We may hunt waterfowl with only non-lead shot. Whether it be in the arctic, the great plains, or coastal marshes. Waterfowl. To my knowledge the only restrictions on lead shot in an area are the coastal marshes. Doves, quail, pheasants, anything else may be hunted with lead shot except of course while you are hunting waterfowl. So, lead shot is being used in the same areas that waterfowl frequent but are simply not being actively hunted with it.
Alan
Incorrect. There are many "areas" where you cannot hunt ANYTHING with lead shot. Example: All federal WPA's (Waterfowl Production Areas). Even if you're only hunting pheasants (or whatever else) on any WPA anywhere in the country, you are restricted to nontoxic shot only.
There are also "area" restrictions under state law. In Iowa, for example, there are several counties in which ALL public hunting areas are nontoxic shot only. Quite a bit of public land in South Dakota is also restricted to nontoxic shot only, even if you're hunting pheasants rather than ducks. In Wisconsin, if you hunt doves on DNR land, you must use nontoxic shot.
Add them up, there are quite a few areas--primarily (but not all) areas used by waterfowl--where, even if you're not hunting waterfowl, you can't use lead shot. Last season, my hunting partner and I shot several pheasants on a public area in Iowa. In that particular county, there was no county-wide restriction on lead shot on public hunting areas. But we had to use nontox on that specific area. Clearly marked with signs indicating the restriction.
Whatever else we might choose to do to continue to use lead shot (which I use in all my upland hunting wherever it's legal), we're beating our heads against the wall if we think we're going to do anything about the nontoxic shot rule for waterfowl. Or, in many places, nontoxic only restrictions on areas used by waterfowl. We lost that battle long ago. What works for the pro-lead side of the argument: Under current regulations, the EPA has been denied the authority to make any rules on lead ammunition. As long as that rule stands, we're pretty much safe from any further nontoxic restrictions out of DC. However, the states can do pretty much whatever they decide to do--which can be pretty darned restrictive if you happen to live in California. So focus on fighting your battles at the state level. And demand "good science" from those who would push to further restrict lead ammunition.
Last edited by L. Brown; 04/17/19 09:34 AM.
