The Sundarbans Man Eater

Major Khan

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Tonight , I am going to be sharing another reminiscence with my dear members of African Hunting Forums . It is , however... not a reminiscence of mine . No .

This reminiscence is of my dear friend and former fellow professional shikaree , Riaz Sharrif ... of the time when Riaz had to dispatch a man eating royal Bengal tiger in the Sundarban man grove forests .
Riaz , the author of Bengali book " Ekti Shikaree Er Jibon Er Obhiggota " ( " The Life Experiences Of A Professional Shikaree " ) ... was kind enough to provide me with an English translation of this chapter from his book , yesterday . He was also kind enough to provide me with a few photographs of the incident . Thus , tonight ... I shall be the narrator of the story of Riaz's tussle with the Sundarbans Man Eater ( I have already narrated 2 of Riaz's reminiscences in the past ... on African Hunting Forums ) .

Let us begin , Dear Readers .

Below , I have provided a photograph taken by myself of a royal Bengal tiger badly wounded by 1 of my clients ... which I had to finish off , during my career as a professional shikaree .
Screenshot_20191201-082525_01_01.png
 
Dear Mr. Major Khan,
Great news!
My childhood was blessed when my grandfather gave me as a present, the books of the adventures of the tiger hunter Tremal-Naik and his companion Kammamuri, in the forests of the Sunderban. The topic of your next story, makes me remember my loved grandparent vividly today, thank you for that. And thank you for the great reading you will provide us to enjoy.
Kind regards.
 
By Riaz Sharrif

AN UNEXPECTED SURPRISE

“ It was the January of 1997 in Bangladesh . Among other properties , my loving wife and I owned ( and still do own ) a Bungalow near the Sundarban Mangrove Forests ... where we (would ) often spend some quality time among nature ... once every two months . Naturally , our quality time involved the hobby which we both love the most -
Shikar . Thus , we both always brought along our firearms in anticipation of a good time . The employees of the Sundarban Forest Department were all extremely close to us . In January , we had both gone off for another such trip ... to the Sundarban Mangrove Forests .

I had brought along my William Wellington Greener 12 Bore Side By Side Shotgun ( for which I had brought along Eley Alphamax Number 6 , Eley Alphamax Number 1 and Eley Alphamax LG cartridges ) and my 7x57 mm Mauser caliber Remington Model 700 bolt action rifle . The shotgun was a weapon which I was intimately familiar with . It was inherited from my late Father . The Remington Model 700 was one of the eight 7x57 mm Mauser caliber Remington Model 700s which was imported into Bangladesh by Bangladesh Shooting Federation in 1996 ... along with eight boxes of Winchester Super X 175 grain soft nosed cartridges . I had immediately purchased one on the very first chance that I got ... along with three 20 round boxes of cartridges . I also owned a .22 LR ( Long Rifle ) caliber Brno bolt action rifle ... but I decided to leave that one home for this trip .

My beautiful wife brought along her .22 WMR ( Winchester Magnum Rimfire ) caliber Anschutz bolt action rifle for Shikar , as well as her .32 ACP ( Automatic Colt Pistol ) caliber Astra Model 4000 semi automatic pistol for her personal protection ( For the Sundarban Mangrove Forests are crawling with Dacoits , as well ) .


So one day , my wife and I were both hunting cranes near one of the streams , there .
My talented wife ( being a competition shooter ) preferred ( and still prefers ) to take cranes out with a 40 grain full metal jacket .22 WMR slug to the head or neck ... while the crane is on the water . I ( lacking such finesse) prefer to simply take the cranes down with 12 Bore 36 gram Number 6 shotgun cartridges. After shooting our legally permissible bag limit of cranes ... we had our male servants from the bungalow , collect all of the fallen cranes . While waiting for the boys to collect all of the fallen cranes , my wife and I could see two Shaotaal villagers frantically running towards us .

I asked them what was wrong . They told us that a Baagh ( a member of the Panthera family ) had killed two Shaotaal children in a village nearby ... and they begged me to shoot and kill it . My wife and I exchanged glances and even without saying a word ... we both instantly mutually agreed that something must be done to aid these villagers and rid them of this nuisance animal . I asked the Shaotaal villagers how big this Baagh was . They replied that it was a Baagh Dhasha ( Clouded Leopard ) .

