134 THE WILD-FOWLER. 



The punter must be careful of his shoulder in making- flying shots 

 with a large punt-gun, or he will assuredly do himself a serious 

 injury ; and he must also take care that his gun does not fall over- 

 board from the force of the recoil. It is an awkward position from 

 which to shoot, with a heavy gun ; though with caution and practice 

 it may be safely performed. And it is highly important for every 

 punter to understand it, as many of the best shots are sometimes 

 made by putting up the birds and tipping the gun.* 



It will thus be seen that the punt-gun must be balanced with nice 

 precision, or it cannot be tipped. But the equilibrium may be 

 sufficiently maintained without placing the gun in such a ticklish 

 position that the slightest touch would throw up the muzzle ; indeed, 

 that would be highly erroneous : it should rest on the cross-piece, so 

 that a moderate pressure say, of four or five pounds weight will 

 tip it up, or just so that when the gun flies back in recoil from a 

 horizontal shot, it may not lose its equilibrium and throw up the 

 muzzle, contrary to the intention of the punter. 



Punt-gun triggers often have a short bit of string attached to 

 them, that the hand may not be injured by the trigger when the gun 

 flies backward or forward at the recoil. But, as a general rule, small 

 punt-guns are fired without the string ; and, when so, it is safest to 

 put all the fingers before the trigger at the time of pulling it. 

 Neither punt nor stanchion-gun should have guards over the trigger, 

 because of the danger attending such, in often bruising, and sometimes 

 severely lacerating, the hands and fingers when incautiously placed 

 within the guard on pulling the trigger. 



Col. Hawker's Double-barrelled Punt-Gun. 



In the late Colonel Hawker's "Instructions to Young Sportsmen" 

 he speaks of the double-barrelled punt-gun as the most effective and 

 useful weapon of the kind he ever used. Now, without any dis- 

 couragement to those who may wish to possess themselves of such a 

 gun, or desire on my part to impugn the worthy Colonel's veracity, 

 I may be permitted to say, that after years of active experience in wild- 

 fowl shooting with punt, stanchion, and other guns, I have no hesitation 



* One of the most satisfactory shots I ever made in this manner was at two 

 pair of black geese, which I had punted to, and when within range found they sat 

 so awkwardly, that it was impossible to kill more than a pair at a shot ; so I 

 frightened them up, tipped my gun, and knocked down all four. 



