Wildfowling in the UK is the practice of shooting wild geese and ducks over coastal and estuary waters.

This solitary pastime is highly rewarding and requires excellent stamina, patience and determination. Not for the feint-hearted, this challenging sport often takes place during the cold, muddy winter months, so being well-equipped for rugged outdoor conditions is a must for the novice wildfowler.

Often taking place around dawn and dusk during the wildfowling season, and with bag sizes per visit rarely exceeding more than 2-3 birds, this challenging sport requires much dedication and persistence to truly master and enjoy.

With many hunting and shooting sports, the art of wildfowling produces significant social and environmental benefits to local areas and the sport often requires long hours dedicated to research and understanding laws, restrictions and etiquette.

Such background information will aid any beginner into the sport and is certainly time well-spent for anybody starting out. Learning the different types of habitat and the huge variety of birds that will be encountered is highly recommended.

Getting to know your quarry, researching various calls, learning how to distinguish notes and sounds will also make for a more successful days shooting. This is a sport that also tests endurance with outside conditions often very testing and the unsociable hours with which certain quarry take flight.

Taking you to some of the remotest places in the UK, wildfowling has a magical appeal for many and is one of the most rewarding of shooting sports For more information on wildfowling, including seasons, firearms and codes of practice visit the BASC website at www.basc.org.uk where you can find information on wildfowling organisations and how to get involved.