Now, Clouded Leopards do not worry me even one bit . They seldom weigh above 52 pounds or reach a nose to tail length of anything larger that four and a half feet . My late friend , the dearly deceased M A Karim killed 73 Clouded Leopards in his life . He would spend his entire nights in the mango gardens of the Terai region, chasing and shooting Clouded Leopards on foot ... often going so far as to take down three of them in a single night . I pondered whether I should rush back to the Bungalow to get my Remington Model 700 ... or if my shotgun was enough . Since Clouded Leopards were not very large ... I rationalized that my shotgun would be enough .

I was carrying four Eley Alphamax LG cartridges inside one of the pockets of my hunting vest ( This is something which I always do , whenever I go wing shooting ... because the Shikari never knows when he might cross paths with larger game , while attempting to have his dogs flush out a quail or a pigeon ) . So , I broke open the breech of my William Wellington Greener shotgun and watched the automatic ejectors pop out the expended Eley Alphamax Number 6 cartridge cases ... before I slipped an Eley Alphamax LG cartridge into the chamber of each barrel and closed the breech of the shotgun. I told my wife to take the freshly harvested cranes and our servants and to return to the bungalow . I expected to kill the Clouded Leopard rather quickly and return back to the bungalow . I then , set off with the two Shaotaal villagers to find the Clouded Leopard which had killed the two Shaotaal children .

When we arrived at the village , I could see at least two dozen Shaotaal villagers surrounding a hole in the ground . In their hands were fishing harpoons and Ram Dao machetes ( locally made machetes forged from the steel of truck leaf springs ) .
I asked the Shaotaal villagers where the Baagh was . They all pointed at the hole in the ground . I pondered for a few seconds and decided to crawl into the hole with my shotgun ... in order to find and shoot that Clouded Leopard . I held my shotgun in my left hand and a small torchlight in my right hand , as I began to crawl into the hole . The torchlight provided me with barely enough illumination ... as I crawled through the hole. I heard a feral snarl and I quickly pointed my torchlight at the source of the sound .
At first , I could only make out a vague outline of something moving ... right in front of me . I saw something which looked to be similar in size to an English Stallion , but it had black stripes all across it’s body .

It was not a Clouded Leopard . It was a Royal Bengal Tiger . It looked as big as a horse . And it was staring right at me . It was slowly crawling towards me and I knew that I had to defend myself . So , I thrust the barrels of my William Wellington Greener shotgun forward ( Roughly two feet away from the head of the Royal Bengal Tiger ) and pulled both triggers ... in a last ditch effort to protect myself . I immediately regretted doing this .

Firstly , you should never discharge a firearm inside an enclosed space , without wearing some sort of hearing protection . This is because the sound has no where to go ... but right back into the ears of the Shikari . When said firearm happens to be something as loud as a 12 Bore shotgun ... you are only adding to the problem . My ear drums felt like bursting .

Secondly , those 16 LG .36 caliber lead slugs ( despite being fired directly into the Royal Bengal Tiger’s forehead at a point blank range of two feet ) did not have any visible effects upon the Royal Bengal Tiger ... other than to make it extremely furious .

It loudly roared and crawled towards me . I desperately began to crawl backwards ... in a frenzied attempt to escape the hole , before the Royal Bengal Tiger managed to reach me . I can honestly admit without any shame , that had we both been on open ground ... the Royal Bengal Tiger would have effortlessly reached me , and I would have been pretty much done for . The only reason that I had survived this incident ... was because we were both crawling inside a hole , and the Royal Bengal Tiger’s movement was greatly constricted inside the hole ( This is because it could not properly move it’s limbs inside the hole ... or even stand up , for that matter ) .

Finally , I managed to crawl out of that hole and onto the surface . But things were not over . Far from it . “

IMG_20200424_232231.jpg

The wife's .32 ACP caliber Astra 4000 semi automatic pistol.
Screenshot_20200426-091836_01_01.png

My William Wellington Greener 12 Bore Side By Side Shotgun .
38ADB7B3-4129-43A3-A153-A3103A8FEC5F.jpeg

Eley Alphamax LG cartridges ( Old Stock ) , with the eight .36 caliber lead slugs cut out and displayed ... for reference .
 
