The Resilience Of A Gaur

[Major Khan]

Since many members of this site enjoyed my previous reminiscence of my first royal Bengal tiger shikar , l have decided to write tonight about an incident involving the most ferocious of Indian bovines : The mighty gaur .
A little prologue is appropriate here . A gaur is a large bison found in India which can weigh anywhere from 1500 pounds to 2000 pounds . They are very similar to an Indian water buffalo , with the only difference being that the horns of a gaur are smaller and relatively more curved . While l have hunted (and also guided shikars for ) both water buffaloes and gaur , it is the gaur whom l consider to be the more formidable adversary . The story l am going to tell today will be just one illustration of how dangerous these ill tempered brutes can be .
My good friend and member of this site , retired professional shikaree, Sergeant Kawshik Rahman lists the panther , as the most dangerous of all Indian game . While he is certainly correct about the lethality of an Indian panther ( especially a wounded one ) , l will have a slight divergence of opinion from my friend . I personally consider the gaur to be the most dangerous of Indian game , or as they were referred to in India " Grey forest ghosts " . Our story begins on February of 1965 in the forests outside Nagpur , near a stream .
I had taken a photograph of the area in question , which l have provided below .

I have broken this story down into 3 parts , which l shall post below accordingly .

 

[Major Khan]

I feel that l should provide some information about the sort of people whom l would hunt with . In the outfitter whom l would work for , Allwyn Cooper Limited , there were 10 full time professional shikarees . Our head shikaree who supervised all shikars was a Hyderabadi gentleman named Rao Naidu , a Hindoo of the highest caste . He was the right hand man of Mr. Vidya C Shukla ( the owner of Allwyn Cooper Limited ) . We were all answerable to Rao Naidu for whatever happened during shikars , be it good or bad ( l speak of professional shikars when we were guiding clients and not of the personal shikars which we carried out , for our own recreation or for meat or hides ) . He was a very intimidating fellow and we were all extremely terrified of him ( and with good reason . He once broke the nose of a coolie with the butt stock of a rifle publicly in front of all of us , just because said coolie had over cooked some of Rao's food by accident. This was not the only time he had acted violently towards his men either. However , that is not the subject of this story ) . Rao owned a beautiful double barreled rifle , made by Westley Richards using the .375 Holland and Holland magnum cartridge . It had 1 trigger , detachable locks ( called drop locks ) and 24 inch long barrels . The rifle originally belonged to Rao's father during the British colonial period and in the time of which l write , Rao was the owner of the rifle. He would make each of his clients bring him 50 cartridges from their own countries , when they would come to India for shikar .
There was I , who was the shikaree assigned to guide clients for all the shikars involving royal Bengal tigers .
I would use a 12 calibre double barreled shot gun made in Belgium by Mercury .
I would always ask my clients to bring me Eley Grand Prix spherical ball 12 calibre cartridges and Eley Alphamax triple A 12 calibre cartridges .
Our shikaree who specialized in guiding clients for wild boars , was an American gentleman from the state of Wisconsin named Tobin Stakkatz .Tobin was the only Caucasian full time employee of Allwyn Cooper Limited and he was also my best friend . Never did a greater man ever exist. He was a great hunter and an even greater friend . He was 8 years older than l and always treated me as a younger brother . Tobin's father had owned a rubber plantation in India during the British colonial era and Tobin's family had chosen to remain in India even after the Indian independence of 1947 ( Although , they would periodically visit America ) . He married an Indian Christian girl from Goa . Even though he was a Protestant and she , a Catholic , they loved each other very dearly and had 2 children . He truly was a testament of the goodness in humanity and like Ponual , he saved my life on more than one occasion .

Even though he specialized in guiding shikars for wild boars , Tobin was also an expert in the art of shooting panthers on his free time . With 41 panthers ( 5 of which were man eaters ) taken in his life time , Tobin was certainly a guru in the art of panther shooting .


He always used the same rifle for shooting panthers and wild boars . It was an old but well maintained bolt rifle built by FN in Belgium , using the .423 Mauser cartridge , which would fire a 347 grain bullet. Tobin's rifle was of a calibre for which the cartridges were only available from the German company RWS at the time . However , this did not stop most of his clients ( especially the continental European clients in particular ) from bringing a fair number of cartridges to India for Tobin to get his hands on . Needless to say , he also managed to stock pile on quite a sizeable amount of ammunition in no time , and thus we all had fairly little concern at the time , about exhausting our supplies of ammunition .
Below , l have provided a photograph l had taken of my dear old friend , Tobin Stakkatz .

