The Very First Royal Bengal Tiger Shikar Which l guided In My Career

Poton Kahn (Major), welcome to AH. Kawshik has become a very respected contributor to AH in a very short time, his prior comments regarding you already have us primed for some informative and exciting articles from you. Might I suggest that you write up a short bio. of yourself as related to hunting and post it under new members. This will give everyone the opportunity to see what basis and or perspective you are coming from. I hope you get as much pleasure from writing up your previous experiences as a Shikari as we will reading them. Bust of luck on your upcoming hog deer hunt with Kawshik.
 
Poton Kahn (Major), welcome to AH. Kawshik has become a very respected contributor to AH in a very short time, his prior comments regarding you already have us primed for some informative and exciting articles from you. Might I suggest that you write up a short bio. of yourself as related to hunting and post it under new members. This will give everyone the opportunity to see what basis and or perspective you are coming from. I hope you get as much pleasure from writing up your previous experiences as a Shikari as we will reading them. Bust of luck on your upcoming hog deer hunt with Kawshik.
Dear Shootist43, it is my pleasure to be here and thank you for welcoming me . I think that l will do exactly as you say right now. And perhaps a story regarding a royal Bengal tiger will be good for later tonight ?
 
Poton
You will make good friends with Shootist43. He is a fellow retired service man for his country ( United States of America) , just like we are , and an absolute gentleman to interact with .
 
Which one would they like , Kawshik ?
Gaur , water buffalo , royal Bengal tiger , panther , boar , crocodile , sambur , cheetal , neelgai , small game , birds or bear ? I will write about the one which people would be most interested by .
Major Khan, any and all stories will be greatly appreciated and enjoyed. Welcome to Africa Hunting I’m sure you will enjoy it here.
 
A Royal Bengal tiger has an unrivalled sense of smell.

I’m not trying to be a jerk but Kenneth Anderson wrote that tigers have no sense of smell. I’m also almost positive Jim Corbet stated the same thing in Man-Eaters of Kumaon.

So what gives?
 
I’m not trying to be a jerk but Kenneth Anderson wrote that tigers have no sense of smell. I’m also almost positive Jim Corbet stated the same thing in Man-Eaters of Kumaon.

So what gives?
They have no sense of smell at rifle ranges. Not at shot gun range , where Kawshik and l typically had to kill them , because we were using shot guns . I am a childhood reader of Mr. Corbett and personally knew Mr. Anderson . Anderson used to live in Prospect House after he and his wife separated. I had a great deal of admiration for him , until he turned on his own kind .
He used to use a .405 Winchester Model 1895 lever rifle and a .450/400 Nitro Express double barreled rifle for hunting . Mr. Corbett used a .450/400 Nitro Express double barreled rifle for royal Bengal tigers and a .275 Rigby bolt rifle for panthers ( but also for a few royal Bengal tigers ) .
Kawshik was killing royal Bengal tigers from distances lesser than 15 yards , because he was using a shot gun loaded with SG cartridges and no choke .
All the panthers shot by myself and the wounded royal Bengal tigers which l had to finish off , for clients were shot with a shot gun and spherical ball or lethal ball cartridges at distances lesser than 20 yards . I can assure you that at distances like this , a royal Bengal tiger can smell danger very well unless you use something to mask your smell.
Aside from guiding clients for shikar , Kawshik has also killed 4 of them personally
received_551989612237068.jpeg
So my friend knows what he is saying .
. And l can corroborate that.
 
