Rules & Regulation For Big Game Hunting In U.P. 1967-68

[najeeb_khan]

Thanks najeeb for the "rare" find & sharing it...
Thanks Prashant for the additional information...
Although (unfortunately) I have not retained any copy of the permits I had taken during 60's - the contents appear to be very similar - but I do remember 'there was no mention' of Black Panthers or White Tigers in them!
Yes - as Prashant mentions 'Melanin' syndrome does appear rarely among Panthers & Tigers...
I remember seeing a picture of a 'Black Mule Deer' bagged by a hunter in the Field & Stream magazine very many years ago!

TC wrote: Feels great to know there were Black Panthers around the year I was born, 1967
Briha

Dear Sir Charan,

I am pleased to know that you like it, these are just memories of the past like a dream.

If you want to refresh your memories and like to see, so may I post the old permits of my father.

[prashantsingh]

Please do.
Would also love to see some of his old trophies. If you still have them and read some interesting stories and unusual incidents in a "Sport" where the unusal is the norm.
Here I can tell you an incident recently when I was hunting Roe deer with shooter in England.
I shot these deer through the heart and it went up in the air taking a full 360 degree summersault. Landed on it's feet and ran into the bush to breath it's last.
Never seen anything like that before.

[Kittu]

hi najeeb
post pics of tiger trophy that your father shot

[najeeb_khan]

Hello Prashant and Ashok,

I will scan the the application and permit, then I will post their picture.

I agree with you Prashant, I think you must have shot a running deer.

Once on a hunting trip of a tiger, my father, uncle and some of their friends went to a Ramnagar block which was alloted to them. There was one friend with them who had recently bought a 30.06 rifle but never kill any animal himself, but he was very much interested in hunting. One night my uncle told that person to stay on the machan, wait for the tiger and gave them a whistle. They had tied a bait under the tree. My uncle told him and the other fellows who was staying there, that if they see a tiger then whistle 3 times, uncle told them when they will hear the whistle, then they will come. Father, uncles and some of their other friends went to a nearby rest house. Later in the night tiger came, but those fellows who were waiting on the machan with a whistle and search light become very much afraid, they dropped the search light and instead of whistling 3 times, they keep on whistling regularly. Tiger went away by hearing the whistle. On hearing the sound of whistle father, uncle and other understood that something have happened and those on the machan are continuously whistling as they might be afraid, but they stayed in the rest house, knowing tiger will not stay as those people are whistling for a long time and those people use to say earlier many times that khan sahab this time we will kill a tiger. So all people in the rest house decided let those fellows on machan enjoy their night by keep whistling in the dark. In the morning all went to the machan after doing breakfast, they came to know, that one and person who was sitting on the machan had a terrible night in the dark and looks very angry and said to others (raat tau hamay marwa hi diya tha aap sab logo nay). This incident became a joke among all of them for many years.

[Kittu]

hi najeeb i am talking abour this

[najeeb_khan]

hi najeeb i am talking abouut thi

Here is this picture, earlier this and other tiger skins were hanging on the wall, but their skins started to crack, so had been placed on the table.

[mundaire]

Got this in the mail from a friend, posted here as a bit of historical trivia.

Found by a friend in his late Father's belongings

Number of tigers shot from 1946 till '55.

The fantastic Terai jungles of U.P. were undoubtedly a heaven for wildlife.

Year ------------- Tigers ------------------ Tigress ------------------------------- Total
1946-47 ----------- 72 ---------------------- 44 ----------------------------------- 116
1947-48 ----------- 55 ----------------------- 26 ----------------------------------- 81
1948-49 Not available
1949-50 ----------- 56 ----------------------- 26 ----------------------------------- 82
1950-51 ----------- 67 ----------------------- 27 ----------------------------------- 94
1951-52 ----------- 65 ----------------------- 29 ----------------------------------- 94
1952-53 ----------- 40 ----------------------- 57 ----------------------------------- 97
1953-54 ----------- 67 ----------------------- 39 ----------------------------------- 106
1954-55 ----------- 61 ----------------------- 36 ----------------------------------- 97

Almost a hundred tigers a year!

These figures are from a gentleman who was Chief Wildlife Warden of the state. Mr Vijay Bahadur Singh I.F.S. in the last century.

These figures are from the tigers legally hunted in the state and does not include the big cats which might have been poached.

Interestingly in the same article this gentleman closing words are:

"The greater danger to tiger comes from another quarter,viz,growing civilization and intensive exploitation of forests. If we go on loosing tiger habitats to cultivation , colonies, industrial projects and plantations , no one can save tigers in this State even if shooting by permit is completely closed. Future of tiger , therefore lies only in the protection of its habitat."

The big game hunting rules & bag limits prevalent at the time:

[mundaire]

To put the money numbers in perspective: a square yard of land in a posh South Delhi locality sold for about INR 100 (or less) in those days, today that would be worth upwards of Rupees 5-10 lac (500,000 to 1 million) per sq yard - that is if you can find a seller! So the license fees may seem "small" in absolute numbers, but this was back in the 1960's when each Rupee went a lot further and bought a lot more than today

[surajshuresh]

Thank for this post very interesting... rs 200 for indians and dollar 150 for foreigners was wondering what the rupee to dollar rate was any idea guys...

[xl_target]

"The greater danger to tiger comes from another quarter,viz,growing civilization and intensive exploitation of forests. If we go on loosing tiger habitats to cultivation , colonies, industrial projects and plantations , no one can save tigers in this State even if shooting by permit is completely closed. Future of tiger , therefore lies only in the protection of its habitat."

Prophetic Words!

[surajshuresh]

"The greater danger to tiger comes from another quarter,viz,growing civilization and intensive exploitation of forests. If we go on loosing tiger habitats to cultivation , colonies, industrial projects and plantations , no one can save tigers in this State even if shooting by permit is completely closed. Future of tiger , therefore lies only in the protection of its habitat."

Prophetic Words!

...

[mundaire]

Oops - just realised that this had been posted before. My apologies najeeb_khan.

Just goes to show how little I've visited recently

Threads merged!

Cheers!
Abhijeet

[zaheer.bakshi]

Great find Najeeb. India was indeed a treasure of wildlife. Hunting was legal in those days but conservation was on a slow track. No one ever imagined that our jungles and wildlife would come to a situation like this. Hunting with permits is what we know but what about statistics of illegal hunting. Just imagine the figures.

Black panther existence in India is exciting.

[airgun_novice]

Prashant and Najeeb, thanks for the update. I thought black panthers had become extinct in India.

TC

Black panthers are pretty much in existence in Konkan - odd ones though. Think they are result of some sort of genetic mutations. Sightings in Konkan often are described as more brownish than shiny black. I think it's result of the red soil layering the fur. Or could be the smart beast rolls around trying to camo better as the shiny black will give off its presence in the sun against green/ red backdrop.

[Endlessmoor]

i can recall some words from a great author Mr. Buddhadev Guha.

those are like this,

yes perhaps hunting is a spoil sport for today, but how can one forget the chills it brings, that cannot be compare to anything,

those were goo days...those were bad days