An Exciting Leopard Shikar From The Back Of An Elephant

Another fine tale Mr. Rahman! Thank you for taking the time to tell it to us.
Cheers,
Cody
 
Wonderful!! I have always thought one of the truly terrifying sights at the turn of the last century would have been a tiger or leopard launching himself up an elephant to do battle with his tormentor in a howdah.

I have a pair of "Howdah" double barrel pistols that would have hung at the ready on a howdah as a last ditch means to try and keep a tiger or leopard from climbing into the basket with the hunter. They are percussion handguns of around .70 caliber and would have been used in the second half of the 19th century. Just trying to imagine attempting to stick one in the face of an inbound 400lb really angry cat.

 
Wonderful!! I have always thought one of the truly terrifying sights at the turn of the last century would have been a tiger or leopard launching himself up an elephant to do battle with his tormentor in a howdah.

I have a pair of "Howdah" double barrel pistols that would have hung at the ready on a howdah as a last ditch means to try and keep a tiger or leopard from climbing into the basket with the hunter. They are percussion handguns of around .70 caliber and would have been used in the second half of the 19th century. Just trying to imagine attempting to stick one in the face of an inbound 400lb really angry cat.

Red Leg
I cannot thank you enough for your never ending support. I have actually seen pistols like this on display in the Lal Bagh fort in Dhaka. If l recall correctly , these were also made in .577 bore and 16 bore, l believe.
On a related subject , may l trouble you with a question about your William Cashmore shot-gun ? Does it have 67 millimeter chambers or 70 millimeter chambers ? Also , is it a hammerless model or a with hammer model ?
I have been looking at internet for some days and l can only see models which have hammers and 67 millimeter chambers. Hammer operated shot-guns are beautiful in a different way.
Those muzzle loading pistols are beautiful.
 
This pair is 12 bore - roughly .720 caliber. I expect the recoil would have been ferocious - but perhaps a little less ferocious than a tiger in one's lap!

My Cashmore is the Nitro model. It is a rare design with exterior locks reinforcing the underlugs. They were made for a short period before WWI and were designed for the heavy 1 1/4 ounce loads that were used in the pigeon ring to decisively knock the birds down before they exited the ring. The chamber is actually a little longer than 70mm, but it is proofed for 1 1/4 ounce loads. The slightly extra length was to act as an extended forcing cone causing less shot deformation and extending the recoil impulse. I have shot this one in competition a lot and it has accounted for many hundreds of pheasants.

cashmore1.jpg

cashmore3.jpg
 
This pair is 12 bore - roughly .720 caliber. I expect the recoil would have been ferocious - but perhaps a little less ferocious than a tiger in one's lap!

My Cashmore is the Nitro model. It is a rare design with exterior locks reinforcing the underlugs. They were made for a short period before WWI and were designed for the heavy 1 1/4 ounce loads that were used in the pigeon ring to decisively knock the birds down before they exited the ring. The chamber is actually a little longer than 70mm, but it is proofed for 1 1/4 ounce loads. The slightly extra length was to act as an extended forcing cone causing less shot deformation and extending the recoil impulse. I have shot this one in competition a lot and it has accounted for many hundreds of pheasants.

View attachment 308544
View attachment 308545
Red Leg thank you so much for taking the time to show me your beautiful William Cashmore shot-gun . It is a master piece.
The hammer type models are widely seen on the internet , but the without hammer models are a rare gem.
Regarding the leopard , no words that l can use , can ever describe the disbelief l felt when l had seen that leopard start springing up on that elephant towards the client. I had very arrogantly and avariciously assumed that the one place the client would never be at risk , would be on the top of an elephant. Fortunately , Karim was a far better Shikari than l was.
 
While l did succeed in getting large quantities of cranes , a considerable number of wounded birds escaped to die a lingering death , because of my careless and inhumane actions. An ethical bird shooter should always , in my humble opinion use at least a quarter choke in his shot-gun for birds. I know that my past actions will probably anger and sicken many ethical forum members. I myself am not proud of what l have done and l am most apologetic , but it must be remembered that l was a young man not even 25 years of age who had only one gun and was not fully mature in his choices.

