You don't need a rule or regulation to do what you think is right.
If you are a sportsman conservationist, meaning you care about the health of wildlife and not just sporting pursuit, then you must make choices based on what you believe is best for wildlife. Some believe choosing to shoot non-toxic lead free ammunition and fishing with non-toxic sinkers saves the lives of birds. Others feel the traditional lead ammunition debate is an anti-hunting ploy to further efforts to ban hunting.
John Schulz, a retired MDC resource scientist, is passionate about saving birds from lead poisoning. He said this happens more often than you think. When mourning doves pick lead pellets from a field, ducks eat sinkers off the bottom of a lake or eagles eat contaminated big game carcasses, they die. A dove dies if it eats one pellet of lead shot.
According to the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, "Lead is a toxic metal that, in sufficient quantities, has adverse effects on the nervous and reproductive systems of mammals and birds. Found in most fishing jigs and sinkers, this metal is poisoning wildlife such as loons and eagles."
The controversy of using lead in sporting pursuits is nothing new. Waterfowl hunters have been using non-toxic shot since 1991. That was the year the regulation banning lead ammunition for waterfowl hunting was put in place. Even though a similar regulation for shot spent over land might save the lives of countless birds, a rule enacted now could cause a major shooting industry backlash. Which is something no hunters or shooters want.
The National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) states, "The NSSF, the trade association for the firearms, ammunition, hunting and shooting sports industry, opposes efforts to ban or restrict the use of traditional ammunition containing lead components for use in hunting or shooting unless there is sound science conclusively establishing that the use of traditional ammunition is causing an adverse impact on a wildlife population, the environment or on the human health of those consuming game harvested with traditional ammunition, and that other reasonable measures, short of restricting or banning the product, cannot be undertaken to adequately address the concern."
A pie chart on the NSSF website breaks down mortality of birds, which is estimated at three billion birds annually. The chart claims 33.3 percent of birds die from habitat loss, 31.7 percent die from collisions with buildings and other structures, 16.7 percent die from predation of domestic and feral cats. According to the chart .7 percent of birds die from lead ingestion, which is 21,000,000 annually.
Schulz believes the answer is simply making the right choice personally. He believes that if enough people would choose to shoot non-lead ammunition, then over time the idea of doing so would become commonplace and accepted, and supply could gradually increase with demand.
"A growing body of scientific information shows traditional lead-based ammunition and fishing tackle continues to represent a significant source of mortality for more than 130 species of birds. Similarly, hunting and the money generated by hunters is critical to support and maintain wildlife management, and it is crucial that any efforts to reduce spent ammunition (and fishing tackle) do nothing to reduce hunting participation or paint hunters/anglers in a negative light," Schulz said.
Schulz's plan isn't to create a controversy and ban lead ammunition. He hopes to create awareness of the issue and implement change through a long-term voluntary process.
"Areas of misunderstanding, once recognized and articulated, can provide clues to defining ultimate problems and potential solutions toward implementation of voluntary programs. Initially, stakeholders need to agree sufficient information exists demonstrating the broad-scale environmental effects of lead-based ammunition. Next, stakeholders must acknowledge differences of opinion about solutions and implementation," Schulz said.
NSSF states, "Alternatives to traditional ammunition are not practical. The higher costs associated with this ammunition will price everyday consumes out of the market. This is evidenced by the low 1 percent market share of metallic non- traditional ammunition - the higher cost is simply not justified."
The debate will rage on, but the choice is yours. Voluntarily choosing to shoot steel shot and fishing with non-lead sinkers is something you can do if you wish without a government agency forcing you to do so.
See you down the trail ...
Brandon Butler is an outdoors columnist for the News Tribune. Contact him at [email protected].