An Actual Video Of How We Used To Conduct Beats For Royal Bengal Tigers & Panthers

[Major Khan]

While writing my regular articles on African Hunting Forums .... I often find that many of our dear fellow forum members are intrigued by the concept of using beats to hunt down royal Bengal tigers and forest panthers .

This is quite understandable . Beats have lost favor in recent years , as other methods such as stalking or hunting over bait have largely replaced them .
There are a multitude of reasons for this . Some shikarees consider driven hunts to be less sporting than hunts over bait , or hunts where the shikaree needs to stalk their game animal. Many shikarees find driven hunts to be quite costly , due to the massive number of 3rd parties ( beaters ) whom it is imperative to recruit . We ALL find beats to be extremely loud . And ( as this video shall clearly high light) there was/ is always the chance that a beat could draw out... things which you would rather not want to get closer to you .

Yet driven hunts were a very significant part in the shikars of Old India . Roughly 85 % of all of the shikars for royal Bengal tigers which I have guided international clients for , during my 10 year career as a professional shikaree working for Allwyn Cooper Limited in Nagpur , India .... were carried out by conducting beats . For all points and purposes ... beats were considered to be the standard method for hunting royal Bengal tigers .

When I was a teen ager in the 1950s , I used to absolutely LOVE the driven hunts which my maternal grand father , Sepoy Jalaluddin Khan would arrange for me on the out skirts of Nagpur . We would hunt sambhur deer , cheetal deer , 4 horned buck , black buck , Neelgai , Chinkara , Barasingha, hog deer and wild boar in this manner .

By the time I became a professional shikaree in 1961... I actually began to despise beats ! Whenever the employees of Allwyn Cooper Limited were assigned to guide shikars for royal Bengal tigers ... I was always assigned on " Beat Duty " . This meant that I always had to walk directly behind the line of beaters for 5 entire miles , while they loudly beat their drums and made noise ... in order to drive the royal Bengal tigers towards the direction of the client shikarees .
I was assigned to stay behind the beaters with my old Belgian shot gun and protect them ... should the royal Bengal tiger ( or indeed , any game animal disturbed during the beats ) decide to pounce up on the beaters , instead of being driven towards the client shikarees . Having to do this 8 months a year ( Shikar season in Old India ) , for 10 consecutive years ... made me eventually begin to despise conducting beats . Aside from having to round up and organize 4 to 5 dozen unruly beaters and walking behind them for 5 miles in a straight line through dense jungle in the hot Indian summer ... my ears would ( more often than not ) hurt atrociously through out the whole affair... Due to to the loathsome drum beating and noise making .
Now , as an older gentle man ( I turned 80 this year , by the Grace of God ) ... I have ( over the years ) come to re ignite my passion for driven hunts once again ( Although the fact that I personally no longer need to conduct beats , certainly helps me not to dislike them , anymore ) . I routinely take kakar deer nowadays by having beats conducted . I occasionally have beats conducted for hunting cheetal deer and Wild Boars , as well ( However , I mostly prefer to take these latter 2 game animals by stalking , or by shooting them over baits ) .

The video which I have shared with all of you is a video of an actual driven hunt being conducted by the employees of Allwyn Cooper Limited . This shikar took place in 1959 , which was 2 years prior to 1961 ( When I 1st became a professional shikaree , working for Allwyn Cooper Limited ) .
It was done with American clients ( who ended up making the video ) . The intended animal for the shikar was a man eating royal Bengal tiger . However , during the beat ... a forest panther ended up charging the shikar party , as did a royal Bengal tigress ( the mate of the man eating royal Bengal tiger ) . All 3 brutes were put down , over the course of this video.
The professional shikarees are :
> Rao Naidu - Head Shikaree of Allwyn Cooper Limited and my former superior , before he went off to form his own outfitters ( Rao Naidu Shikar Limited ) in 1969 ... after an intense argument with Mr. V C Shukla ( The owner of Allwyn Cooper Limited ) .
He carries a Westley Richards double barreled side by side rifle , chambered in .375 Holland & Holland magnum . The rifle is equipped with a single selective trigger , no automatic safety , automatic ejectors , splinter fore end and 24 inch long barrels . He shoots kills the man eating royal Bengal tiger.
> Captain Peter Howard - An Australian gentle man who used to own a farm in the Terai region of West Bengal , India . He is armed with a William Evans double barreled side by side rifle , chambered in .500 Nitro Express . It is equipped with double triggers , automatic ejectors , 25 inch barrels , no automatic safety and a splinter fore end . He shoots and kills the charging royal Bengal tigress , at the end of the video.
> Riaz Sharif - He was Allwyn Cooper Limited's youngest shikaree at the time ... being only 17 years old . Assigned to protect the camera men , he is armed with a 12 Bore William Wellington Greener side by side double barreled shot gun . It has 2.75 inch chambers , double triggers , automatic ejectors and 28 inch barrels ( The left barrel is a modified choke . The right barrel has no choke , at all ) . It is loaded with Eley Alphamax 2.75 inch 36 gram LG cartridges ( which holds 8 pellets in each cartridge ) . Riaz is the 1 who shoots and kills the charging forest panther . Riaz turns 78 years old , this year and is a proud Bangladeshi citizen , ever since 1974 . More information and some " Behind the Scenes " photographs of this grand shikar ... can be seen in Riaz's book , " Ekti Shikaree Er Jibon Er Obhiggota " ( A Professional Shikaree's Experiences ) , which was published in 1990 .

