Apply for your elephant hunting licence in Assam

[grewal]

Bad boys , no loose talking . But by the way I would like to hunt down one horn rihno at the kazi rung her park.

[nagarifle]

how many shoots do you need OUP? Since you be dry firing? hope you do not shoot blanks?

[OverUnderPump]

One round is enough,given the blast radius. I'll be targetting a herd. The more the merrier .
No blanks please

regards

OUP

[nagarifle]

ok no blanks, as they look like the real thing but do not produce the desired results

[Nitro Express]

Here's the catch "The Wildlife (Protection) (Assam)Rules, 1980."
Out dated..........

The Mela Shikar method you have mentioned "Nitro Express" is very practical for an animal like the Elephant which has a long life span..
Unlike a dog or a horse an elephant can live up to a hundred years . It is more economical to catch an adult wild elephant and train it , rather than raising one from childhood till he is old enough to work for you .

Hello Prashant! Mela Shikar was more of a sport.It is a capture method where a Phand (Noose) is thrown around he neck of a wild elephant by a Phandi (Elephant catcher) sitting on a Koonkie (Trained Elephant).

Read P.D Stracey's '"Elephant Gold" and you shall get an idea of the dynamics of Elephant Shikar.

Now a days if at all there is a need to catch an elephant, it done using a dart gun.It is a more humane method.

I live with six elephants.Over the years I have realised that we were wrong capturing them as an Anti Depredation Measure.Habitual crop raiders are around 7 feet tall.Whereas the ones we caught averaged around 6 feet.

Interestingly elephants survive longer in captivity than in the wild.They live for around 55 to 60 years in the wild and around 65 to 70 years in captivity.

Every winters during paddy season I use my elephants to drive away crop raiding elephants from paddy fields.This is my way keeping these Gentle Giants out of trouble.

Nitro Express

[nagarifle]

hi Nitro

where in Assam are you? as my boys want to go elephant riding(not eating, so they are safe)

can you give more info regarding the elephants/hunting etc or your experience please

[Nitro Express]

few have fallen for it its out dated. nitro exp please give more details story please

Well Nagarifle!If you have read the book- Elephant Gold, there is a mention of Phookans of Charing in the chapter Pioneer Elephant Catchers.My paternal grandmother was from this family.My father took to Mela Shikar as a sport way back in the mid 60s.I was introduced to this form of elephant capture by my father in the winter of 1986.

I grew up with elephants and elephant men like the late Biren Ram Phukan, Dipen Phukan (one of the youngest person to possess an Elephant Control Licence), my father's maternal uncle Ganesh Phookan,Dudul Choudhury and of course my father.
At any given point of time till the late 80s there use to be alteast two elephants around the house.Those were the days when Gauhati was more of a town than a city.

I became a Mahaldar (Lease holder) of an elephant capture operation area in the month of December 1999.This was my first independent capture operation.I was using two Shikari Koonkies and three Depot Koonkies for the job.My camp which was at Rani consisted of some of the best Phandis, Lohatias, Mahouts and Kamalas.My daughter was born on the 5th of Jan 2000 and I caught my first elephant in the wee hours of 7th of Jan 2000.I further went on to catch 2 more elephants.That year I managed to capture and train 3 elephants - 2 males and 1female.Unfortunately the female elephant died after a few months of being trained.This led me to believe and later on establish the fact that any elephant above 7 feet in height should not be caught to train.
I had my fair share of destroying proclaimed rogues.This is something I regret till today.

Now a days,I am more into conservation and rescue operations involving elephants.

Nitro Express

[nagarifle]

thanks Nitro
you seem to have had lived an interesting life with the elephants, you say that the elephant above 7 feet should not be caught and trained. why is that?

can you please expand on what methods were used to destroy rouges? what type of firearms were used? etc even today do you have any idea of rouge elephants that are destroyed in Assam?

many thanks

[Nitro Express]

hi Nitro

where in Assam are you? as my boys want to go elephant riding(not eating, so they are safe)

can you give more info regarding the elephants/hunting etc or your experience please

Your boys can ride on one of my elephants anyday.Let me know when you are in Gauhati, I will have it arranged.

I donot hunt anymore.The last time I shot something was in July 2004.It was a lion suffering from Bovine Tuberculosis.I was in South Africa to attend a course on Chemical Capture and Translocation of African Elephants.The opportunity to tag along and help the Lion Research Group came up after the course was over.They were doing a research on Feline Aids.The lion needed to be brought down and I volunteered for the same.

