I feel that a little fleshing out , is necessary here. There are 29 states in India and naturally hunting regulations were different in each states . In 13 States of India at the time ( including Nagpur , where l was based ) , there was a certain law related to firearms used for shikar by foreign clients ( local shikarees were exempt from this regulation ) . For hunting a royal Bengal tiger , a water buffalo or a gaur , the minimum legally acceptable calibre was the .375 Nitro Express calibre . In the other 16 states , such as Darjeeling ( where my good friend and fellow site member , Sergeant Kawshik Rahman was based ) , there was no such regulation involving any minimal bore size to use , on any species .
( I had mixed feelings about this regulation . However , unless one of my readers asks me to expand on that , l will not delve into the topic here , as it is unrelated ) .
As Kawshik expertly mentioned in his articles time and again , the firearms laws of India for visiting sportsmen were as follows : A client was allowed to bring 2 firearms into India , with a maximum of 250 cartridges for each fire arm . The firearms themselves were duty free , as were the first 100 rounds of ammunition for each fire arm . There were some prohibited calibres which were not allowed into India , by customs . The list comprised of :
.303 British service cartridge , .38 calibre , .410 calibre , .44 caliber and .45 calibre
( However , from 1964 , they began to allow the .458 Winchester magnum calibre rifles through customs ) .
My client ( whom , we would refer to , as " Sahib " ) had brought 1 rifle and 1 shot gun . The rifle was one which ( over the years ) would end up becoming my favorite rifle . It was a Winchester Model 70 bolt rifle made in New Haven with a heavy barrel , burning a 300 grain .375 Holland and Holland magnum cartridge . It had a robust Mauser style extractor . ( All Winchester Model 70 rifles manufactured prior to 1964 used to have this beautiful feature . )
The shot gun was a Winchester pump shot gun of 12 calibre ( a Model 1912 ) . It took a 2.75 inch cartridge and had a modified choke barrel .
For the rifle , he had brought boxes of 300 grain Winchester Silvertip soft nose cartridges ( which would , over the years end up becoming my favorite soft nose cartridge , to use on soft frame animals , such as panthers and royal Bengal tigers ). For the shot gun , he had brought boxes of Winchester cartridges of the shot size no. 3 .
The client's wife ( whom we used to refer to , as " Mem Sahib and who also wished to partake in bird shooting ) had brought along a Browning over under shot gun of 20 calibre with an improved cylinder choke in the lower barrel and a modified choke in the upper barrel . For this weapon , she had brought along boxes of Winchester no. 4 cartridges . We were all assigned to our roles . Tobin and l were to guide the clients to shoot water fowl ( They wanted to shoot teal ducks in particular ) and then organize the royal Bengal tiger shikar a few days after the duck shooting . We gleefully accepted our assignment . Tobin , in particular loved guiding clients who were natives from his own mother land .
2 days later , we were guiding Shahib and Mem Shahib to a very large lake in Nagpur , which was abundant with water fowl in those days . There were ducks of multiple species , geese and even cranes . Our party comprised of myself , Tobin , Ponual , 2 coolies and our American clients . While driving there on Tobin's jeep , Tobin cheerfully chatted away with our American clients . He was an exceptionally friendly person and most people found old Tobin very pleasant to be around .
Tobin carried his Belgian FN .423 Mauser bolt rifle , loaded with 347 grain metal covered bullets .
I carried my Belgian Mercury 12 calibre double barreled shot gun , loaded with Eley Grand Prix spherical ball cartridges
Ponual carried a sack containing my personal effects .
The 2 coolies carried the clients' shot guns and large packets of cartridges for the 2 firearms .
When we reached the lake , it did not take longer than 20 minutes for the action to begin . The shooting was uneventful , but went by very smoothly . Our client was a first class shot with his Winchester Model 1912 . Using 24 cartridges , he had taken 18 ducks and a large grey leg goose . The Mem Shahib used her little 20 calibre Browning over under shot gun with authority and secured 12 ducks with 18 cartridges . She had fired at a few geese as well , which were wounded but had managed to escape the fusillade.
Our coolies stood nearby to the couple , ready to provide them with spare cartridges whenever necessary.
I feel that l need to add a side note , here .
While Allwyn Cooper Limited was a much bigger outfitter than Sundar Raj Shikar ( where Kawshik was based ) , Kawshik's outfitters had a far more ethical ( although , in some cases problematic ) policy than my outfitter. You see , Sundar Raj Shikar practically guaranteed that the client would secure his trophy come what may . If the client wounded a bird or animal and was hesitant to follow the wounded animal , then the professional shikaree would step in and go after the wounded animal to finish it off and recover it .
In Allwyn Cooper Limited , the policy was different . The only time a professional shikaree would ever open fire on an animal , would be if the animal was charging at our client or anyone in our party. A wounded animal escaping , was the client's problem .
While l always made it a point to recover any wounded animal shot by myself , by hook or by crook , l must admit that l was rather indifferent to an escaping animal wounded by our clients . It is not an ethical point of view , but my ( admittedly poor ) justification at the time was that l was not the one who shot at the animal in the first place .
Tobin , however was always somewhat disturbed by wounded animals escaping . He did his best to recover every wounded animal ever shot by our clients ( even though , he was not paid to do this ) .
When l told him once , not to bother with all the gruelling effort to track down an animal shot by some one else , his reply was something that still rings in my ears ,
" Yeah , well , back where l come from , in the states , a real hunter never leaves a critter to die in the bush . We brought those clients here , Poton. We've got a responsibility " . Something about what he said , made me eventually change my views by 1965 and l always accompanied Tobin when he would go into the long grass or thickets to pursue wounded animals , with his rifle . However , l have to be blunt and honest . I did this , more out of my respect for Tobin , rather than any ethics ( even though , l now realize after all those years that we were actually doing the right thing ) . However , let us now get back to the story at hand.
We made Ponual and the 2 coolies recover all the dead birds , while I offered the clients some snacks from the jeep . We had brought some roast beef sandwiches from a local delicatessen and 2 large bottles of orange juice for the clients ( l still consider the juice from Nagpur oranges to be the sweetest in the entire world ) . While the 2 clients ate their lunch , I too decided to eat my own lunch . My servants from home had made me some cold veal lasagna to take along in a tiffin box , for the shikar. While l was eating , l offered Tobin some . However , Tobin was distracted by looking at something else . He was looking at a goose which was struggling to fly over the lake , having been wounded by one of our clients ( l would personally suspect that it was our Mem Shahib who had shot at it , but it is unethical of me to point any fingers without being certain ) .
Tobin asked me " You got any triple A in your bag ? " I replied " Of course , l always bring some for goose or crane shooting " . Tobin then asked Ponual to open the sack and give him a brace of triple A cartridges . Taking my Mercury shot gun , which was resting near a tree , he opened it and took out the spherical ball cartridges . He loaded in the triple A cartridges and closed the shot gun . Taking careful aim at the wounded goose , he fired at it with the modified choke barrel . The goose dropped into the water and he sent a coolie to go recover it .
Our client and his wife were very big hearted people . They presented 2 of the ducks to Tobin and 2 of the ducks to me . Alongside this , Tobin also retained the goose which he had finished off , with my shot gun . Needless to say , we were very pleased . Nothing surpasses a roasted wild duck , stuffed with mashed potatoes .
I did not take any photographs of the duck shooting , because l consider it very mundane ( albeit highly enjoyable ).
However , l do have a photograph of the typical lakes in Nagpur taken by myself , where water fowl could be found by the hundreds , back in those days . I have provided it below.
In the next part of this article , l will relate the royal Bengal tiger shikar.
