Punt rifle...
- Thread starter Chuckman
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Yes. I have seen these being fired from the end of a boat. They mount them them on the gunnels in a fanned configuration to either end of the boat (both ends have a bow). position it over open water where the birds would land. Fire them all at once with a pull string. It pushes the boat through the water. The use of these devices was to gain plumage for hats in the garment industry and led to the Federal regulation of migratory bird harvesting. Fascinating story surrounding it all.
Bull Durham
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Read the book “Outlaw Gunner” by Harry Walsh.
It tells of them being used by the market waterfowl hunters during the golden years here in NC.
It tells of them being used by the market waterfowl hunters during the golden years here in NC.
NCLivingBrit
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I got to see one of those fired at balloons on the water when I was a kid. Absolutely devastating, would definitely make harvesting duck a breeze.
There is a museum in Raleigh that has one.
Jmoser
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And then there is the kiln gun:
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Museum of Natural History, if I recall correctly.
baltimoreed
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Market hunting on the Chesapeake and it’s tributaries for Baltimore and DC restaurants. Where all those duck and goose dinners came from. My dad’s family are watermen from Ewell [Smith Island] next to Tangier Island in the middle of the bay. My father in law’s family are from the Northern Neck of Virginia. They were farmers not watermen though. Both worked in the Baltimore shipyards during the war.
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RedneckFur
Smith & Wesson is a religion of peace.
I was actually going to mention that! If you want to see one in person, the NC History Museum in downtown Raleigh has one on display.
NCLivingBrit
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Ideal for those peaceful protesters!
ronn47
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Bringing this back up as Rock Island Auctions has an interesting article on them.
A 2 bore punt gun (top), a 4 bore punt gun (middle), and a 10 bore Westley Richards Rook rifle (bottom).
Why kill two birds with one stone when you can bag 50 in a single shot? Enter the punt gun, a 19th-century megafowler designed by the market hunting industry to take down ducks and geese on a massive scale.
The first punt guns were hand-made in the early 1800s when enterprising commercial hunters along the major flyways in the United Kingdom wondered if a bigger shotgun could increase their kill counts. The resulting punt gun was a tremendous success and quickly caught on in the United States as well.
www.rockislandauction.com
A 2 bore punt gun (top), a 4 bore punt gun (middle), and a 10 bore Westley Richards Rook rifle (bottom).
Why kill two birds with one stone when you can bag 50 in a single shot? Enter the punt gun, a 19th-century megafowler designed by the market hunting industry to take down ducks and geese on a massive scale.
The first punt guns were hand-made in the early 1800s when enterprising commercial hunters along the major flyways in the United Kingdom wondered if a bigger shotgun could increase their kill counts. The resulting punt gun was a tremendous success and quickly caught on in the United States as well.
Punt Gun: The Market Hunting Megafowler
Far from today's conservation-minded hunters, turn of the century market hunters often used the punt gun - a massive shotgun capable of sizable culls.
www.rockislandauction.com