I would like to express my gratitude to Riaz's nephew, Sartaj for bringing this video to my attention . Riaz has also agreed to provide me with some additional photographs of this shikar , to post on African Hunting Forums , within 2 or 3 days . Thank you so much , Riaz . I know that you will be reading this .

I sincerely do hope that all of you gentle men shall enjoy this video . This is what we did ... for 8 months of the year. But it was definitely worth it .

 

[Panther Shooter]

Major Sir,
This is an extremely educational video , which you have shared .
On a related subject , would it not be better for us if Riaz joined AH forums , himself ? With a kill count of three Hunting Leopards (two of which were man eaters ) , he is certainly eligible to be AH forum material ; I should think.

Mr @gizmo , does this sort of Shikar terrain appeal to you ? This is the kind of terrain found in the Sundarban mangrove forests.

 

[Major Khan]

Major Sir,
This is an extremely educational video , which you have shared .
On a related subject , would it not be better for us if Riaz joined AH forums , himself ? With a kill count of three Hunting Leopards (two of which were man eaters ) , he is certainly eligible to be AH forum material ; I should think.

Mr @gizmo , does this sort of Shikar terrain appeal to you ? This is the kind of terrain found in the Sundarban mangrove forests.

The video especially high lights why double barreled rifles are indispensable for hunting dangerous driven game at close quarters .

 

[gizmo]

Major Sir,
This is an extremely educational video , which you have shared .
On a related subject , would it not be better for us if Riaz joined AH forums , himself ? With a kill count of three Hunting Leopards (two of which were man eaters ) , he is certainly eligible to be AH forum material ; I should think.

Mr @gizmo , does this sort of Shikar terrain appeal to you ? This is the kind of terrain found in the Sundarban mangrove forests.

Dr. Biplob that is exactly what I was hoping for. I cannot wait, this will without a doubt be the most amazing adventure of my life. It is an honor to be able to do it with ya'll and I cannot wait.

 

[gizmo]

The video especially high lights why double barreled rifles are indispensable for hunting dangerous driven game at close quarters .

Thank you for posing this. That is incredible!

 

[Major Khan]

Thank you for posing this. That is incredible!

Thank you so much for enjoying it , Gizmo !

 

[Wyatt Smith]

Fascinating Major! Thanks for sharing. Out of curiosity, can foreigners visit the Sundarban forest, if I could afford to travel that would be in my list.

 

[Major Khan]

Fascinating Major! Thanks for sharing. Out of curiosity, can foreigners visit the Sundarban forest, if I could afford to travel that would be in my list.

Indeed they can , Master Smith. With police permission. We hunt cheetal deer and wild boar over there a few times through out the year.

 

[WAB]

Absolutely amazing! Thanks for sharing!

 

[Panther Shooter]

Fascinating Major! Thanks for sharing. Out of curiosity, can foreigners visit the Sundarban forest, if I could afford to travel that would be in my list.

Wyatt Smith
We will be honored to be your Shikar guides . You can hunt a Chital Deer and a wild boar there . Also , some nice cranes and common sheldrake ducks .

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

The video especially high lights why double barreled rifles are indispensable for hunting dangerous driven game at close quarters .

Friends Ponton and Panther Shooter
That certainly gets the adrenaline up. A very exciting way to hunt and shows the need for excellent reflexes and double rifles and shotguns.
Oh how I would have liked to experience that type of hunting. You gentleman and friend Rahman a truly blessed to have been born in that era and to have had the types of experiences that us mere mortals can only dream of and live those experiences thru your eyes.
Thank you my friends for your missives and relaying you lives to us in such away.
Your friend
Bob Nelson

 

[Panther Shooter]

Friends Ponton and Panther Shooter
That certainly gets the adrenaline up. A very exciting way to hunt and shows the need for excellent reflexes and double rifles and shotguns.
Oh how I would have liked to experience that type of hunting. You gentleman and friend Rahman a truly blessed to have been born in that era and to have had the types of experiences that us mere mortals can only dream of and live those experiences thru your eyes.
Thank you my friends for your missives and relaying you lives to us in such away.
Your friend
Bob Nelson

Bob Nelson
You should see Major Khan , when he hunts in the Sundarbans. He wades waist deep into the water at times, just to stalk a Chital Deer !

