This is the principal of the grey geese to afford sport; it is this
species that gives such a great deal of shooting on the north Norfolk
coast, but it is not found in Ireland, which is famed in winter for its
black geese—the locally miscalled bernicle, _i.e._ the brent goose,
which, if not now found in thousands of acres, as described in _Wild
Sports of the West_, are still migrants in their hundreds of thousands.
The brent goose is entirely a marine feeder, and is consequently, along
with the widgeon, the great game of the punt gunner. There are many
other varieties of geese, both migrants and introductions, like the
Canada goose, but they count for very little in sport in this country,
whereas in Egypt, on the Nile, wonderful sport has been had with
Egyptian geese, and there is a regular harvest for Canada geese in
America, where as many as 200 flighting birds have been shot in a day by
one gunner. The beginner in punt gunning cannot do better than buy a
second-hand gun and punt, and learn from them what he really wants,
which will never be quite the same for any two men. Much depends upon
the man himself, whether he intends to have assistance, and whether he
has also a yacht to carry him and his punt and guns abroad. As many
people have started this sport who have not gone on with it, probably
advertising for the outfit would be a certain way of obtaining it at
small cost, even if the gun-shops were drawn blank, which is not likely
at any time. To be a punt gunner, one has to place oneself at the call
of the wind, at the mercy of the wave, and to become the plaything of
the tide. But then revenge is sweeping, if it is not also sweet.