To bag your first goose at the age of 12 is no mean achievement, but, as Louise Pratt explains, she's simply carrying on a family tradition...

For three generations my family have been shooters. My father, grandfather, great-grandfather and also my half brother.

From a very young age I have lived a rural lifestyle. Quite often, from the age of three, I accompanied my father to the foreshore. In fact at the age of two I could identify many different birds, including pink-footed and greylag geese, mallard, teal and shelduck.

It was at the age of two that I first picked up a dead bird - a goose. We lived in a pub at the time and I wanted to show a customer what my father had shot on a trip to Scotland. The goose was almost as big as me but I managed to hold it up!

As I got older, I became more interested in shooting. I got to know some of the men from the local shoots, and one day my father took me beating. I really enjoyed it, but I still really wanted to shoot. My father said that I couldn't shoot until I had dressed a bird for the table, so I did.

So in the summer of 2003 my father applied for me to have a shotgun certificate. The firearms officer came to our house and checked that I was safe with a gun and that I understood certain rules and regulations. I received my shotgun certificate three weeks later.

My father was so pleased that he decided that I needed practice at hitting moving targets before the shooting season began. So every Sunday throughout the summer we went to the Humberside Shooting Ground where I practised on clay pigeons.

As we approached the ninth week of the season my father received a phone call from one of his friends inviting him and I for a duck flight. He said that there may also be a few geese around so it was the perfect opportunity for me to shoot a duck or even a goose.

When we were in position we heard geese calling - they were getting closer. I was ready, my safety catch was on, and I could see them. I aimed, fired, missed, fired again and the bird dropped - my first Canada goose!

Later on another skein came over and I shot another Canada goose. My father was so proud that he is getting the goose head mounted!

Since writing this father and I were invited to a goose flight. Father picked me up from school and during the journey I put my coat, leggings and wellies on over my school uniform. How many girls can say they've been wildfowling in their school uniform?!