Thank you for the explanation, it makes total sense.
You are welcome. We , Indian hunters hold Mr. Corbett in the highest esteem . He was my childhood hero. However , every pro hunting person in India will have a great hatred for Kenneth Anderson , and with good reason . His last few books after he became a so called " conservationist " ( with their false anti hunting propaganda ) was partially responsible leading to the ban on all hunting in India in 1972 . They formed a great deal of wrong views about hunting in the minds of his readers .
He also ( at least since l first knew him in 1962 ) was opposed to ordinary people hunting and in all his writings , makes hunters look irresponsible and incompetent and makes it look as if hunters are responsible for destroying the ecosystem . He found deer hunting " cruel " and l actually got into a debate about this , with Mr. Anderson once . He was completely opposed to the eating of venison . He wrote about Caucasian males in ways which makes Democrats look innocent by comparison . Every problem faced by Indians ( even those caused by Indians themselves ) , he was somehow finding a way to blame it on white men in his books . In his writings , he made Indians look altruistic and white men look inherently evil .
The irony is that , despite all his " ass kissing " of the anti hunting Indian government , it is those very people who took all of his land and property away and caused his son to spend his final days in poverty. Their excuse for confiscating all of a man's wealth ? That it was acquired through " Colonial exploitation " .
Kenneth's son was reduced to living in a single room in the out house of an Indian land lady . Towards the end of his life , he did not even have money to pay for his medication .
 
Sounds like the Kenneth Anderson family eventually got what they deserved. Americans have a saying, "what goes around, comes around."
 
My maternal grandfather was a rancher, not huge but decent size: 1500-1700 head of mother cows. He was also head of the engineering graphics dept at Texas A&M. He made the money to buy his land and cattle by writing engineering textbooks. He had a small library in his office at the ranch with a rather eclectic range of books, one of which was Man-Eaters of Kumaon. I read it around 1969 or so when I was ten and have read it five or six times more in the intervening 5o years. The book had a profound impact on me and led to a lifelong fascination with India. I’ve read everything Corbett wrote I believe, he was the best. As to the Anderson’s I’ve read all of their writing within the past five years and prefer Donald’s material over Kenneth’s. I was also aware of Donald’s state of penury in his last years but not of Kenneth’s turncoat behavior.
 
Regarding Kenneth Anderson, an old quote, "All is not what it seems."
 
Sounds like the Kenneth Anderson family eventually got what they deserved. Americans have a saying, "what goes around, comes around."
Never did karma hit someone worse than it hit them , Shootist43 . Kenneth Anderson died of cancer and towards the end , he had to urinate in a plastic bag , because a portion of his bladder had to be removed . The irony is that , Kenneth's death could have been completely preventable , had he seeked Western medical treatment in the early stages . The retard , instead publicly called Western medicine , another " Man Made scam to exploit the poor " and started taking Indian herbal medication , which he believed would cure his cancer .
This had predictable results on his mortality. His son , Don died penniless in a single room of an outhouse of an Indian land lady , who used to bully him and get him beaten up by local thugs .
Unfortunately for us shikarees , the damage that Kenneth Anderson's books did to hunting in India , is irreversible .
Because of him ( partially ) , l can never enjoy gaur , Neelgai , Chinkara or 4 horned buck meat anymore . 4 horned buck , in particular , was a favorite of mine . The rib chops of 4 horned buck , in particular , could easily surpass the finest lamb chops.
 
Regarding Kenneth Anderson, an old quote, "All is not what it seems."
That is a most fitting quote , New Boomer . When l 1st joined this forum , l noticed that every one here had a great deal of admiration for Kenneth Anderson . It initially puzzled me a little , considering how much of an anti hunting lunatic , he really was . Then , l started realizing that most of the gentlemen on the African Hunting forums , do not know what Kenneth Anderson really was like .
 
My maternal grandfather was a rancher, not huge but decent size: 1500-1700 head of mother cows. He was also head of the engineering graphics dept at Texas A&M. He made the money to buy his land and cattle by writing engineering textbooks. He had a small library in his office at the ranch with a rather eclectic range of books, one of which was Man-Eaters of Kumaon. I read it around 1969 or so when I was ten and have read it five or six times more in the intervening 5o years. The book had a profound impact on me and led to a lifelong fascination with India. I’ve read everything Corbett wrote I believe, he was the best. As to the Anderson’s I’ve read all of their writing within the past five years and prefer Donald’s material over Kenneth’s. I was also aware of Donald’s state of penury in his last years but not of Kenneth’s turncoat behavior.
I will show you something very interesting , Mr. Beagle .
Below , is a photograph l have taken from the internet of Kenneth Anderson .
Screenshot_20191225-151955_01.png

