. The encyclopaedia of sport. s, an imitation of thecall note will bring them within shot; and,should several be dropped at the first discharge,if they are left for a time on the ground, or inthe water, the remainder of the flock will wheelround and pass close to them, giving anotherchance to the expectant gunner. Guns—The choice of a gun for shore practice the heavy gun is not brought u|) quicklyenough, aligned quickly enough, nor swungsufficiently ahead of the passing bird; theresult is that the bulk of the charge passesbehind it, and unless a pellet or two shouldhappen to strike it in the r
. The encyclopaedia of sport. s, an imitation of thecall note will bring them within shot; and,should several be dropped at the first discharge,if they are left for a time on the ground, or inthe water, the remainder of the flock will wheelround and pass close to them, giving anotherchance to the expectant gunner. Guns—The choice of a gun for shore practice the heavy gun is not brought u|) quicklyenough, aligned quickly enough, nor swungsufficiently ahead of the passing bird; theresult is that the bulk of the charge passesbehind it, and unless a pellet or two shouldhappen to strike it in the right place, the birdgets away and is soon lost to sight. Many persons seem to be under the impres-sion that for shore shooting a heavy gun isindispensable, but this is really not the an ordinary 12-bore, weighing 7^ lbs., thepresent writer has killed curlew, whimbrel, god-wits, redshanks, greenshanks, golden and greyplover, peewits, knots, and all the smaller sand-pipers which are commonly to be found about ^ i^ \. Knots. shooting, on any given occasion, will dependupon whether the shooter is going to walk aboutall day in the salt marsh or along shore, whetherhe is going to lie behind a sea-wall, or spendhalf his time in a punt. In the former case, hewill find a good stout 12-bore, weighing about7^ lbs., sufficiently useful for his purpose, andnot too heavy to carry all day ; in the latter case,if he is accustomed to the use of a heavyshoulder gun, he may have an 8-bore or a 10-bore behind the sea-wall, or a 4-bore in thepunt as well as a 12-bore, using the heavierweapon for a big shot at curlews, godwits orplover, and the lighter one for single shots atbirds passing within moderate range. Nothingis more disappointing at first use of a heavyshoulder gun than the frequent misses whichoccur from slowness of swing. For want of the mouths of rivers and tidal harbours at lowwater, or in the salt marshes adjacent to the sea,besides ducks of various kinds at flight time,on
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, booksubjectgames, booksubjectspo