With the exception of Rao Naidu , Tobin and myself , the other 7 professional full time shikarees of Allwyn Cooper Limited all used firearms made by IOF ( Indian Ordinance Factories ) . These were either 12 calibre double barreled shot guns ( of the kind used by Kawshik in Darjeeling ) or .315 bore bolt rifles , built on actions which were copies of Lee Enfield actions ( sadly , everything made or used by Indians are a cheap copy of something designed by Westerners , even though they will not admit it ) .
Below , l have provided a photograph of all of us ( the employees of Allwyn Cooper Limited) together during our annual lunch gathering . Rao Naidu is in the centre . Tobin Stakkatz is on the top row , second one from the right . I am on the left side of Tobin.

In the next part , l will commence writing about the actual incident . I apologise for taking the time to describe the people whom l would work with. However , it is important that my readers know a little about our background , to get a proper picture of my life as a professional shikaree . It will also help make things easier , for future stories , as many of these people feature in them.

 

[Major Khan]

One day , Tobin and l were hunting small game for meat near the forests outside Nagpur . We both had successfully guided shikars for the entire month of February and we did not have any clients for the rest of the month , as there was only 1 week of February left . With us was Ponual and 3 coolies . We had managed to take a good quantity of game , of which l had taken a photograph which I have provided below.

It was a very good bag . We took 2 four horned bucks , a few hares , 3 mouse deer , some jungle fowl and 7 cranes .
For the cranes and the mouse deer , I used triple A cartridges . Nothing settles a crane or a mouse deer like 44 pellets of British triple A . For the hares and jungle fowl , l used no.6 cartridges . I took my four horned buck with an Eley Grand Prix spherical ball cartridge .
Tobin took his four horned buck with a single shot to the neck from his .423 Belgian made Mauser ( lt always amazed me how Tobin was able to accurately hit even the smaller animals with such a large calibre rifle . If l personally did not see him do this so many times , l would have thought that he was merely telling me this to bolster his reputation . However , his prowess with that rifle was every bit genuine ) . If this does not shock my readers , then the next part should :
Tobin even took 2 of those 7 cranes with that rifle . They were stationary when he shot them .
A word about Tobin needs to be mentioned . In his entire life ( at least since l first knew him ) , Tobin always used solid metal covered bullets for everything he ever shot . For some reason , he did not ever trust soft nose bullets at all , even though l am certain that using soft nose bullets in some situations would most probably have saved Tobin a great deal of trouble . However , let us proceed with the rest of this story .

After we had shot all of our game , I sat back while Ponual and our coolies were collecting every thing which we had shot
( That was when l had taken the above photograph ) . Tobin went ahead , saying that he would scout the area looking for a boar or two . I had Ponual fetch me a flask of chaii ( Indian milk tea ) from our jeep . l was drinking the tea and watching Ponual and the coolies load our game into the jeep after cleaning the game . Around 15 minutes later , we heard a gun shot . Ponual and l smiled , as Ponual told me " Tobin vai saab uzka janowar pa giya " ( Tobin sir got his boar ) . I thought the same thing . However , right at that moment, we heard another shot and then another . And another . Now , we began to worry . Tobin never needed so many cartridges to take a boar before . What exactly did he run into ?
Snatching up my shot gun , l ran towards the direction of the gun shots . All the while , the gun shots continued . When l finally found Tobin , l was overtaken with fear when l saw what Tobin had been shooting at. It was a gaur . A huge , heavy gaur with blood pouring out of the numerous bullet holes in it's hide . And worst of all , it was still very much alive .
In the next part of the article , l will detail how we got out of this situation alive.

 

[Major Khan]

