Projects and Issues

Hot Lead

They are available in various shapes, grain weights and popular calibers including: .22, .22-250, .222, .223, .240, .243, 6mm, .257 Weatherby Mag., .25-06, .260, .270, .280, 7mm, .30-30, .300 Win Mag and Short Mag., .308 Winchester, .30-06, .300, .338, .375 H&H Mag.,  .416, .458 and more. What are they?  In recent years ammunition manufacturers have dedicated significant time and resources to developing non-lead, nontoxic rifle bullets.

 Bringing up the use of lead vs. non-lead bullets at any hunting camp or at a sportsmen’s club meeting is a little like bringing up the management of wolves in Montana – the conversations can generate hot - lead debates.

 In February, deliberating the Montana 2010/2011 Upland Game Bird Regulations and Turkey Quotas, the Montana FWP Commission considered a department proposal to ban the use of non-toxic shot for upland game bird hunting on state-owed wildlife management areas.  Commissioners’ received hundreds of comments, most in opposition to a state wide ban but many supportive of the need for more research and receptive to some restrictions at specific locations.

 Following a motion by Commissioner Shane Colton “to reject the non-toxic shot proposal in its entirety across the state”, a great deal of discussion focused on an amendment to make the Freezout Lake and Canyon Ferry WMA areas non-toxic shot only. The minutes of the meeting indicate that a “…proposed adjustment for non-toxic shot is specific only to Canyon Ferry (WMA) and Freezout (Lake WMA). Ninepipe and Pablo WMA already require non-toxic shot for upland game birds and that will not change.”

 The department is concerned that with substantial upland bird hunting in the Freezeout Lake area that there may be “a great deal of (lead) shot accumulation” and therefore, this may have a negative impact on waterfowl.

 Commissioner Dan Vermillion questioned if there is data to support the suggested negative impacts on waterfowl at Freezout due to lead shot used in adjacent areas. Vermillion added that “care must be taken when proposing overarching changes without strong scientific and biological data behind the decision.” Responding to some comments and consideration of the proposal itself, he made a point of saying that “…it is important for the public to understand that the notion that the Commission is anti-hunting is preposterous. This is an issue of biological concern, and is not an issue of giving in to the pressure of anti-hunting groups.” 

 Whereas studies show that incidental poisoning of birds continues to occur in wetlands due to the historical and current lead shot use, there is also a growing concern for how bird hunting in the adjacent upland, terrestrial environments impact waterfowl. 

 Commissioner Ron Moody said he believes that allowing only non-toxic shot on and around Freezeout “is the right thing to do for the resource.”   The Freezeout Lake Wildlife Management Area already falls under the 1991 federal lead shot ban umbrella for all hunting of waterfowl nationwide on federal waterfowl production areas, most federal wildlife refuges, and some state lands.

 The original Colton motion to reject the proposal in its entirety passed by a narrow margin – three in favor and two opposed.

 While this discussion focused on lead vs. non-lead shot, the real issue is the use and potential impacts of lead. Similar debates and restrictive measures are being increasingly thrashed out across the U.S. and around the globe to include limitations on the use of everything from lead sinkers and fishing tackle to bullets.

 To protect the California condor, the California legislature in 2007 proposed a ban on the use of any bullets with lead for big game hunting in 15 counties, the primary range of the condor in that state; the ban was implemented July 1, 2008.  In March, 2009 the National Park Service announced their plans to eliminate poisonous lead from national parks by prohibiting the use of lead ammunition and the use of lead fishing components by the end of 2010.  In Jan 2009, a lawsuit filed against the U.S. Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service claims that California condors in Arizona are ill and dying due to eating lead shot or bullets found in scavenged game that had been shot by hunters.   The litigation states that the agencies are violating the Endangered Species Act by allowing hunters to use lead shot and bullets while hunting on public lands where the condors feed and efforts are focused on recovery. In 2005, the Arizona Game and Fish Commission, in cooperation with hunters, began a voluntary program of distributing coupons to every hunter who draws an elk or deer permit in condor country for free non-lead, 100-percent copper bullets manufactured by Barnes Bullets in the caliber of their choice. The intent of the program that has been favorably received is to encourage hunters to reduce lead impacts to condors. Utah has announced a similar program for the 2010 big game season focusing on specific southwestern areas. In August 2009, Delaware officials put in place a non-lead shot use restriction for the hunting of doves on state-owned wildlife management areas. Of the 40 states that offer dove hunting, 17 have some level of restrictions on the use lead shot for hunting doves. Grand Teton National Park and National Elk Refuge officials in 2009 issued announcements urging elk and bison hunters to “voluntarily” use non-lead ammunition for the hunting season. Officials raised concerns with “potential source (s) of lead contamination in humans” from eating big game with lead bullet fragments. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is prohibiting the use of lead sinkers in Yellowstone National Park as well as two national wildlife refuges.  New Hampshire, New York, Vermont and Maine have all banned the use and sale of smaller lead sinkers and Massachusetts is prohibiting their use on two major reservoirs due to lead impacts on loons.  Canada is restricting lead ammunition for bird hunting, Denmark, Norway, Mauritania in North Africa and the Netherlands extended their lead shot ban to include lead bullets used for all hunted species in 2000; internationally a total of 29 countries now regulate lead ammunition use. 