 

[Red Leg]

Terrific film. One of my daydreams is standing in a howdah sometime around 1920 or 30 with my William Evans Paradox in hand and a brace of 16 bore double pistols hanging ready nearby. I suspect I would have been wearing a pith helmet and thinking about a gin and tonic at sunset. Thank you so much for posting.

 

[Major Khan]

Absolutely amazing! Thanks for sharing!

It is my utmost privilege that you have enjoyed it so much , WAB.

 

[Major Khan]

Friends Ponton and Panther Shooter
That certainly gets the adrenaline up. A very exciting way to hunt and shows the need for excellent reflexes and double rifles and shotguns.
Oh how I would have liked to experience that type of hunting. You gentleman and friend Rahman a truly blessed to have been born in that era and to have had the types of experiences that us mere mortals can only dream of and live those experiences thru your eyes.
Thank you my friends for your missives and relaying you lives to us in such away.
Your friend
Bob Nelson

Thank you so much for your kind words , Bob . It is in situations , such as these... where the indispensability of double barreled weapons are quickly appreciated . Observe the extremely close quarters , where the panthers and the royal Bengal tigers charge the shikarees in the thickets . The inhuman speed of a charging panther makes a bolt rifle useless for anything after the 1st shot . You shall simply not have enough time to cycle the bolt ... in order to chamber a 2nd cartridge . In the case of the charging royal Bengal tigers .... perhaps an extremely fast operator can properly cycle the bolt on his bolt rifle and get off a 2nd shot quick enough . However , there is no doubt that a nice double barreled rifle , equipped with double triggers would be the ideal weapon for this sort of affair. You have the ability to get off that instant 2nd shot .
Beat hunting ( while not to everyone's liking ) has it's own little charm . If only I had met you 50 years ago ! It would have been my utmost privilege to have guided a fine sports man , such as yourself ... after forest panthers or royal Bengal tigers.

 

[Major Khan]

Terrific film. One of my daydreams is standing in a howdah sometime around 1920 or 30 with my William Evans Paradox in hand and a brace of 16 bore double pistols hanging ready nearby. I suspect I would have been wearing a pith helmet and thinking about a gin and tonic at sunset. Thank you so much for posting.

I have noticed 1 thing extremely impressive about your comment , Sir .
Just by watching the video once ... you immediately figured out that a double barreled weapon would be superior to a bolt rifle , in this context . This is a view that is conventional wisdom among most professional shikarees . Bolt rifles reign supreme for hunting over baits or for stalking . However , during shikars where beats are conducted ... a double barreled rifle or paradox gun has a crystal clear edge . Such a weapon should have double triggers , no automatic safety, ivory bead fore sight , wide V back sights , automatic ejectors ( even though I do fine with the extractors on my " Old Belgian " ) and 24-26 inch barrels ( depending upon the height of the operator ) .
I never knew that you appreciated shikars with beats ! It is a most pleasant surprise . Most of my younger American friends, these days ... prefer to hunt their game either by stalking or over baits .

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

Thank you so much for your kind words , Bob . It is in situations , such as these... where the indispensability of double barreled weapons are quickly appreciated . Observe the extremely close quarters , where the panthers and the royal Bengal tigers charge the shikarees in the thickets . The inhuman speed of a charging panther makes a bolt rifle useless for anything after the 1st shot . You shall simply not have enough time to cycle the bolt ... in order to chamber a 2nd cartridge . In the case of the charging royal Bengal tigers .... perhaps an extremely fast operator can properly cycle the bolt on his bolt rifle and get off a 2nd shot quick enough . However , there is no doubt that a nice double barreled rifle , equipped with double triggers would be the ideal weapon for this sort of affair. You have the ability to get off that instant 2nd shot .
Beat hunting ( while not to everyone's liking ) has it's own little charm . If only I had met you 50 years ago ! It would have been my utmost privilege to have guided a fine sports man , such as yourself ... after forest panthers or royal Bengal tigers.

