The Spotted Trespasser

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

When I searched the area where Dad , S T , TE and D K were waiting , the sun was merely minutes away from setting . We all began to make preparations for putting down the man eater . Dad loaded his Indian Ordinance Factories .315 caliber bolt action rifle with Indian Ordinance Factories 244 grain soft nose cartridges. S T loaded his Indian Ordinance Factories 12 Bore Double Barrel Side By Side Shotgun , with hand loaded Indian LG cartridges . The sun had set , and it was now time for action .

We decided that we were going to draw the man eater out , by way of fire . S T ordered D K and T E to gather all the dry leaves and twigs that they could find and pile them together , around the holes in the dried up pond . This , they obediently carried out . After that , Dad lit a matchstick and ignited the pile. Smoke slowly began to spread all around the holes . However , we had to take great care to ensure that there was not too much smoke . Naturally , we did not want to attract any outside attention , in regards to what we were doing . If the Jolpaiguri Forest Department got even the slightest clue as to what we were doing , then it was 14 years in prison for each and every single one of us , as per the so called “ Wild Life Protection Act - 1972 “ . Additionally , since I was carrying an unlicensed imported .375 Holland & Holland Magnum , I was bound to be facing additional charges under the so called “Arms Act “ .

Dad , S T and I had encircled the pond ; firearms at the ready . We could hear the feral snarls of the fiend , emanating from within one of the holes in the dried up pond . However , it was impossible for us to ascertain exactly which hole it was in .
We just had to wait patiently . Cautiously . And then , all of a sudden , it had happened .

What appeared to be a massive spotted calf sprung out of one of the holes , as if it was propelled by a catapult . It was the fiend . The man eating Hunting Leopard .
As our horrible fortune would have it , the fiend was rushing towards the one direction where neither Dad , nor S T , nor I were standing . Knowing that I could not let it escape , I decided to risk taking a shot . It was 35 feet away from where I was standing . I instinctively switched on my flashlight and snapped the .375 Holland & Holland Magnum up to my shoulder . I got the fiend within my sights and pulled the left trigger . The .375 Holland & Holland Magnum spat fire , as the 300 grain Winchester Silvertip soft nose bullet buried itself deep behind the fiend’s shoulder . It roared in pain and turned towards me , clearly intent on charging . However , I never let the charge materialize . Owing to the swift handling properties of a Double Rifle ( fitted with double triggers , at that ) , I was able to immediately let off my right barrel . The 300 grain Winchester Silvertip soft nose bullet punched right through the T - Zone of the fiend’s skull . The man eater reacted , as if it was struck by a bolt of lightning . It collapsed onto the ground ; it’s hind legs giving out first .

We all breathed a sigh of relief . The fiend was no more . But what had driven it to become a man eater ?
View attachment 349273
C’s killer

My dear friend Panther Shooter.
That was some very nice shooting under the circumstances that resulted in what looks like a big cat. It is a pity the man died such a horrible death but I suppose that was part of life in those days.
Your writing as usual has kept me in suspense as usual. I shall read on to find the final round part.
Your humble reader and friend
Bob Nelson

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

The five of us silently , but hurriedly hauled the corpse of the slain man eater towards Dad’s garage shed . I then took my Schrade Old Timer Trapper carbon steel folding knife out of the pocket of my trousers, and handed it to T E . T E opened the clip point blade ( which I used to keep razor sharp ) and began to skin the Hunting Leopard . It was a fully grown male and weighed an even 92 kilograms , featuring a snout to tail measurement of seven feet and five inches .

The Autopsy proved to be quite educational , and it became crystal clear to us as to why this Hunting Leopard had turned into a man eater .There , lodged against the fiend’s shoulder blades , was a .303 British caliber bullet . It was a full metal jacket spitzer tipped bullet of 174 grains . We had all used these exact same kind of .303 British caliber full metal jacket spitzer tipped 174 grain cartridges during the 1971 Bangladesh War Of Independence . The fact that it was a .303 British caliber bullet , also had it’s own implications . Even prior to 1972 , the .303 British used to be a “ Prohibited Bore “ in India , Pakistan and Bangladesh. An ordinary civilian could not get their hands upon a rifle or ammunition of this caliber . Therefore , it immediately dawned upon us that this particular Hunting Leopard must have been shot at , by either : a ) A Forest Department Official or b) An Indian Army Ranger . These people were issued the .303 British ( Lee Enfield bolt action rifles ) and 174 grain spitzer tipped full metal jacket cartridges . They had attempted to poach this Hunting Leopard with their department issued .303 British caliber 174 grain spitzer tipped full metal jacket cartridges. Predictably , a hard nose non expanding bullet makes for a woeful choice against soft skinned game . The fact that the bullet had a pointed spitzer tip ( as opposed to a flat or round tip ) , only helped to exacerbate the problem even further . In their attempt to poach this Hunting Leopard , those Forest Department Officials / Indian Army Rangers had ended up creating a man eater . A monster . However , this was hardly surprising to any of us . Ever since Shikar was completely banned in India in 1972 , the bulk of poaching activities in India have been carried out by corrupt Forest Department Officials . Take away something lawful from people , and only the unlawful shall remain behind to continue doing it .