Last edited:
By Riaz Sharrif

THE CHASE

“ I leapt out of the hole and yelled to all of the villagers at the top of my lungs ... to clear out as soon as possible . I shouted that it was a Boro Baagh ( Royal Bengal Tiger) and not a Baagh Dhasha ( Clouded Leopard) . The Royal Bengal Tiger leapt out of the hole and roared ... as we all scattered in different directions like frightened rabbits .

I made a bee line for my bungalow ( which was around seven minutes away from the village ) and I frantically rang the door bell . My wife opened the door and asked why my clothes were covered in dust . I frantically told her that the animal which had killed the two Shaotaal children was not a Clouded Leopard , but rather a huge Royal Bengal Tiger . I then ran to the closet of our bedroom and retrieved my Remington Model 700 and a box containing 20 rounds of 7x57 mm Mauser caliber 175 grain soft nosed cartridges. I put my William Wellington Greener shotgun back into the closet , and told my wife to lock all the doors of the bungalow and not to get out ... until the man eater was shot to death . My wife begged me not to go after the man eating Royal Bengal Tiger , due to the great risk . But I told her that someone had to take down this animal ... otherwise it would keep attacking an increasingly large number of innocent people . To make matters worse , our bungalow was exactly seven minutes away from the Shaotaal village . What were the odds of the man eater eventually coming closer to our bungalow ? I could not risk the lives of my wife or my servants in this manner . My wife reluctantly accepted that I was right , and I left the bungalow to rush back to the Shaotaal village ... as soon as possible .

Once I arrived at the village , a chaotic sight was awaiting me . The villagers were all attempting to kill the Royal Bengal Tiger with fishing harpoons ... but the Royal Bengal Tiger was successfully mauled one more villager to death . All of the villagers had surrounded the man eater and were vainly attempting to poke at him , with their fishing harpoons . Of course , this desperate course of action ... was working just as well as one might think it would . The enraged Royal Bengal Tiger was not letting any of the villagers get even remotely close to it . This was the very first time that I had gotten a chance to look at the Royal Bengal Tiger properly in broad daylight . It was a large Tom . Fully grown .

I rushed towards the direction of the Royal Bengal tiger and worked the bolt of my Remington Model 700 ... while flicking off the safety catch . I raised the rifle to my left shoulder and took aim at the animal’s broadside . I fired a shot ... hoping that it would rupture both the lungs of the Royal Bengal tiger . My bullet did indeed strike the man eater in the correct region . However , the animal simply roared in pain and bull rushed the villagers who were surrounding it . It collided into three or four of the villagers before knocking them down , getting back up on it’s feet and rushing towards a nearby swamp . It was bleeding profusely from it’s mouth , at this point .

As the Royal Bengal Tiger was rushing towards the swamp , I gave it three more 175 grain soft nosed bullets to area right behind the shoulder ... while rapidly working the bolt between each shot , in order to extract the spent cartridge case . Hearing the enraged animal roar angrily in pain , after every shot ... made me feel confident that all three bullets must have struck it , properly . The Royal Bengal Tiger had dived into the swamp and was swimming for the closest island ( anyone who has ever been to the Sundarban Mangrove Forests ... shall readily know that a large portion of the Sundarbans actually consists of countless tiny islands scattered across an extremely large swamp ) .

I acted extremely fast ... knowing that I absolutely could not let the man eater get out of my sight , at any cost . I loaded four fresh cartridges into the magazine of my Remington Model 700 and stuffed the remaining 12 cartridges into the the breast pocket of my plaid cotton poplin sport shirt ( So that they would not get wet ) . I then waded waist deep , into the dark , murky water of the swamp ... in pursuit of the wounded Sundarban Man Eater “
6788473A-813E-47DA-A1E6-E03261733DC6.jpeg

