marsh man Posted January 21, 2014 Report Share Posted January 21, 2014 hi guys I have read some of the posts on punt guns and punt building which I found brilliant and I was thinking how many are still dewing what I consider the hardest form of wildfowling the last chap I saw use a punt gun was called George rose known localy as deafty I think he lost his hearing when he had his head near his big gun but I cant be sure on that this was back on breydon water before it was made into a nature reserve because arfter that punt guns were banned on this particular day me and my mate thourt we would go for a row up the river and have a look around we knew deafty was up there because his shed door was open we didn't think he was shooting as it was late in the morning what we didn't know he was waiting for the top of the tide so all the wadeing birds were massed together on the last bit of salting above water when we rowed though the old swing bridge we saw him pushing his punt towards a solid mass of birds numbering in there 1000s when he was about 70 or 80 yards there was a huge boooommmm followed by a cloud of smoke when the smoke cleared he knelt up gave us a wave and started to push towards the dead and dyeing he rowed looking towared the front so he was pushing his punt instead of pulling it we saw him get out and started to pick up the dead the cripples were given a clot with his push pole which was a long pole with alump of lead on the end of it we let him get on with it and we carried on our way on the way back we thought we will have a look to see if he left any thing behind because the tide had dropped by then we found about dozen which were mainly knot but some were on the list and some wernt it was no good saying to him you cant shoot this and so on which we woudnt have done any how cause he would have said he wernt aiming for then they just got in the way he was a lovely old boy I don't know what the record was then or now but he certainly got into three figures a different erea then so r I p old partner you were a legend Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penelope Posted January 21, 2014 Report Share Posted January 21, 2014 Sounds as though he was straight out of an Arthur Patterson book. hi guys I have read some of the posts on punt guns and punt building which I found brilliant and I was thinking how many are still dewing what I consider the hardest form of wildfowling the last chap I saw use a punt gun was called George rose known localy as deafty I think he lost his hearing when he had his head near his big gun but I cant be sure on that this was back on breydon water before it was made into a nature reserve because arfter that punt guns were banned on this particular day me and my mate thourt we would go for a row up the river and have a look around we knew deafty was up there because his shed door was open we didn't think he was shooting as it was late in the morning what we didn't know he was waiting for the top of the tide so all the wadeing birds were massed together on the last bit of salting above water when we rowed though the old swing bridge we saw him pushing his punt towards a solid mass of birds numbering in there 1000s when he was about 70 or 80 yards there was a huge boooommmm followed by a cloud of smoke when the smoke cleared he knelt up gave us a wave and started to push towards the dead and dyeing he rowed looking towared the front so he was pushing his punt instead of pulling it we saw him get out and started to pick up the dead the cripples were given a clot with his push pole which was a long pole with alump of lead on the end of it we let him get on with it and we carried on our way on the way back we thought we will have a look to see if he left any thing behind because the tide had dropped by then we found about dozen which were mainly knot but some were on the list and some wernt it was no good saying to him you cant shoot this and so on which we woudnt have done any how cause he would have said he wernt aiming for then they just got in the way he was a lovely old boy I don't know what the record was then or now but he certainly got into three figures a different erea then so r I p old partner you were a legend Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marsh man Posted January 21, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 21, 2014 hi Penelope yea your most proberley right ive got most of his books I recon you have read wildfowlers and poachers a good book how I would have loved to had been in the bowling green pub with the wild men of breydon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
islandgun Posted January 21, 2014 Report Share Posted January 21, 2014 I reckon your tales of east anglian fowlers are going to run and run Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
House Boat Posted January 21, 2014 Report Share Posted January 21, 2014 (edited) Hi marsh man, In answer to your question I would think there are probably less than fifty active punt gunners left in the Country (possibly the World as I think we are the only Country left still practising the noble art) if you counted in the collectors and people who do displays I would think you could add another 100 but gunners who get there gear muddy and put birds on the deck on a regular basis I think number less than 50. HB. PS I've always dreamt of recreating AH Patterson's (John Knowlittle) journey "Through Broadland in a Breydon punt" Edited January 21, 2014 by House Boat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penelope Posted January 22, 2014 Report Share Posted January 22, 2014 Indeed I have, and I count myself extremely lucky to have experienced being out in a punt twice. I just wish I had taken a camera with me, but I suppose I can still use my mind's eye to relive it. hi Penelope yea your most proberley right ive got most of his books I recon you have read wildfowlers and poachers a good book how I would have loved to had been in the bowling green pub with the wild men of breydon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marsh man Posted January 22, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 22, 2014 hi guys thanks for your reply it good to talk to people with the same interests ,I had a yarn with a bloke from kings lynn way at the fenland fair who used to go out on the wash his punt was 24 foot long the biggest one I have seen my two were 21 foot and 18 foot a double and a single one wheather he still go on there I don't know my brother took our punt up on the boards for a week at a time when his boy was younger and we used to go up to readham down the new cut to the Waveney at st oleves and then back home a distance of about 20 miles happy days Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old farrier Posted January 22, 2014 Report