Hunsaker says he killed the bull on the ninth day of a 14-day hunt. He and Davidson came upon the bull just as it finished a fight with another banteng. It was walking away from them when Davidson grunted at the bull, causing it to turn and come towards them in challenge. Hunsaker says he shot the angry banteng at only 12 yards.
The other big banteng was taken with a rifle by Hunting Report subscriber Ancill Lindely, III. An SCI master measurer, Lindely says he did not get a chance to score the bull himself, but Davidson told him it measures over 76 inches, comfortably surpassing the current No. 2 banteng of 74 4/8. You can see photos of both banteng in the Trophy Gallery section of our web site (www.huntingreport.com). Incidentally, Lindely shot his banteng as it charged him and Davidson in the thick brush.
On other matters, Kevin Gleason of Mary River Australian Safaris told me near press time that most outfitters in the Northern Territory this year experienced at least some problems due to the flooding caused by that Category 5 cyclone I told you about in the June issue. Gleason is president of the Northern Territory Professional Hunters Association. The cyclone, you'll recall, was named Ingrid, and it struck east of Darwin this past April, creating knee-deep flooding in many prime buffalo areas. It was later followed by Cyclone Monica. The flood plains were slow to dry up, he says, bogging down hunting vehicles and impeding access to hunting areas. Later, the early onset of winter meant wet conditions persisted throughout the hunting season.........(continued)
