Did you know Fred Bear once harvested a tiger with traditional archery gear?
Every bowhunter knows who Fred Bear was. Many of you probably knew about his amazing hunting trips for North American big game animals like deer, elk bear and moose. Many people also know about some of his African hunting exploits.
Not many people have harvested an elephant and a cape buffalo with traditional archery gear, but Fred did.
Did you know that Bear once went tiger hunting with a traditional recurve bow? It's true and it sounds like an insanely dangerous hunt. Fortunately, thanks to the Internet, we can re-live that hunt today. Check it out below.
I must admit, I thought I knew about all of Fred Bear's hunting exploits. This was one I had never seen heard of before. I tried to dig up some more details of this hunt online and was only able to find that it took place in 1963 in India while Bear was the guest of the Maharajah of Bundi. As you saw from this video, he obviously wasn't there just to hunt tigers, but this hunt does seem to be the highlight of the trip.
Even from the raised platform Bear was sitting on, this had to be an extremely dangerous hunt to take on with a traditional recurve. Even more so because we didn't see anyone sitting near him backing him up with a rifle in hand. Of course, a few guys with big bore rifles show up later in the video. We have to believe they were sitting close by just in case.
This type of hunt is truly unique and couldn't even happen today. The Bengal tiger is listed as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Unfortunately, poaching and habitat loss have taken a huge toll on these animals. These days, the only times they are hunted is if an animal becomes a problem, killing either humans or livestock.
This type of tiger hunting may never happen again. We're extremely fortunate Bear and his crew documented this hunt for future generations to enjoy. This video just further proves that Bear was one of a kind. There will never be another like him!
For more outdoor content from Travis Smola, be sure to follow him on Twitter and check out his YouTube channel.
NEXT: 5 REASONS BOWS ARE STILL VASTLY SUPERIOR TO GUNS FOR DEER HUNTING
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