Take a closer look at the rifle . You gentlemen all know that Kenneth Anderson owned and used a .405 Winchester Model 1895 lever rifle . A lesser known fact , is that he actually owned and used a .450/ 400 Nitro Express double barreled side by side rifle , built by the British Company , W J Jeffery . This rifle was a gift to him , from Dick Bird . He actually preferred it to his Winchester for the big male royal Bengal tigers .
When most people look at this photograph with a passing glance , they immediately assume that he is holding his .405 Winchester Model 1895 lever rifle . But here is the thing . He is not .
The rifle in the picture is an Indian Ordinance Factories .315 bolt rifle , built on a cheap Indian copy of the service Lee Enfield action . Also , he is wearing a white shirt . Anyone who has ever hunted in India ( especially nocturnal dangerous game ) will tell you that it is suicide to wear a white shirt when hunting game at night .
So , why is Kenneth Anderson using a cheap , Indian Ordinance Factories rifle in this photograph and not 1 of his 2 personal rifles ?
The answer is because , at this point in his life , Kenneth Anderson had sold both his rifles and had actually become a staunch supporter of Indian gun control and anti hunting . Therefore , he used a borrowed rifle for the picture . The reason why he is wearing a white shirt is because he is attempting to evoke the image of a " stereotypical colonial hunter " . This photograph is the most widely remembered photograph of Kenneth Anderson in the hunting community . Ironically , he actually took this picture in an event organized to demonize hunting .
I was not there that day , but a local news paper had covered the event. However , l have also held the actual pictured rifle in my hand . This rifle used to belong to his son , Don ( who was still into target shooting at the time ) . When l met the Andersons in 1962 , Don used to own 3 firearms : That IOF .315 bolt rifle , an IOF "12 Bore DBBL " shot gun ( the same type of shot gun used by Kawshik during his career ) and a .404 Jeffery bolt rifle , made by a company named " Vickers " ( However , ammunition for this was extremely scare and Don had a box of pre 1947 ICI Kynoch cartridges which he made do with , for his entire stint as a hunter ) . He briefly had a .30-06 Springfield Model 1903 bolt rifle , which another Anglo Indian had sold him , but he only had 10 cartridges for it , and he sold it very quickly .
Don was not very bright as a shikaree. On 2 separate occasions , he let someone from his shikar party get killed . 1 was a tracker and the other was a shikaree guide . Their deaths could have been easily avoided , had it not been for Don's impulsive behavior .Kawshik actually guided Don once in a gaur shikar in 1965 .

In 2014 , after Don's death , a man wrote an autobiography about Don based on "interviews" he had with Don , but the amount of inaccuracies that is in that book , is laughable . The writer ( by his own admission ) is an anti hunter and painted hunting in the worst possible way . He also had not even basic knowledge of fire arms , referring to a .404 Jeffery as a " Double barrelled shot gun " . He also portrays every hunter in the book as an adulterous , sadistic and cowardly racist . In the end of the book , the writer makes it sound as if Don dying penniless was the Gods' way of punishing him for killing so many " defenseless animals " . He coyly ignores the fact that it was the Indian government who actually took all of their land and property away .
Yes , l have no fondness for the Andersons . Jim Corbett , however , was a true hero in every definition of the word.
And l wish that l could have met this lion of a man .
 
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I was aware of Kenneth’s .450/400 because he wrote about killing a rogue elephant with it. In Donald’s writing he mentions his dad’s .405 Winchester fairly often and I get the impression he didn’t care too much for it.

I was aware that Mr. Corbett moved to Africa when he retired and have known that fact a long time. An anecdote about him I didn’t know until fairly recently was he was staying or at Treetops Hotel when Princess Elizabeth and Prince Phillip stayed there. Her father died during the night and Corbett said something along the lines of, “She went up the tree a princess and came down a queen”. He could turn a phrase.
 
