Oscar Harold Bunting was born on August 12, 1931, in Bishop, Maryland. He was raised in Wisconsin and served four years in the Navy, after which he worked at the Straight Wharf Garage before working as a scalloper in 1952. He began scalloping in Nantucket, Massachusetts and continued in this profession for over five decades. Bunting's experience included independent commercial scalloping, primarily around Nantucket, Tuckernuck, and Muskeget. Bunting's father, a former Coast Guard member, also scalloped until his mysterious disappearance at sea.