Non-Lead Ammunition Speaks for Itself at Maine Workshop

By Rob Bryan

8/11/2024

On August 10, Rob Bryan represented the New England Chapter at a workshop presented by the Non-Lead Partnership and hosted by Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.  The workshop leaders, who have hunted everything from small game to Alaskan brown bears, presented solid scientific evidence comparing lead-based and non-lead ammunition in terms of impact on wildlife and the terminal performance of both types of bullets, followed by a shooting range demonstration.  Participants at the workshop were eager to return to their respective organizations and develop information and outreach to promote the widespread adoption of lead-free ammunition. 

The leaders reviewed the results of numerous studies that have documented the linkage between use of lead ammunition and mortality of scavengers such as bald eagles, golden eagles, condors, and ravens. These birds die from ingesting lead fragments in “gut piles” (including heart-lung tissue discarded in the field), from discarded game processing parts, and from varmint carcasses left in the field.  

Testing has shown that premium bonded lead-based rifle bullets shed up to 40% of their weight in the form of fragments after impact, and less-expensive copper-jacketed bullets lose much more. On average, non-toxic copper bullets retain 98% of their initial weight.  During the field portion of the workshop everyone could see the difference in fragmentation between copper and lead-based bullets when bullets of each type were fired into water and ballistic gel.

The presentation dispelled concerns about the effectiveness of non-lead bullets. Tests in ballistic gel have shown that the wound channels caused by both lead-based and lead-free bullets are essentially the same, and a study in Europe based on actual hunting data found no statistically significant difference in the effectiveness of lead and copper bullets on roe deer, red deer, moose, and brown bear.  My personal experience since 2011 is that properly-located copper bullets are deadly on moose and deer and equally effective as lead.

References: Copper Bullet Effectiveness, Lead Bullet Fragmentation, and Bullet Weight Retention

New England BHA and other chapters helped craft BHA’s policy statement supporting the voluntary use of non-lead ammunition and tackle in 2019, and since then BHA has become a supporting member of the Non-Lead Partnership.  Like BHA, the Non-Lead Partnership advocates a voluntary, education-based approach to the use of non-lead ammunition so that hunters will better understand the issues and more willingly switch to copper.  Hunters need to learn more about alternatives to non-lead ammunition and see the results before they can have confidence in its effectiveness. Requiring an immediate switch to non-lead ammunition would result in hunters going afield with concerns that they may wound rather than kill a deer or other game animal. To build confidence and support for non-lead alternative will require education, effective communication, and peer to peer sharing of knowledge and experience with lead-free ammunition.  An additional concern is at this point in time manufacturers only produce a limited quantity of non-lead ammunition, and it not available in some calibers used for deer and other big game hunting.  Availability at the local retail level is often very limited.

As hunters we can expand the principle of “be sure of your target and what’s beyond” to include a time scale in the concept of “beyond,” and by using copper bullets we can to protect other wildlife from lead poisoning. BHA opposed a 2021 bill in Maine that would have banned lead-based ammunition for hunting, but more attempts at an outright ban will likely be forthcoming. If hunting organizations don’t actively work to promote non-lead ammunition and a large number of hunters don’t voluntarily switch to non-lead ammunition in Maine and in other states, wildlife advocates will be successful in banning hunting with lead ammunition.   It’s time for hunters to do the right thing for wildlife by building programs that will greatly expand the use of non-lead ammunition.