Three Royal Bengal Tigers In One Day

[Kawshik Rahman]

Another wonderful story of a bygone era. I must admit, I have put aside my normal nightly reading material over the last days....coming on here with the joyful anticipation of another account from Mr. Rahman! Thanks for the posts!

TByrd
Thank you so much for all the support which you have shown . I am most grateful.

 

[Kawshik Rahman]

excellent tale with lessons for us all. Thank you Mr.Rahman!

Kevin Masters
Thank you so much for enjoying the accounts

 

[Kawshik Rahman]

Kawshik, I have a Winchester Model 71, identical to the one your client used on the Nilgai. Mine was made in 1936. It is indeed a relatively powerful lever action rifle. The Shikari's Journal where all of this detailed information must be written down is in fact the beginning of the book we are all wishing you would write. If we cannot convince you to write a book then at the very least you need to keep these stories coming. "We" are enjoying them immensely.

Shootist43
Thank you so much for all the support that you have shown. It was an excellent rifle , yes. The .348 Winchester calibre was a little uncommon back in my time. It was very effective on the Nilgai. I cannot seem to remember if the tube type magazine held four cartridges or five. Even though under lever rifles are not typically thought of as Shikar or Safari rifles , they appear to have held their own in India during my time. The client in the account about the bears had also brought an under lever rifle from the firm , Savage in the calibre .243 Winchester . Another client had brought an under lever rifle from Winchester in the calibre .3006 which had no tube type magazine.
Another had brought the venerable .3030 calibre under lever rifle from Winchester.

 

[Kawshik Rahman]

Another grand report!

+1

Ridge Walker
I am grateful for your never ending support for me.

 

[Kawshik Rahman]

Another great story sir, if only a little regrettable in the way it played out. As you say though we are all young once and don't have the benefit of years of life experience and the ethics and morals that come with it. If it is of any consolation I know of several people in their 60's and 70's in my local area that have never developed proper ethics and still perform illegal and unethical hunting acts. So anyone who can use these types of experiences for the better should not always be looked down upon.

Thank you again.

JPbowhunter
Thank you so much for the understanding that you have shown regarding the situation. I had been given a direct order from Sundar Raj sir to guide the client , as he was an extremely wealthy gentleman from the Middle East who was always used to getting whatever he liked. If l had refused , then l would have lost my job at Sundar Raj Shikar. Even at that young age , l did find some of the acts in that particular Shikar very sickening . However , client is King and must be protected at all costs. I am a little confused as to why Rongon would think of injuring an animal to force it to get aggressive. When l told this story to Karim , Karim speculated that Rongon had probably done this before as well. However , l would like to believe that Karim was incorrect.

 

[Kawshik Rahman]

Me. Rahman,
Great story and told with much regard of ethics learned that day. Thank you for the story.
Did your hunting party suffer any penalty for having to kill the third Tiger? As you said money can solve most problems then as it can today.
Cheers,
Cody

Bullthrower 338
You are a most observant gentleman . The entire Shikar itself was illegal to do , because at the time the season for Royal Bengal tigers had not opened yet for another two months and the Nilgiri wild life Association would only allow one Royal Bengal tiger to be shot per season. This sickening killing ( l will not call it Shikar ) was only possible because we had broken into Buxa tiger reserve.
Since l could not legally sell the skin of the Royal Bengal tiger , l kept it in my family house after having the coolies treat the skin in the field.

 

[Kawshik Rahman]

Dear Mr Rahman,

Thank you again, for this meaningful and great story!
Our forum members, have said all that has to be said on ethical part of this episode.

Also, for many if us (I believe), it is unthinkable to shoot three great cats in one day. Especially tigers. The forest must be teaming with these cats in those days! (maybe even today?)

After all of your stories so far, I do have one question:

In modern African safari, it is usual that client test or zero the rifle in presence of his PH, before hunt will start.
Has this been customary in India in those days as well?

Or the clients was trusted to have well regulated rifle and scope, without test? No firearms practical check at all?

What I have seen in your stories, most of your clients with telescopic sight were shooting well zeroed rifles, thus the question.

Mark Hunter
You always ask the most thoughtful questions. The danger of shooting at tigers in Buxa Tiger Reserve was that there were tigers all over the area and the area had extremely thick vegetation .