I sold the skin of this man eater to V for quite an impressive sum . Despite quite a bit of haggling about the price , V eventually agreed to pay me the full price for the skin of this man eating Hunting Leopard . I suspect that he was just as impressed with it’s massive proportions as I was ( although , he certainly did his best to conceal this fact from me ) . I decided to give half of the money to S T , under the request that the money reach C’s widow . Since it was this very man eater who had deprived her of her husband , it was only fair that a percentage of the money made from the slain fiend’s skin goes to her .

And thus , ended my Shikar for the man eating fiend which had the audacity to set up it’s lair on my family property . Thus , ended the Shikar for the “ Spotted Trespasser “

THE END

My dear friend Panther Shooter
I am glad that the rouge V,decided to pay the price you were asking as opposed to taking advantage of you as a,young man. You were very generous giving C some money to help her.
Keep writing my friend I enjoy your stories.
Your humble reader and friend
Bob

 

[Panther Shooter]

About bloody time ! I was starting to miss your writings . For once ... I get to be the reader.

Major Khan Sir
I am honored to have been able to do you justice .

 

[Panther Shooter]

Why thank you so much for your kind words , Bob . After Panther Shooter finishes writing his magnificent article ... I shall write 1 of mine , again.

In the mean time ... Now is the time for me to kick back , relax and do the reading ( Instead of the writing ) for a change .

Major Khan Sir
Really ? Enayet told me about yesterday’s crocodile Shikar .

 

[Panther Shooter]

Looking forward with great anticipation as is normal....
Bruce

Bruce
I am honored that you are so enthusiastic to read my entry . I can only hope that you have enjoyed it ?

 

[Panther Shooter]

And the plot intensifies! Hunting leopards seem to be the evil demons of India. Scary!
I think I might rather face another lion or Cape buffalo!

Ridge Walker
This is quite true . The only person in my entire life , whom I have seen that actually enjoys going after Hunting Leopards, is Major Poton Khan Sir . He is a person , who has not changed even the slightest in the last 50 years . He literally jumps in excitement , if you tell him right now that you have a Hunting Leopard for him to shoot . I am not even joking .

There was an incident on this February . We were celebrating the Major’s 80th birthday in his house . It was a huge barbecue party and more than 40 people had attended . The Major and his servants were tending to all of us , and we were all having a good time . Suddenly , the Major got a telephone call from an officer in the Maulvi Bazaar Forest Department . There was a man eating Hunting Leopard , which needed to be disposed of .

And that was that . The Major forgot about everything else , the minute he realized that he had an opportunity to shoot a Hunting Leopard . He told his servants to tend to us and feed us , while he packed a small suit case with a spare set of clothes and toiletries . He then took his old Belgian shotgun and a satchel full of cartridges , got into his Audi and literally just drove away ; leaving all of us inside the house . On that very day . The birthday boy left the birthday . The scary thing is that five days later , we all learn that the Major successfully disposed of the man eater , singlehandedly . With a shotgun . At the age of 80 . At night .

Oh , and he took down another man eating Hunting Leopard a couple of weeks ago . On foot . At night . With nothing , but that old Belgian shotgun .

 

[Ridgewalker]

Ridge Walker
This is quite true . The only person in my entire life , whom I have seen that actually enjoys going after Hunting Leopards, is Major Poton Khan Sir . He is a person , who has not changed even the slightest in the last 50 years . He literally jumps in excitement , if you tell him right now that you have a Hunting Leopard for him to shoot . I am not even joking .

There was an incident on this February . We were celebrating the Major’s 80th birthday in his house . It was a huge barbecue party and more than 40 people had attended . The Major and his servants were tending to all of us , and we were all having a good time . Suddenly , the Major got a telephone call from an officer in the Maulvi Bazaar Forest Department . There was a man eating Hunting Leopard , which needed to be disposed of .

And that was that . The Major forgot about everything else , the minute he realized that he had an opportunity to shoot a Hunting Leopard . He told his servants to tend to us and feed us , while he packed a small suit case with a spare set of clothes and toiletries . He then took his old Belgian shotgun and a satchel full of cartridges , got into his Audi and literally just drove away ; leaving all of us inside the house . On that very day . The birthday boy left the birthday . The scary thing is that five days later , we all learn that the Major successfully disposed of the man eater , singlehandedly . With a shotgun . At the age of 80 . At night .