Lead and Bullets

 Lead (Pb), an elemental metal has a multi-generation, a multiple-century history of use in lead sinkers, fishing line and ammunition.  It has been used for ammunition since the 14th century and in hand and mechanized manufacturing for far longer.  Toxic effects of lead on human health have been known for more than 100 years and many large scale regulations on its use in manufacturing, solder in food cans, pesticides, gasoline and in paint have been imposed around the world.

 Lead is cheap, easy to find and the universal bullet reloading component for millions of shooters. It has been the position of hundreds of thousands of hunters that negative impacts of lead ammunition on human health - is inconclusive.

 Research, clinical field studies, white papers, abstracts, environmental evaluations and symposiums on the potential impacts of lead on wildlife, primarily birds, and people have been significantly increasing in recent years.  Tests at shooting ranges have resulted in EPA, “Best Management Practices for Lead at Outdoor Shooting Ranges”, policies for lead management.  Individual states, NGO’s and a long list of federal agencies are taking a close look at lead ammunition.  We know that when ingested lead can migrate from bloodstream to bone and then becomes a neurotoxin that can seriously effect children and fetuses but can spent lead ammunition and bullet fragmentation in game meat be dangerous.  Some research comparing blood-lead levels of people who recurrently eat game harvested with traditional lead bullets and those who eat little or no game have recorded higher lead levels. From what we could find there are no documented cases of human lead poisoning from eating game harvested with lead ammunition but this is in need of more research and a growing body of conservation medicine research is raising some compelling health questions for wildlife and humans.  We know that when ingested, it can kill wildlife. The ingestion of spent lead shot was known to be fatal for waterfowl for nearly a century, more recently since intense studies began in the early 80s, before the US even considered nontoxic shot regulations. 

So what does this all mean to the average hunter?

 As ethical, responsible hunters and anglers that respect and help to sustain our natural resources’ we must consider and judge for ourselves the information available. There are special interests that publish information and interpret research and reports in a manner that supports their agendas. Yes, there are groups out there with anti-hunting, anti-gun agendas that are using research on the impacts of lead for their own interests. And, early vintage gun shooters, target shooters, re-loaders, and thousands of hunters have legitimate concerns and questions about increasing restrictions on lead ammunition.

• The price of non-lead bullets is two to six times greater than traditional lead ammo. At these prices will I be able to afford pre-season sighting-in, target practice or even hunting?
• What about the effective killing power of lead vs. non-lead bullets?  No hunter wants to wound game!
• Will non-lead bullets harm my firearm or re-loading equipment?
• Will lead restrictions impact competitive shooting sports and traditional black powder shooting?
• Will lead restrictions impact hunting and fishing product merchants, custom gun producers and funding for wildlife agencies?
• What are the human and Montana wildlife health issues with lead?

 Today, non-lead ammunition is available for rifles, muzzleloaders, handguns and shotguns in a variety of calibers, bullets and grain weights. Many of the new hypervelocity big game loads offer a heavy dose of lethality with high ballistic coefficients, velocity and kinetic transfer of energy. Weight retention, trajectory, penetration and expansion, and accuracy concerns are increasingly being addressed by a long list of traditional lead ammunition manufacturers. The Barnes Bullet company, one of the first to explore non-lead bullets and the leading company in copper bullet production is releasing cutting edge, effective and ballistically impressive bullets available through several ammunition companies.

 Hunting, fishing and shooting is significant in the scheme of human culture. As sportspersons it is our duty to evaluate, consider and demand the most pure science based evidence that can impact our interests and the game we pursue. Blending this evidence with our social interests is often a difficult and complicated – riddled with passion - heated process but as the leaders of conservation we must keep our eyes open. And, as FWP Commissioner Vermillion suggested, we must possess and insist on strong scientific and biological data before making decisions.