Share Posted January 22, 2014 Hi this is great stuff keep it comeing need a bit of interesting history to brighten up our days All the best Of Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alan12shot Posted January 22, 2014 Report Share Posted January 22, 2014 hi guys I have read some of the posts on punt guns and punt building which I found brilliant and I was thinking how many are still dewing what I consider the hardest form of wildfowling the last chap I saw use a punt gun was called George rose known localy as deafty I think he lost his hearing when he had his head near his big gun but I cant be sure on that this was back on breydon water before it was made into a nature reserve because arfter that punt guns were banned on this particular day me and my mate thourt we would go for a row up the river and have a look around we knew deafty was up there because his shed door was open we didn't think he was shooting as it was late in the morning what we didn't know he was waiting for the top of the tide so all the wadeing birds were massed together on the last bit of salting above water when we rowed though the old swing bridge we saw him pushing his punt towards a solid mass of birds numbering in there 1000s when he was about 70 or 80 yards there was a huge boooommmm followed by a cloud of smoke when the smoke cleared he knelt up gave us a wave and started to push towards the dead and dyeing he rowed looking towared the front so he was pushing his punt instead of pulling it we saw him get out and started to pick up the dead the cripples were given a clot with his push pole which was a long pole with alump of lead on the end of it we let him get on with it and we carried on our way on the way back we thought we will have a look to see if he left any thing behind because the tide had dropped by then we found about dozen which were mainly knot but some were on the list and some wernt it was no good saying to him you cant shoot this and so on which we woudnt have done any how cause he would have said he wernt aiming for then they just got in the way he was a lovely old boy I don't know what the record was then or now but he certainly got into three figures a different erea then so r I p old partner you were a legend you could try contacting basc with regards to your question about active punt gunners as I know they have a punt gunners register that they encourage punt gunners to join Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mudpatten Posted January 22, 2014 Report Share Posted January 22, 2014 It`s the south coast rather than the east, but there are lots of punt gunning tales on the Library section of the Langstone Wildfowlers website. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
House Boat Posted January 22, 2014 Report Share Posted January 22, 2014 hi guys thanks for your reply it good to talk to people with the same interests ,I had a yarn with a bloke from kings lynn way at the fenland fair who used to go out on the wash his punt was 24 foot long the biggest one I have seen my two were 21 foot and 18 foot a double and a single one wheather he still go on there Yes he does still go out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wildfowler Posted January 22, 2014 Report Share Posted January 22, 2014 Yes he does still go out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Mat Posted January 22, 2014 Report Share Posted January 22, 2014 It`s the south coast rather than the east, but there are lots of punt gunning tales on the Library section of the Langstone Wildfowlers website. I've had a good read through most of the stuff on there and it was a very enjoyable read. Some of the tales gave me a good laugh! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marsh man Posted January 22, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 22, 2014 hi guys thanks for your replies and imformation would any of you know wheather the non toxic shot would have been able to be used in the old guns im sure steel wont have done em a lot of good but then I recon there would had a lot of other stuff pushed done the spout what wouldn't have done them a lot of good ether safety was never there top priority I was looking at chriss greens wildfowling dvd when he was puntgunning and he was saying it cost about 20 quid a shot his gun looks like 3 four bore barrels welded together but it do the job and good luck to him hes a man of me own heart love his humour and comitment Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penelope Posted January 23, 2014 Report Share Posted January 23, 2014 In the new dvd he has an 8 alongside 'triple thunder' to fire first as a riser (similar to Hawker's flint/percussion), but it does fire a bit too early and a bit too much delay between the two. hi guys thanks for your replies and imformation would any of you know wheather the non toxic shot would have been able to be used in the old guns im sure steel wont have done em a lot of good but then I recon there would had a lot of other stuff pushed done the spout what wouldn't have done them a lot of good ether safety was never there top priority I was looking at chriss greens wildfowling dvd when he was puntgunning and he was saying it cost about 20 quid a shot his gun looks like 3 four bore barrels welded together but it do the job and good luck to him hes a man of me own heart love his humour and comitment Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marsh man Posted January 24, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 24, 2014 hi penlope thanks for that ill put that one on my birthday present list ,in one of a p books he mension diamond allen he was one of the last professional fowlers I think he made his living or some of it by takeing paying guns up breydon well his punt was the first one we had I think we paid about 20 quid for it which was a fortune in around 1960 that ole boat had been up there that many times it could have found its own way up with no one in it ,we had a lot of use out of it and each year we took it out of the water gave it a coat of dark grey undercoat and it looked as good as new ,the only problem we had with it was when me and my brother came back one night and one of the bottom boards sprung and water started to gush in , we were only about 100 yards from the bank I was rowing at the time and it must have been close to the olimpic record when I hit the mud but we got it back to our boat yard put it on a couple of treasles turned it over knocked in a few copper nails gave it a coat or two of tar and we were back in service lovely job ,althouth looking at the excellent job old farrier is doing making his punt im sure he would have made a better job than we did Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