7x57 mm Mauser caliber Remington Model 700 Bolt Action Rifle
 
Last edited:
By Riaz Sharrif

THE FINAL CONFRONTATION

“ I waded through the water after the wounded man eater . The animal managed to reach land before I did ... so I hastened my pace and raised my Remington Model 700 bolt rifle to my left shoulder . I gave the Royal Bengal Tiger two more 175 grain soft nosed bullets behind the shoulder, as I finally reached land . The enraged animal charged me at a distance of 15 feet or so . I instinctively whipped the rifle up to my shoulder and fired at the Royal Bengal Tiger’s fore head ... aiming for the point right between both of it’s eyes . The 175 grain soft nosed bullet finally did the trick . It punched through the man eater’s skull and in to it’s brain . The Royal Bengal Tiger dropped dead , onto the ground ... it’s back legs giving out , at first . The animal weighed 506 pounds and had a total length ( from the tip of it’s snout to it’s tail ) of 12 feet two inches .

I had the carcass of the man eater brought to my Bungalow and made a telephone call to the Sundarban Forest Department ... explaining to them that a man eating Royal Bengal Tiger had attacked the villagers , and that I was forced to kill it ... in order to prevent further loss of life . The Forest Department Officers who arrived at the scene ... were kind and considerate . Knowing my wife and me to be law abiding citizens for several years ... not even the slightest suspicion of my poaching the Royal Bengal Tiger , had arisen . Adding to this ... was the fact that I had reported the incident to the Forest Department , myself . And then, there was the testimony of more than 60 Shaotaal villagers ... as to what had actually happened .

After the carcass of the Royal Bengal tiger was flayed ... I learnt that ( predictably enough ) every single one of the 16 LG slugs which were first fired in to the head of the Royal Bengal Tiger ( when I had crawled into the hole and had first ran into it ) had flattened and gotten lodged in the rock hard facial muscles of the man eater .
My first bullet which was fired from my Remington Model 700 had actually penetrated one lung of the Royal Bengal Tiger . The 175 grain soft nosed bullet had mushroomed perfectly inside the lung of the animal . However , it did not penetrate into the second lung of the Royal Bengal Tiger . The five bullets which were fired into the shoulder of the man eater ... had all penetrated into the Royal Bengal Tiger’s chest cavity , but only just . Not even one of them had managed to reach the heart of the man eater . My final bullet , which was a frontal brain shot at less than 20 feet ... had successfully penetrated into the Royal Bengal Tiger’s brain . This one was what had finally killed it . All in all , the Sundarban Man Eater had taken two charges of LG slugs and seven rounds of 175 grain soft nosed 7x57 mm caliber bullets ... before finally breathing it’s last .

Had I been using German RWS 175 grain soft nosed cartridges ( of the sort , which were brought to India by my clients ... back when I used to be a professional Shikari until 1970 ) instead of American Winchester Super X 175 grain soft nosed cartridges ... then , it is my firm belief ( based on my personal experiences as a professional Shikari ) that my very first bullet would have successfully punctured both the lungs of the Royal Bengal Tiger . For , it is conventional wisdom that virtually all of the American ammunition companies ( especially Winchester ) tend to load their cartridges for the European calibers ... with a noticeably lower charge of gunpowder , than their Continental counterparts . I did , however ... slowly learn how to master hand loading , shortly after this incident . At any rate , at least I survived the ordeal without incurring even the slightest injury .

Well ... almost .

I caught a small cold after jumping into that swamp like a fool and my wife was not pleased at at all ( “ Darling , why do you always have to do everything the hard way ? “ Was her frustrated question to me ) . But the cold ( and my wife’s scolding ) only lasted for five days ... before it ( and my wife’s anger ) vanished . All in all , I would consider that day to be a victory .
But can you imagine going after a 52 pound Clouded Leopard ... only to realize that you are actually dealing with a 506 pound Royal Bengal Tiger ? “

THE END
D2CAB7A5-5499-4D13-9578-B2928A57F7ED.png

The Sundarbans Man Eater
 
Last edited:
By Riaz Sharrif

AN UNEXPECTED SURPRISE

“ It was the January of 1997 in Bangladesh . Among other properties , my loving wife and I owned ( and still do own ) a Bungalow near the Sundarban Mangrove Forests ... where we (would ) often spend some quality time among nature ... once every two months . Naturally , our quality time involved the hobby which we both love the most -
Shikar . Thus , we both always brought along our firearms in anticipation of a good time . The employees of the Sundarban Forest Department were all extremely close to us . In January , we had both gone off for another such trip ... to the Sundarban Mangrove Forests .

