Devotees of other fieldsports may disagree, but it strikes me that, of all of them, wildfowling presents the newcomer with the most intimidating list of learning requirements. There are various species to identify; males, females and juveniles. What you can shoot and what you must not. Their appearance on land, water and, crucially, in the air. There are calls to memorise and imitate, plus the birds’ timings and habits, their resting areas and feeding grounds, their preferred flightlines from one to the other and how these things are affected by food, the moon and the weather.
Then comes concealment and camouflage, how to shoot them and with what ammunition, the close seasons, the law and the
