I think punt guns had been retired by the time smokeless powder came along. It is interesting to consider there used to be so many waterfowl that hunters could fire a punt gun into a flock and bring down 100 birds with one shot.

And it took a huge toll on waterfowl. Same thing as commercial fishing.

Basically, hunting now is an individual activity, with limits set to a family's needs rather than a food market's. Back then, hunting was also a commercial endeavour, with professional harvesters each shooting thousands or tens of thousands of birds a year to sell commercially for their meat or feathers. It was commercial harvesting, not people hunting for their own food, that drove the passenger pigeon to extinction and almost wiped out a lot of other species.

the main threat to them now is energy exploration, destruction of the prairie pot hole region and development.

Hunting with gauges larger than .10 is prohibited, and limiting shot shell capacity to 3 for duck hunting, have also protected these wterfowl.

Some folks walk the walk, and spend the money to improve the environment.

And they'd go out at night when thousands of ducks and geese were sleeping on the water.

The gun was a 4 gauge, you poured the powder down the barrel, stuffed some old rags in for wadding, and then used nails, gravel or whatever as shot.

It was basically a cannon, you lit a fuse which ignited the powder. With one blast you could get several hundred ducks.

I saw one of these things at the Chesapeake Bay Museum. Later on I met a guy who actually owned one. I kept pestering him to take it out and fire it but he wouldn't do it.

The muzzle looked about 4 inches across and the gun ran almost the full length of the boat, maybe 8 feet with the boat 12 to 16 feet long. They usually had several other boats to pick up the ducks.

They were "aimed" by paddling with small paddles that looked like oversize ping pong paddles.

in UK and asked what that was...cannon to stop prisoners or so (it was on a boat, stern mounted, 6+ foot long)


nope it was to shoot birds

i went like
dude it's bigger than the shoulder mount SAM's we use!?

it has reduced burglaries in my neighborhood when I got an walked a dog at night. Could have been that I was out reporting people when I came home, hehe hehe, Solved the stealing of the paper girl's money one night when I called the police.

Indian River County, has a punt gun on display. Artifact from over a century ago, and it can remain a wall hanger.

I hope they are never used against birds but only ever at clay pigeons.

And also the benefits,

You know my post was a joke, right.

Here are 2 groups where jokes are appropriate

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=forum&id=1198

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=forum&id=1018

Sad that a host seems to disrespect Skinner and the hosts of GD by purposely posting SOP violations.

One should be able to expect at least that much seeing as you're a group host...

I don't however, have much hope for you actually doing so.

they increase their risk of getting injured or killed in a traffic accident.
If people keep knives in their homes, they increase the risk of getting cut or stabbed.
If people have swimming pools, they increase their risk of drowning.

Chambered in 300 blackout. Can't wait to shoot it. The great thing about the modular AR platform. Did not need to buy a whole rifle.