A Day After The Rogue Indian Elephant

[Kawshik Rahman]

Another very interesting article, thank you !

Nyati
Thank you so much for your kind words.

 

[Kawshik Rahman]

Another great read and A wonderful honor to your friend!

Kevin Masters
Yes. I miss him very much. The young generation these days have so many forms of social media , yet their friendships do not last . But in our generation , friends were real and Mohiyuddin was a real friend.

 

[kevin masters]

Kevin Masters
Yes. I miss him very much. The young generation these days have so many forms of social media , yet their friendships do not last . But in our generation , friends were real and Mohiyuddin was a real friend.

The friends that I hunt with have always been my closest. I think it has something to do with sharing a passion that has such real meaning!
I have never regretted a day in the field, a morning in the blind or tree stand, day spent behind good bird dogs! Those are the time I am most fond of and cant replace!
Thank you for your stories it is so interesting experiencing your unique experiences that are so very different from my own but yet so similar.

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

Based on the enthusiasm and support my fellow forum members have shown for my accounts of my days as a professional Indian Shikari , l have decided to provide my fellow forum members with an account that may interest quite a few gentlemen here .
This is an account of going after the Indian rogue Elephant. I would like to dedicate this article to my late friend , Mohiyuddin who was a forest department officer in Darjeeling India from 1963 up to 1970 and who was assigned to shoot rogue elephants. Today , he is the protagonist of this story while l am a mere spectator .
Let us begin . The account shall unfold in three following sections.
View attachment 308567
Mohiyuddin with rogue Indian elephant which he has shot with his issued .303 bore Lee Enfield type rifle made by Birmingham Small Arms, 1963

Friend Kawshik
You do like keeping us in suspense by writing in three parts but it does make for great reading.
Your friend
Bob

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

It was 1966 . Shikar season was closed for three months of the year. Thus , l was pursuing my other interests , like spending time with Antora , helping my mother in her garden and watching my father’s grocer’s shop. While , l certainly enjoyed helping my loved ones and spending time with them , my heart belonged in the jungles with a gun in my hand and l longed for adventure .
There was news that a rogue bull elephant was causing trouble near Shiliguri and it had already killed five people and caused an extensive amount of damage to crops and property. Contrary to what animal lovers will tell you , the elephant is not the gentle creature portrayed by Walt Disney. It is extremely dangerous.
We used to exchange letters back in those days and l had once casually mentioned to Mohiyuddin that l was reeking of boredom. Mohiyuddin wrote back to me asking if l would like to accompany him on killing a rogue bull elephant. How could l refuse ? What good friends l had . If l tell them that l am bored , they offer me to join them on an elephant Shikar. I was extremely excited and thus preparations were made.
In a few weeks , we were out again , with our redoubtable Garo trackers. I had with me my Ishapore 12 bore shot-gun loaded with SG in both the barrels. I also took a spare two dozen cartridges with me , along with twenty cartridges of number 6 shot for wild pigeons , for which there no seasonal limitations set by the Nilgiri Wildlife Association . Mohiyuddin had with him his issues .303 bore rifle . I would like to add a small detail. As he did not have any extra magazines for his .303 bore rifle , Mohiyuddin used two strips of green tape to attach five spare cartridges to either side of the stock of his rifle. Our Garo trackers had located tracks of the elephant and seen a few crushed pudina trees on the ground to decipher that the elephant had been through this area. The Garo trackers were on the trail of the elephant spoor .
This was a fairly large animal and he had covered a good deal of distance in a short period of time. But we were in pursuit of him now.
Three hours had passed , but there was was still no sign of the rogue in the hot Indian sun. Finally , the Garo trackers had found a large quantity of elephant dung. The head tracker , Gautam removed his sandal and dipped his toes into the elephant dung. . He told us “ Bhai ei hatee beshi door nai” ( Brother , the elephant could not have gone far as it’s dung is still warm ). Now , we became very cautious and were walking carefully. Mohiyuddin was unrivalled in his skill at hunting elephants. In his entire life , he had only shot two kinds of animals : Deer for the family table and elephants during his duties as a forest department officials. But for these two animals , he was an unrivalled marksman. And today would be the day when l finally was able to see his skill first hand. We found the elephant. The vegetation was not so dense , but there were enough trees which the elephant was breaking pieces of. I had my camera with me , as Mohiyuddin crept to within less than forty yards of the rogue elephant. He raised his rifle to his shoulder and lined up the front sight of his .303 bore with the back sight. He took careful aim at the side of the elephant’s head. I took a single photograph which l would cherish for the rest of my life.

Mohiyuddin pulled the trigger . A sharp crack and the rogue's lifeless corpse dropped to the ground , a neat little hole on the side of his head. This was a clean execution to the monarch of the Indian forests.
The epilogue will follow.

Friend Kawshik
Your friend is a remarkable shot. Even tho it was only 40 yards the 215 grain 303 bullet had to be placed with surgical prescion. He did that admirably with a caliber that most people would not equate as an elephant cartridge.
I have always had a soft spot for the SMLE 303 they are a very underrated rifle and cartridge.
In the late 1940s my father m are a living shooting water buffalo and crocodiles with one.
Cheers my Friend
Bob

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

Sign me up to buy a copy, Mr. Rahman would have a pretty active client base to sell that book to right here.

+1

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

Kawshik, so you too are a firearms instructor. That is one way for an old man to stay in the game. At 76 I'm not as capable a shooter as I was as a young man, I expect the same is true for you. Our job is to teach the next generation(s) of hunters the finer points of marksmanship and then share their accomplishments. In 1986 I met a very accomplished shooter that was also the Firearms Instructor for his Department. I asked him if he ever had a student that wound up being a better shot than he was. His reply was in the affirmative. I then asked how he felt about that. His reply was "very proud, because every shot they make is partly mine." His words struck home and I became a Certified Firearms Instructor the following year.

Shootist43
It should be our aim to make these younger generations of shooters better than us as they have better equipment in most cases than we did.
It should be the aim of all students to become better than their teacher as they now have more time than us.

At our age we don't even look at the use by date on the products we buy we just hope to out live them. Haha.
My son is a better shot than I am now but has always to go to be as good as I once was. I still manage the odd shot that surprise the crap out of him.
Cheers Art
Bob

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

Kevin Masters
Yes. I miss him very much. The young generation these days have so many forms of social media , yet their friendships do not last . But in our generation , friends were real and Mohiyuddin was a real friend.

Friend Kawshik
That is so true. I still have a very good non hunting friend that I have known for close on 55 years.
Our generation values real friendship. My father once said when you die if you can count the number of TRUE friends on one hand you have done well even if that number is only one.
Your friend
Bob

 

[Sam Kunal]

Nice article..A great way to honour the memories of your friend..And Thank You for giving an opportunity to feel oneself in the long lost wonderful time.