Oh , and he took down another man eating Hunting Leopard a couple of weeks ago . On foot . At night . With nothing , but that old Belgian shotgun .

WOW! Poton is my hero! Now I have a goal to still be hunting 7 years from now when I turn 80!

 

[Panther Shooter]

Panther Shooter, another hair raising story from yesteryear. Your quick reflexes saved the day and no doubt human life. Another observation if I may. Your employees and or servants must have kept quiet about your exploits. Generally the more people that know of "illegal" activities the more likely it is to no longer remain a secret.

Shootist43
I am honored that you have enjoyed it . I owe my success only to the Double Rifle . For quick instinctive shooting in quick quarters , the Shikari benefits from using a Double Rifle which handles quickly like a British game gun .

Regarding my servants , please allow me to explain to you how this works . All of my employees were my father’s beloved workers , who had been working for us prior to 1972 . They all were critical of the Wild Life Protection Act - 1972 . I also kept them all extremely well fed , with game meat shot from my nocturnal poaching activities .
The fact that I was protecting them from man eating Hunting Leopards ( a regular visitor at the Jolpaiguri Tea Estate ) , was merely icing on the cake . They not only kept quiet about my nocturnal poaching activities , but they frequently were party to it .

I did have one new worker in 1974 , who had attempted to extort me and my family . He threatened to tell the Jolpaiguri Forest Department about my nocturnal poaching activities , unless I paid him a disproportionately unreasonable amount . My solution was to call Major Khan Sir , over to Jolpaiguri . The Major still did not have his facial reconstructive surgery done , at the time . So he looked extremely imposing with the stitches and all that . On top of that , the 1971 War Of Independence had only ended three years ago , and practically everyone in Jolpaiguri still had fresh memories of the tabloid news papers about the Major’s actions during the war . Both heroic and ( for lack of a better word ) horrifying . They were terrified of him . The Major took my worker to one side , took out a large Filipino Hand Made butterfly knife and then , casually threatened the rascal at knife point . The Major threatened to castrate him and feed him his testicles . Knowing Major Khan Sir’s reputation , the worker immediately apologized to me . The next day , he quit working at our Tea Estate and never returned .

In India , I still have contact with several of my friends who commit poaching ( not the greedy , commercial kind .But rather , the small scale kind like I used to do ) . The only reason that they can get away with it , is because they have dozens of other people to aid them in covering their tracks ( who secretly oppose the 1972 ban on Shikar ) . I would ask some of them to join AH forums . However , since they still live in India now and are still poaching , anything they write on the internet could potentially be used against them in Indian courts ; should they ( God forbid ) ever get caught . I myself was extremely hesitant to join AH forums initially , for this very reason . Even though I did all of this 44 years ago , and I have thankfully left India .
I only joined AH forums as a poster , after my daughter taught me how to pixelate my face on photographs . It is practically impossible for an average citizen ( or rather , “ Subject “ ) in India to acquire firearms , as it is . If these people share their stories on AH forums , then chances are that ( even if they are not caught ) the tyrants in India will amp up their draconian firearms laws , even more than what it already is .

 

[WebleyGreene455]

Mr. Panther Shooter,

I've very much enjoyed reading your content, as well as Major Khan's. I saw in the news yesterday that a massive cyclone slammed into parts of India and Bangladesh; I hope that you and yours, and the rest of our members in that part of the world, are alright and would like to express my sympathies for those affected. I look forward to reading any more stories you have to offer.

 

[Newboomer]

Panther Shooter,
I love the way you contacted Major Khan about the extortionist you hired. My kind of man the way he so expertly handled the situation. Would like to hear some of your poacher friends stories but not if it would endanger them.

 

[Panther Shooter]

I enjoyed the story PS. It’s a shame someone irresponsible had turned the cat man eater.

Wyatt Smith
Thank you very much . I have nothing to say , except this :
India and Kenya should always remain examples to the free world , about why Shikar is a vital part of conservation .

 

[Panther Shooter]

Panther shooter,

I'm very impressed that you were able to do such fast AND accurate shooting at night with open sights! i have tried targets at night with open sight with less than impressive results and without having to shoot a dangerous animal. well done.

1dirthawker
I am honored that you have enjoyed this entry of mine , so much . A Double Rifle ( With double triggers ) is completely unrivaled by anything else , for getting off a pair of quick , instinctive shots at dangerous game ( especially at close quarters ) .