Observe the vegetation on the left side. It is very dense.
You raise another very good point . In the normal forests , it would be impossible to shoot or even find three tigers within such close proximity to one another ( naturally , as they are not herd animals ). However , Buxa tiger reserve had a very concentrated population of Royal Bengal tigers.
Regarding rifles , the sensible thing to do was always to suggest to our clients to fire three test shots at the lawn of Darjeeling Circuit House , before the Shikar . If this was a double barrel rifle , then it would be four test shots , because we needed to see how swiftly the client can reload the double barrel rifle ( for this , l will always recommend a double barrel rifle without an automatic safety mechanism ). However , we could not force clients to do it. Fortunately , most of our clients were really sensible and they did it without needing to be requested.
I always prefer that my clients will use telescopic sight , because it aids in correct aim and more clean shooting.

 

[Hoss Delgado]

I went to Buxa tiger reserve when l was a kid , Mr. Rahman . This was in '86 when Mr. Karim was still alive . It was pretty creepy I saw your pic carefully. Those thick bushes still exist. And our guide DID infact tell us that tigers prowled every bush there .

 

[Red Leg]

Excellent! Please find a friendly editor and compile these memoirs in a book. It would be an invaluable addition to the literature of our sport, and quite likely the last of its kind. Thank you so much.

 

[Kawshik Rahman]

Excellent! Please find a friendly editor and compile these memoirs in a book. It would be an invaluable addition to the literature of our sport, and quite likely the last of its kind. Thank you so much.

Red Leg
Thank you so much for your never ending support. I will definitely consider it , as so many of you gentlemen are saying it .

 

[WAB]

Red Leg
Thank you so much for your never ending support. I will definitely consider it , as so many of you gentlemen are saying it .

Please do so Mr. Rahman! Your adventures and the manner in which you share them, are outstanding and take us back to a time none of us will know, except through writings or gentlemen such as yourself.

 

[Kawshik Rahman]

Please do so Mr. Rahman! Your adventures and the manner in which you share them, are outstanding and take us back to a time none of us will know, except through writings or gentlemen such as yourself.

WAB
Thank you for your never ending support. I will genuinely consider it . First , l must fulfil my promise to Hoss Delgado and help him with his own book and the chapter about India.

 

[Nyati]

Thank you for another great story, Mr, Rahman. Unfortunately, money is still King in many instances, leaving aside ethics, and this happens all over the world, today.

 

[mark-hunter]

Excellent! Please find a friendly editor and compile these memoirs in a book. It would be an invaluable addition to the literature of our sport, and quite likely the last of its kind. Thank you so much.

Exactly!
This reminds me of the africana book "The last Ivory hunter - saga of Wally Johnson", but this one is written by somebody else not Johnson himself - in this case it was written by Peter H. Capstick, and the book published quite late, after actual ivory hunters days, in 1988!

Dear mr @Kawshik Rahman,
Please do not underestimate yourself. Publish the book, it will be of great value to all future hunters! And if i may suggest, give some more current insights to present day hunting in Bangladesh!

 

[Kawshik Rahman]

Thank you for another great story, Mr, Rahman. Unfortunately, money is still King in many instances, leaving aside ethics, and this happens all over the world, today.

Nyati
This is sadly correct. There is still one person now who actively leads illegal huntings for Royal Bengal tigers in India now. He is a corrupt forest official who publicly still blames hunting .

 

[Kawshik Rahman]

Exactly!
This reminds me of the africana book "The last Ivory hunter - saga of Wally Johnson", but this one is written by somebody else not Johnson himself - in this case it was written by Peter H. Capstick, and the book published quite late, after actual ivory hunters days, in 1988!

Dear mr @Kawshik Rahman,
Please do not underestimate yourself. Publish the book, it will be of great value to all future hunters! And if i may suggest, give some more current insights to present day hunting in Bangladesh!

Mark Hunter
You are very supportive of me.

 

[MAdcox]

Another great story sir. I continue to agree with most here, please keep them coming in the forum and record them in a volume somewhere they will be preserved.

 

[Kawshik Rahman]

Another great story sir. I continue to agree with most here, please keep them coming in the forum and record them in a variety Lyme somewhere they will be preserved.

MAdcox
Thank you so much for your appreciation and support

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

I remember the day clearly. It was the wedding anniversary of Karim’s parents , Pamuk Chowdhury and Farida Chowdhury and Karim’s father had bought Karim’s mother a horse. I had gone to visit them and it was a gala festive occasion.

