260 THE GUN: AFIELD AND AFLOAT 



to make these birds extremely wary and greatly reduce 

 his chance of coming up within gunshot of them. 



A single- or a double-handed gunning-punt will prove 

 most helpful in the sport of wild-swan shooting. Thus 

 equipped the fowler may follow these birds in the shoal 

 waters along the coast, in just those positions where the 

 best of the shooting is likely to be encountered. This punt 

 should be decked fore and aft, and built on lines that 

 will insure its seaworthiness, as the following of swans, 

 of brent geese and the like, will take the gunner into 

 rough water now and again. A gun carrying i Ib. 

 or more of shot may be selected for this work. This 

 heavy charge may be fired in comfort by means of a 

 swivel attachment having steel springs or rubber buffers 

 for taking up the force of the recoil ; or the stress of the 

 latter may be relieved by means of the well-tried and 

 simple expedient of the rope-breeching. 



It may now and again occur to the sportsman, armed 

 with muzzle-loading punt-gun, to come across a herd of 

 wild swans unexpectedly whilst in pursuit of other and, 

 of course, smaller fowl. If brent geese or wild-duck hap- 

 pen to be the object of his quest at that moment, he will 

 probably have his gun loaded with No. I or BB. shot ; 

 either size will answer right well provided he makes the 

 heads and necks of the sitting swans his point of aim. 

 With a breech-loading punt-gun large shot may be readily 

 substituted for smaller whilst afloat, but in the case 

 of a muzzle-loader it will not be safe to do this without 

 running ashore, or to water sufficiently shallow to enable 

 the gunner to effect the desired alteration by stepping 

 out of the punt in his long wading-boots. For flying 

 shots at swans at long range mould shot will prove most 

 effective, one pellet of SSG. from a powerful punt-gun 



