Lead shot kills swans - it should be outlawed!!!

[B@ssDoctor]

Do the birds that die from lead poisoning outnumber the birds we loose from wounding them with steel. This is a stat I have never seen. I personally would NOT like to admit it, but there have been many lost birds that I have shot with steel that have been raccoon bait. I am not proud of it, but I am fairly sure those birds that died of wounds didn't have lead in them.......????

[gorrilla]

fisherking101 hit the reason for the die off of swans on Clearwater right on the head. Were encountering low water near drought now and it could happen more noticeably to swans wintering in a formerly popular duck hunting spot injesting the shot while obtaining grit for their gizzards.

As far as steel shot being a crippler and therefore evil by nature, talk...

It been around long enough and seen so many improvements I say stick with high velocity, practice, and HAVE SOME RESTRAINT AND KNOW YOUR EFFECTIVE RANGES. The problem with continual cripples isn't the shot, its the shooter...

[SmilinBob]

Steel shot works just fine if you get out and practice with it. Why don't the manufactures take some ownership of the situation and just start phasing out lead production so the debate will die out and we can all just get back to hunting and sharing our outdoor heritage. We don't need more laws, we just need to apply a little common sense!

[tealitup]

I love non-toxic shells. A great variety there and all I shoot (except for trap). I buy one or two boxes a week during the off season -sales- but you really dont see anything smaller then #5 or# 6 shot.

Back to the swans... When the ice decreases the DNR are going to pick all these birds up and check them for lead.

[Bassboy1645]

I didnt see anybody mention gasoline......What about gas runoff via the sewers and rainwater?? Gas nowadays is unleaded but what about way back when?? Im sure theres more in the water then just lead too. What about nitrogen and phospohurs levels?? mercury?? My buddies and I talk water alot cuz thats their major and thyre constantly workign on the problem of runoff and pollution. Im sure the main thing is lead from over a period of time but whos to say something else over time hasnt killed them as well?? just a thought.

[winniewalleye777]

i think the DNR determined that it was lead poisoning, or at least that the birds had a high level of the toxin in their bodies at the time of death

[sparcebag]

The small amount of birds killed by lead poision,or steel shot cripples is no where the millions of birds killed by farrow and tame cats.put that lead & steel shot in them when you see them in wild areas! God Bless You PETA!

[kc0myy]

Quote:

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The small amount of birds killed by lead poision,or steel shot cripples is no where the millions of birds killed by farrow and tame cats.put that lead & steel shot in them when you see them in wild areas! God Bless You PETA!

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God you people are so smart. I don't like cats that much but my mother does. I tell and tell her how many bird are killed by cats. she still don't beleave me. Now back to lead. Lets ban car batturys because they have alot more lead in them than hunters put in one lake over 50 years. Did you know that these cars that run off of battrys are more harmfull to the earth than gasoline cars because of all the lead on toxins in those batturys. We all know how bad lead is. Thats why we change to steel shot for duck hunting. No matter what we are going to have people for lead and people who don't want lead. I bet we will see a day when all lead is banned.

[mechanictim]

One of the reasons lead shot is deadly to waterfowl is that it tends to get concentrared in relativly small shallow water areas where ducks and other waterfowl tend to want to be.

Hunters will build blinds in the same spots year after year, decade after decade. If you put four guys in one blind during the early season they can each use a box of shells a day. At an ounce and a quarter of shot per shell thats five pounds of shot a day scatterd over a relativly small area. Since most waterfowl will sift through the muck for grit they are gonna pick up some shot, if its lead they are in trouble if its steel or non toxic it will pass through them. Banning lead for waterfowling makes sense.

Upland game birds are hunted over much bigger areas and most people take far fewer shots. What really saves most farmland birds from lead poisoning is the gravel roads. These roads are they source of most of the grit these birds need to digest thier food. If you get the chance spend an early summer morning sitting in a vehicle along a gravel road, the number of birds to be seen is amazing sometimes.

In my opinion banning lead shot is not necesary in areas where there are no wetlands. The federal waterfowl production areas have already banned lead shot but most of these areas have some type of wetland. We as hunters could do more for wildlife by donating a little at tax time to the chicadee checkoff rather than spending that money to buy nontoxic shot.

Just my two cents on the lead shot discusion.

[kaz2611]

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[sparcebag]

Ya dramatized stories! AVIAN FLU HITS MIDWEST!! VACCINE UNAVAILABLE!! I think it was really lead low water never picked over,lead in the gizzard gets ground up fron other grit,large dose all at once.territorial feeding area select swans only,select dead swans.

[BLACKJACK]

kaz, wish I could post the link, its on the MN DNR HSOforum under News Releases dated 3/13 and it states right in the article that the dead swans were found to have lead pellets in their gizzard.

The reason I started this whole link was because whenever lead shot poisoning and lead shot bans have been discussed on FM in the past, the lead advocates always say "where the proof". Well heres living proof, or shall I say, dead proof in the swan carcasses!! The advocates have actually been pretty quiet on this post, except for the one that suggested that it might be lead sinkers!! Now thats a whole can of worms in itself!!!

The point is, we're spreading a known poison in our environment, the sooner we stop using it, the less chance their is for birds to pick it up. Watching out my window this weekend by my birdfeeders, the ground was covered with juncos, blackbirds, sparrows, etc, all hopping along the ground picking stuff up. They're doing it all day long, eventually some bird is going to pickup some of that lead shot that we've shot for years, and its been proven it only takes 1-2 pellets to kill a small bird. Problem is, they just go off and die, its not as noticable as a bunch of dead swans.

[kaz2611]

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[tealitup]

Maybe we should start a post... Why are hunters so skeptical? Being cynical with the swan issue? Why would the DNR not want to find another reason these swans died? I am sure they want to find the real reason they died and try to help.

[kaz2611]

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[tealitup]

One or two open areas - the rest Ice covered. Have you never seen waterfowl concentrated in this one shallow area feeding. They do not go far.