NitroXAdministrator
(.700 member)
30/07/03 11:44 PM
Blacker than Black Death

Have a look at this brute.

An Indian Gaur, the largest wild oxen on Earth. Larger than the Cape Buffalo and arguably more dangerous.


Image from www.ultimateungulates.com




"Blue Mountain Bulls" - Gaur hunting article here on NitroExpress.com in the Nickudu Files


SafariHunt
(.333 member)
31/07/03 05:25 PM
Re: Blacker than Black Death

First Time I have seen one of those but must say not so imppresive than those Cape buff horns ! How musch heavier is it than the avg. 2000 pound buff ?

Mpofu
(.300 member)
31/07/03 09:45 PM
Re: Blacker than Black Death

Frederick,
They can stand up to 8 feet at the shoulder, have a reputation of unprovoked attacks when in 'musth', and can weigh about 1000 lbs more than a Cape Buff. However, normally they are shy quiet animals, and take off at the slightest hint of danger.
M.
PS England currently stand at 77 for 5 in the 2nd test against RSA. I reckon your players need to be drug tested, apart from the fact that they keep intimidating the umpires into giving our guys out, even though they quite clearly are not !!
Long live MR COOK and his exposure of canned hunts in RSA !!!!!!!!!!!


NitroXAdministrator
(.700 member)
01/08/03 02:06 AM
Re: Blacker than Black Death

Frederik

That aint not kaffir bull (or whatever they are called in PC language).

While it does have some resemblance to a domestic bull in broad features, have a look at the bone and muscle structure. Now look into its eyes. Imagine yourself in the moist, dark jungles of India and you walk into a small clearing and this monster is staring at you at fifteen yards range. And all you have is a pipsqueak .375 (or .450 for that matter).



Mpofu


Even though these gaur or seladang are related to Banteng they definitely seem to be larger and more powerfully built. And from reports of those who have hunted them in the Top End (out of the price range of Aussie hunters) they are very agile and elusive. Similar to the Northern Sambar deer of the same forests. Which goes well with your comments of the elusive Gaur.

I want to try to find the passage from a book - Baker ??? - who described a Gaur attack on a hunter in I think it was Burma. How the gaur tossed the hunter many times, left and came back again and again. While the others watched from the trees where they had taken shelter. The gaur had been wounded but not disabled.

I read this passage from a book I borrowed from the Kensington and ? Library in London when I lived there and read up on all things African prior to my first visit. The book dealt a lot with India, but I think it was in the same section so read it out of interest.

Do you - or anyone - know which book this might be ?

I would like to post the passage from the book on the forums or ezine.

By the way, the Jeffrey double does not have water buffalo engraved on it but Gaur. I searched the web for photos of Gaur to compare them to the engraving and believe they are more Gaurish than Buff. Will try to post a couple of photos of the engraving for others opinions but hard to get the rather shallow engraving to show up well.



NitroXAdministrator
(.700 member)
01/08/03 02:09 AM
Re: Blacker than Black Death

PS Frederik - I would give a record class cape buffalo anyday for a good gaur trophy today. Sadly not very likely.



coues
(.275 member)
01/08/03 02:47 AM
Re: Blacker than Black Death

A great hulking freight train of a beast. Cool pic.
Coues


Mpofu
(.300 member)
01/08/03 06:06 PM
Re: Blacker than Black Death

NitroX,

In 1956, a gent named Harry Burroughs,and a friend were hunting in the forests of Madhya Pradesh,Central India, when he came across a Gaur Bull. His mate was in an adjoining area within the same shooting block.
Harry it appeared, took a chance with his 30 06 and went for a brain shot. The animal dropped, stunned, and Harry ran up to it. On being approached, the animal got up and charged. The 'Shikari' took off. He heard another shot go off, but still kept running in the opposite direction.
When they got to the scene, the Bull was sitting on the ground, very much alive. Harry had managed to put another shot into it's head.The animal was despatched with comparative ease. One of the bullets had grased the bottom of the brain.
Harry's mangled remains were recovered from under the great beast. The animal had gored Harry, literally mashed him up, and had then used it's chest to mangle him into the earth. Harry was taken home in a pillow case, the only recognizable item recovered, was his signet ring.
This is a factual account of what happened..... I know the other hunter very well.
Mpofu.


