Maneater of Devprayag / Chandmari.

[prashantsingh]

Goat as bait. it is common for a goat to stop bleating when tied as a bait.

Ah shooter.I was wondering where you had vanished.
Singh called up yesterday to enquire about my programme. I told him I should be there by Friday. There has been no leopard attack after the 23rd. The maneater is now hungry and because of his injuries ,is looking for an easy meal. Surprisingly , on the very first day , while addressing the villagers Singh had mentioned the same thing. Since the animal had gorged himself on the young girl (and because he was injured), it would first try and recuperate and only then make the next kill.
It's been almost a fortnight since the leopard had his last good meal.
He now plans to put a bait in a few places where he suspects the presence of the maneater (he has been scouting the area ever since). If the big cat kills any one of them he will erect a machaan and wait. There is a particular time for getting on to the machaan as well,which I shall talk about later.
Here I must also mention that when hunting maneaters there are NO foolproof plans. One can only plan what the next move should be , but the results can not be guarenteed,
Before leaving for the hunt I wrote to Shooter. In the email I mentioned that I was going for this hunt. I also said I would be back in three days. Like a fool , and with no experience of dealing with maneaters , I had assumed this to be any other "trophy" hunt (like the ones I have been for in Africa and South America) . It was only after I got there , that I realised the challenges and the herculian task ahead.
Singh also carries a strong chain with which the bait has to be secured. Don't want the leopard to break the animal free (after killing it) and carry it away.
I will talk about the last part of our search (before I came back) next. That's the time we saw the leopard (not the maneater).

[dr.jayakumar]

prasanth,thanks so much.
we would like to know what all arms you are carrying while on hunt.do you carry a handgun?if not do so.

[sa_ali]

WOw, this is nail biting reading.

thanks a ton for this.

[davidj7]

eagerly awaiting next update

[drifter]

Dear Prashant,

The suspense is killing me, pls post as soon as you get back. Hats off to you on your writing and narrating skills. Wish I could hop in and accompany you on the trip.


regards,
drifter.

[rraju2805]

Dear prashantsinghji ,

My pictures are bigger than 258 kb...
How can i post this in this froum.
Pls suggest...

with regards
raju.

[prashantsingh]

Raju you may have to crop them and resize them to 640X480.


To reach the village one has to first take the National Highway. The kuttcha road (unmetalled) starts at a sharp bend at a gradient of (not less than) 45 degrees. From there on it is uphill. The kuttcha road runs for about 13 kms. It ends abruptly and then starts the walk on the pagdandee for another 8 kms.
The first evening / night . We walked on this pagdandee to look for the maneater. The long walk through the night had exhausted me.
The next evening we decided to drive on the kuttcha road. We made two trips in the night.
The first trip started at dusk (7:30 p.m.) and went on till mid night. We covered a distance of 13X2= 26 kms.This was the trip where I confused the nightjar bird with the leopard.
The second trip started at 2 a.m. and went into the early hours of the morning.
This way we covered about 52 kms through the night.
Singh felt that the maximum chances of spotting a leopard were during these hours.

[Baljit]

Prashant, good luck for the friday , we all like to know what's going on over there.


Baljit

[xl_target]

Prashant,
I know that you posted the caliber of the guns used. Would it be possible for you to be more specific about the make/model. I'm also assuming that the rifles have iron sights because of the possibility of having to shoot quickly at close range.

Is this .30-06 the same rifle that he used on his other Man-eater hunts or would he have used something bigger for a Tiger?

Would it also be too much to ask if you could find out what specific cartridge your friend , Mr Singh, is planning to use? It would be very interesting to see what type of bullet he plans to use on the Leopard.

[SYED833]

@prashantsingh,
Most Engaging..You are gifted with words..
Be safe,and good luck..

syed..

[Safarigent]

may god bless you and mr. singh guns and give peace to that noble beast whom we have turned into a man eater.
its not perfect, and it surely is not an elegant solution, but what else can be expected when the large majority of indians are so uncaring about our natural heritage and take no steps too protect it.

