3 days later , our shikar party was in the forests of the Maharashtra state ... all ready for our gaur shikar. Our shikar party consisted of myself , Ponual , our client and 4 coolies . I carried my “ Old Belgian “ loaded with my hand loaded Eley 3 inch Alphamax magnum “ High Brass “ spherical ball cartridges. Ponual carried our client’s “ .450 Kodiak “ lever rifle . He also had an Indian Ordinance Factories .315 calibre bolt rifle , slung across his shoulders ... which was loaded with 244 grain soft point cartridges . Our client wore a canvas waist belt , containing 20 solid metal covered 400 grain cartridges. The coolies carried a folding chair for our client , butchering knives , refreshments and wood working tools .
Now , a gaur is 1 of the only 2 members of the Indian animal kingdom ( the other being , the Indian elephant ) ... which can never , EVER be hunted by way of beats . If you ever attempt to hunt a gaur by having beaters attempt to flush it out , towards you ... Then , it simply WILL NOT work . The gaur shall attack the beaters , straight away . That leaves stalking it , or ambushing it near a water body ( when it comes to drink water ) .... to be the only feasible methods of hunting a gaur bison .
We had resolved to build a macchan on the top of a tree ... over looking a small stream . My local knowledge in regards to this portion of forested area ... told me that gaur bison would daily come to the stream ( during the late noon ) to quench their thirst . My plan of action was to have our client shoot the gaur ... as it came to drink water from the stream . Even though I had seen positive results from the “ .450 Kodiak “ calibre lever rifle being used on a Bengal Bush Boar ... I was hesitant to take any risks with a gaur bison . These brutes commonly weighed in excess of 2000 pounds and were unmatched in terms of aggression . I did not wish to put my client in harm’s way ... especially since he going to use an experimental rifle to do the job . Just because the rifle worked splendidly against a 300 pound Bengal Bush Boar ... was no reason for me to feel overtly confident about it being used against a gaur bison . My precautionary measure would later end up averting a great deal of disaster ... as I was soon going to find out .
Our client and I stayed on the top of the macchan ... while Ponual and the 4 coolies all opted to climb up nearby trees and stay there . Our client now had the “ .450 Kodiak “ calibre lever rifle in his hands .
3 hours had passed . During this time ... quite a few gaur bison had come to drink water at the stream . However , since they were all immature or cow gaur bisons ... we opted to let them drink water and leave the area unmolested ( We are hunters , after all . Not butchers ) . Finally , we saw a large bull gaur slowly coming towards the stream . Well ... large would be the under statement of the year . It was the largest gaur bison which I had ever seen in my life . It was a full 11 feet long and 6 feet tall ( No joke ! ) . The brute came near the water and lowered it’s massive head ( with those curved Kirpan dagger shaped horns ) to get a drink . I whispered to my client , “ Sahib , take him in the soft part ... behind the shoulder . “ My client nodded nervously . I could tell , just by looking at him ... that he never quite anticipated a bull gaur to be this terrifying in proportions . He nervously raised the rifle to his shoulder , and took aim . What happened next ... could have gone a whole lot worse , had we both been on ground level with the gaur .
The client pulled the trigger . A loud gun shot rang out ... As the brute roared in pain . Fortunately my client did not stop shooting . He worked the lever again and again ...as he sent bullet after bullet in to the gaur’s shoulder . He did this 4 times ... before the magazine was completely empty . The gaur had fallen on to the ground , in pain ... Only to slowly begin rising to it’s feet once again . I frantically shouted to my client , “ Sahib ! Re load the rifle ! Shoot him again ! “ .
Now , anyone of my Dear Readers who has ever had to load a rifle or a shot gun which is equipped with a tubular magazine ... will readily be aware of the fact that a tubular magazine is not the easiest thing to re load , when the operator is pressed for time . To my client’s credit ... he was extremely swift at re loading 4 more cartridges in to the tubular magazine of his “ .450 Kodiak “ calibre lever rifle . In about 5 seconds ... he resumed shooting at the gaur’s shoulder . He put 4 more 400 grain solid metal covered bullets in to the gaur ... before expending his entire magazine once more . My client and I both stared in utter disbelief ... as the wounded , bloodied brute slowly began to struggle back to it’s feet once more . I felt dead certain that we were going to lose this gaur ... for sure . It would escape us ... only to die a lingering death in the forests of Maharashtra. However , my client proved to be a far more determined man than I . He hurriedly re loaded his “ .450 Kodiak “ calibre lever rifle with 4 cartridges , once more . Raising the rifle to his shoulder , once more ... He let loose once again , at the gaur’s shoulder . By the time he let off the 3rd shot ... The brutish gaur had finally breathed it’s last . My client had done it ...With 11 shots . 11 solid metal covered bullets ... each of which weighed 400 grains .
I proudly congratulated my client ... out of genuine respect for his sheer determination not to let the gaur escape in to the thickets , wounded . But my client looked a little sad ... as if he had won a pyrrhic victory . He lamented that it took him 11 shots to dispatch the gaur . He felt that his brain child was a failure . And then , there was the depressing fact that the stock of his rifle had split ... while he was repeatedly shooting at the bull gaur. However , I did my best to console him . I told him that his “ .450 Kodiak “ calibre lever rifle would be devastatingly effective upon royal Bengal tigers and water buffaloes ( I was being completely truthful here ) . I then went on to tell him that a gaur was the most thick muscled brute among all of the “ Indian Dangerous 6 “ ... and that this particular gaur made all other gaurs ( which I had seen in my 9 year career ) look petite , in comparison . The fact that my client had been able to dispatch it at all , with a rifle calibre of HIS OWN CREATION ... Was an accomplishment in and of itself. I then suggested that we conduct a post mortem ... in order to see the effects ( Or lack thereof ) , which those 400 grain solid metal covered bullets had upon the bull gaur .
Below , I have provided a photograph taken by myself of the slain bull gaur ... and my client’s brain child : The “ .450 Kodiak “ calibre lever rifle . Ponual can be partially seen in the back ground , clutching his Indian Ordinance Factories .315 calibre bolt rifle .
We climbed down from the macchan ... and I ordered the coolies to commence field dressing the gaur . This ... They dutifully began to do . Unfortunately, the bull gaur had dropped dead ... roughly 6 feet away from the water of the stream . And a very particular predator lurks near all of the streams of India . A predator which can disguise itself ... as the most nonchalant looking rock , and use this ability to it’s advantage .
I should have foreseen it sooner . That is why , when 1 of the coolies began screaming in blood curling pain ... I already knew what had happened .
A crocodile had gotten ahold of a coolie ... By the leg . And it was dragging him in to the water . All Hell broke loose .