NitroXAdministrator
(.700 member)
02/08/03 10:48 PM
Re: Blacker than Black Death

The female of the species.

Is the female of the gaur species more deadly than the male?



This one looks like a girl I once knew.




Images used with the permission of www.ultimateungulates.com


NitroXAdministrator
(.700 member)
02/08/03 10:54 PM
Re: Blacker than Black Death


The Gaur engravings on the Jeffrey boxlock





From this thread

Jeffrey 450


DaveJames
(.275 member)
03/08/03 01:12 AM
Re: Blacker than Black Death

I wonder if their is a type like this in Vietnam? I remember runing across some like this over there in the late 60's, and they were very mean, much more so then the water buff that were their.

Brooks
(.224 member)
03/08/03 11:30 AM
Re: Blacker than Black Death

My interest is really peaked. Where can one hunt Gaur nowdays. I was saving up some money to after leopard but hunting Guar seems like a step up.

mradiel
(.224 member)
26/08/03 03:45 AM
Re: Blacker than Black Death

Has anyone here had the pleasure of hunting one of these monsters? I wonder if they are as tough as cape buffalo. Anyone here know?

NitroXAdministrator
(.700 member)
07/09/03 12:09 AM
Re: Blacker than Black Death

brooks1 and mradiel

I think unfortunately population pressures in Southern and East Asia have put unsustained pressure on these beasts and hunting is probably not an option currently.

But who knows IF there was the political will. White rhino were once seriously endangered too, but hunting brought them back to sustainable populations.

The closest I know of is a related species which is smaller and a little tamer, the Banteng which can of course be hunted in limited numbers from the herd of animals introduced to the Coburg Peninsula in the Northern Territory of Australia.

If anyone knows any different please post, especially if there are any wild herds introduced to any other part of the world. Thanks.

Some more photos of Gaur following.

PS Does anyone know of good hunting books from the pre-WW2 or earlier days of India and SE Asia ? If so please post the titles, authors and if you know suppliers. Thanks.



NitroXAdministrator
(.700 member)
07/09/03 12:25 AM
Re: Blacker than Black Death - more photos




Herd of Gaur in the early morning mists




Bulls in open woodlands




Bull gaur in the high grass




Early sketch of a Bull Gaur, showing muscle structure.





NitroXAdministrator
(.700 member)
07/09/03 12:29 AM
Re: Blacker than Black Death

Dave

Some of the above photos I believe are from a herd in Vietnam.

The Malay name for the Gaur is "Seladang".

I really want to find the book I read some fifteen years ago of a Seladang/Gaur attack. I think it was a book by Samuel Baker (?)





mickey
(.416 member)
07/09/03 02:53 AM
Re: Blacker than Black Death

Hi all. Just back from showing a flatland Aussie around British Columbia for a month.

Anyway try to find a couple of books by Captain John Brandt. He spent many years in SE Asia in the 60's and 70's and has written at least two books on the great cattle of the area. Seldang, Bantang etc. He hunted them all. Good Tiger stories also. One is called "Horned Giants" . Another is "Asian Hunter".


DaveJames
(.275 member)
07/09/03 04:20 PM
Re: Blacker than Black Death

Nitro that sure looks like them, they had a real habit of chargeing you and not makeing any noise, some of the guys used to think it was a kind of water buff that couldn't be tamed, the only one I remember being hunted was one that was mentioned in Col.Askins book, he claimed to have taken one there in the early 60's with a Winchester 71, don't remember the caliber

kos
(.275 member)
09/09/03 10:46 PM
Re: Blacker than Black Death

i just got back from malaysia and saw gaur at the k.l and singapore zoo, a bit like banteng on steroids .there is small wild buffalo in malaysia there ,but protected.also saw a thing called a serow .in the australian shooters handbook there is a story about an encounter with gaur that kills one of the hunters .i have a copy you can buy cheaply from me if you want it

zaitsev
(.300 member)
03/08/06 12:12 AM
Re: Blacker than Black Death

In PHC `s book death in a lonely land there is a good story about the Seladang in Asai which Berry Brooks shot. unfortunately there aint any pictures of the hunt, That was in Vietnam in 1961 and he used a .378 Wby and he gave the large bull two shots which made the bull drop on the spot.