[xl_target]

Prashant,
I also want to add that what you and your friend are doing takes a tremendous amount of courage and presence of mind. It is not something an ordinary man would choose to do.

Going out on a dark night, on foot, even though armed with rifles, against a confirmed man-eater is not something to be taken lightly.
The leopard is one of the smartest, trickiest and most vindictive of the big cats. I have read some pretty hair-raising stories about Leopard hunting and not just from "Carpet Sahib".

I salute you and your friend, Mr Singh, for having the Cojones.... and it takes big ones to do what you are doing.

[prashantsingh]

Thanks xl. Like they say there is a thin line which divides madness from passion. I realised the risk only after we started the night walk. To add to that fear (snakes) , were some photographs I had seen (recently) on IFG about a leopard attack in Siliguri. One of the photos in particular had caught my fancy. You could actually see the anger in the leopards eyes and the claws drawn out in that snap.
Mr S Singh is an interesting person. He strongly believes in destiny.The forest guards also shared my thoughts. Singh motivated us and said "Agar marna hai to aadmi saat taalon me bhi chupne ke baad maut aa jayegi".
I remember having posted snaps of his Winchester .30-06 in the IOF .30-06 thread here. You a right . The rifles have iron sights. I will confirm the grain size on this trip and let you know. Interestingly when ever we moved into thick bush my friend would switch over to his shotgun insted. He was leading us throughout . As mentioned earlier. This was my first trip and I have NO previous experience in dangerous game hunting. I was more like a porter carrieng a gun .....an imposter dressed like a "big time" shikari.

[baldabe]

Wonderful mastery of words Prashant Singh,
I have not been on a maneater hunt myself, but have hunted as a child with my father (before it was banned) and have heard lots of stories from my grandfather-in-law who was an avid hunter and has hunted maneaters himself. You, sir, have reminded me of all that is great about India and Indians. The passion, the heartbreak and above all empathy for all sides of a battle.

great job,

Abid

[prashantsingh]

Half an hour into the second round and Singh saw some movement in the cornfields. We stopped and it turned out to be a herd of wild boar having a feast.
We could hear them but not see them.
They were well hidden in the corn.

We continued uphill and again saw those Amber pair of eyes. "Another Nightjar" I thought. Another flick of the light and the eyes looked yellow.
"Leopard" said Singh. I couldn't believe my ears. "Pull up the rifle, but don't shoot till I tell you to". He said.
We continued and after another 150 yards we stopped.The road took a sharp bend here. Singh focused the light again , and sure enought. There infront of us. About 60 yards ahead . Up on the ridge was this beautiful leopard .Looking down at us . Singh handed the light to the forest guard and pulled up his binocs. He took a good look. I tried to get the animal in my sights. After a few seconds the leopard moved . He had a perfect gait. "Put the rifle down. This is not the one". The leopard gave us less than a minute before vanishing into the bush. But the sight will be fresh in my mind for a long time to come.

"How were you so sure that this was not the one ? " I questioned.
Singh explained in simple words." Prashantji . No one can be 100% sure. If you are stuck mid way on this hill, have injured your feet and are being chased by a pack of hounds. Which way would you go? Would you spend more energy and go uphill or downhill?"
"Downhill." I said.
He then explained that the maneater would have also gone downhill. Only after he had nursed his wounds would he climb up. On closer look this leopard appeared to be in perfect health. His gait also suggested that he had no injuries on his paws. He was up in the mountains and the benifit of doubt went to him.


We climbed the hill till we reached the point where the kuttcha road ended and the pagdandee started. We decided to stop there for half an hour. Just before we were getting ready to get on to the jeep. We heard the alarm call of a kaakar coming from the valley below. Now I have spent enough time in the jungle to differentiate a regular call of the barking deer from an alarm call. This sound were very typicall. The sound he makes when he is really scared. Three distinct calls and then silence. Soon after we heard the frantic barks of the village dogs . Singh was confident that the maneater was down there. Nursing his wounds. Not far from the village.
Singh would take the pagdandee tomorrow.
I would be driving back home.
The "Adhikrit Shikar Dal" (Authorised Hunting Squad) was now reduced to three.
Singh and the two good old forest guards.