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Hunting Lead-Free & Saving Wildlife
At this time in Iowa, waterfowl hunters must use US Fish & Wildlife Service approved non-toxic/non-lead shot. Many state and county areas also require non-toxic/non-lead shot for all hunting. In many situations, however, pheasant, turkey, rabbit, and deer hunters are still allowed to use lead ammunition. SOAR encourages all hunters and firearms shooters to "go lead free" for wildlife and human health.
In November 2010, SOAR was awarded a Resource Enhancement and Protection Conservation Education Program (REAP-CEP) grant to develop educational materials for the Iowa Hunter Education Program outlining the toxic effects of lead and the current research on lead's impact on the environment. A committee of hunter education instructors, DNR law enforcement and wildlife bureau staff, wildlife and conservation groups, SOAR volunteers, and concerned citizens reviewed text and provided feedback.
See the "Hunting Lead-Free" brochure. Download a screen-quality PDF.
If you would like to download a press-quality PDF (2,680 kb with printer's marks) for printing and sharing with your group, please contact SOAR. This handout is 4.25x11 inches double-sided.
This version of the "Hunting Lead-Free" handout has the same info but is 8.5x11 inches one-sided and *should* print on home printers, but would be able to printed at your local copy and print shop.
Below is the text of the brochure with research and informational citations included in boxes.
What the links are:
- Some links are to agency websites or documents about lead, how lead affects animals and people, or the impacts of lead
- Some links are scientific papers written by wildlife biologists, veterinarians, pathologists, epidemiologists, wildlife rehabilitators, medical doctors, and others.
Before these papers can be accepted for publication in scientific journals or other publications, each was put through a rigorous review process where the editors of the journal send the paper to other scholars in the same field for their opinion on the relevance to the field, appropriateness for that journal, and the quality and completeness of the science.
These papers are not always easy to read because the language used is that of the particular scientific field. Each paper has an abstract or summary near the top. Read this. If you read on, and come across a scientific term you're not sure about, visit this website that provides definitions to scientific terms from several sources.
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Hunting Lead Free & Saving Wildlife
People who hunt:
- love being outside,
- are interested in wildlife,
- support wildlife research and habitat conservation through license fees, and
- are problem-solvers.
Wildlife needs hunters’ help.
Over 130 different species of wildlife have been impacted by eating lead.
Wildlife Impacted by Lead:
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Upland birds and waterfowl, like pheasants and ducks, mistake lead shot for seeds or grit and eat it.
 Scavengers, like eagles and hawks, can be exposed to lead when eating from a game animal carcass or gut pile.
Ingesting lead is harmful to wild animals.
- An eagle can die from eating a very small fragment of a lead slug or rifle bullet.
- A duck can die from eating 1-2 pieces of lead shot.
- Lead can affect an animal’s ability to find food, hide from predators, and fight off diseases.
X-ray of a deer carcass that was shot with lead deer slugs, reveals that the main body of the slug traveled completely through the deer, but lead shrapnel fragments were left in the carcass at the points where the slugs passed through and shattered bone. This shrapnel looks quite similar to the irregular shrapnel pieces found in eagle digestive systems. In this x-ray of a deer's mid-section, you can see the lead fragments where the slug went through the ribs below the spine and grazed the top of the spine. |
On this eagle x-ray, the head would be to the top and the legs and tail to the bottom of the x-ray. The white spots in about the center of the photo are pieces of lead shrapnel. This is about where the stomach would be. Eagles have very strong, efficient digestive systems. The lead is usually dissolved in the stomach and sickness occurs very shortly after ingestion. Often, a lead poisoned eagle will become injured because of impaired nervous system, vision problems, or breathing problems caused by the lead. |
Research and info about the impacts of lead on wildlife:
- SOAR's Lead Availability Study (This research was presented at the 2010 Midwest Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies and the 2011 Iowa Association of County Conservation Board Employees Annual Meeting) (437 KB PDF)
- Bald Eagle Lead Poisoning in Winter; Abstract presented at The Peregrine Fund "Spent Lead Ammunition" conference (689 KB PDF)
- SOAR's Research on Eagles and Lead
- US Geologic Survey "Lead Poisoning in Wild Birds" (1,304 kb PDF)
- The Wildlife Society position statement on lead (45 kb PDF)
- University of Minnesota Raptor Center information on lead poisoning
- Iowa DNR brochure, "Lead, Wildlife, and You." (429 kb PDF)
- Washington State University study: looking at 18 years of data on lead poisoning of eagles (5,624 kb PDF)
- Bullet Fragments in Deer Remains (303 kb PDF)
- Ingested Shot and Tissue Concentrations in Mourning Dove; Abstract presented at The Peregrine Fund "Spent Lead Ammunition" conference (381 KB PDF)
- USFWS Mourning Dove Population Status 2010 (1,379 kb PDF)
- Impact of the California Lead Ammunition Ban on
Reducing Lead Exposure in Golden Eagles and Turkey Vultures (342 kb PDF)
- Missouri Department of Conservation Dove Status Report July 2011 (This document also containts abstracts from additional research involving dove, game birds, and shot, 1, 587 kb PDF)
- SOAR's Other Research & Information page
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Ingesting lead is harmful to people.
 Some packages of venison from deer shot with lead rifle bullets contained more than 100 ppm lead. Items with 100 ppm lead or above are considered hazardous waste by the Environmental Protection Agency. Some venison from deer shot with lead slugs contained 0.7 ppm lead. This venison would not meet the standards for export to Europe or China. Image © Cornatzer and Fogarty
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- Lead fragments have been found in deer meat.
- Your body takes in lead and stores it like calcium. When growing bodies are
exposed to lead they absorb more of it, making children and pregnant women most at risk.
- Even very low levels of lead can cause learning and attention deficit disorders.
- Lead affects the nervous system the most.
Articles about the impacts of lead on people:
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There are several types of bullets, slugs, and shot being made from non-lead/non-toxic products.
Waterfowl hunters have already switched to using non-toxic shot. This has saved millions of ducks from lead poisoning. This is cost-effective conservation.
The switch:
- Simply removing lead from waterfowl hunting has helped to make duck populations more robust and this conservation measure insured manufacturers a market for non-toxic shot, allowing them to invest in development, re-tooling, and marketing. There are now a wide assortment of non-toxic shot types to choose from and waterfowl hunters are still enjoying their time in the field. Does the ban on lead shot save waterfowl?
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Concerned about lead poisoning?
Here’s what you can do!
Spread the word, talk to your friends about lead.
Do some research.
For more information about lead, visit:
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Test it out!
- Non-toxic shot comes in steel and combinations of other metals (see: US Fish & Wildlife Service listing of approved shot types).
- Knowing how your shotgun patterns with different shot and at different distances is the key to success!
- Rifle bullets and shotgun slugs are made from solid copper.
- Make sure to sight in your firearm using the copper slugs or bullets.
Links to help you test it out!
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If you can’t find non-lead ammunition at your local store, ask them to stock some. Increased demand brings down prices. Watch for sales during the off-season.
Using copper bullets and slugs and non toxic shot saves wildlife and helps humans. You can help the environment and make great hunting memories for you and your family.
Links to Non-toxic Ammo & Info:
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A hunter education class:
- stresses the importance of individual responsibility and outdoor ethics.
- promotes ethics and fair chase, hunter responsibility, and landowner relations.
It is illegal to poison wildlife, as noted in these state and federal laws:
- The Iowa Code
- Migratory Bird Treaty Act
- Bald and Golden Eagle Act
We offer this information, so those that enjoy hunting can make an informed decision about their choice of ammunition.
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