We drove the West Pakistani army out of our land , after an armistice was signed on the 16th of December , 1971 . East Pakistan became Bangladesh and a lot of rebuilding was necessary across the entire country . Both my mother and my father were killed during the West Pakistani airstrike at Golkhali on the June 3 , 1971 . I had been conscripted as an HMG ( heavy machine gun ) operator during the war and now that it was over , I needed to get a job . But I also needed to complete my education , as I was almost going to turn 18 . So I got myself into Murari Chand College in order to complete my education . The government was extraordinarily kind towards veterans of the war and had bequeathed a substantial amount of money to each of us ( alongside the standard medals and military awards ) .
As a source of income , I got myself a job as a workman at the various tea estates around Habiganj ( a district in the north east part of the country ) . I had rented two rooms at a local boarding house , but ( truth be told ) I only slept there . I spent most of my time outside . Between work and college , I would dedicate Fridays to my recreation . This could be either watching a cinema at the local theater , catching fish , eating at restaurants / ice cream parlors or hunting . Most of my free time was dedicated to hunting , because that was ( and is ) my favorite hobby of all .
Before the war , I had some fairly mild hunting experiences . My father used to own a .22 LR bolt action rifle made by BRNO with which he would often shoot cranes , pigeons, doves and rabbits for the pot . Around twice a month , he would take me on his hunting outings and I was six years old when I used that .22 LR to shoot my first crane . Soon afterwards , I had begun to develop a fondness for hunting and would usually outshoot my father during our hunting trips . However , it was only after the war that I actually began to go on hunting trips all by myself and began to hunt seriously .
After the war , it took no effort for me to successfully apply for two firearms licenses as I was a war veteran and a medal of honor recipient . From an arms shop in Dacca ( named “ Ahmed Hossain arms “ ) , I purchased a 12 bore shotgun and a .22 LR rifle . My shotgun was ( and is ) a second hand ( but pristine condition ) sidelock ejector side by side , made by Laurona in Spain . It had 2 3/4 inch chambers , double triggers and 30 inch barrels ( the left barrel was 1/2 choked and the right barrel was 1/4 choked ) . Since new side by side shotguns were not being imported into Bangladesh ( as majority of the hunters preferred over under , pump action or semi automatic shotguns ) and the shotgun looked too new to have been imported during the British colonial era , this meant that the shotgun must have been imported into the country during the East Pakistani era . My .22 LR was a bolt action , made by BRNO in Czechoslovakia . These rifles could be had for very little money , as local rifle clubs had purchased them by the hundreds .
In the 1970s , only three different kinds of ammunition were imported by the arms shops of Bangladesh . There were .22 LR shells loaded with 40 grain solid bullets , which were manufactured by Eley Rifle Club . There were Eley Alphamax 2 3/4 inch number 4 ( birdshot ) shells . There were .32 ACP ( Automatic Colt Pistol ) shells loaded with 73 grain full metal jacket bullets , which were manufactured by Sellier & Bellot . I always kept myself well stocked with Eley Rifle Club .22 LR shells and Eley Alphamax number 4 shells .
I consider my first “ serious “ hunting to have been done on January 8 , 1972 . I used my 12 bore and a number 4 shell to successfully bring down a giant cormorant bird , at a range of forty feet . As delicious as it tasted , I wanted to hunt bigger game . There were numerous barking deer in the forests of Habiganj and I was determined to start hunting them . But the problem was that a .22 LR rifle is not powerful enough to kill anything much larger than a crane , without necessitating multiple shots and a chance of losing the wounded animal . While my 12 bore shotgun was a more appropriate weapon to use , my number 4 shells were not much good for anything other than wing shooting . But there was a way around this problem .
Traveling military officers would often bring back up to 250 shells for their personally owned arms , when they would return to Bangladesh from tours in foreign countries ( as part of their personal luggage ) . Being a war veteran myself , it took me no effort to make friends with quite a few of these officers . These officers would often sell some of their surplus ammunition to their friends or civilians ( who possesses firearms licenses) . From one officer , I was able to purchase 22 Eley Alphamax 2 3/4 inch LG shells . These held eight slugs per shell and the caliber of each slug was .36 . In the United States , LG is known as “ 000 buckshot “ .
With my 12 bore shotgun and an Eley Alphamax LG shell , I shot my first barking deer on March 26 , 1972 . It was delicious and the venison lasted me for an entire week . Later during Easter , I shot a wild boar with two LG shells . I gifted the fresh pork to my close friend , Joy and his family ( who are Protestant Christians) . Joy had served alongside me during the war ( watching over me like an elder brother ) and was also an avid hunter . To this day , he and I remain close friends .
However , ( as dangerous as 140 kilogram wild boars with tusks are ) it was not until November 9 , 1972 that I would end up hunting my first truly dangerous game animal - A marauding cheetah baagh leopard . I will now begin to relate that story .
The author with his giant cormorant ; shot on January 8 , 1972 .
