Col. James "Jim" Corbett

[Timerover51]

Name: Colonel James “Jim” Corbett
Age: 63
Gender: Male
Race: Solomani
Homeworld: Terra
Career: Hunter

UPC: 8BAB9C (The social standing of C does not reflect an actual title, but his effective standing when dealing with government officials and large groups.)

Hunting-9, Survival-3, Gun Combat-6 (Rifle), Blade-2, Liaison-3, Leadership-3, Medical-1, Fishing-2, Languages: English-5, Hindustani-5, Jungle Folk-5.

Wild Talents: Col. Corbett has a limited “life-sensing” skill when hunting which allows him to detect when his quarry is stalking him, in time to take measures to counteract this. He also has the limited ability to detect paranormal phenomena, and accepts this as out of the normal range of experience rather than denying the existence of such.

Col. Corbett has been hunting maneating tigers and leopards in the northern area of India for the past 32 years, and is renowned at being one of the finest, if not the finest, hunters in India, and indeed of the planet of Terra. Refusing all payment for his services, his joy is the relief shown by the inhabitants of the areas of operation of the dangerous animals. His knowledge of the jungle and of its creatures is unsurpassed, and borders on the supernatural.

Edit Note: This is not a fictional character, but my reasoned view as to the skills and abilities of Colonel Jim Corbett. Additional information on him may be found at Wikipedia, and also by downloading his book, Maneaters of Kumaon, at archive.org.

Edit Note 2 (3 February 2019: I raised Corbett's Hunter Skill to 9, for reasons given in the course of the thread.

 

[kilemall]

Literally the Big Gun when you have an out of control animal.

 

[Timerover51]

Literally the Big Gun when you have an out of control animal.

Yes, and if needed, he carried a BIG Gun. He, John Hunter, and John Taylor were all firm believers in that you cannot have too much overkill when dealing with dangerous animals.

 

[kilemall]

Yes, and if needed, he carried a BIG Gun. He, John Hunter, and John Taylor were all firm believers in that you cannot have too much overkill when dealing with dangerous animals.

As I recall .666 Nitro rounds were in favor.

 

[Timerover51]

As I recall .666 Nitro rounds were in favor.

Either .500 Nitro Express, .577 Nitro Express, or .600 Nitro Express. That latter having a 900 grain solid slug at 1900 feet per second. Taylor tells the story of once having a .600 Nitro Express double fire both barrels at the same time. It blew him totally off the ladder he was shooting from, the rifle landed about 20 feet away, and the elephant that was the target was literally blasted off of his feet. From then on, he only loaded one barrel.

 

[77topaz]

Either .500 Nitro Express, .577 Nitro Express, or .600 Nitro Express. That latter having a 900 grain solid slug at 1900 feet per second. Taylor tells the story of once having a .600 Nitro Express double fire both barrels at the same time. It blew him totally off the ladder he was shooting from, the rifle landed about 20 feet away, and the elephant that was the target was literally blasted off of his feet. From then on, he only loaded one barrel.

I guess some sort of weapon mount would be useful when you're dealing with such high calibres. According to Wikipedia, the .600 Nitro Express even required a separate individual to act as gun-carrier because of its weight. o: (Wikipedia lists as citation Jonathan Kirton's The British Falling Block Breechloading Rifle From 1865.)

 

[Timerover51]

I guess some sort of weapon mount would be useful when you're dealing with such high calibres. According to Wikipedia, the .600 Nitro Express even required a separate individual to act as gun-carrier because of its weight. o: (Wikipedia lists as citation Jonathan Kirton's The British Falling Block Breechloading Rifle From 1865.)

As pointed out by all three authors mentioned, a 12 to 16 pound rifle is tiring to carry all day, especially of you are hiking through jungle or scrub brush. Paraphrasing John Taylor, "it is hard for a tired man to handle a heavy rifle in a pinch." However, Corbett, when hunting a maneater, never used a gun bearer, but always carried his own weapon. You do not have time to grab a weapon from a bearer if you are in thick cover.

 

[aramis]

As pointed out by all three authors mentioned, a 12 to 16 pound rifle is tiring to carry all day, especially of you are hiking through jungle or scrub brush. Paraphrasing John Taylor, "it is hard for a tired man to handle a heavy rifle in a pinch." However, Corbett, when hunting a maneater, never used a gun bearer, but always carried his own weapon. You do not have time to grab a weapon from a bearer if you are in thick cover.

Even an 8-pound rifle can get tiresome. Which is part of why rifles usually have slings.

 

[Timerover51]

I have been re-reading Corbett's book, Man-eaters of India, which is actually a compilation of three of his books. He started his career of hunting man-eating tigers and leopards at the age of 31 in 1906, and shot his last man-eating tiger on November 30, 1938, the Thak Man-eater. He was then 63. If you are inclined to work up a Hunter character I would highly recommend reading at least one of Corbett's books.

I have also been re-reading John Taylor's Pondoro, and John Hunter's Hunter, along with Taylor's African Rifles and Cartridges. I would say all three would be excellent reading if you are thinking of a Hunter character from Supplement 4: Citizens of the Imperium. While the book on rifles and cartridges dates from the 1950s, it is still highly useful in evaluating more modern cartridges, some of which are re-inventing the wheel.

As for rating the three men as Hunters for the Hunting Skill in Supplement 4, I have been doing some rethinking with respect to Corbett, and some thinking on Taylor and Hunter.

I think that John Hunter rates a 5 for Hunting Skill and John Taylor a 6, based on Taylor's hunting of a couple of man-eating lions. Given Corbett's 32 years of hunting man-eaters, which would equal 8 terms in and of itself, and he was asked to start hunting man-eating tigers and leopards because of his prior hunting skill and jungle knowledge, I think that an upgraded rating of 9 is a fair rating. That would give him one skill level of Hunting for every 4 years he was pursuing man-eaters, along with one skill level prior to starting.