28 SHOOTING THE DUCK 



disappointment and failure must always play a very 

 large part in wild-fowling. Every calculation is upset 

 again and again. In those gloriously uncertain three 

 minutes which precede a possible shot, any one of a 

 dozen absolutely fatal things may happen. Even 

 when everything has gone well, and the gunner finds 

 himself within range, the slightest mistake in aiming 

 or in choosing the moment to pull the trigger may 

 mean the difference of a possible heavy shot, and 

 merely two or three couple of birds, or very likely 

 none at all. 



As I would warn an uninitiated reader in the 

 foregoing matters, so also would I warn him against 

 the use of the punt if he is in any way constitu- 

 tionally weak or nervous. Should he suffer in these 

 respects, it is far better for him to leave the whole 

 thing alone. Wild-fowling afloat is hard, rough, and 

 often risky work work for the physically and men- 

 tally robust, for the man who is tough enough to 

 stand long exposure without feeling it, who can rely 

 upon his presence of mind under any circumstances, 

 and not for one whose shaky points are told upon by 

 cold and wet, or one who may lose his head at some 

 critical juncture, and, failing resource, come to grief 

 thereby. Every punt-gunner who takes the legiti- 

 mate risks of his sport finds himself at one time 



