The Outlaw Gunner is the colorful story of market gunning in both its legal and illegal phases. This is the tale of the market gunners, guides, and outlaws who were engaged in a unique occupation. From them comes the most authoritative and comprehensive study of the art of wildfowling ever written. “It’s one of the best manuals ever written for successful legal hunting as well...Tidewater Publishers gave [Walsh] a free hand in his approach, and the results are fascinating.”—Bill Burton, outdoors editor, The [Baltimore] Evening Sun
In more than one hundred fifty 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.