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be a deadly shot. In the pursuit of ordinary game the 

 " hit and miss " man may enjoy himself as much as his 

 " crack " companion. But it is heart-breaking in wild- 

 fowling, after having intrigued, manoeuvred, and toiled 

 for a single family shot, to see the birds fly away with- 

 out a feather of their plumage being ruffled. The 

 practical wild-fowler should be as clever with his gun 

 as the juggler who goes through his feats on the slack- 

 rope. Ashore, he must shoot when he has been 

 shivering in spite of his bodily powers ; when his feet 

 have been frozen to his stockings, and his stockings 

 congealed in his boots ; when he is slipping about in 

 treacherous mud, in a pair of " mud-shoes," or boards 

 that are attached to his boots like sandals ; or when he 

 has sunk over the knee in shifting sands, or has been 

 taken aback by a chance while fording a sea-creek. 

 Ten to one, the flight he fires at may come travelling 

 down wind at something from twenty to forty knots an 

 hour. And what a weapon he has to carry ! We 

 believe that the most accomplished modern experts 

 declare by preference for a five-bore ; and none but 

 those who have been initiated can realise what it is to 

 carry so ponderous a piece of metal through a long 

 day's heavy walking in the face of blustering weather. 

 Even the most accustomed shoulder may ache, and the 

 bare recoil must often be serious. And if the fowler 

 has to contend with such difficulties ashore, what must 

 it be afloat? In loch-shooting, of course, if you can, 

 you will choose a calm day, and so your difficulties are 

 lightened in place of being aggravated. But off the 



