Tiger Man

[KCSO]

Any one interested in hunting with the 303 SMLE really should research Sasha Tiger Man Siemel. His favorite rifle for hunting the Pantanal was a SMLE and on one he had the bayonet so thet if the tigers charged he could spear them. He use to write in Outdoor Like years ago and I came across one from the 50's where he is hunting with a spear and killing 150 pound or larger cats! he was quite a fellow and he prefered a smelly!

[curator]

Several years ago my wife and I visited the Brazilian Pantanel south of Pocane and Curemba. We stayed at a place called posada Do Englis where a 60 year old British gent and his wife were the owners. He was a retired Jaguar hunter with many trophies on the walls of the inn. His rifle of choice was an old Lee Speed carbine which he preferred over the more common .44 lever-action. He liked the .303's knock-down power and fast bolt action. He has served in Burma before the war and the Lee action just seemed right. Jaguars are now protected and no one seems to care if they eat the occasional fisherman or farm worker. Hunting is illegal almost everywhere in Brazil but still widely done despite serious consequences if caught. With one person per square mile in a seasonal wetlands as large as France, not much chance of getting caught. Ammunition is smuggled in from Paraguay, across the river.

[Adam Helmer]

KCSO,

I own dozens of SMLE Arms. I never considered hunting with a spear. I never hard of Sahasa. and maybe that is a GOOD Thing.

Adam

[bouncer50]

The spear has been used for 1000 of years to hunt two legged and four legged prey. A spear does not jam or has to be reloaded.

[leebuilder]

I may be wrong but i remember a movie, and Brad Pitt was a hunter and he used a lee speed kill lions that were halting work on a railway. The lee action is the quickest bolt action around, it would be my choise for its quick follow up shot.
Facinating story, spears have been around since man could poke, I have used them for shell fish and eels. For dangerous game you must have your "cheeks tight".

[nickeda85]

Movie sounds like "The Ghost and the Darkness" starring Val Kilmer and Michael Douglas. Good movie, supposed to be based on true story. Been a while since seen it though so cannot accurately comment on firearms.

Dave

[atr]

yea,,,that movie was the Ghost and the Darkness...
sometimes I show up at the range with the bayonet on my enfields....I get some strange looks

[M-Tecs]

The true story is The Man-eaters of Tsavo by John Henry Patterson

[leebuilder]

To all above, thanks thats it. Val has a lee speed, got one very simialar.
Lol never though about bringing my bayonets fixed to the range.
Be well. Have a good weekend!!!!

[Scharfschuetze]

I believe the two lions on display at the Natural History Museum in Chicago are the two culprits responsible for the tale and the movie.

[TNsailorman]

Read a little more on Sasha and you will find he used a spear but a special spear. His had a guard behind the steel spear blade to keep the Jaguar from sliding down the spear handle and doing some real damage to his body before it expired. He would try to get the Jaguar to charge and leap at him allowing him to put his foot on the butt end of the spear to anchor it into the ground as much as possible. That allowed the Jaguar's weight to impale it on the spear and Sasha did not have to use his brute strength against the Jaguars to drive the spear deep into the body of the Jaguar. Jaguars have a very territorial instinct and anything within their hunting domain, they figure belongs to them. Cattle, other livestock, horses. And they will take on anything that comes between them and what they considers their, spelled--cattle. I have read that some ranchers will ride their horses with protective helmets very similar to football helmets to protect their skull as Jaguars favorite killing method is to bite thru the skill into the brain for a quick kill, animals or men, it all the same to them. If I remember correctly, one finally got him. If I remember correctly, there is some guy in the U.S. making a spear with a guard on it to hunt dangerous game. later, james

[13Echo]

It's called a Boar Spear. The cross bar was to keep the boar from running up the length of the spear to get to the hunter. Used since the Greeks and before for hunting European wild boar. A very dangerous animal in its own right.

[KCSO]

In the Outdoor Life article he went over making the spear and how he goaded the cats to charge him. He actually lived the last of his life in the USA and took hunting parties to the Pantanal till he was over 50 (57) years old. He was also in a movie about himself. But IIRR he died here in the states. He died in Green Lane PA when he was 80 years old.

[KCSO]

Out in the Midday Shade by William York tells a lot about using the 303 and surplus ammo on elephant in the 1950's. Another heck of a man, he left school at 16 to go to Africa and hunt elephant and stayed till there was no more Africa.

[BigEyeBob]

Out in the Midday Shade by William York tells a lot about using the 303 and surplus ammo on elephant in the 1950's. Another heck of a man, he left school at 16 to go to Africa and hunt elephant and stayed till there was no more Africa.


WDM Bell also used the 303 Brit on occasion and a couple of other cartridges (6.5 x 57 and 7 x 57).

I like it for feral camels and scrubbers with a 215gn bullet .

Kev

[Cmm_3940]

Any one interested in hunting with the 303 SMLE really should research Sasha Tiger Man Siemel. His favorite rifle for hunting the Pantanal was a SMLE and on one he had the bayonet so thet if the tigers charged he could spear them. He use to write in Outdoor Like years ago and I came across one from the 50's where he is hunting with a spear and killing 150 pound or larger cats! he was quite a fellow and he prefered a smelly!

What are tigers doing in South America? Zoo escapees?

[Pepe Ray]

FYI from an old codger.

The movie "Ghost in the Darkness", w/Kilmer & Douglas was a remake of sorts. The original movie telling of the man eaters was called
Bwana Devil and starred Robert Stack. It was the first 3-D movie. More technology than art but lots of fun for a youngster.

Just thought you needed to keep abreast of history.

Pepe Ray

[13Echo]

The Jaguar is called el Tigre in South America.