Tobin was running from the gaur , while trying to shoot it every now and then . Seeing my friend in trouble , l hurriedly raise my shot gun and fired at the brute , one barrel after the other . However , a 16 calibre spherical lead ball is a pathetic thing to stop a gaur ( unless you manage to take out both the lungs with a broadside shot ) . It only served to anger the gaur and now it charged towards me . Tobin fired a shot at the gaur , which stunned it long enough for me to open my shot gun , turn it upside down to drop out the empty cartridge cases and load in 2 more cartridges ( which l always kept between my fingers when shooting dangerous game . ) I gave the brute both barrels in the chest ( between the 2 front legs ) , and began running as fast as l could away from the brute . Tobin was running too . As l was running , l reloaded my shot gun again , only to realize that these were my last 2 spherical ball cartridges . Tobin shouted " I'm out ! " ( This is an American way of saying that he had expended all of his ammunition , as l had come to understand ) . Hopelessly , l fired those last 2 spherical ball cartridges at the gaur's head in the desperate belief that maybe one of the spherical balls would find it's way into the brute's brain . However , such a miracle could not be hoped for by the practical man .
It is extremely embarrassing to write about all this , but it would be unethical and dishonest for me to say that our predicament at that moment was anything other than miserable .
The hunters nearby became the hunted. Infact , it was chasing us right out of the forest , towards where Ponual and the coolies were , with the jeep . When Ponual and the coolies saw what was chasing us , they all scattered in panic . Seeing a Banyan tree , l desperately began climbing it. This was in the nick of time too , because the gaur was running directly behind me . Once safe , l quickly looked around to see where Tobin and Ponual were. Tobin did the smart thing. He had run back to his jeep , where he kept a large bag full of spare cartridges . He filled his pockets with cartridges and loaded his .423 Mauser again ( his FN .423 Mauser held 4 cartridges in the magazine ) . I saw where Ponual was . The lad had run quite some distance from the gaur , but he was cautiously looking at me and Tobin the whole time . I knew that Ponual had a large sack on his back , where l had kept some spare Eley Grand Prix spherical ball cartridges . I shouted to Ponual " Ponual, Guli do ! " ( Ponual , get me more cartridges ) . Tobin opened fire on the gaur again , but to no avail . He gave it 2 shots , but it only served to shift the gaur's attention from me to Tobin . Ponual seized his opportunity and ran towards me holding 4 spherical ball cartridges in his hands for me . I leapt down from the tree and snatched the cartridges , loading my shot gun as quickly as possible . Tobin finally managed to do something which ended up saving us . He fired at the gaur and his bullet broke it's shoulder . The gaur fell ...only to start getting up again . However , l seized my chance . I was standing absolutely broadside to the brute and l fired both barrels at his lungs . The animal began running , but fortunately away from us . He was blowing blood savagely out of his mouth and nose . After going some 50 yards , it dropped lifeless .
But Tobin and l were not taking any chances . We fired a fusillade of lead at it's head and then made a coolie cut it's throat with a chaku ( an Indian hunting knife made from the steel taken from rail way tracks ) .
I took a photograph of the brute which nearly killed us and l have provided the photograph below .

In the next and final part of this story , l will share some reflections on this botched shikar as well as what we found when we had cut the gaur open .

 

[Major Khan]

Tobin had fired a total of 11 shots into the Gaur while it was alive and most of them were well placed shots aimed at the heart or lungs. However , something had gone very wrong with those 347 grain metal covered bullets . Not 1 had managed to reach a vital organ . Infact , some of the bullets had fragmented , while the others were distorted badly . The metal covering on many of the bullets had ruptured and the lead interior was coming out .
My 8 spherical lead 16 calibre ball bullets did not penetrate more than 4 inches in some parts of the brute . However , the last 2 lead balls fired at it's lungs from the side at point blank range did a significant amount of damage to it's lungs and no doubt , that was what had killed the gaur finally . We observed something peculiar . Even though one of Tobin's 347 grain bullets had broken the gaur's shoulder , the bullet did not reach the heart of the brute .
My good friend , Kawshik had something very similar happen to his party when one of his clients once used a .458 Winchester magnum calibre weapon to try to shoot a gaur . There was inadequate penetration in that incident , as well . Like me and Tobin , Kawshik's party suffered a great deal of inconvenience due to that wounded gaur.
Tobin never shot a gaur again in his life after that , with his FN .423 Mauser . He limited his dangerous game shooting to panthers and wild boars , which he was an expert at ( and indeed , he was far more skilled at shooting these creatures than l ever was ) . I only shot gaurs with my 12 calibre shot gun , if a perfect broadside double lung shot would present itself .
I always wondered why that .423 Mauser rifle failed so miserably at killing the gaur . It is of interest , perhaps to my readers that in 1962 , Tobin had previously tried to shoot another gaur with that FN .423 Mauser . However , even though he was certain that his shot was well placed behind it's shoulder , the wounded gaur had managed to escape .


After the Bangladesh liberation war , Tobin had moved back to Wisconsin , in America with his family , because ( just like Kawshik , myself and any true hunter ) , he could not imagine living in a country where a man no longer has the god given right to hunt . He would come to visit me in Bangladesh once every 2 years and l would go to visit him and his family in America once every year , as well. In 1976 , Tobin did something for me which none of his other acts of friendship can ever come close to . He paid for my treatment to undergo facial surgery and to repair some of the damage which the bullet wound had caused to my face in 1971 . He spent a great deal of money for me and even though l offered him back the money , he never accepted a cent from me . Infact , even before my surgery , neither Tobin , nor his family ever treated me as if l was disfigured .
This great specimen of humanity sadly passed away in 2008 from lung cancer . He had a horrible habit of smoking pipe tobacco . Even when he was diagnosed with cancer , he kept smoking . I visited him 2 months before his death and l truly miss my friend . He is survived by his widow , children and 5 grandchildren . I still maintain a good relation with the family . I dedicate this article to my best friend , Tobin Stakkatz . He was a great shikaree.

