commonality of rounball shot in fowlers

[Magungo1066]

We see a lot of smoothbores that are characterized as "English Style" fowlers. Were these guns ever shot with ball? Or were they primarily used for shot? This isn't to refer to the average farmer's smoothbore, that was plainer and used to put meat, of any kind, on the table, but to the more "fancy" lighter guns, often imported, that one would have bought in New York or Boston back in the day. Would these guns ever be shot with ball either during war or big game hunting?

 

[Heyyou48307]

Im sure most at Lexington were

 

[tenngun]

A gentleman owning a fine fowling gun probably never shot ball in it. A modest farmer of much of the colonies would live often an an area where turkey deer and bigger had been hunted out, so he too probably stuck with shot. The family that had one gun to serve as militia and home protection may not have hunted unless he lived close enough to the frontier to still have game enough to make a hunt worthwhile.
Much of New England looked askance at hunting for fun. If you had time to hunt you had time to work your farm. So as soon as a farm was established most folks did little hunting. More rural colonies people did hunt as a sporting activity. They ate their game but could have more of a fun vs need.
Should deer or bear still be about they might use ball, but many in colonial time lived in hunted out areas so it was bunny and birds that filled the larder.
Only where game needing ball or the family gun was also the milita gun would ball be the thing in a fowler.

 

[nhmoose]

Shot was bought for hunting, Balls were made/bought for hunting bigger game all was common IMHO

Looking at other posts shows amount of shot brought as imports from the mother country.

I am sure farmers bought what they needed when they bought from the stores the got everything else at.