J.D. said:
I have read a good bit about Morgan's hired hunters, and based on memory, as I don't feel like digging out my notes. Morgan's hunters were company men, who bought supplies on credit from Morgan's company, for the upcoming hunting trip. The hunters traveled up the Ohio and tributaries, in boats, think keel boats, loaded with casks of supplies, including ammunition. If I remember correctly, ammunition was drawn on a hunter's account, in the field, as the company clerk kept track of supplies drawn, and hides returned for shipment back to Kaskaskia.
The used, but still usable gear, guns and what not, were returned to Morgan's store, at the end of the hunt, and the hunters paid, in cash and supplies, after their tab had been paid off.
I seem to remember that smoothbores were common, early on, but the hunters began to use rifles, later in the period.
One must remember that Morgans hunters were company men, hunting for hire in the central to western Ohio valley. While the gear used by Morgan's hunters was similar to the gear used by the longhunters from the Yadkin Valley, they were two distinct different goups of people from completely different areas, with similar motives, but with different means of travel, and different mindset, in that Morgan hired hunters, skinners, and camp keepers, overseen by a company clerk. The groups of hunters from the Yadkin valley, for example, traveled by horse, in small groups, and were on their own for six months to a year, or more. The eastern hunters, were more prone to being killed, and, or having their skins and gear stolen. However they did not have to submit to the scrutiny of a company clerk nor did the eastern hunters have extra supplies close by, in the boats.
We must also remember that the game was not overly afraid of the hunters, as they had little or no prior experience, with human contact. What this means is, most shooting was done at close range, even in the east, so much less expensive smooth bores were not a liability, for the hunters. I suspect that as game became more wary, rifles might have become more common.