I had brought along my William Wellington Greener 12 Bore Side By Side Shotgun ( for which I had brought along Eley Alphamax Number 6 , Eley Alphamax Number 1 and Eley Alphamax LG cartridges ) and my 7x57 mm Mauser caliber Remington Model 700 bolt action rifle . The shotgun was a weapon which I was intimately familiar with . It was inherited from my late Father . The Remington Model 700 was one of the eight 7x57 mm Mauser caliber Remington Model 700s which was imported into Bangladesh by Bangladesh Shooting Federation in 1996 ... along with eight boxes of Winchester Super X 175 grain soft nosed cartridges . I had immediately purchased one on the very first chance that I got ... along with three 20 round boxes of cartridges . I also owned a .22 LR ( Long Rifle ) caliber Brno bolt action rifle ... but I decided to leave that one home for this trip .

My beautiful wife brought along her .22 WMR ( Winchester Magnum Rimfire ) caliber Anschutz bolt action rifle for Shikar , as well as her .32 ACP ( Automatic Colt Pistol ) caliber Astra Model 4000 semi automatic pistol for her personal protection ( For the Sundarban Mangrove Forests are crawling with Dacoits , as well ) .


So one day , my wife and I were both hunting cranes near one of the streams , there .
My talented wife ( being a competition shooter ) preferred ( and still prefers ) to take cranes out with a 40 grain full metal jacket .22 WMR slug to the head or neck ... while the crane is on the water . I ( lacking such finesse) prefer to simply take the cranes down with 12 Bore 36 gram Number 6 shotgun cartridges. After shooting our legally permissible bag limit of cranes ... we had our male servants from the bungalow , collect all of the fallen cranes . While waiting for the boys to collect all of the fallen cranes , my wife and I could see two Shaotaal villagers frantically running towards us .

I asked them what was wrong . They told us that a Baagh ( a member of the Panthera family ) had killed two Shaotaal children in a village nearby ... and they begged me to shoot and kill it . My wife and I exchanged glances and even without saying a word ... we both instantly mutually agreed that something must be done to aid these villagers and rid them of this nuisance animal . I asked the Shaotaal villagers how big this Baagh was . They replied that it was a Baagh Dhasha ( Clouded Leopard ) .

Now, Clouded Leopards do not worry me even one bit . They seldom weigh above 52 pounds or reach a nose to tail length of anything larger that four and a half feet . My late friend , the dearly deceased M A Karim killed 73 Clouded Leopards in his life . He would spend his entire nights in the mango gardens of the Terai region, chasing and shooting Clouded Leopards on foot ... often going so far as to take down three of them in a single night . I pondered whether I should rush back to the Bungalow to get my Remington Model 700 ... or if my shotgun was enough . Since Clouded Leopards were not very large ... I rationalized that my shotgun would be enough .

I was carrying four Eley Alphamax LG cartridges inside one of the pockets of my hunting vest ( This is something which I always do , whenever I go wing shooting ... because the Shikari never knows when he might cross paths with larger game , while attempting to have his dogs flush out a quail or a pigeon ) . So , I broke open the breech of my William Wellington Greener shotgun and watched the automatic ejectors pop out the expended Eley Alphamax Number 6 cartridge cases ... before I slipped an Eley Alphamax LG cartridge into the chamber of each barrel and closed the breech of the shotgun. I told my wife to take the freshly harvested cranes and our servants and to return to the bungalow . I expected to kill the Clouded Leopard rather quickly and return back to the bungalow . I then , set off with the two Shaotaal villagers to find the Clouded Leopard which had killed the two Shaotaal children .

When we arrived at the village , I could see at least two dozen Shaotaal villagers surrounding a hole in the ground . In their hands were fishing harpoons and Ram Dao machetes ( locally made machetes forged from the steel of truck leaf springs ) .
I asked the Shaotaal villagers where the Baagh was . They all pointed at the hole in the ground . I pondered for a few seconds and decided to crawl into the hole with my shotgun ... in order to find and shoot that Clouded Leopard . I held my shotgun in my left hand and a small torchlight in my right hand , as I began to crawl into the hole . The torchlight provided me with barely enough illumination ... as I crawled through the hole. I heard a feral snarl and I quickly pointed my torchlight at the source of the sound .
At first , I could only make out a vague outline of something moving ... right in front of me . I saw something which looked to be similar in size to an English Stallion , but it had black stripes all across it’s body .

