The five shot repeater, loss of nesting and winter habitat, bad weather in nesting season and Spring hunting had more to do with duck population declines than a few punt guns. Think about how many there were. A couple thousand nationwide. They only work with extreme concentrations of birds, for a single daily shot.
I grew up on the Chesapeake Bay and from what I was told by old timers, local watermen, who were boys or young men when punt guns were legal, there were maybe a few dozen total working the Bay. Most had names line Big Sally or Lori. And that Bay is 100 miles long. So figure 2/3 on the Easternshore and 1/3 on the Western shore and rivers. Thats about one working gun every ten miles North to South or 100 miles of shoreline if youve ever been in those marshes you know his twisty they are. You are not using a punt gun on two dozen ducks rafted up, you need fifty to a hundred at the low end. More ducks fell to pump guns than punt gun by a wide margin.
