Lead Poisoning I think we were duped

[PorkChop]

I will first start off by saying yes, I believe there is such a thing as lead poisoning in birds.

Not sure why it came into my brain, but for some reason I had flashbacks of the old videos of waterfowl dying from lead poisoning. Those dying birds look awful similar to all the birds we see dying today of bird flu. I did a quick Google search and watched some videos, just to make sure I wasn’t going cuckoo. One video had 500 ducks that had died. I think the chance of there being that many dead ducks in one spot dying from lead poisoning is slim to none.

I realize that natives make up a small fraction of the population that kill waterfowl, but the ones up in Alaska and I am sure in other parts of the world still use lead shot. Also, there’s still plenty of people maybe not tons but plenty that use lead shot here in the states. When I first got here in North Dakota, there were a couple old farmers that still used it. They said if they got caught they would gladly pay the fine, but up to that point they had never been checked. Honestly can’t remember the last time I was checked by a warden while out waterfowl hunting. Also, I don’t think I have ever had one ask me to show them my shotshells. When I was a kid in Connecticut, they had a magnet but nothing here. It’s always been license, duck stamp, and checking to see if my gun had a plug.

Also, with the amount of crippled upland birds that get consumed by fox, coyotes, and birds of prey, I don’t think I’ve ever heard any reports of lead poisoning.

So I think we were duped.

Fire away

[SpinnerMan]

I think under specific circumstances it was a problem.

Imagine a good duck blind in a very productive spot. Easily can shoot 1,000 birds. How many shells is that including finishing cripples? Let's say 2 per bird for simplicity. At 1.25 ounces, that's over 150 pounds of lead per year.

The birds like theses spots and hang out when nobody is hunt picking up grit. The difference between a duck picking up a few pellets and you, me or a fox eating a few pellets is that the ducks grind them to dust. For us or the foxes, they basically pass through. Far less lead ends up in the blood.

Now that only applies in those kind of situations. Hunting dry fields, it gets plowed under. Jump shooting, layout boats, this all gets scattered to the wind.

Originally the prohibition was only in areas with higher harvest rates. When I first started hunting, if I hunted up river from my town I could use lead and if I hunted down river I had to use steel. They should have kept something like that. Dry fields, open water, low hunting density, do as you please. As you know, you can shoot cranes and pheasants with lead in the same field you have to use non-toxic for ducks and geese.

[PorkChop]

I know in some states you can shoot cranes with lead shot , but unfortunately you can’t here in ND. That being said, a majority of late season roosters are shot with lead shot over frozen potholes. Definitely not the same amount as a guy shooting at ducks but it’s still being added to those Ducky areas at least in this state.

I would also argue that, as you know, when you walk in most potholes the bottoms are all muck, so the lead shot sinks into the muck past a duck’s reach. And I’m guessing a bunch of us old fat duck hunters have pushed that lead shot down even further when walking through the decoys. If that wasn’t the case we at some point in time would no longer sink into the muck.

As I originally stated, I don’t doubt it exist however, I just don’t believe it was as bad as they said. I think a lot of those videos were meant to tug at your heart strings.

Also, I personally never had a problem with using steel for waterfowl. We started reloading it right when we had to use it. I think I was 12 or 13 so steel shot is all I know for waterfowl. The old guys were a different story. I can tell you though, for about seven or eight years I used steel shot exclusively on roosters. Last year I made the switch back to lead and it was a night and day difference when it comes to cripples. I would say in my opinion, that more ducks/geese are lost to crippling with steel, then lead poisoning. I personally count lost birds as part of my limit, but there are many that don’t. They know the bird that flew away will most likely not survive, but they will not count that bird which has an Impact on the population.

[SpinnerMan]

If it wasn't clear, I agree it's mostly excessive and should not apply everywhere.

If it doesn't go into the bag, it doesn't count towards the bag limit. They account for that when setting the limits so nobody should feel like they should count lost birds in their limit. For me it almost never makes a difference.

What I hate are people that consistently lose birds and don't accept that they are too far. I've heard people say things that seem to imply losing a bird is success. "I shot 5, but I lost 3" As if the number shot is the most important thing. I hate losing birds, but it happens.

[PorkChop]

A few of the wardens here have dogs with them. even though I have not had many interactions with wardens here, I do know that they have pretty good spotting scopes and you will never know that they are watching you. A lot of times they will just watch from a far and, if you give them a reason, then they will come in contact with you otherwise you never knew you were being watched. I think the last time I had them come check me was on a duck hunt. A crow flew over and I shot at it. When we were picking up the local and federal warden came to the spread together. they did the standard checks and then one asked who shot at the crow. They had been sitting there watching us the entire time. Crows were in season they were just curious. that one really had me scratching my head because there’s not too many places to hide in this area and I typically have pretty good situational awareness but I never saw them or their trucks watching us.

But back to them having dogs with them. If they are off in the distance watching you and they see you crippling birds they will do their best to find those birds and they will count them as your limit when they get to your spread. That is why I add them. But I agree most guys do not learn that they are shooting too far.

fun fact, all the birds that I have ever lost were banded.


With the windchill it is close to 50 below right now. Not overly excited to head to work today.

[SpinnerMan]

If they are off in the distance watching you and they see you crippling birds they will do their best to find those birds and they will count them as your limit when they get to your spread.

That's BS unless you are not making an effort to recover them.

Last time, and only time while hunting, I got checked by a warden, I was archery hunting but people nearby were duck hunting. The duck hunters shot way before shooting time. 15 minutes or more. The warden was waiting at the parking lot when I left.

[PorkChop]

Yep I would hope they would take into consideration how much time you put into looking for downed birds, but I’m sure there are plenty of guys that don’t even watch the birds as they fly away. Too busy reloading and looking for the next flock. If we know we hit a bird we watch it with binoculars. No matter how far away it is if it goes down, one of us is going after it.

Four seasons ago, we shot a flock of mallards. Reaper was bringing back downed birds. Vincenzia was insistent, that one glided out of the flock. I watched the birds fly away, and I never saw it. She would not stop telling me a bird went down. At that point I only needed one more greenhead. she kept on saying you better go over there and look. Sure enough about a 3/4 miles away Reaper found a lively greenhead. Gotta love young eyes!!