Grizzly
(.333 member)
11/08/06 03:26 AM
Re: Blacker than Black Death

HORNED GIANTS - Hunting Eurasian Wild Cattle
Captain John H. Brandt


Grizzly
(.333 member)
11/08/06 04:59 AM
Re: Blacker than Black Death

Or, how about Aleister Crowley:

The most dangerous animal in Ceylon (there are no tigers, and if there were, the statement would stand) is the buffalo. One can distinguish a wild from a tame buffalo by his psychology. If he is wild, he runs away; if he is tame, he charges you. Yet these fanatical partisans of "Asia for the Asiatics" permit themselves to be ridden, cursed and bullied by brats not six years old. The buffalo is always savage and always intelligent enough to know who has wounded him. He is also infinitely courageous and vindictive. Many tigers will turn tail even when slightly but painfully wounded. But the buffalo never gives in morally or physically, and shows almost human powers of strategy and tactics in his vendetta. His vitality is incredible; the gaur (a not dissimilar species) which killed Captain Sayers in Burma had seventeen bullets from heavy rifles in him while he was goring and trampling the aggressor. The other Englishmen present could no nothing to save him.



zaitsev
(.300 member)
11/08/06 07:03 AM
Re: Blacker than Black Death

i thinkt that the original arabian name given to the cape buffalo "kaffir",infidel also applays for the Gaur and other wild oxens, as in they dont have any gods, they are gods.

Nice pictures Nitro X and interresting engraving of the Gaur on your rifle. I`ll bet it has been used on Gaur hunting. It will be a very fine rifle for hunting if it opened up again.


larcher
(.416 member)
12/08/06 04:38 AM
Re: Blacker than Black Death

This thread is really interesting.

In the past Vietnam and Cambodia were french. Many hunters roamed for sultry boevidaes in India and Indochina.
There are many books about Gaur, Seladang and banteng but in french.
Are
Sacha de Montbel
Omer Sarrault
Jacques Vettier
Francois Sommer's
books translated in English.
These world hunter-adventurers gave terrific accounts of these "brutes"
jb


Grizzly
(.333 member)
16/08/06 03:47 AM
Re: Blacker than Black Death

Two possibilities by Baker:

Wild Beasts and their Ways or Rifle and Hound in Ceylon.

I think in one of Capstick's "Death" books there is also a reference to Baker.


500grains
(.416 member)
16/08/06 06:25 AM
Re: Blacker than Black Death

I want to shoot one of those fat cows.

zaitsev
(.300 member)
16/08/06 07:03 AM
Re: Blacker than Black Death

in "Death in a Lonely Land ", there is a story about the Seladang. I start to wonder what kind of hunting there would have still been if India and Pakistan hadnt been partioned?

But anyhow to meet a 1500 kg bull in a jungle must be a very intimidating moment,even though you have a rifle with you.


Grizzly
(.333 member)
25/10/06 12:19 PM
Re: Blacker than Black Death

John-

I may have found the book you were talking about. A guar absorbing 15 shots from a pair of heavy doubles before going down, but not until it gored one of the hunters in the chest, tossed him around and made pate' out of his remains.

"Wild Sports of Burma and Assam"by Pollok


Classic416
(.300 member)
26/10/06 09:33 PM
Re: Blacker than Black Death

Nobodies asked the important question. Do they taste good?
Maybe we could ask Ted Nugent. He seems to have a recipe for every game animal on the planet


NitroXAdministrator
(.700 member)
26/10/06 11:41 PM
Re: Blacker than Black Death

In reply to:

Poster: Grizzly
Subject: Re: Blacker than Black Death

John-

I may have found the book you were talking about. A guar absorbing 15 shots from a pair of heavy doubles before going down, but not until it gored one of the hunters in the chest, tossed him around and made pate' out of his remains.

"Wild Sports of Burma and Assam"by Pollok




That sounds like it.



DPhillips
(.375 member)
02/11/06 01:58 PM
Re: Blacker than Black Death

I've got "Asian Hunter" coming soon, hope it lives up to its promise. Didn't Brandt try to mirror Mellon's African effort with this one?