It was not a Clouded Leopard . It was a Royal Bengal Tiger . It looked as big as a horse . And it was staring right at me . It was slowly crawling towards me and I knew that I had to defend myself . So , I thrust the barrels of my William Wellington Greener shotgun forward ( Roughly two feet away from the head of the Royal Bengal Tiger ) and pulled both triggers ... in a last ditch effort to protect myself . I immediately regretted doing this .

Firstly , you should never discharge a firearm inside an enclosed space , without wearing some sort of hearing protection . This is because the sound has no where to go ... but right back into the ears of the Shikari . When said firearm happens to be something as loud as a 12 Bore shotgun ... you are only adding to the problem . My ear drums felt like bursting .

Secondly , those 16 LG .36 caliber lead slugs ( despite being fired directly into the Royal Bengal Tiger’s forehead at a point blank range of two feet ) did not have any visible effects upon the Royal Bengal Tiger ... other than to make it extremely furious .

It loudly roared and crawled towards me . I desperately began to crawl backwards ... in a frenzied attempt to escape the hole , before the Royal Bengal Tiger managed to reach me . I can honestly admit without any shame , that had we both been on open ground ... the Royal Bengal Tiger would have effortlessly reached me , and I would have been pretty much done for . The only reason that I had survived this incident ... was because we were both crawling inside a hole , and the Royal Bengal Tiger’s movement was greatly constricted inside the hole ( This is because it could not properly move it’s limbs inside the hole ... or even stand up , for that matter ) .

Finally , I managed to crawl out of that hole and onto the surface . But things were not over . Far from it . “

View attachment 346031
The wife's .32 ACP caliber Astra 4000 semi automatic pistol.
View attachment 346030
My William Wellington Greener 12 Bore Side By Side Shotgun .
View attachment 346029
Eley Alphamax LG cartridges ( Old Stock ) , with the eight .36 caliber lead slugs cut out and displayed ... for reference .
My dear friend Ponton
I could only imagine how Riaz Sharif felt when he came face to face with a,royal Bengal Tiger instead of a,cloud leopard and then the abject terror he would have felt after discharging his shotgun with no effect. He would surely have been relieved when he got out of the hole. I would think he would have had his jhootis on fire the speed he would have run back to his bungalow.
Bob
 
By Riaz Sharrif

THE FINAL CONFRONTATION

“ I waded through the water after the wounded man eater . The animal managed to reach land before I did ... so I hastened my pace and raised my Remington Model 700 bolt rifle to my left shoulder . I gave the Royal Bengal Tiger two more 175 grain soft nosed bullets behind the shoulder, as I finally reached land . The enraged animal charged me at a distance of 15 feet or so . I instinctively whipped the rifle up to my shoulder and fired at the Royal Bengal Tiger’s fore head ... aiming for the point right between both of it’s eyes . The 175 grain soft nosed bullet finally did the trick . It punched through the man eater’s skull and in to it’s brain . The Royal Bengal Tiger dropped dead , onto the ground ... it’s back legs giving out , at first . The animal weighed 506 pounds and had a total length ( from the tip of it’s snout to it’s tail ) of 12 feet two inches .

I had the carcass of the man eater brought to my Bungalow and made a telephone call to the Sundarban Forest Department ... explaining to them that a man eating Royal Bengal Tiger had attacked the villagers , and that I was forced to kill it ... in order to prevent further loss of life . The Forest Department Officers who arrived at the scene ... were kind and considerate . Knowing my wife and me to be law abiding citizens for several years ... not even the slightest suspicion of my poaching the Royal Bengal Tiger , had arisen . Adding to this ... was the fact that I had reported the incident to the Forest Department , myself . And then, there was the testimony of more than 60 Shaotaal villagers ... as to what had actually happened .

