TOO BROADLAND SPORT 



punt against the edge of the ice until her planks are cut 

 through. 



It must be borne in mind that during frosty and hard 

 weather, or preparatory to some great atmospherical change, 

 the habits of fowl are completely revolutionised; one must 

 therefore work according to the locality, time, weather and 

 season. 



There are men who coast all round a country, staying but a 

 short period in each wildfowling district. This is, on the face 

 of it, all against large bags, as one so doing can have but an 

 indifferent knowledge of the ground he works, and local 

 knowledge is one of the most essential points to success. 

 Then, on the other hand, it is " rough " on the resident shooters 

 of the visited neighbourhood, for the visitor is usually totally 

 indifferent to how much alarm he creates he bags what he can. 

 The only advantage of the system is the following of the 

 migrating birds as they work southwards ; even that is open 

 to serious doubts. 



Some atmospherically-learned people erroneously believe 

 that shooting on estuaries in a fog is very auspicious towards 

 the gun, but practical experience proves that little or noth- 

 ing can be done under these circumstances. Now and again 

 geese can be " got in " at when it is not too thick, but fowl 

 rarely if ever, for they almost invariably detect the punt, 

 which can best be accounted for by a simple lesson drawn from 

 Nature herself. By way of example, if a clamorous Brent 

 goose looms out some twenty times its natural size, when seen 

 through a fog, what an enormous apparition must the punt 

 represent to the birds being approached. 



Referring to forbearance in shooting on preserved waters 

 until a good opportunity offers, the author one season re- 

 strained from firing a shot for three weeks on a small estuary 

 where the birds had been previously harassed with shoulder 

 guns, in order to allow them to regain confidence, although 

 punting about in the midst of hundreds. The reward came 

 in due course, for the first shot was a good one, and was 

 rapidly followed by others. Had a favourable opportunity 



