At late noon on the following day , we ( Joy , Mustapha and I ) drove my pickup truck into the area which is now known as Uttara . We kept going until we had reached the partially completed airstrip . It was here that we parked the truck and decided to continue the rest of the journey on foot , because the road ended here and the forest had begun . It was an incredibly dense forest , too . And the sun had just begun to set .
I carried my Laurona 12 bore sidelock ejector in my hands , which was loaded with an Eley Alphamax LG shell in the chamber of each barrel . On my ammunition belt , I had 18 extra Eley Alphamax LG shells . Joy carried his 12 bore Browning A - 5 , which was loaded with local LG shells . On his ammunition bandolier ( slung across his shoulders ) , he had 15 extra local LG shells . Mustapha carried my BRNO .22 LR bolt action rifle in his hands and was carrying the bag pack , which contained all of our remaining spare ammunition . While trekking through the forest , we came across a few sounders of huge wild boar . As I raised my Laurona 12 bore to my shoulders ( in order to commence shooting them ) , Joy stopped me . He told me that the gun shots would alert the cheetahs , which were the main reason why we were here . It was then , mutually agreed between us that we would hold our fire until we found any cheetahs .
About half an hour went by , before we were able to find the pug marks of any cheetahs . We advanced forward , until he found a small stream . Mustapha pointed at something near the stream . Initially Joy and I did not notice anything , but then Joy took a look through a pair of binoculars which were hanging from a lanyard from his neck . There , lying down on the other side of the stream ( which was roughly 100 yards away from us ) and taking a nap ; were three large cheetahs . We had found what we were looking for.
Joy and I debated about what was the best method of taking these animals out . We had two options :
A . Either we could close in on them while they were napping , and shoot them to death with our shotguns at point blank range .
Or
B . We could shoot them in the heads from the other side of the stream , with my .22 LR .
The problem with option A , was that we would be needing to cross the stream . The problem with option B , was that a 40 grain .22 calibre bullet is not much good for anything larger than a crane .
Eventually , we decided upon option B because I was confident that a well placed brain shot on the unsuspecting cheetahs with my .22 LR , would actually prove fatal . Since the animals were lying down and my .22 LR was mounted with an accurate Weaver K 5 telescopic sight ( Not too high magnification ) , I was confident that I could place my shots properly . And since the noise of a .22 LR is quite minuscule , the remaining cheetahs were unlikely be become alerted by the sounds of my gunshots .
I handed Mustapha my Laurona 12 Bore and took my BRNO .22 LR from him . Then , I sat down on the ground and raised the rifle to my shoulder . One cheetah had it’s head turned in such a manner , that it was perfect for landing a side brain shot . I cycled the bolt , held my breath , took aim at the ear hole and pulled the trigger . The nonchalant pop of the .22 LR was followed by the cheetah slumping it’s head softly to the ground , as blood began to trickle out of the ear hole . It lay motionless and very much dead . Pleasantly surprised that our theory of a brain shot with a .22 LR being capable of killing a cheetah was actually correct , Joy and I decided to take out the two other cheetahs in a similar fashion .
Joy took the BRNO .22 LR from my hands and sat down on the ground . He cycled the bolt and took careful aim at the second cheetah . This one was lying down in such a way that it was directly facing us . Thus , a frontal brain shot was the only option . Joy lined up his sights and pulled the trigger . Again , the nonchalant pop of the .22 LR was followed by blood trickling our of a neat little hole in the T zone of the cheetah .
With only one cheetah left now , I decided that I should be the one to take it out . I took my BRNO .22 LR from Joy and got ready to shoot the final cheetah . It looked larger and heavier than the other two and we were facing it from a broadside position , but I thought that it would be just as effortless to take out as the other two . Again , I took aim at the side of the cheetah’s head ; visualizing the ear hole as a target . Cycling the bolt , I held my breath and pulled the triggers.
Of course , one can only get away with doing something so foolhardy for so many times . Perhaps my aim was off by a millimeter or two . Perhaps the cheetah had moved , at the last moment . Anyway , the 40 grain .22 calibre bullet glanced off the skull of the cheetah . It suddenly leapt up in pain and locked eyes with us . Roaring angrily , it ran off into the thick foliage . Now , Joy and I started worrying about having a wounded cheetah on our hands which needed to be sorted out . It was now beginning to get dark .
View attachment 363587
Eley Rifle Club .22 LR solid ammunition owned by the author .
View attachment 363588
Female cheetah killed by the author with a side brain shot , employing a .22 LR . June 17 , 1973 .
