Crouching Tiger, Unaware prey - Hunt and Kill: TATR - Awesome, Incredible, Amazing!!

[sach.sri]

What is the ultimate prize that one has in their minds when going on a trip to a jungle. A jungle that promises many untold sights and adventures?







Well - this is the question that pops in my mind when I look back on our last holiday. It was a trip to Tadoba Tiger Reserve, one of the many tiger reserves in India, but one that in recent times has become one of the most talked about owing to the incredible experiences that people have had there.

What we got to see was beyond anything that we had expected, something for which some big wildlife photographers have spent years to document.




This was our first Safari in Tadoba and Tadoba surely lived upto its reputation and gave us a spectacle that we will remember and cherish for the rest of our lives.

We got to Tadoba from Pench where we had spent 4 days and did 7 Safaris. Read about it here:

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...-park-may.html (Jungles of MP: Pench National Park in May)

The plan was to do 4 Safaris in Tadoba and then fly back to Delhi. It was incredibly hot and sultry and Tadoba was touching 47 ~ 48 degrees. We reached the Svasara by 2.30 pm and had just 20 odd minutes to eat lunch and get ready for Safari.

It was a dilapidated Gypsy bearing the name of Chava Resort that greeted us and was to be our vehicle for the Safari. We piled up on it and started for the Safari. On that day - all the regular guides were already gone in, and we got a young guy (looked not more than 15~16) as our guide. This was 2 strikes against, but the ensuing sightings and experiences that we had more than made up for anything and everything.

As one friend who is a hotel manager says - "agar tourist ko tiger dikh jaata hai, to sab badhiya hai. nahin dikhta to hotel mein kuchh bhi theek nahin hota"

Tadoba has had a bumper crop of Tiger cubs in recent past and there were 4 litters being regularly reported to be seen two of them around 1.5 years of age and on the verge of becoming independent. (Will introduce them as we go along in the TL.) So the driver and guide were pretty confident of tiger sightings and the question was not if - but when and how many

Till date i have not seen this kind of confidence in the drivers and guides of any of the jungle that i have visited.

It all started with this



This is one of Panderpouni cubs - a litter of 4 cubs, 16 months old and on the verge of getting independent. These cubs frequent - Pandepouni and Ambepat waterholes.

It was at Ambepat that all drama took place - when we reached Ambepat there were already some gypsys occupying strategic spots. I had to climb up on the B-pillar and windshield to take some of these shots.


Barking Deer - it is amazing how even this guy could not smell the Tiger!



In the thicket




Sitting in water relaxing!












to be contd...

[fazalaliadil]

Sachin,

Very lucky to get this hunt on camera, as 9 out of 10 attempts of the predator are unsuccessful. You got one that was successful, many photographers would dream of this shot.

I am sure you were shooting on continuous mode and the launch before the final leap on the boar and all must be on your camera, do post them..waiting anxiously.
Regards,

[neel385]

Lucky you!! I mean people spend a lot of time "planning" for something like this to happen, but as this incident shows, when it's gotta go, it's gotta go!! Waiting for the rest of the pics.

[nkrishnap]

Oh my God. This is a dream to most wildlife lovers and especially the big Cat.

Fantastic, cant wait to see the continuous shots of this hunt.

Thanks for Sharing and just this shot deserves a 5 * for your thread.

[gd1418]

Sachin you have surpassed all. People die to get these shots, spend years roaming the jungles and come back empty handed.

This teaser of a picture in itself is giving goosebumps. Wish I was there to witness this.

Awesome is what I can only utter...

And as Fazal Bhai said the leap before mounting the boar is what I'm waiting for..

[Durango Dude]

Looks like you and the tiger were stalking the wild boar. The shots are impeccable and well framed and the kill was just brilliant. A wild life photographer's dream come true for you.

[W.A.G.7]

Awesome shots ! That must have been an extremely thrilling encounter you have witnessed ! As you have said, many have spent their lives trying to capture these moments but have returned empty handed. You were seriously lucky to get these moments captured. Waiting for more pics.

And yes, Tadoba rocks !!!

[samarjitdhar]

This is just out of the world. You were so wonderfully lucky. I guess this made it up way more for the disappointment you faced after falling ill midway through your road trip. Now waiting for all the shots. Is there a video too somewhere?

[aravind84]

Sachin,

Bring it on mate. Dont make us wait to see the full set of pics. Guess, everything happens for good seems to be more appropriate this time around .

When you had to initially cancel your trip and return back , am sure you would not even have dreamt of such an amazing luck.

[ruchirtnt]

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[joe1980]

This thread should be interesting. You have rightly said. It took many professional wildlife photographers and experts ages to document or record a tiger kill. You were so lucky to watch it so live. Did you make any videos? That would have been much more interesting. I hope you would not mind posting your video here.

[sach.sri]

Thank you all for liking the beginning of the thread. I am working on sorting and organising the pics and videos and will continue posting. I have some 1000 odd pics of the event and am sorting them. One dilemma i face is - how much is too much?

Pls bear with me for a while and will post more pics.

Originally Posted by fazalaliadil

Sachin,

Very lucky to get this hunt on camera, as 9 out of 10 attempts of the predator are unsuccessful. You got one that was successful, many photographers would dream of this shot.

