

A 1'KICKF.D TEAL. 



CHAPTER XI 



SHORE SHOOTING 



HORE shooting is a branch of sport by 

 far the most popular with the majority 

 of estuary frequenters, though it is 

 rarely recognised by scientific punts- 

 .;*?*>; men, except under oc- 



casional and peculiar 

 circumstances. It is 

 followed by many who have neither 

 the time on their hands nor the 

 appliances wherewith to work 

 otherwise, and, on finding them- 

 selves in a favourable district, take 



advantage of it with more or less success, the varied contents 

 of the bag lending an additional charm and making up, in a 

 great measure, for its usual lightness. 



In most places on our coast little else but shore shooting 

 and shooting from boats with shoulder guns can be carried on 

 whilst the professional gunner continues (as he always has 

 done) to turn up his nose at the humble wash-follower, whom he 

 contemptuously dubs a " shore snobber." In one respect, how- 

 ever, he is distinct from his traducers, in that he requires few 

 requisites for his craft or art, the principal being a reliable 

 full-choke double 8-bore or 10-bore, a serviceable rain-coat 

 and a hardy, well-trained water-spaniel or retriever, which 

 are indispensable ; thus equipped he can at once proceed to 

 his happy hunting-grounds, where success depends upon the 

 skill and the patience he exhibits, and the number of birds 

 there are to be found. 



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