However , l could not stay for long as l had to go to Sundar Raj sir’s office. An extremely wealthy client was on his way and Shikaris would be assigned to him. Sundar Raj sir introduced me to our client. He was a wealthy young man of Middle Eastern descent and he had brought two of his wives to Darjeeling . A special car with windows of tinted glass was arranged by Sundar Raj sir for our client and his wives and the wives remained inside the vehicle , while l received my instructions from Sundar Raj sir and the client. The instructions were unusual. The client wanted a large Nilgai and two Royal Bengal tigers. I was confused , because of two reasons. Firstly , the season for hunting Royal Bengal tigers was still two months away from opening. Secondly , the Nilgiri Wild Life Association would only provide license for one Royal Bengal tiger every season for one foreign client. However, money spoke in those days ( and it still does) and Sundar Raj sir was extremely well connected . It was laid out , what we were to do. We were to take our client to a reserve area where he would shoot his brace of Royal Bengal tigers ( the reserve still exists today. , as the Buxa Tiger Reserve ) . I must confess that this was not legal to do , even at that time. However , Client is King and Sundar Raj sir had given me a direct order. Sundar Raj sir was a man of immense connections and it was no challenge for him to arrange a Shikar at the tiger reserve. I was assigned to work with Rongon Daas , a senior Shikari in Sundar Raj Shikar as we guided this Shikar. Karim had been assigned to guide another client who wanted to shoot a Gaur at this time. I had a chance to examine the client’s armaments and they were indeed beautiful fire arms. One was an under lever rifle in the calibre .348 Winchester and the other was a most magnificent magnum .375 calibre rifle built by the firm Brevexe ( which by the name , l am avariciously assuming , was French or Belgian ) . The ammunition for both the rifles came from the venerable American firm , Winchester . The .348 Winchester cartridges were all of 200 grain weight and had blunt noses , far flatter , infact than a normal round nose bullet. The magnum .375 Holland and Holland cartridges were a personal favorite of mine : The Winchester silver tip bullet of 300 grain weight.
Sundar Raj sir had to make some very complicated arrangements with the officials at the reserve ( l suspect that a hefty sum was involved ) , while we went on the Shikar for the Nilgai.
This would occur two days later.

My dear friend Kawshik
I can see that you were in a great moral Feldman my friend. Either your job or the possibility of not working again. It is the client and your boss that were in the wrong by forcing you to this job. As you clearly stated money talks and still does. No amount of money should allow someone to break the law or be an unethical hunter.
Difficult times call for difficult decisions my friend.
Bob Nelson

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

Our client went back to his home country after giving Rongon and me a large amount of tips for our services. He was an excellent gentleman in terms of kindness. However , l must respectfully disagree with the philosophy of shooting an animal in a non mortal region , in order to stimulate it into charging. Not only is it extremely cruel and inhumane , but it is extremely dangerous as well .
Rongon would go on to lead more Shikars until one fateful day in 1965 , when he decided to guide an American client armed with a .220 Swift rifle by Winchester , who wanted to shoot a Royal Bengal tiger. The client believed in a theory about light , fast velocity bullets. Unfortunately , his theory cost him his life , when the enraged beast tore his rib cage open and pierced his lungs. Rongon would be blamed for the client's unfortunate demise and was hung to death by the police under the orders of the Nilgiri Wildlife Association . While Rongon certainly made mistakes in his life , l wish that my friend did not die. Even though rumours had surfaced that Rongon had abandoned his poor client and run for his life from the wounded Royal Bengal tiger , l do not believe that Rongon would act so irresponsibly . I do not wish to believe it , at any rate.
One thing is for certain , however. If my shot-gun were loaded with SG cartridges and not Kynoch lethal ball cartridges that day , then l would definitely not have been able to kill that third Royal Bengal tiger . Either me or my client would have been badly injured , if not suffer a worse fate. I had previously spoken out to my dear readers about how wounding a beast to force it to charge at you for sheer bravado , is wrong . And today , you all know what makes me think in such a manner.
On a final note , l had never seen another Brevexe rifle ever again after that day. The magnum .375 Brevexe rifle was the most beautiful .375 bore rifle , l had ever seen. If any of my fellow forum members ever finds one , do not let this one escape your collection. You will be most pleased.

Dear Friend Kawshik
Your client was the most unethical of hunters. EVERT HUNTER has an obligation to dispatch an animal humanely. Your client may have been rich financially but was extremely poor in morality and ethics.
You friend
Bob Nelson