Eagle Dies after ingesting lead shot

There are alternatives to lead that work just fine in vintage guns. Cost should not be the determining factor over responsible action.
I have often thought the concentration of lead at a trap or skeet field is an issue that is just waiting to break out into the news.
 
There are alternatives to lead that work just fine in vintage guns. Cost should not be the determining factor over responsible action.
I have often thought the concentration of lead at a trap or skeet field is an issue that is just waiting to break out into the news.
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i have the distinct feeling no ones opinion will change in this - mortality figures for any cause aside


as for the target sports-
many clubs have the lead mined on occasion - defrays costs and removes the concern

if you figure the cost of non tox at $3 to $4 per shot (especially for barrel friendly stuff) - a single round of sporting clays exceeds $200, the game ends, youth get no exposure, shooting sports decline

If you do not shoot doubles or clays you may not care - but it becomes one more example of divide and conquer
Click to expand...
 
Where Live in SE Minnesota I see bald eagles every day and have five active nesting within 5 miles of my home. Our town (Wabasha) also happens to be home to the National Eagle Center and my wife and I are pass holders. The eagles are a valuable part of our outdoor experience and I often take guests to view the birds while my winter hikes on the ice pass a nesting site.. That being said I do not believe we need to introduce any more restrictions on lead shot because a very small number of eagles (our other wildlife) succumb to lead poisoning. Back in the early 70's I saw a lot of lead poisoned waterfowl plus a swan. Most displayed the tented wing walk and green vent and were easy to spot. I have not seen a lead affected duck in over 15 years now. In contrast this year the eagle center has seen far more eagles picked up and sent to rehab (or captivity) due to autos, power lines and in some cases juvenile birds just flying into a tree. I personally believe discarded fishing line is more of a threat and have caught and freed numerous ducks tangled in mono.
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It's been over 30 years now since lead shot was banned and all that old shot on the marsh bottoms is buried under a layer of slit and out of reach.
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All populations experience mortality - eagles are no different. In fact as the eagle population expands there will be more mortality as there is more competition for food resources.
 
Good comments Paul, There is a nest in Brooklyn Park so even in the burbs we can see an eagle now and then. I might add the danger of wind generators to the eagles. The issue of lead at target ranges is a non issue, the lead is all mined (at least at my club) and sold. The old lead shot is indeed buried under silt and back to the earth where it came from.
 
I'm glad to see this thread move from name calling back to discussion.

A couple of points.

(1) Wind mills are irrelevant. If they are harming eagles, something should be done about it--including not siting wind farms in known areas of eagle migration or concentration. But that has nothing to do with impacts (or not) of lead on eagles and other birds.
(2) Clay sports could survive just fine with steel shot, which is not all that much more expensive than lead shot--and would likely be less expensive if demand increased. Some ranges now are restricted to steel shot. Yes, the ballistics would be different, and shooters and target setters would have to adjust.
(3) If all ranges cleaned up their lead shot, there would be no need for steel on clays ranges. The spot I shoot clays is mostly wooded, especially in the areas where spent shot would fall. Reclaiming the shot would require cutting all the trees--which definitely hasn't been done. Kudos to those ranges who clean up the lead, and it sounds like there is some financial incentive to do so.
(4) While it's certainly good that eagle populations are stable in many places, I think our responsibility goes beyond ensuring that we don't cause population declines of non-target animals. The information I've found on line--and not from groups like PETA or HSUS, but from radical groups like the Iowa DNR and the USGS--suggests that lead can be a problem.
(5) Based on published studies that they cite, the Wildlife Society and the American Fisheries Society both have passed official policy positions that don't call for banning lead, but do acknowledge the concerns about continued use of lead and call for reducing it's use. (Note that the Wildlife Society statement I linked was passed in 2009, and states that it expires in 2014. I looked for but could not find an updated statement.) I think the Wildlife Society statement sums things up well: Advocate the replacement of lead-based ammunition and fishing tackle, while recognizing that complete replacement may not be possible in specific circumstances.
(6) As always, more research is needed. But this shouldn't stop us from considering reasonable measures where they are feasible.

For me, those reasonable measures include using steel shotgun shells when I can find an appropriate steel load for my hunting. I'm considering, but have not yet, converting to steel for clay sports, too.
 
I agree. A mandatory ban is stupid. There is enough regulation already. Wanna see a lot of bird deaths by the greenies? Check out the stats on Ivanpah solar farm and bird kills. Solar is a joke with only six percent of our nations power coming from alternative energy .Also, waterfowl will migrate to the glare of the mirrors as thousands of years of migration has taught them that the glare is water so they expend there fat reserves to fly to a dry field. I've worked in solar fields and they are loaded with dragonflys that think the mirrors are water as well. So why not ban all solar? I'm not getting off topic, but sooo much wildlife is killed from vehicle collisions and such that it seems dumb to point to one incident. I guarantee more ducks are crippled by steel than you could ever imagine. I would like to see the lead ban overturned.
We don't live in a perfect world.
 
John--like windpower, solar is a red herring--and if it's killing birds, something should be done about it.

I don't know whether big solar plants make sense, but I can tell you that in a rural state like mine where it can be very expensive to install powerlines to a new home, and where we frequently lose power to ice storms and similar events, rooftop solar at home makes a lot of sense for some folks. A friend of mine just installed roof top solar when he had to replace his garage roof. It added about $8,000 to the cost of roofing project. With net metering, he's had zero electric bill since they were installed, and figures on about an 8 year payback on the investment. If he hadn't needed the new roof anyway, the installation costs would have substantially increased what he needed to spend, and the investment probably wouldn't have made sense.

My brother-in-law works for a company that manages commercial real estate like shopping plazas. They make a lot of money by leasing their roofs for solar.
 
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