For those interested, Col. Charles Askins wrote a book, "Asian Jungle African Bush" and details his hunts for Guar, Banteng, Tiger, etc. and so forth while working as a military advisor in Vietnam before the U.S. involvement. The book is a very good read, especially if you like Askins. The African part of the book is wonderful as well.


reddy375
(.224 member)
21/02/07 03:04 PM
Re: Blacker than Black Death

I have seen but not shot Gaur. They are timid, shy animals, although are dangerous. A very good friend of mine was killed by one a few years ago. He was a Manager on a Tea Estate in South India One evening as he and his family were sitting down to dinner. The labor came to say that a bison had fallen into a dry pit they had dug to install a water tank or some such thing!

Followed by the workers and a bunch of onlookers they got to the place to see a female bison trying her best to get out. In the commotion that ensured, the bison somehow managed to jump out of the pit and hooked my friend who was unfortunately standing right in her way. He went flying and landed on a pipe that was sticking out of the ground. He suffered a lot of internal damage. Was rushed to the closest hospital 5 hours or more away. After much blood transfusion and some operations, it looked like he was going to make it, but passed on to the Happy Hunting grounds three days later. He was in his middle 40s and left behind two young children and a lovely wife. Very sad.

Foot and mouth disease from village cattle grazing in the forests have killed a lot of Gaur, but they are still fairly plentyful in Southern India and other places. A large bull is a very majestic animal and they are the biggest wild ox in the world. They live in thick bamboo forests and love hilly dense cover....

We have a very nice head at home which my father shot in the 50s I will post a pix of it when I get a moment.

Reddy375


NitroXAdministrator
(.700 member)
16/09/10 03:24 AM
Re: Blacker than Black Death

Another Gaur photo.



Courtesy of N. Swarmy


NitroXAdministrator
(.700 member)
16/09/10 03:28 AM
Re: Blacker than Black Death


A photo from our member "Mpofu" of a Gaur


A couple of my own, through the thick brush.





iqbal
(resigned as a member)
16/09/10 04:24 AM
Re: Blacker than Black Death

Even after partition India still has considerable wildlife whereas in Pakistan it is dwindling by the day.If India were to allow hunting i assure you we could have hunts of a lifetime even barring the big cats.The no of antelopes of all kinds is phenomenal.I don't think partition had an effect on Indias wildlife.

NitroXAdministrator
(.700 member)
16/09/10 04:27 AM
Re: Blacker than Black Death

"Blue Mountain Bulls" - Gaur hunting article here on NitroExpress.com in the Nickudu Files

Other Gaur threads on NE:

"Gaur hunt"

"Hunting Banteng" - not gaur but the closest we get today

The NE Banteng & Scrub bull photo thread

Huge Banteng Bull

Banteng Hunts and Photos from Hunt Australia

Is the Cobourg Peninsula worth hunting?

Record banteng

Unexpected hunt - Banteng!

Dan did it again - banteng!

Gaur / Seladang

Australia's "Red Buffalo" - Banteng

470 vs banteng - Cindy Garrison

So far.

ANOTHER ...

DANGER OF SMALL-BORES FOR DANGEROUS GAME


Freeloader123
(.275 member)
01/11/10 05:40 PM
Re: Blacker than Black Death

Quote:

Nitro that sure looks like them, they had a real habit of chargeing you and not makeing any noise, some of the guys used to think it was a kind of water buff that couldn't be tamed, the only one I remember being hunted was one that was mentioned in Col.Askins book, he claimed to have taken one there in the early 60's with a Winchester 71, don't remember the caliber




He had a M71 Win rebarrelled and rechambered to .450 Alaskan by Harold Johnson, the Alaskan gunsmith and guide who developed the cartridge.


ant458
(.224 member)
24/06/11 12:58 PM
Re: Blacker than Black Death

my dad did back be for they closed the hunting for them and tiger he took a nice bull and a real brute of a tiger had some photos but havent seen them in a couple of years he used 2 of his most loved rifles a holand&holand 500-465 and a nice winchester m70 375 h&h

NitroXAdministrator
(.700 member)
01/07/13 04:15 AM
Re: Blacker than Black Death



NitroXAdministrator
(.700 member)
12/11/15 02:54 AM
Re: Blacker than Black Death

https://web.facebook.com/sumaree.nisaimun/videos/1644403045799676/

Video of a gaur herd. What I would give to have been there at that time.


NitroXAdministrator
(.700 member)
04/07/22 10:26 PM
Re: Blacker than Black Death




Sanctuary Nature Foundation

The Hulk.

