Life After The Indian Hunting Ban

Three days ago a tusker killed two people in a place 50 kms away . The Forest Department is trying to capture that animal
Last year they captured a rogue which had killed 6 people and trained it . Today the elephant is being used by the forest Dept .
This was probably the first of its kind experiment in the world and was spearheaded by a very capable forest officer . The (then) Director Rajaji National Park Mr Sanatan
 
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The Shikari is called in last . When everything else fails .
So . If this elephant kills more . I may be called at short notice.

Killing the animal is the last option in India
Always and Everytime.

It is because of this attitude. That I have hope . Hope for Indian wildlife.
There are few countries in the world who can still boast of such rich biodiversity inspite of the tremendous pressure on its natural resources because of the ever growing human population
 
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Dear Boss
I was using a 3006 for leopard and have shot 6 man-eating leopards with it
The next problem animal I see in India is the Elephant . Hence I have changed my 3006 with a 375 mag

For ELEPHANT and TIGER. The minimum calibre is a .375 mag and above. That is the LAW . You can not be issued a permit for elephant or tiger on a 3006 or a 12 bore . This law was there during the days of Shikar and still exists

India has almost twice the number of elephants than the holding capacity . Hence the next big problem we shall face is from these animals.
I come from a family of shikaris .
But I can assure you that there is no discrimination towards issue of licences based on casters creed or sex.
As mentioned earlier . The most famous shikaris in India Safath ( mislim) Lakhpat (Hindu) and Joy (Christian ) represent the secular fabric of my country
PSRaghav
In the Shikar days from 1950 to 1972 , l know for a fact that for Royal Bengal tigers , you could use a 12 bore shot-gun to kill Royal Bengal tigers legally in India . For client Shikaris , you are 100 % correct , in most states , but not all , the .375 bore was the legal minimum for Royal Bengal tiger . However , not all states had this minimum calibre requirement . I stated that in an interview with another forum member here a week ago . Many local Shikaris used to kill Royal Bengal tigers with 12 bore shot-guns . The standard practice was to use an Indian Ordinance Factories 12 bore double barrel shot-gun ( which we used to call IOF 12 bore DBBL ) with a spherical ball cartridge in one barrel and an LG cartridge in the other .
received_551989612237068.jpeg

This is my personal photograph which no one owns but me . I killed this Royal Bengal tiger in 1969 , by using my IOF 12 bore DBBL and two SG cartridges . It was a man eater in Darjeeling.

Having set our political differences aside , l agree with you about everything else in terms of the calibres used for hunting.
And l have no doubt that you really are Prasant Singh.
 
It is believed that the Tiger originated from the region around the Caspian Sea .
From there it moved up to Siberia
down to China and South East Asia
From where it finally entered India via Burma

It was here that it thrive and flourished . From the sub Himalayan terai . The swamps of Sundarban delta. The dry shrub land of Rajasthan. The wet rainfed western and Eastern Ghats or in Kipling's country......the dense forests of Central India

Wild tiger will one day go extinct
But I can assure you . That their last home will be India where they shall roar the longest
 
Congratulations on shooting a tiger with a 12 bore
I shall share an article
'One shot is not enough'
Written by Mr Imam ( pet name two two)
Where he talks about tigers being shot by 12 bores and 3006 dropping dead
And also about some with a double 500 nitro express and giving a fight to the finish
 
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I personally would consider firing at a tiger with a shotgun Unethical

Having said that
I would like to point out that the Terai
The place where I live . Had probably the highest density of tigers in India
 
Probably
The maximum number of tigers were hunted in the Terai
I am not aware of the rules and regulations of the Neck of woods you were hunting in
But I can assure you
That in our area .
The minimum calibre was .375 mag
 
Congratulations on shooting a tiger with a 12 bore
I shall share an article
'One shot is not enough'
Written by Mr Imam ( pet name two two)
Where he talks about tigers being shot by 12 bores and 3006 dropping dead
And also about some with a double 500 nitro express
PSRaghav
Thank you so much for your kind words. Personally , if l had it , my ideal weapon for a Royal Bengal tiger would be nothing smaller than a 9.3 millimeter mauser rifle ( because in Darjeeling , for local Shikaris , the minimum law of .375 bore did not exist in our time ) . 12 bore is very poor choice for Royal Bengal tiger . At a distance of ten yards , a 12 bore rifled slug projectile will give you six inches of penetration in a body shot. LG cartridges are worse , because they will penetrate the skin ,but will flatten on the rock hard muscles on the Royal Bengal tiger .
If using LG cartridges ( which you call buck shot in your online posts on Indians for guns ) , the ideal region to shoot a Royal Bengal tiger is the region where the neck meets the shoulder.
Kind regards
Sgt. Kawshik Rahman ( Retd )
 
