250 THE COMPLETE WILDFOWLER 



take up in a real fowling punt. The apparatus is fixed to the 

 floor or a small platform. Improvements may be added as 

 they present themselves to the user, such as an elastic rubber 

 lifter on the scull blade, etc., which would act similarly to the 

 buoyancy on the scull if in water. Poling or setting is 

 artificially practised by lying at the rear of a carriage or 

 wooden platform mounted on a single wheel placed centrally. 

 By shoving on the pole the carriage is moved forwards. The 

 direction of the course is worked by poling through a spur similar 

 to that placed on a punt for the same purpose. A level grass 

 field is a good practice ground, as the pole end is destructive on 

 a lawn. It is amusing to see the hopeful wildfowler practising 

 his sculling or poling in an artificial way, especially when his 

 ineffectual struggles get intermixed with his futile, yet deter- 

 mined, endeavours to achieve his object. If he is to make a 

 wildfowler, it is not until his fatigue has temporarily conquered 

 his enthusiasm that he takes a rest, hopeful of final success. 



Anybody can fire or let off a punt-gun. This does not say, 

 however, that they can use a punt-gun. It must not be 

 supposed that wildfowl shooting with punt and gun is simply 

 a matter of finding fowl and banging off" the big gun into their 

 midst. Nothing is further from the truth. The amount of 

 skill required to become a successful shot with a punt-gun, can 

 never be realised by any persons who have not tried 

 it. Shooting with a punt-gun is a sport in itself, and can 

 be in no way likened to rifle or shoulder-piece shooting. 

 Nevertheless, equally as much skill is required in the manipu- 

 lation of the punt-gun as with any shoulder gun ; in fact, it is 

 the general rule of things amongst wildfowlers to say that the 

 average person could be more easily trained to become an 

 expert either with a rifle or a shoulder shot-gun than with a 

 punt-gun. The foregoing has been written more particularly 

 to erase the general and erroneous opinion amongst in- 

 experienced persons that punt-shooting is a matter of simplicity, 



