The Art Of Hunting The Mighty Gaur : A Comprehensive Guide

[larry4831]

Another very interesting story sir!

 

[Major Khan]

Great article Major, I just now got to read the rest of it. These beasts are the most intimidating looking creatures I have seen.

If they look this imposing in an internet photograph , Master Smith ... imagine how bad it must be to actually go after them with a shot gun , loaded with spherical ball cartridges . Now that l think about it , the fact that l went through my entire 10 year career as a professional shikaree without getting so much as a scratch on me due to sheer luck , is a miracle , in and of itself . Clearly , someone upstairs was watching over me the entire time .

 

[Major Khan]

Another very interesting story sir!

Thank you so much f enjoying it , Larry . Please ... just call me Poton .

 

[larry4831]

I could read one of your stories every evening, lay in bed fall asleep and dream of hunting tigers and gaur in India.

 

[Pondoro]

Poton..thank you for yet another very interesting article….I had no idea that the Gaur was/is such a dangerous animal...would love to hunt them...

You mention using double rifles with heavy bullets on these brutes.. Here are some pics of available ammunition for the .470 Nitro Express, the most commonly used today along with .500 Nitro Express..

From left to right, Hornady 500 grain DGS (Soft) and Federal 500 grain Woodleigh (Solid)

Norma 500 grain Woodleigh Solid

Barnes 500 grain TSX

Krieghoff Big Five double in .470NE

WW1 vintage double in .475NE Straight and pre-WW2 ICI Kynoch 480 grain cupernickle solid

Rifle with modern 480 grain Kynoch, woodleigh solids..

A curiosity..old .416 Rigby 400 grain Hollow Points...presumably for use on big cats aka tiger and lion..

 

[Major Khan]

Poton..thank you for yet another very interesting article….I had no idea that the Gaur was/is such a dangerous animal...would love to hunt them...

You mention using double rifles with heavy bullets on these brutes.. Here are some pics of available ammunition for the .470 Nitro Express, the most commonly used today along with .500 Nitro Express..

From left to right, Hornady 500 grain DGS (Soft) and Federal 500 grain Woodleigh (Solid)

View attachment 328321




Norma 500 grain Woodleigh Solid

View attachment 328320

Barnes 500 grain TSX

View attachment 328322
Krieghoff Big Five double in .470NE

View attachment 328323
WW1 vintage double in .475NE Straight and pre-WW2 ICI Kynoch 480 grain cupernickle solid

View attachment 328324
Rifle with modern 480 grain Kynoch, woodleigh solids..

View attachment 328325

A curiosity..old .416 Rigby 400 grain Hollow Points...presumably for use on big cats aka tiger and lion..

View attachment 328326

View attachment 328327

Thank you so much for your appreciation , Pondoro. I have just checked the ballistics for the .470 Nitro Express calibre . It uses a 500 grain bullet ( 20 grains lighter than the 520 grain bullet of the .476 Westley Richards . ) I am confident that the .470 Nitro Express , with it's 500 grain bullet would work PERFECTLY for even the largest of gaurs .
I am curious ... till now what calibres have you tried on African elephants and which 1s did you like ?

 

[Pondoro]

Poton..I have shot them with .375H&H, .458Win. and .475NE...all work fine but on elephant the rule of thumb is that bigger is better as long as you can shoot them straight..

The .375H&H is better than ever with all the new superiour bullets..

I am building a .500 Jeffery on a ZKK 602 action..very eager to see how it performs….but if money was no object I would hunt them with a double in .577 or .600 just for the hell of it..

A friend have this .600, built in 1921 for the Mahajarah of Rewa..a Holland&Holland Royal, 26# barrels and regulated for the heavy 110 grain cordite load.. The moon sight is, I kid you not, a diamond…! A magnificent rifle it is....

 

[gesch]

Thank you Major for another great article. The Gaur bears a resemblance to the American Bison—general shape and musculature. Do you know if they are related to the American Bison or European Wissent? Also, do you have any idea for why they have the foul temperament. When you discussed the Royal Bengal Tiger and Panther their inherently dangerous nature was worsened by situations such as porcupine spikes or other environmental complications. Thanks again. Your friend, Brian.

 

[Major Khan]

Thank you Major for another great article. The Gaur bears a resemblance to the American Bison—general shape and musculature. Do you know if they are related to the American Bison or European Wissent? Also, do you have any idea for why they have the foul temperament. When you discussed the Royal Bengal Tiger and Panther their inherently dangerous nature was worsened by situations such as porcupine spikes or other environmental complications. Thanks again. Your friend, Brian.

Thank you so much for your appreciation , Gesch . I have just taken a look on the internet of an American bison and an European Wissent . Both the species do bear some similarities to our Indian gaur , indeed. Some quite uncanny similarities, now that l think about it.
In regards to why gaur are so aggressive ... For the life of me , l wish l knew the answer to that 1 ! Unlike man eating panthers or royal Bengal tigers , gaurs seem to enjoy attacking human beings for no other reason , than simply because they CAN . This makes the gaur THE MOST unpredictable of all Indian dangerous game.

 

[WizzyH]

Another excellent article, as always!

 

[Major Khan]

Another excellent article, as always!

I am pleased that you have enjoyed it , WizzyH.

