Why some hunters are moving away from lead bullets - Entrepreneur Generations

A few hunters are making the switch from lead to copper bullets as evidence mounts that lead bullets poison the wildlife that feeds on carcasses and pollute the game meat people eat.

"According to the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, lead exposure is the leading cause of death in California condors, the largest land birds in North America, which three decades ago were on the brink of extinction," Ian Urbina reports for The New York Times. "And between 10 million and 20 million animals, including eagles, hawks, bears, vultures, ravens and coyotes, die each year not from being hunted, but from lead poisoning, according to the Humane Society."

But it's a slow transition. About 95 percent of the 10 billion to 13 billion rounds of ammo purchased in the U.S. each year contain lead, Urbina reports. Many hunters don't want to stop using copper bullets, and for a variety of reasons. Some say they weren't aware that lead bullets can poison meat or hurt scavengers, some say they have a stockpile of lead bullets they don't want to waste, some question whether copper bullets are as cheap, readily available, accurate, and effective as lead bullets, and some think the campaign to stop using lead bullets is a covert means of trying to limit gun or hunting rights.

The National Rifle Association may have contributed to hunters' reluctance to make the switch after it funded a nonprofit called Hunt for Truth. The organization was meant to protest California's attempt to ban lead ammunition in 2013. The Hunt for Truth website was pulled after the NRA was outed as its major funder, but the organization lives on as a Facebook page.

"Indeed, regulating lead ammunition has long been a hot-button point of contention among both conservationists and hunters. The topic was so charged, in fact, that President Barack Obama’s administration waited until its last day in office to impose a ban on lead ammunition on federal land," Urbina reports. "Just hours after taking office as the Trump administration’s new secretary of the interior, Ryan Zinke overturned that prohibition in his first action."

Lynn Tompkins, who runs a bird rehabilitation center in Oregon, says she's seen many birds poisoned by lead, including a bald eagle. "I’m not opposed to hunting," Tompkins told Urbino. "But we moved away from lead in gasoline, paint and plumbing and now we need to do the same with ammunition."

from The Rural Blog https://ift.tt/2KBPZWD Why some hunters are moving away from lead bullets - Entrepreneur Generations

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