Menace of the Susquehanna
Historically, though not exclusively associated with the Chesapeake Bay and other areas of the mid-Atlantic seaboard, “Punt Guns” were primarily used by market hunters whose primary purpose was to satisfy the insatiable demand for wildfowl in the finest restaurants up-and-down the east coast. With bores typically measuring 1½ to 2 inches or more, punt guns averaged 12 to 14 feet in length, weighed 150 to 200 pounds, and fired a pound or more of scatter-shot. They were typically custom made by hunters or a local gunsmith.
Though sometimes erroneously credited to Captain Hazelton Seaman of West Creek, New Jersey (ca. 1836), the name has its origins in early 19th century England from a peculiar type of boat, a “sneak skiff,” called a “punt.” Capt. Hazelton’s craft was of a radically different design, including a sail, and was not designed to be outfitted with a punt gun. The English design was a shallow-draft, flat-bottom craft designed particularly for getting the monstrous punt gun in position to kill as many ducks as possible with one shot.
Aiming the gun was a simple operation, the hunter would generally point the boat in the direction of the target, then pull the trigger, setting off a tremendous explosion that could be heard up-and-down the river or bay depending upon the hunter’s location. It was also not unusual for the boat to recoil upwards of 40 feet or more when the punt gun was fired.
As with all tales-of-old, the punt gun has seen its share of outlandish claims with respect to the number of ducks or geese killed by one shot. One such tale from the late 19th century claimed a single shot took down 274 ducks on the Susquehanna flats, a preposterous claim to say the least. The average kill was more in the range of 30 to 50 or so, though upwards of 100 was not unheard of. In 1912 off Hollands Island in Dorchester County, four punt guns firing at once took down 562 Redheads (or 419 depending upon the source). The known record for numbers killed with one shot is 114, a feat accomplished with a load of two pounds of shot. That is the “known” record.
The demand for waterfowl and how that appetite was satisfied, devastated the North American waterfowl populations by the turn-of-the 20th century. The demand to put an end to the market hunting came from all corners, and spurred congress into action. Beginning with the Lacey Act of 1900 that effectively banned the sale of wildlife, fish, and plants by making it a federal crime to hunt game with the intent of selling it in another state.