In the United Provinces of Agra and Awadh......now Uttar Pradesh
A young forest officer was considered worth his salt .....only after he had shot a tiger
 
I personally would consider firing at a tiger with a shotgun Unethical

Having said that
I would like to point out that the Terai
The place where I live . Had probably the highest density of tigers in India
PSRaghav
Thank you so much for your kind words. Personally , if l had it , my ideal weapon for a Royal Bengal tiger would be nothing smaller than a 9.3 millimeter mauser rifle ( because in Darjeeling , for local Shikaris , the minimum law of .375 bore did not exist in our time ) . 12 bore is very poor choice for Royal Bengal tiger . At a distance of ten yards , a 12 bore rifled slug projectile will give you six inches of penetration in a body shot. LG cartridges are worse , because they will penetrate the skin ,but will flatten on the rock hard muscles on the Royal Bengal tiger .
If using LG cartridges ( which you call buck shot in your online posts on Indians for guns ) , the ideal region to shoot a Royal Bengal tiger is the region where the neck meets the shoulder.
Kind regards
Sgt. Kawshik Rahman ( Retd )
 
I have a friend Capt Rakshit whose grandfather had gone for a bird shoot and came back with a tiger . I will ask him to narrate that story

Tigers being soft skinned . Will fall to lower calibres .
May be 9 out of 10 will
But then there will be that one tiger . The one which will not go down so easily . The one which will charge and fight to the finish .
That is the tiger a Shikari has to be prepared for
 
What are the vital parts which are hit by the buckshot when shooting a tiger in the area between the neck and the shoulder ?
 
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What are the vital parts which are hit by the buckshot when shooting a tiger in the area between the neck and the shoulder ?
PSRaghav
Their spinal column can be shattered . This will drop a Royal Bengal tiger on the spot . However , buck-shot is hardly ideal for Royal Bengal tiger ( although , as my experience and yours shows , it does work at times. Just not with reliability )
Also , back in our time , we used to treat the shot pellets with wax in order to reduce the spreading a little , and concentrate the charge of shot. What to do ? I did not have a good central fire rifle
 
That's interesting
How did you manage to get so close to the tiger ?
Did you use something to mask the smell?
That is probably the weakest point of a tiger . But to get the shot right . I would assume you were shooting straight down
 
The shoulder has the thickest muscle . Strong as steel . It with these powerful muscles that the tiger can bring down the heaviest sambhar .
 
I remembered a story my uncle told me . He was on a machaan for tiger in Central India . They sat over a tiger kill. Stayed up all night . Ultimately very late in the night he fell asleep . Just for a few minutes . His assistant stayed awake with the spotlight in hand .
The whole night . They did not hear a thing
Yet . When they came down the next morning . They saw tiger pug marks all around the tree on which they had built the machaan.
The tiger had not touched the kill . He had realised something was just not right . His 6th sense told him. Circled the tree and went back hungry . Rather than risk his life
 
That's interesting
How did you manage to get so close to the tiger ?
Did you use something to mask the smell?
That is probably the weakest point of a tiger . But to get the shot right . I would assume you were shooting straight down
PS Raghav
Excellent. Now , we are having interesting conversation . For the tiger pictured , l was up in a tree . In those days , a popular method was that you would bait a tiger by using a bullock or a goat tied to a tree ( but l am certain that you already know this given your field experience ). We used to shoot these tigers at night , often with torch light .
Not very ethical in the sporting sense , but it was a very different time .
Our clothes were washed in kerosene .
It is very wise how you managed to pick up on that.
 
I personally really find it awesome how two professionals from two different eras can set their issues aside and talk productively about the the sport we all treat passionately , hunting :D .
That's the beauty of AH forums :)
We're all United by our passion for the sport . We're learning so much from both of you , Mr. Rahman and Mr. Sing :)
 
I personally really find it awesome how two professionals from two different eras can set their issues aside and talk productively about the the sport we all treat passionately , hunting :D .
That's the beauty of AH forums :)
We're all United by our passion for the sport . We're learning so much from both of you , Mr. Rahman and Mr. Sing :)
Hoss Delgado
Thank you so much for your kind words.
 

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