Friend Ponton
I would have been MY privilege to have hunted with a fine gentleman as your self. Those cats sure can move. That is instinct shooting at it finest.
An angry 100 kilo tusky boar can get the adrenaline up when they charge in dense scrub a 12 shotgun with 20 inch barrels comes into it's own then especially when a charging boar collapses a couple of feet from you.
I don't know about anyone else but after a close call like that when the adrenaline subsidies the shakes really set in when you realise what has happened.
Keep safe and well my Friend.
You never know one day friends Panther Shooter, Kawshick Rahman and yourself and I may hunt together.
Your friend
Bob Nelson

 

[Red Leg]

I have noticed 1 thing extremely impressive about your comment , Sir .
Just by watching the video once ... you immediately figured out that a double barreled weapon would be superior to a bolt rifle , in this context . This is a view that is conventional wisdom among most professional shikarees . Bolt rifles reign supreme for hunting over baits or for stalking . However , during shikars where beats are conducted ... a double barreled rifle or paradox gun has a crystal clear edge . Such a weapon should have double triggers , no automatic safety, ivory bead fore sight , wide V back sights , automatic ejectors ( even though I do fine with the extractors on my " Old Belgian " ) and 24-26 inch barrels ( depending upon the height of the operator ) .
I never knew that you appreciated shikars with beats ! It is a most pleasant surprise . Most of my younger American friends, these days ... prefer to hunt their game either by stalking or over baits .

Younger! I turn 68 this year ..... and I do have a bit of experience with doubles of one form or the other.

Along with a passion for guns and rifles of the golden age, I also have a passion for art, books, and memorabilia of that era - primarily military and hunting related (really from the Napoleonic era onward). The travel poster below was published in the UK in 1922 on behalf of the Great India Peninsula Railway. It would be politically incorrect today, but it is a wonderful artifact from a period slipping away into history. Note that the visiting sportsman could rent his own private tourist car on the train.

 

[Major Khan]

Younger! I turn 68 this year ..... and I do have a bit of experience with doubles of one form or the other.

Along with a passion for guns and rifles of the golden age, I also have a passion for art, books, and memorabilia of that era - primarily military and hunting related (really from the Napoleonic era onward). The travel poster below was published in the UK in 1922 on behalf of the Great India Peninsula Railway. It would be politically incorrect today, but it is a wonderful artifact from a period slipping away into history. Note that the visiting sportsman could rent his own private tourist car on the train.


View attachment 344003

Well , I personally believe that the last thing that God's Green Earth needs right now ... is political correctness , Sir ! Political correctness is the single most destructive thing to plague modern society .
I have personally had the privilege to guide 4 shikars for royal Bengal tigers and 1 shikar for a forest panther on howdahs on the back of an elephant . However , by the time my career had commenced ( 1961 )... the elephant howdah had been largely replaced by the newest fashionble thing in town - The Land Rover Series 1 .
The trend was so popular , that even I had purchased a Land Rover Series 1 for my personal use !
50 years later , I joined African Hunting Forums and was devastated to find out that Land Rover is an anti hunting company .

Elephant howdahs are quite thrilling to hunt from . However there is always a risk of the elephant going mad if the royal Bengal tiger or panther tried to climb it...
in order to reach the client shikaree's howdah . This does not happen so much with royal Bengal tigers . However , with forest panthers ... the risk of the elephant going mad is significantly high. That is why most elephant howdah shikars were conducted for either royal Bengal tigers or Asian Sloth Bears ... yet relatively few shikars for forest panthers were conducted from elephant howdahs.

 

[Panther Shooter]

Terrific film. One of my daydreams is standing in a howdah sometime around 1920 or 30 with my William Evans Paradox in hand and a brace of 16 bore double pistols hanging ready nearby. I suspect I would have been wearing a pith helmet and thinking about a gin and tonic at sunset. Thank you so much for posting.

Sir,
Should you ever find yourself in Bangladesh, it would be our honor to guide you on a Shikar for Kakar Deer and wild boars , from an elephant howdah . This can be arranged in the Maulvi Bazaar forests and the Kakar Deer and the wild boars will be hunted by way of beats . It shall be just like a normal driven Shikar for Kakar Deer or wild boar , as we locals do them . However , we shall simply hire an elephant cab for you from the Sri Mangal elephant ride service . You may hunt one Kakar Deer and three wild boars , free of charge . All you need to do is give our beaters one of the three wild boars , so that they may take the fresh pork for their families .

If you own any 7 millimeter caliber rifle , then that will be perfect for the shikar . If you find traveling with firearms to be inconvenient , then I would be glad to let you use my 7 millimeter Remington Magnum . I have thousands of 175 grain Remington Core Lokt factory loaded soft nose cartridges in my closet. If you prefer to use any other brand of ammunition , then you can let us know two months prior to your visit . Then , I shall have a box of that particular brand of ammunition imported into Bangladesh ,by our importers for your use .

If you would prefer to use a shotgun loaded with buckshot ( though I would not personally recommend buckshot for our 135 kilogram Bengal Bush Boars ) , then Major Khan Sir has an extra shotgun ( a semi automatic variant with a 3 inch chamber and multi chokes ) , that he often loans his foreign friends . Along with plenty of Winchester copper plated 12 pellet SG cartridges ( 2 3/4 inch ) , for your use.

I truly lament that we cannot offer you a Royal Bengal Tiger or a Hunting Leopard, like the good old days ( save for the odd man eater) .