I am sure you were shooting on continuous mode and the launch before the final leap on the boar and all must be on your camera, do post them..waiting anxiously.
Regards,

Thanks Fazal bhai. We were indeed lucky and were at the right place at right time. This is something that we had not dreamed of even in our wildest dreams.

You are right - i was shooting in continuous mode and will post more pics. I captured the initial phase on video so will have some good footage to share - will upload.

Originally Posted by SPARKled

Awesome shots. What luck and timing. Brilliant.

Thanks mate. Watch this space for more.

Originally Posted by neel385

Lucky you!! I mean people spend a lot of time "planning" for something like this to happen, but as this incident shows, when it's gotta go, it's gotta go!! Waiting for the rest of the pics.

Thanks Neel. Totally agree - we never even dreamed of capturing something like this and to be frank our expectations from Tadoba were high, but to get to see something like this on first Safari was amazing.

Originally Posted by nkrishnap

Oh my God. This is a dream to most wildlife lovers and especially the big Cat.


Fantastic, cant wait to see the continuous shots of this hunt.

Thanks for Sharing and just this shot deserves a 5 * for your thread.

Thanks bro - for liking the thread and voting. Am in the process of sorting the pics and will upload them - pls bear with me for sometime.

Originally Posted by gd1418

Sachin you have surpassed all. People die to get these shots, spend years roaming the jungles and come back empty handed.

This teaser of a picture in itself is giving goosebumps. Wish I was there to witness this.

Awesome is what I can only utter...

And as Fazal Bhai said the leap before mounting the boar is what I'm waiting for..

Thank you sir. I agree and to be frank - when i started processing the images, i just could not stop posting this teaser and could not wait to process all of them

Pls bear with me for a while and i will upload the pics and videos.

Originally Posted by Durango Dude

Looks like you and the tiger were stalking the wild boar. The shots are impeccable and well framed and the kill was just brilliant. A wild life photographer's dream come true for you.

Thanks Durango. Well we were just happy clicking her sitting in the pool and cooling off, when we realised that - oh! the wild boar is casually walking towards its death and could see the immediate change in the demeanour of the tigress and we knew immediately that something exciting is going to happen...

Originally Posted by W.A.G.7

Awesome shots ! That must have been an extremely thrilling encounter you have witnessed ! As you have said, many have spent their lives trying to capture these moments but have returned empty handed. You were seriously lucky to get these moments captured. Waiting for more pics.

And yes, Tadoba rocks !!!

Thanks man. Very true! I remember wathcing a documentary in TV where one wildlife photographer had spent 17 years of his life trying to document a kill! Imagine that.

I guess this is something that we can also attribute to the carefree nature of youth, this is a female cub 1.5 yrs old and not yet fully independent and people told me that this was the first kill made by this cub. I guess the temptation was just too much and she could not resist - i dont think that she was looking to make a kill, but pounced on the chance.

Originally Posted by samarjitdhar

This is just out of the world. You were so wonderfully lucky. I guess this made it up way more for the disappointment you faced after falling ill midway through your road trip. Now waiting for all the shots. Is there a video too somewhere?

Heh heh. True man - infact, had i not fallen sick and returned - i would have missed this as Tadoba was not on my initial Agenda. I was doing Bandhavgarh, Kanha, Pench and Panna and coming back. So in a way - as they say - "All that happens, happens for good" really proved itself this time.

Thanks for liking - there is indeed some videos and infact the first lunge and attack is also on video. Give me sometime - will upload.

Originally Posted by aravind84

Sachin,

Bring it on mate. Dont make us wait to see the full set of pics. Guess, everything happens for good seems to be more appropriate this time around .

When you had to initially cancel your trip and return back , am sure you would not even have dreamt of such an amazing luck.

Thank Aravind. Sorry for making you guys wait - but like i said, when i started processing the pics i just could not stop myself from posting this traser even before the pics were all processed. Give me sometime and we will see pics streaming.

Originally Posted by joe1980

This thread should be interesting. You have rightly said. It took many professional wildlife photographers and experts ages to document or record a tiger kill. You were so lucky to watch it so live. Did you make any videos? That would have been much more interesting. I hope you would not mind posting your video here.

Thanks Joe. I definitely have some videos - infact the inital attack is also on video. My wife urged me to capture it on video and i will be really grateful to her for that as i am sure that if i were clicked the pics - i would have botched it up . There were just too many gypsys in a very small place leading to a lot of jostling around.

It was really amazing that the tigress did not mind so many eyes on her.

[fazalaliadil]

Originally Posted by sach.sri

You are right - i was shooting in continuous mode and will post more pics. I captured the initial phase on video so will have some good footage to share - will upload.

Sachin,

GD Sahab and I are looking out for, the tiger before and in the final leap upon the boar and at what stage did the boar realize the prowling tiger's presence and its reaction.

Kindly post the sequence.

Regards,

[Fauji]

Sachin,

I envy all you guys who went to Pench and Tadoba in the last month and had a feast for your eyes. You guys are so damn lucky and congrats for clicking excellent pictures.

BTW, did you get a chance to shoot the kill in Video?

Five stars!!!

[girishglg]

The last pic especially of the tiger facing your side is simply amazing. No words make justice to the pic and of course the hunt sequence is just something one would never ever get to see realistically. You are very very luck sir and we are as well in the eyes of you.

Please bring it on, some more pics please please, of the kill and after. This is simply amazing!