Get the Lead Out

HUNTERS, ANGLERS, AND WILDLIFE ALL BENEFIT FROM LEAD-FREE HUNTING AND FISHING

By Carrol Henderson

With cooler weather and shorter days ahead, we are getting restless as we prepare for the fall hunting seasons. As we do, I would ask you to consider replacing your supply of lead-based deer hunting ammo with nontoxic copper or other nontoxic alternatives. For example, our national bird, the Bald Eagle is attracted to feed on deer gut piles, inadvertently ingesting pieces of fragmented lead ammo. Eagles and other raptors subsequently die from lead poisoning. In the military, the term “collateral damage” refers to soldiers accidentally killing their own soldiers. Now we face a new form of collateral damage in our outdoors caused by use of lead-based hunting ammo and fishing tackle which is killing protected, nontarget wildlife by lead poisoning. That mortality is unnecessary because nontoxic alternatives are available.

Lead is also of concern because of its human consequences. It is a neurotoxic poison that does not kill people, but it can impair brain functions, impair the neurological development of unborn children, and reduce the IQ of children. It can also cause cognitive issues in older adults.

Nontoxic ammo like copper alternatives are extremely accurate, they have improved penetration over lead loads, and prices are now comparable to premium lead ammo. The most important consideration is that copper and other nontoxic ammo does not poison our outdoors! Also, nontoxic ammo does not expose deer hunters, their families, and friends to ingestion of tiny lead bullet fragments.

All major ammo manufacturers are now making nontoxic big game ammo comprised of copper, copper and zinc, and even tin. Prices are comparable to premium lead ammo, there is good availability from sporting goods stores including their online sites and also online sources like Midway USA. Performance is outstanding in terms of accuracy and effectiveness on big game like elk and deer. Scope-sighted shotguns with copper slugs can produce patterns only 2” in diameter at 200 yards, muzzleloader sabots are accurate to 300 yards, and one company (Barnes) advertises that its “Long Range” bullets are effective at taking big game out to 700 yards-and beyond!

There is a continuing threat to humans who consume venison taken with lead-based bullets. In a study of 30 deer taken with lead ammo in Illinois, 30 per cent of the venison packages were contaminated by minute fragments of lead! This has nothing to do with anti-hunting. This is about the common sense idea that we should not be eating lead and feeding lead to our families.

How big is this lead problem, and why should you care if you are not a deer hunter? Minnesota provides an example: Hunters take about 180,000 deer annually. If each deer provides about 40 pounds of venison, about 7.2 million pounds of venison are provided per year. I assume about 20% of that venison is taken by archery (lead-free, of course) and by hunters already using nontoxic ammo. That leaves about 5.7 million pounds of venison which can potentially be contaminated by lead.

Research on deer taken with lead bullets and copper-jacketed lead bullets has revealed that about 30 per cent of resulting venison packages contain tiny lead fragments that cannot be detected by consumers. If approximately 5.7 million pounds of venison are taken with lead ammo, about 1.7 million pounds of that venison may be contaminated with lead. It is not just being eaten by hunters themselves, but also by their spouses, children, grandchildren, friends, and perhaps you and your family!

Nine THINGS YOU CAN YOU DO TO PROMOTE LEAD-FREE HUNTING &  ANGLING.

1. If there is a deer hunter in your family, ask what kind of ammo they use. If they say lead or copper-jacketed lead, tell them you will throw out any venison they bring home and that it is not even fit to feed the family dog. If taken by copper, tin, or zinc/ copper alloy, or by archery, bon appetit!

2. If you own or manage land where deer hunting occurs, require hunters to use nontoxic ammo.

3. If you party hunt, require that all party members use nontoxic ammo, especially since party members often co-mingle their venison for processing.

4. Make a gift of copper ammo for relatives or friends after finding out their gun caliber & preferred bullet weight. Copper bullets should be slightly lower in weight  (e.g., In 30-‘06, drop from 180 grains to 165 grains).

5. If you are a deer hunter, use copper or nontoxic ammo and promote it among other hunters. Once initiated, hunters tend not to go back to lead ammo!

6. Encourage your state DNR commissioner and your state legislators to take a leadership role to end use of lead in ammo and lead in small fishing jigs and    sinkers (those one ounce or less). Small fishing jigs and sinkers are currently being manufactured with nontoxic materials like bismuth, tungsten, tin, and ceramic materials. This avoids lead poisoning in loons, trumpeter swans, and other waterfowl caused by swallowing lost fishing tackle.

7. Offer to go shopping with the deer hunter in your family for nontoxic deer hunting ammo! Most deer hunters (men) never ask their spouse “what kind of ammo should I buy for deer hunting.” A skilled deer hunter will only use several copper bullets to sight in the gun each year and use no more than two to three bullets to take a deer.  A Minnesota deer hunter spends about $600 to $700 annually for deer hunting, so the cost of ammo is likely less than $15!

8.  About that lead ammo you have from past years. Use it for target shooting and sighting in your deer rifle at a range where the lead is recycled. When your gun is sighted in with lead, try a couple rounds of copper ammo to ensure it is “right on.”

9. “A PROBLEM IS JUST AN OPPORTUNITY THAT NEEDS TO BE REPACKAGED.” Advocacy for nontoxic ammo is not an “anti-hunting” initiative. Hunters can take the lead on this issue and demonstrate they care about the outdoors and all wildlife- not just the game that they hunt. They can demonstrate they are true conservationists by switching to nontoxic ammo. If they do not, they tarnish the image of hunters and their hunting legacy. All outdoor enthusiasts including nonhunters should encourage and support hunters for using nontoxic ammo. The best guideline for all of this is to remember the Conservation Pledge which was first proposed by Outdoor Life magazine in 1946. “I give my pledge as an American to save and faithfully defend from waste the natural resources of my country—its soil and minerals, its forests, waters, and wildlife.”

Carrol Henderson is a retired wildlife biologist from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. He was the statewide Nongame Wildlife Program supervisor for the DNR from 1977 through 2018. His career included conservation, research, management, and restoration of wildlife including bald eagles, trumpeter swans, peregrine falcons, river otters, and eastern bluebirds. His hobbies include hunting, fishing, nature photography, birding, nature writing, and leading international birding trips.