INLAND AND ON THE SHORE 65 



Consider background more than wind : you have a 

 better chance if you come down wind with just a 

 patch or two of sedge or marram behind you than if 

 you come up wind with nothing but bare land at the 

 rear. 



The question of guns and ammunition for the 

 purpose of shooting the duck inland is a wide one, 

 and one into which individual bias must enter to a 

 large extent. 



A great deal, of course, depends upon the con- 

 ditions under which one is shooting. If punting on 

 river, broad or mere, a single 4-bore or a double 

 8-bore must be considered highly desirable as a 

 supplement to the light shoulder-gun. Cartridges for 

 the heavy gun should be loaded, some with No. i 

 and some with B.B. London sizes, or their New- 

 castle equivalent the latter being used for shots at 

 extreme ranges. Let the heavy gun be of the fullest 

 possible choke. A heavy gun is also a desirable 

 weapon to have with one when shooting over decoys, 

 or when lying up at dawn or dusk in a position com- 

 manding a pool frequented by the birds. Generally 

 speaking, it may be said that, save in the connections 

 thus outlined, the heavy shoulder-gun does not stand 

 as a weapon that can be put to more than very little 

 practical use by the inland duck-shooter, though, of 



F 



