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I still think of the limited hunting I enjoyed in India. I have shot a few Muntjak deer - 4.5 iches was my largest buck shot in 1983 & that would be a good trophy today. Small game hunting was wonderful at times. I remeber shooting ducks & my friends got bar headed geese in Assam in 1981 & 82. We used to see clouds of ducks. Flocks of 50 to 100 Lesser Whistling teal buzzing by & tempting us to "flock" shoot with very poor results. Grey Jungel Fowl was a good game bird to hunt in South India when I worked in a Tea Garden there. I used to skin the neck hackle feathered skin them, salt them & give them to guest as a momento. Gree pigeon were common in assam in September & October. Flocks of 50 to 100 birdls would land on ficus & other fruit trees. Shooting them on the wing was good fun. Being charged by elephants & a sloth bear with cub were also memorable experiences - though these happened in sanctuaries & not while hunting. Wild boar hunting was very challenging. I never got a shot during beat shoots. Sitting up at night in a hide was legal & very challenging. I have seen Sambar stags with 40" antlers & two mounted heads over 40". The record is over 54", from the 1940 I think! Chital over 36" were also common in some areas. I spoke to my brother this week & he said that he saw 3 leopards in 4 days in a sanctuary - after having visited this place on & off over about 35 years! Game is making a come back in some protected areas. |