 

[CoElkHunter]

I have never seen a gaur in Bangladesh ever since l became a Bangladeshi citizen in 1972 , Mark Hunter. If there were any gaur in Bangladesh , then l really would have loved to have shot 1 once a year.
If dangerous game is your fancy , then you could not have picked a brute more imposing than the mighty gaur.
I can personally assure you that the gaur was never endangered in India until 1972. Each shikaree ( regardless of whether they were local shikarees or foreign client shikarees ) were only allowed to shoot 1 fully grown male gaur every season ( which lasted 8 months . ) After the Indian government banned hunting in 1972 to fulfil their retarded vegan agendas ... THAT is when the poaching became so rancid that gaur populations in India began to dwindle . Today , in Indian forests , l can attest for a fact that there are tens of thousands of gaur roaming around , which regularly attack villagers who venture out into forests . Multiple times of the year , there are even reports of gaurs breaking into human territories and wreaking havoc.
However , the Indian government ( comprised entirely of vegans and anti hunting Hindu lunatics ) continues to label ALL their wild game as endangered , in order to justify their filthy hunting ban .
They label the sambhur deer endangered
They label the cheetal deer endangered.
They label Muntjac deer endangered.
They label label Barasingha endangered.
They label hog deer endangered.
They label black buck endangered.
They label 4 horned buck endangered.
They label Chinkara endangered.
They label gaur endangered.
They label greylag geese endangered.
They label Asian Sloth Bear endangered.
They label jungle fowl endangered.
They label chukar endangered.
They label quails endangered.
They label pigeons endangered.
They label cranes endangered.

They label panthers endangered and
they label royal Bengal tigers endangered . Even though the number of man eating panthers and royal Bengal tigers in India is currently higher than ever , and the most serious of human - wild life conflicts occur near the edges of India's wild life reserves , these bastards have still kept their hunting banned , at the costs of thousands of local people suffering .

They are a bunch of filthy , cow urine drinking , monkey worshipping pieces of shit who like to make up false statistics about all of their game animals being endangered to justify their filthy hunting ban . They are so petty in their agendas that even though they have recently permitted the culling of Neelgai and Wild Boars in Uttar Pradesh and Kooch Bihar , out of necessity ( as these troublesome animals cause unimaginable damage to the crops of farmers . ) , they will not let the cullers keep any of the meat for their own consumption. All the animal carcasses must be burnt on a pyre .
Let that sink in , for a second . They are SO petty in enforcing their retarded vegan preaching that even when they NEED to cull wild boars and Neelgai out of necessity , they will not let anyone enjoy the meat.

Major Khan,
Thank you very much for sharing another great historical account of the bygone days of hunting in India! Your detail in describing the hunters, game, habitat, rifles and ammunition is superb. We may not be able hunt there as they did in those times, but your descriptions of the hunt allow us to feel as though we could and would tomorrow! As far as the intentional destruction of game meat to satisfy a political agenda when so many people are hungry in that part of the world, I think it is absolutely shameful. Anyway, keep writing and sharing your adventures with us here on AH!
CEH

 

[Major Khan]

Major Khan,
Thank you very much for sharing another great historical account of the bygone days of hunting in India! Your detail in describing the hunters, game, habitat, rifles and ammunition is superb. We may not be able hunt there as they did in those times, but your descriptions of the hunt allow us to feel as though we could and would tomorrow! As far as the intentional destruction of game meat to satisfy a political agenda when so many people are hungry in that part of the world, I think it is absolutely shameful. Anyway, keep writing and sharing your adventures with us here on AH!
CEH

I am very grateful that you have enjoyed it so much , Co Elk Hunter. I know that some times l make a grammatical error or 2 because l need to write all these articles by hand and manually scan all of my photographs into my computer before starting to write an article ( sometimes , it even takes me up to 4 days to finish an article ) , but l am really glad that all of you gentlemen enjoy my reminiscences so much. It makes all of the effort worth it . I figured that l do not want to let the golden age of post independence India's days of shikar be lost in time forever , without anybody knowing how things really were . So providing these articles for African Hunting Forums so that everyone may read them for free , seemed like a good idea to me.
And yes . Vegans are sick and delusional.
Thousands of pounds of prime Neelgai venison and pork gets burnt every year , which could easily feed thousands of villagers . In India , you could even go to prison for accidentally driving your car over a cow which randomly comes onto the road .

 

[DieJager]

Thank you sir, keep the articles coming

 

[Newboomer]

Poton, Keep the articles coming on any subject pertaining to hunting in Old India. I scan the threads every day for a new one.

 

[Ridgewalker]

l need to write all these articles by hand and manually scan all of my photographs into my computer before starting to write an article ( sometimes , it even takes me up to 4 days to finish an article )

Thank you Poton for all the work you do to share those wonderful times with us! You’re a very patient gentleman to do this.

 

[Major Khan]

Poton, Keep the articles coming on any subject pertaining to hunting in Old India. I scan the threads every day for a new one.

I will commence writing a new 1 from tomorrow , New Boomer . I apologize for the delay . I have been away from my home for a week , because l had to deal with a problem animal in the south west side of the country . Fortunately , l was able to get rid of it for good 2 days ago.

 

[Major Khan]

Thank you Poton for all the work you do to share those wonderful times with us! You’re a very patient gentleman to do this.

Do not worry , Ridge Walker. With gentlemen such as yourselves reading my articles , it is worth writing every single paragraph. I will commence writing a new 1 from tomorrow.

 

[Wyatt Smith]

I will commence writing a new 1 from tomorrow , New Boomer . I apologize for the delay . I have been away from my home for a week , because l had to deal with a problem animal in the south west side of the country . Fortunately , l was able to get rid of it for good 2 days ago.

How interesting Major, will you tell us about the problem animal?

 

[Tubby’s Canteen]

I too wish to hear of the latest troublesome creature.