Kabini Nagarahole National park Karnataka.

Generally, gaur are most active in the morning and evening. However, they can be active by day or even become nocturnal, when living nearby human settlements. These sociable animals gather into herds, containing 8-11 or more individuals. A gaur herd includes females and one dominant male. The home range of each herd covers about 78 sq. kilometers’ (30 sq. miles) territory. Bulls often congregate into bachelor herds while older males occasionally prefer living solitarily. Against a threat, the bull usually lowers its head and hind side, attacking the rival from the broadside with its horns. When alarmed, these animals give out a call known as "whistling snort".
Gaur have polygynous mating system, where one male mates with a number of females. During the mating season, males give out calls of clear resonant tones, in order to attract receptive females. Meanwhile, bigger males are more successful in capturing the attention of females. They breed all year round with a peak period, lasting from December to June. Female Gaurs usually have an interval of 12-15 months between births. The gestation period lasts about 270-280 days, yielding a single baby. A newborn gaur calf weighs 23 kgs (50 Ibs) on average. At the age of 9 months, the calf is weaned and becomes reproductively mature when it is 2-3 years old.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/sanctuaryasia/permalink/10160316303261103/


NitroXAdministrator
(.700 member)
07/07/22 12:47 AM
Re: Blacker than Black Death

Image added.

Someone asked about aiming points for a shot and posted this image.

What do you think?

The hump is a complicating factor. As is the very deep chest.



ThreeThreeEight
(.224 member)
07/07/22 01:23 AM
Re: Blacker than Black Death

What a magnificent beast!

I was born too late. There will never be an opportunity to hunt some of the big game animals I have always held in high esteem. Tiger, jaguar and these incredible bovines.


grandveneur
(.400 member)
07/07/22 01:56 AM
Re: Blacker than Black Death

I was lucky enough to see one in the wild decades ago in the center of the Malayan Peninsula.

We wanted to hunt water buffalos, but the terrain from the start was not the usual where we normally encountered the water buffalo. It was mountains covered with dense rain forest. The track also looked a little different than that of a normal water buffalo. We still followed up the track and after a certain time a young gaur bull, or called Seladang in the country, suddenly stood in front of us. I had never seen one before, but the shape of the head, horns and body is typical and distinctive.


NitroXAdministrator
(.700 member)
07/07/22 03:17 AM
Re: Blacker than Black Death

Gaur in zindia. Seladang in Malay.

I've seen them in India I think it was Kanha National Park. First one was only through thick bush.

Second was in the open but before good photo light. The zindia fwits behind us 0, a convoy of them were impatient to do the "drive" and then centrally located to wait for tiger. Every fwit tour vehicle is assigned a drive. So the fucwits race at speed on these tracks to get them over as quickly as possible. Then go to the central hq. When a tiger is sighted they go to a spot to get on elephant to go into the bush where the tiger is lying up. Fucking city baboon race. Baboons are smarter ...

So missed out in an excellent photo opportunity. Five minutes and there would have been decent dawn light. Blurry dark photo.

I really wanted gaur photos. Wild rooster photos. Tiger and leopard of course. Deer etc, everything!

I posted beautiful on the gaur photo. The photographer said "stop hunting jackass". I told him to stop over breeding .... He has lots of wonderful tiger images so I pinched them. Ignorant rude bugger.


NitroXAdministrator
(.700 member)
30/10/22 04:05 PM
Re: Blacker than Black Death

https://fb.watch/gtJx6H64Ww/

Raw Power!
An angry Indian Bison a.k.a Gaur attacks an autorickaw on a street of India.
Gaur is the largest wild bovine in the world. A male gaur can reach up to 6 feet at shoulder and weigh up to 1500 kg.


NitroXAdministrator
(.700 member)
31/10/22 02:17 AM
Re: Blacker than Black Death

Lots of power.

DarylS
(.700 member)
31/10/22 03:35 AM
Re: Blacker than Black Death

Strong horn, too.

FlatTop45
(.300 member)
31/10/22 02:56 PM
Re: Blacker than Black Death

Magnificent animal! They look like they belong to the megafauna of the Pleistocene epoch along with the Saber-Toothed Tiger, the Irish Elk and the Mammoths / Mastodons.


J



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