I will show you something very interesting , Mr. Beagle .
Below , is a photograph l have taken from the internet of Kenneth Anderson .
View attachment 320754
Take a closer look at the rifle . You gentlemen all know that Kenneth Anderson owned and used a .405 Winchester Model 1895 lever rifle . A lesser known fact , is that he actually owned and used a .450/ 400 Nitro Express double barreled side by side rifle , built by the British Company , W J Jeffery . This rifle was a gift to him , from Dick Bird . He actually preferred it to his Winchester for the big male royal Bengal tigers .
When most people look at this photograph with a passing glance , they immediately assume that he is holding his .405 Winchester Model 1895 lever rifle . But here is the thing . He is not .
The rifle in the picture is an Indian Ordinance Factories .315 bolt rifle , built on a cheap Indian copy of the service Lee Enfield action . Also , he is wearing a white shirt . Anyone who has ever hunted in India ( especially nocturnal dangerous game ) will tell you that it is suicide to wear a white shirt when hunting game at night .
So , why is Kenneth Anderson using a cheap , Indian Ordinance Factories rifle in this photograph and not 1 of his 2 personal rifles ?
The answer is because , at this point in his life , Kenneth Anderson had sold both his rifles and had actually become a staunch supporter of Indian gun control and anti hunting . Therefore , he used a borrowed rifle for the picture . The reason why he is wearing a white shirt is because he is attempting to evoke the image of a " stereotypical colonial hunter " . This photograph is the most widely remembered photograph of Kenneth Anderson in the hunting community . Ironically , he actually took this picture in an event organized to demonize hunting .
I was not there that day , but a local news paper had covered the event. However , l have also held the actual pictured rifle in my hand . This rifle used to belong to his son , Don ( who was still into target shooting at the time ) . When l met the Andersons in 1962 , Don used to own 3 firearms : That IOF .315 bolt rifle , an IOF "12 Bore DBBL " shot gun ( the same type of shot gun used by Kawshik during his career ) and a .404 Jeffery bolt rifle , made by a company named " Vickers " ( However , ammunition for this was extremely scare and Don had a box of pre 1947 ICI Kynoch cartridges which he made do with , for his entire stint as a hunter ) . He briefly had a .30-06 Springfield Model 1903 bolt rifle , which another Anglo Indian had sold him , but he only had 10 cartridges for it , and he sold it very quickly .
Don was not very bright as a shikaree. On 2 separate occasions , he let someone from his shikar party get killed . 1 was a tracker and the other was a shikaree guide . Their deaths could have been easily avoided , had it not been for Don's impulsive behavior .Kawshik actually guided Don once in a gaur shikar in 1965 .

In 2014 , after Don's death , a man wrote an autobiography about Don based on "interviews" he had with Don , but the amount of inaccuracies that is in that book , is laughable . The writer ( by his own admission ) is an anti hunter and painted hunting in the worst possible way . He also had not even basic knowledge of fire arms , referring to a .404 Jeffery as a " Double barrelled shot gun " . He also portrays every hunter in the book as an adulterous , sadistic and cowardly racist . In the end of the book , the writer makes it sound as if Don dying penniless was the Gods' way of punishing him for killing so many " defenseless animals " . He coyly ignores the fact that it was the Indian government who actually took all of their land and property away .
Yes , l have no fondness for the Andersons . Jim Corbett , however , was a true hero in every definition of the word.
And l wish that l could have met this lion of a man .

Major Khan,
Fascinating anecdote about the Andersons. I was so engrossed that I didn't notice my coffee going cold. Love your bits of history ie. Queen Elizabeth II.
 
Major Khan,
Fascinating anecdote about the Andersons. I was so engrossed that I didn't notice my coffee going cold. Love your bits of history ie. Queen Elizabeth II.
I am glad that you enjoyed my explanation , New Boomer . Merry Christmas . Kenneth Anderson is given much more respect by the international hunting community than he actually deserves. Jim Corbett , however , was an incredibly modest and sensible gentleman .
 
I still hope to visit India some day though the clock is ticking. Corbett had such an influence on me that the place I most want to visit is Naini Tal.
 

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