I should also like to add a small note . I personally find it easier to shoot man eating Hunting Leopards , in comparison to ordinary Hunting Leopards . A man eating Hunting Leopard has completely lost his fear of man , and therefore he is far more likely to stand his ground than an ordinary Hunting Leopard ( which would have bolted to the safety of the thick shrub , the very moment that it had gotten flushed out ) . The drawback of course , is that a man eating Hunting Leopard is far more aggressive than an ordinary Hunting Leopard .

 

[Panther Shooter]

Another nailbiter. That was an amazing story. I like the idea if smoking him out and your fast gun handling. I believe the employees kept quiet because they realized the consequences if you were arrested. They would be potential victims of other leopards.
Keep the good stories coming.

New Boomer
I am honored that you have enjoyed this entry of mine , so much . As far as dangerous game hunting is concerned , there are some very particular sets of circumstances where it is ideal to make the fiend come towards your direction ( as opposed to you attempting to get closer to it ) . In situations where Hunting Leopards are likely to charge you ( such as spooring injured Hunting Leopards ) , a Double Rifle has an extremely apparent advantage over a bolt action rifle . A well fitted Double Rifle allows for extremely quick and instinctive shooting . That said , In 1983 I was most fortunate to be able to stop a charging Spotted Leopard with a single shot from my 7 millimeter Remington Magnum ( I employed a 175 grain Remington Core Lokt soft nose cartridge ) .

Regarding my servants , you are absolutely spot on ! All of my employees were my father’s beloved workers , who had been working for us prior to 1972 . They all were critical of the Wild Life Protection Act - 1972 . I also kept them all extremely well fed , with game meat shot from my nocturnal poaching activities . The fact that I was protecting them from man eating Hunting Leopards ( a regular visitor at the Jolpaiguri Tea Estate ) , was merely icing on the cake . They not only kept quiet about my nocturnal poaching activities , but they frequently were party to it .

 

[Panther Shooter]

Thanks for sharing, I enjoyed the read!

Cpr0312
I am honored that you have enjoyed this entry of mine with such zeal.

 

[Newboomer]

Major Khan, Sir,
I see a reference to a crocodile shikar. Do we have another story in the making? Hopefully soon.

 

[Newboomer]

Major Khan, Sir,
I see a reference to a crocodile shikar. Do we have another story in the making? Hopefully soon.

Had to correct a typo in the above.

 

[Panther Shooter]

My dear friend Panther Shooter
I am glad that the rouge V,decided to pay the price you were asking as opposed to taking advantage of you as a,young man. You were very generous giving C some money to help her.
Keep writing my friend I enjoy your stories.
Your humble reader and friend
Bob

Bob
Thank you very much for enjoying this entry of mine . Indeed , back in those days , my family and I would always try to financially assist widows , whenever possible . Life used to be extremely difficult for widows in India , back in those days . It still is .As soon of their husbands pass away , many widows of conservative Hindu families are forced to shave their heads bald and only wear white stitch-less clothing , for the rest of their lives .

 

[Panther Shooter]

Mr. Panther Shooter,

I've very much enjoyed reading your content, as well as Major Khan's. I saw in the news yesterday that a massive cyclone slammed into parts of India and Bangladesh; I hope that you and yours, and the rest of our members in that part of the world, are alright and would like to express my sympathies for those affected. I look forward to reading any more stories you have to offer.

WebleyGreene455
Thank you very much . I am touch by your heartfelt concern for my motherland and my people . Fortunately , we have suffered not even one casualty . Our Sundarban mangrove forests bore the brunt of nature’s rage and prevented the cyclone from advancing too much , inland . We Bengalis are a resilient race . We will survive and get back up on our feet , in no time .

 

[Panther Shooter]

Major Khan, Sir,
I see a reference to a crocodile shikar. Do we have another story in the making? Hopefully soon.

New Boomer
Just you wait . You absolutely have to hear about this one . The Major baited the fiend and shot him through the head , by employing a .22 Long Rifle.

 

[WebleyGreene455]

WebleyGreene455
Thank you very much . I am touch by your heartfelt concern for my motherland and my people . Fortunately , we have suffered not even one casualty . Our Sundarban mangrove forests bore the brunt of nature’s rage and prevented the cyclone from advancing too much , inland . We Bengalis are a resilient race . We will survive and get back up on our feet , in no time .

I'm glad to hear it. It's getting to be hurricane season in my part of the world and alas we have no such mangrove forests in Georgia. Mostly pine trees, lots and lots of pine trees. But like you Bengalis, we Southerners are a stubborn and resilient bunch when it comes to hurricanes and tropical cyclones and the like and we get things going again mighty fast afterwards.