The Outlaw Gunner

Book excerpt: The Outlaw Gunner is the colorful story of market gunning in both its legal and illegal phases, particularly as it was practiced in the great Chesapeake Bay, the Outer Banks, and the tidewater regions of Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina. In more than 150 of the most unusual and rare photographs from the author's collection, the men with their guns, boats, and traps are shown in action. The market-gunning paraphernalia looks strange and fearful--and well it might, for it was devastatingly efficient and deadly. He describes baiting practices, gunning with tollers, trapping, gunning lights, punt guns, pipe guns, the sinkbox--the whole bag of tricks the outlaws used. This is a fascinating account of a period and of practices long gone. Throughout the unspoken "good ole days" feeling, and the nostalgia, runs a strong between-the-lines plea for conservation in our time. The appeal, placed in this setting, is hard to ignore.