After the carcass of the Royal Bengal tiger was flayed ... I learnt that ( predictably enough ) every single one of the 16 LG slugs which were first fired in to the head of the Royal Bengal Tiger ( when I had crawled into the hole and had first ran into it ) had flattened and gotten lodged in the rock hard facial muscles of the man eater .
My first bullet which was fired from my Remington Model 700 had actually penetrated one lung of the Royal Bengal Tiger . The 175 grain soft nosed bullet had mushroomed perfectly inside the lung of the animal . However , it did not penetrate into the second lung of the Royal Bengal Tiger . The five bullets which were fired into the shoulder of the man eater ... had all penetrated into the Royal Bengal Tiger’s chest cavity , but only just . Not even one of them had managed to reach the heart of the man eater . My final bullet , which was a frontal brain shot at less than 20 feet ... had successfully penetrated into the Royal Bengal Tiger’s brain . This one was what had finally killed it . All in all , the Sundarban Man Eater had taken two charges of LG slugs and seven rounds of 175 grain soft nosed 7x57 mm caliber bullets ... before finally breathing it’s last .

Had I been using German RWS 175 grain soft nosed cartridges ( of the sort , which were brought to India by my clients ... back when I used to be a professional Shikari until 1970 ) instead of American Winchester Super X 175 grain soft nosed cartridges ... then , it is my firm belief ( based on my personal experiences as a professional Shikari ) that my very first bullet would have successfully punctured both the lungs of the Royal Bengal Tiger . For , it is conventional wisdom that virtually all of the American ammunition companies ( especially Winchester ) tend to load their cartridges for the European calibers ... with a noticeably lower charge of gunpowder , than their Continental counterparts . I did , however ... slowly learn how to master hand loading , shortly after this incident . At any rate , at least I survived the ordeal without incurring even the slightest injury .

Well ... almost .

I caught a small cold after jumping into that swamp like a fool and my wife was not pleased at at all ( “ Darling , why do you always have to do everything the hard way ? “ Was her frustrated question to me ) . But the cold ( and my wife’s scolding ) only lasted for five days ... before it ( and my wife’s anger ) vanished . All in all , I would consider that day to be a victory .
But can you imagine going after a 52 pound Clouded Leopard ... only to realize that you are actually dealing with a 506 pound Royal Bengal Tiger ? “

THE END
View attachment 346091
The Sundarbans Man Eater
My friend Ponton
Rias is a truly a man of courage and ethical standards to use such woeful ammunition and then to chase the beast to finish it off.
Your stories are always pleasing to read and keep you on the edge of your seat waiting for the next installment.
Keep writing my friend and please get your book published.
Keep safe and well my friend
Bob
 
Dear Mr. Major Khan,
Great news!
My childhood was blessed when my grandfather gave me as a present, the books of the adventures of the tiger hunter Tremal-Naik and his companion Kammamuri, in the forests of the Sunderban. The topic of your next story, makes me remember my loved grandparent vividly today, thank you for that. And thank you for the great reading you will provide us to enjoy.
Kind regards.
Why thank you so much , Malambo .
It is my utmost privilege that you look forward to this reminiscence of Riaz's . I should certainly hope that you enjoy the rest of it .
 
My dear friend Ponton
I could only imagine how Riaz Sharif felt when he came face to face with a,royal Bengal Tiger instead of a,cloud leopard and then the abject terror he would have felt after discharging his shotgun with no effect. He would surely have been relieved when he got out of the hole. I would think he would have had his jhootis on fire the speed he would have run back to his bungalow.
Bob
Imagine some thing for a second , Bob .
You are crawling in to a hole ... Intent on killing THIS .
IMG_20200328_233417.jpg

And then ... You come face to face with THIS .
Screenshot_20191201-080726_01_01.png


It is certainly a hair raising experience !
 
My friend Ponton
Rias is a truly a man of courage and ethical standards to use such woeful ammunition and then to chase the beast to finish it off.
Your stories are always pleasing to read and keep you on the edge of your seat waiting for the next installment.
Keep writing my friend and please get your book published.
Keep safe and well my friend
Bob
Wading in to a man grove swamp , to pursue a man eating royal Bengal tiger ... is a completely different kind of courage , Bob !
 

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