I came back and along with a few fellow Wildlifers strongly advocated the use of dart guns to capture elephants.Now it is a standard operating procedure to catch elephants in the State of Assam.


Nitro Express

[MoA]

Nitro: Great info. Would love pics..

When you did need to destroy proclaimed rouges, what weapons did you typically use?

[Nitro Express]

thanks Nitro
you seem to have had lived an interesting life with the elephants, you say that the elephant above 7 feet should not be caught and trained. why is that?

can you please expand on what methods were used to destroy rouges? what type of firearms were used? etc even today do you have any idea of rouge elephants that are destroyed in Assam?

many thanks

I am trying to get my daughter into it.Amongst ipods and X Boxes she does seem to have an inclination towards elephants.

Training elephants does involve considerable amount of breaking in.A wild elephant which is + 7 feet in height has already started maturing from being a juveniel into a sub adult.It already starts behaving like an adult.Once caught, they will go without food and water for days to establish their stubbornness.There have been instances where they would prefer to die than to break down under human pressure.
We are now trying to develop new humane methods of training using positive and negative restraint.

Proclaimed Rouges have been destroyed mainly using firearms - be it a Smooth Bore Gun, Rifle or a Muzzle Loader.Contractile Balls shot from smooth bore guns,303, 30-06, 7mm, 9mm, 375 H&H Mag right upto 600 Nitro Express have all brought down elephants at one point of time or the other.There are records of elephants being brought down by local tribesman using poison tip arrows.

The last rouge to be brought down in Assam was in Sonitpur District around mid December 2006.It was an elephant nicknamed "Laden".A father and son duo shot it using a Jeffrey made boxlock double firing a .475 no.2 and a Winchester Post 64 Model 70 rifle chambered for the 458 WM.

Nitro Express

[nagarifle]

thanks Nitro

can you explain something to me? i watched on tv, baby elephants/young ones, tied to a tree with rope/chain around their foot. the young elephant tries to break free at first but is unable to do so as the elephant is not strong enough, yet the same elephant few years after it has grown big and strong, still unable to break the same rope/chain. why is that so? i mean the elephant has the strength to do so but does not?

i hope your daughter takes after you in protecting the elephants.

[Nitro Express]

Nitro: Great info. Would love pics..

When you did need to destroy proclaimed rouges, what weapons did you typically use?

Hello MoA!

Let me see if I can dig out pictures of Elephant Capture Operations.Would need to scan them.Digital Cameras were not in fancy then.

For permission purpose, I use to always carry a 500-465.Most of the time I brought them down with my fathers Pre 64 Model 70 in 375 H&H Mag.The only Double I ever used to destroy a rogue was a Jeffrey built field grade rifle chambered for the 450-400 3" NE.I have seen hunters bring down elephants mostly with American made Winchester 458 rifles.Ammo was cheap and readily available and it was more or less a reliable weapon.There was one hunter who always used a Manton made 470 Double.Always wondered how he handled recoil.
Being small framed I always preferred the 375 H&H Mag.The 450-400 is the best amongst the Express Cartridges to handle.It is a medium bore capable of doing wonders in the hands of even an average hunter.Never did like the recoil of 458s and 470s.One cartridge which always fascinated me is the 457 No2.Here was cartridge which had more penetration power on a lighter charge than even a 470.470 had more shock quotient whereas 457 No2 always managed to find the brain.

Nitro Express

-- Tue Jul 20, 2010 23:21 --

thanks Nitro

can you explain something to me? i watched on tv, baby elephants/young ones, tied to a tree with rope/chain around their foot. the young elephant tries to break free at first but is unable to do so as the elephant is not strong enough, yet the same elephant few years after it has grown big and strong, still unable to break the same rope/chain. why is that so? i mean the elephant has the strength to do so but does not?

i hope your daughter takes after you in protecting the elephants.

As a young calf it tries to break free at first but when it realizes it cannot be done, it just gives up.As it grows up the thickness of the chain also increases - this usually establishes the fact in the elephant that it cannot break its chain no mater how hard it tries.I have used the word "usually" because often I have had Bulls in Musth break shackle and wander away.

Nitro Express

[nagarifle]

thanks Nitro, i will not keep up late with any more questions. do post some pics as and when.

[m24]

Great reading your posts, Nitro. As for pics, if you have negative reels, your nearby studio can convert them into digital prints at a small cost.

Regards