Mr Rahman,
i admire your honesty, the fact that you admit to something you later in life would do differently merely speaks to me the quality of man you are and adds weight to the truthfulness of you stories. i appreciate you telling these tales as they were and how they happened. Not necessarily the way that you ultimately wish they had occurred, again i say...WELL DONE!!
 
Mr Rahman,
i admire your honesty, the fact that you admit to something you later in life would do differently merely speaks to me the quality of man you are and adds weight to the truthfulness of you stories. i appreciate you telling these tales as they were and how they happened. Not necessarily the way that you ultimately wish they had occurred, again i say...WELL DONE!!
1dirthawker
Thank you so much. It would not be fair to all my dead friends if l tarnished their memory by lying.
 
Again a fascinating read.

I am curious, from descriptions written by Jim Corbett is the large fish at the beginning a mahseer?
 
Dear mr Rahman,

In one of your earlier posts you mentioned that elephant hunting in India was banned in 1875.
XIX century. This was almost 100 years before total hunting ban as of 1972.

Can you tell us, how and why it came for elephant hunting to be banned at that time?
 
Dear mr Rahman,

In one of your earlier posts you mentioned that elephant hunting in India was banned in 1875.
XIX century. This was almost 100 years before total hunting ban as of 1972.

Can you tell us, how and why it came for elephant hunting to be banned at that time?
Mark Hunter
Perhaps tonight's article will answer these questions in a thorough manner ?
 
Again a fascinating read.

I am curious, from descriptions written by Jim Corbett is the large fish at the beginning a mahseer?
JPbowhunter , why yes. It is called shonar maseer here in Bangladesh ( Gold Mahseer ). They are delicious . You can easily find these in Asholia .
( Alongside hunting and fishing , cooking is another hobby of mine )
 
JPbowhunter , why yes. It is called shonar maseer here in Bangladesh ( Gold Mahseer ). They are delicious . You can easily find these in Asholia .
( Alongside hunting and fishing , cooking is another hobby of mine )

It seems we share another interest, I also love cooking the game I hunt amd fish along with what I grow in the garden.
 
Target shooting, fishing, diving, hunting. Me.
Cooking will do when necessary. Barbique - as much as possible! (y)
Also garden I have. Tomatoes, spinach, onion, carrots, some fruits...
 
Target shooting, fishing, diving, hunting. Me.
Cooking will do when necessary. Barbique - as much as possible! (y)
Also garden I have. Tomatoes, spinach, onion, carrots, some fruits...
Mark Hunter
I have a garden too. I love eating barbecues. My favorite American barbeque dish is brisket of beef smoked over a hickery wood fire with American corn bread . Among European dishes , l am very fond of an steak dish called Bistecca Ala Florentina .
 
Red Leg thank you so much for taking the time to show me your beautiful William Cashmore shot-gun . It is a master piece.
The hammer type models are widely seen on the internet , but the without hammer models are a rare gem.
Regarding the leopard , no words that l can use , can ever describe the disbelief l felt when l had seen that leopard start springing up on that elephant towards the client. I had very arrogantly and avariciously assumed that the one place the client would never be at risk , would be on the top of an elephant. Fortunately , Karim was a far better Shikari than l was.
Not much you could have done with a shotgun from the back of another elephant! The pattern would have been so large you would have been as likely to hit the other elephant or the client as you would the leopard.
 
Not much you could have done with a shotgun from the back of another elephant! The pattern would have been so large you would have been as likely to hit the other elephant or the client as you would the leopard.
Red Leg
That is very correct . The pattern in those old Indian shot-guns were very foul and this was exemplified by the fact that there was no choke inside the muzzles . In fact , luck played a massive part in how l got myself out of some unenviable situations . Some times , l reminiscize about these memories and wonder how l walked away uninjured. Perhaps , there is someone watching over all of us.
 

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