black powder gunner Posted January 26, 2014 Report Share Posted January 26, 2014 Being a third generation punt gunner I have really enjoyed the stories on punt gunning.Father would often tell the tale when he and his dad went out with the big gun which was aThomas Horslely nine foot muzzle loader with a two inche bore and fired pound and a half of lead.It was just after the war and there were lots of widgeon on our marsh so off they went in there twenty two foot punt which was a heavy beast made out of pitched pine and oak.They stalked up on a group of widgeon fired with the big gun when the smoke cleared they went to pick up the spoils just then a group of teal landed over a bank a hundred yards away .Not wanting to miss a shot they put the punt on a mud bank and started to reload it grandad had a charge of powder in is pocket putting this down the barrel and ramming it down with the rod there was a almighty bang the ramrod missed grandads nose by a whisker and shot fifty yards into the marsh never to been seen again unknown to them they had been a smouldering ember left in the muzzle. That was the last time that gun was fired I remember it in the early sixties hung on two bacon hooks in the pantry. In the late sixties dad donated it to the Yorkshire museum in York where i think it still is. The punt was left at the back of our farm on the river bank where it finely rotted a way in about 1985. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marsh man Posted January 26, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 26, 2014 thanks for that b p g you have really made my day ,your dad and granddad are the sort of people I would have loved to have been in there company yarning over a pint of beer , if I am ever up in York I would go out of my way to have a look at it do you still need a pastport to go to York shire as boarder control in Norfolk are a bit fussey who they let in and out . have a good day b p g Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old farrier Posted January 26, 2014 Report Share Posted January 26, 2014 Hi Great tales there must be so many more keep them coming this is tru social history and should be preserved for future generations And I'm surprised the ramrod never speared a salmon when it came to rest All the best Of Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marsh man Posted January 26, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 26, 2014 yea you are dead right old farrier trouble is we wernt that well educated , well I surpose we would have been if I had spent more time at school in the winter I seemed to have had a lot of one day illness mainly bird flu or maybe fowl pest I ddidnt need any pills or medicine just a good old doze of fresh air which I got a lot of and still do ,I have only started to use a lap top and im learning as I go along no dought a lot of old boys like myself have got a life time of memories so lets hope one way or other they write them down or stick them on here before were layed out with bag as well Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
House Boat Posted January 27, 2014 Report Share Posted January 27, 2014 (edited) Hi marsh man Iv just bin reedun Norfuk fowlu an lookun on that there photo of Alun Savry on the back end orf his hows boot in duffles an I gotu wonderun are you old nuf t remember um smelt netun up the yar ? Beeun an ow Lyn boy the wash hez allwus bin my play grownd the little ow pictu long side my name is a drawrun ov my hows boot on the wash. I wuz owt in me punt last yeer down the river wen ther wuz this overwelmun smel uv cucumbers an aluva sudun a smelt jumpd riy in tu the punt blast that made I jump. du yu keep a troshun HB. Edited January 27, 2014 by House Boat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marsh man Posted January 28, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 28, 2014 yea lovely old job house boat yes I can remember them going arfter smelts you are right they did smell like cucumbers haven't seen them for ages we also tried mud butting for flounders but we would never have got rich doing it ,we were a lot better at ell babbing which in the summer we spent a lot of time doing. I got the worms on a bowling green near mine arfter a shower of rain they came to the surfice so when it was dark we took a tin and picked them up of the grass we then stuck em in a bath on our garden covererd them with soil and put some wet sacks over them so we had a supply when the ground was to hard to dig to dig em up, we sold the big ells to be used as jellied ells on the market, I think you are not allowed to do it now what a lot of squit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norfolk Rogue1 Posted January 28, 2014 Report Share Posted January 28, 2014 hello marshman do you know how many punts left in yarmouth what are still used Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
black powder gunner Posted January 28, 2014 Report Share Posted January 28, 2014 Just another true storie you may find amusing marsh man .Early 1980s we used fatten geese and muscovie ducks for Christmas that year we had 30 to dress for customers.So the Friday before Xmas we fastened them up and started to slaughter them when we had realised that there were two missing and we were two short for our orders we looked every where fo find them but could not locate them any where.Saturday came still no trace of them then dad located them on other side river behind our farm about 80yds away go fetch rifle and the dog he said.Resting the gun on a post I made two good head shots and we had our muscovie ducks two good retrieves by Ben the Labrador and they were smiles all round.Went back home for lunch hung the ducks in the pantry to dress them later.Half way through lunch there was a knock on the door it was Ishbell from next door had we seen Jelly and Custard her pet muscovie ducks that she had for 10 years quick as a flash dad said no we had not seen them but if we did we would let her know.Ten minutes later my sister came in and said the two ducks were back in the pen.We laid Jelly and Custard to rest in a hole over looking the river cause they might have been a bit tough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marsh man Posted January 28, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 28, 2014 hi Norfolk rogue 1 yes a short answer is very few .I know a mate of mine have still got one and I believe billy frostdick who is or was chairman of g y w a may still have his our small one was sold to simon trinder who do the painting at the game fairs on b a s c stand and one of our earlier ones was in the broads museum at stalham .I go up breydon every day with my dog and I haven't seen one for a year or more .if I do find out I will let you know Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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