CHAPTER VIII 

 SHORE-SHOOTING 



Working 'longshore 



This may be termed the form of shore-shooting which is 

 adopted when "hutting" is not practicable. The majority of 

 gunners who visit the shore, seek to wander here or there in 

 search of sport, and thus proceeding are generally termed 

 'longshoremen. Their sport is never so certain, taking a long 

 series of trips into account, as that obtained by the gunners 

 who have well chosen and built huts. With many shooters the 

 plan of campaign is not previously thought out, and usually 

 they are content to run chances of meeting with birds and 

 trust to luck in getting shots. This is not shore-shooting. 

 The 'longshoreman worthy of the title is one who foreshadows 

 his sport, selects the days when the tides best suit his purpose, 

 and so works that he may attain the best results from his 

 studies and pursuits as much as the shore-gunner who always 

 "huts." Some decision must be derived at with regard 

 to the quarry to be followed, so that a suitable weapon can 

 be taken. 



Failing the possession of a varied fowling armoury, the 

 shore-shooter must content himself with, say, a heavy 12- or a 

 lo-bore, and use different sizes of shot in his cartridges. 

 What is lost in one way may be compensated for in another ; 

 but so varying are the circumstances attending shore-shooting 

 that the extremes are only competently met with by suitable 

 tools, such, for instance, as the services of an -S-bore when in 

 quest of geese, for here no smaller weapon will be equal to 



82 



