CHAPTER XIV 



VARIOUS KINDS OF GUNNING-PUNTS 



So varied are the types of fowling-punts met with along our 

 coasts that to attempt to describe each would not only re- 

 quire more space than is here allotted to this subject, but 

 would, I fear, be too complicated to be of any practical value. 

 I think, therefore, it will be sufficient if I speak generally, 

 making simple reference to the more widely differing 

 crafts than to those closely, though not exactly, alike. 

 To the person who is not conversant in punt-gunning, all the 

 many kinds of shooting crafts are known to him as duck-punts 

 or shooting-punts, whichever may be the general term of his 

 district. As I have before mentioned, although we find a 

 great variety of shooting-punts, they all more or less kill fowl. 

 It is an undoubted fact that a punt (even a double) cannot 

 be constructed to suit all quarters, or all purposes — i.e. one 

 which would kill fowl in shallows and compete with equal 

 success against a punt specially built for rough, open waters. 

 It should not require much reasoning to see this. For each 

 particular purpose we find punts specially designed. A happy 

 medium is found in a general punt — one that will suit most 

 purposes, even if we cannot manage it for all. Places — 

 I mean fowling grounds — differ considerably in many respects, 

 and to these we should pay close attention, and try to construct 

 our punt, or have one constructed, in a manner most suitable 

 to its surroundings. 



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