a pea but butter & jelly sandwich makes me want to laugh and cry at the same time , Ryan.
 
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F
When doing a post mortem of the brute , we found that it had been injured in the paw of 1 of the hind legs , by the quills of a shojjaru ( Indian porcupine ) .
Below , is a photograph l had taken of Tobin holding up the dead brute's injured paw .
View attachment 317393

No doubt , this had prevented it from hunting normal wild animals and thus it had started to prey on man . Judging by the nature and state of the wound , we speculated that the panther had run afoul of the porcupine less than 10 days previously .

I hope that this article was enjoyed by all . I have also provided an example , through this article of the text book method used in India , in those days to hunt panthers .

PS : If any of my readers on this forum works in the firearms industry , please reintroduce the Lethal Ball cartridge for shot guns again . It was absolutely devastating for panthers at close range and they never let me down when l used them extensively from 1965 onwards ( and exclusively for any mammal larger than a mouse deer ) .
Friend Ponton
I like you am indifferent to most things and people but those that I do hold dear and value as friends I would gladly lay down my life for or help at any time. That is one nice panther I hope you still have the skin.
Those lethal ball rounds sound truly devastating. They would work well on sambar at appropriate range.
Thank you for another brilliant article friend Ponton.
Bob
 
F

Friend Ponton
I like you am indifferent to most things and people but those that I do hold dear and value as friends I would gladly lay down my life for or help at any time. That is one nice panther I hope you still have the skin.
Those lethal ball rounds sound truly devastating. They would work well on sambar at appropriate range.
Thank you for another brilliant article friend Ponton.
Bob
Oh yes , Bob. I have killed several sambhur , cheetal , Muntjac , hog deer and swamp deer with the Eley Lethal Ball cartridges. They will work exceptionally well on deer at ranges out to 30 yards . However , in the case of sambhur deer ( the heaviest and largest of the lot . ) , care must be taken to ensure that the shikaree's point of aim is the soft parts behind the sambhur deer's shoulder.
 

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