 

[Shootist43]

WOW, exciting to say the least. Could Tobin's rifle by chance been a 404 Jeffery? It too was and is built on a Mauser action and is .423" but it fires a 400 gr. bullet. The 404 Jeffery is a caliber that falls between the 375 H&H and the 416 Rigby.

 

[Major Khan]

WOW, exciting to say the least. Could Tobin's rifle by chance been a 404 Jeffery? It too was and is built on a Mauser action and is .423" but it fires a 400 gr. bullet. The 404 Jeffery is a caliber that falls between the 375 H&H and the 416 Rigby.

But Shootist43 , the FN .423 Mauser used by Tobin fired a 347 grain bullet .
I did a search on the internet just now. Isn't the .404 Jeffery an English calibre ?
The .423 Mauser rifle used by Tobin used cartridges which were only available from a German company at the time called RWS. However , your observation about the .404 Jeffery being of .423 bore is interesting . Tobin's rifle was called a .423 Mauser . Did the .404 Jeffery ever use 347 grain bullets ? If so , then it could very well be a .404 Jeffery.

 

[Wyatt Smith]

Very exciting indeed, I believe the 423 Mauser is the same as Hoss Delgado beloved 11.2 x 72 schuler. Mr. Rahman May know as he is good friends with Hoss. A 343 grain bullet would have a low sectional density and not penetrate as well as heavier one.
I enjoyed the story!

 

[Shootist43]

I just did a conversion from .423" to mm. It is 10.75mm there are several rifles that it could be, i.e. a 10.75 x 57 or a 10.75 x 68. Both of these calibers were in use at the time. The 347 Gr. bullet was used in both rifles. It definitely was not a 404 Jeffery.

 

[Wyatt Smith]

Yes it was 10.75x68 I was confused with all the metric cartridges. The 11.2 is a 44 or so caliber rifle

 

[gesch]

Wow what an incredible experience! I am looking forward to the rest of the report. Was Tobin, your friend from Wisconsin, of German ancestry?

 

[gesch]

Thank you for the story. It is a great story of bravery and friendship as well as hunting. Thank you so much.

 

[Ridgewalker]

Wonderful story! Thanks Poton! Sorry your dear friend couldn’t quit his habit soon enough to save his life. He would have been interesting to join our forum. An American guiding in India at the peak of hunting popularity.
You have had some very interesting friends and experiences. Thank you for sharing them with us.

 

[sambarhunter]

A great tale from the hunters journal.

 

[Major Khan]

Very exciting indeed, I believe the 423 Mauser is the same as Hoss Delgado beloved 11.2 x 72 schuler. Mr. Rahman May know as he is good friends with Hoss. A 343 grain bullet would have a low sectional density and not penetrate as well as heavier one.
I enjoyed the story!

Thank you very much for liking , Mr. Smith .
I called Kawshik with my viber. He said that he will ask Hoss Delgado. Also , l did not know that Manuel Delgado's son was a member of this site . I guided Manuel on a panther shikar and a gaur shikar in the late 1960s.

 

[Major Khan]

Yes it was 10.75x68 I was confused with all the metric cartridges. The 11.2 is a 44 or so caliber rifle

I can wholeheartedly relate to you . I always used to get confused about the metric designations of many cartridges in the past for many years . For instance , what Kawshik refers to as a 9.3 millimeter Mauser , was known to me as a .366 bore Mauser for many years .

 

[Major Khan]

Wow what an incredible experience! I am looking forward to the rest of the report. Was Tobin, your friend from Wisconsin, of German ancestry?

Thank you for liking my story. Indeed , you are pin point correct. Tobin's family heritage came from Bavaria in Germany .
My friend , Tobin was a far braver shikaree than l could ever dream to be . As future stories will relate , he saved my life on more than 1 occasion .

 

[Major Khan]

Wonderful story! Thanks Poton! Sorry your dear friend couldn’t quit his habit soon enough to save his life. He would have been interesting to join our forum. An American guiding in India at the peak of hunting popularity.
You have had some very interesting friends and experiences. Thank you for sharing them with us.

Thank you for enjoying the story . Yes , l miss Tobin greatly . He and l also shared a fondness for Clint Eastwood's cinemas , especially the " Dirty Harry " film series . He was a great friend , like no other .
As my future articles will relate , Tobin saved my life on more than one occasion . You are very correct about Tobin being one of the few Caucasian shikarees under the employment of the 26 Indian shikar outfitters in those days across India. To my know , only 8 Caucasian shikarees worked for the Indian shikar outfitters in those days.

 

[Major Khan]

A great tale from the hunters journal.

Thank you so much.

 

[mark-hunter]

Dear @Major Khan
Thank you for this dynamic story! I couldnt stop reading!