[DogByte6RER]

More background ...

Punt guns:

http://iaaforum.org/forum3/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=2988

Wildfowlers bring out the big guns for celebration:

http://www.spaldingtoday.co.uk/news/features/wildfowlers-bring-out-the-big-guns-for-celebration-1-3916676

[Joe 6-pack]

To anyone interested in the practices and the era, I can highly recommend a trip to the Havre De Grace (MD) Decoy Museum.

It makes for a nice side trip from travels in the Baltimore/DC area, and while you're there you can also check out the Concord Point Lighthouse, one of the oldest lighthouses in continuous use on the east coast, situated right at the point where (based on salinity), the Susquehanna River technically turns into the Chesapeake Bay. Lots of good crab restaurants there too!

[Coastie]

These were also used on the Chesapeake Bay to provide the waterfowl for the resturants in NY and DC