Gentlemen, The 'Punt Gun' pictured is a typical example of what the Eastern Shore coastal 'Market Duck Hunters' used quite some time ago [Approx. 1860 - 1925]. The bore size was significant and the powder and shot load equal to the task.
The 'Punt Gun' was fixed to the middle and bow of a low freeboard rowboat. The hunter, if you wish to call him that, would launch from a bayside dock primarily in the dark hours of the night and sneak up on a rafting galley of wintering Redheads, Canvas Backs and/or Blue Bills. From the perimeter he would arrange his best position and fire into the group of ducks. The kill would amount to from 20 to 50 ducks each time he set up and fired depending on the wave action.
The 'dead ducks' were picked up, loaded into barrels and sent to the 'primary market' of the larger east cost cities ie: NYC, Baltimore, D.C. and others. The 'Market Hunter' concept died out when laws were established to prevent this type hunting along with a significant decline in the ducks themselves around the mid 20's.
Many of the coastal museums along the middle east coast states, primarily the Eastern Shore, have examples of the 'Punt Gun' in there collections. And they often appear in modern day 'Decoy' and hunting related auctions. Takes a big wall and they are butt ugly!! Regards, HIB
