By DAN ASHE
February 22, 2024 at 5:58 a.m.
I started hunting as a young boy, and was taught the importance of gun safety, and the ethic of respect for the animals being pursued as a keystone element of “sportsmanship.” I was taught not to pull a trigger if I wasn’t confident of a clean kill, and to pass even the opportunity for a clean kill if another animal was in a line of fire. The use of lead bullets in hunting is essentially putting dozens of other animals in the line of fire after the fact.
The science on the use of lead ammunition is overwhelming and unequivocal. Condors, eagles, hawks, owls, vultures, ravens, magpies, blue jays and dozens upon dozens of other scavenging animals are at risk from dispersed lead ammunition. Upon impact, lead bullets fragment into hundreds of tiny pieces that scatter into the muscle and entrails of hunted animals, like white-tailed deer.
And that’s exactly what is happening across the country, including here in Maryland, where 76,687 deer were harvested in the 2022-2023 hunting season. The vast majority were killed using lead ammunition.
Therefore, the “gut piles” left behind when a deer is field-dressed become a toxic buffet for scavenging animals, and it takes only a piece of lead the size of a grain of rice to incapacitate and perhaps kill an adult bald eagle. That means the lead in a single 150-grain lead bullet has the potential to poison 10 eagles. And even smaller amounts can be disabling, including brain swelling, respiratory distress, weakness, and loss of vision. Acutely poisoned eagles are often described as behaving as if “drunk.” A study published in the journal Science two years ago found that the use of lead bullets in hunting is poisoning one-half of America’s bald and golden eagles.
In 1991, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service banned the use of lead “shot” in all waterfowl hunting because spent lead pellets were being ingested by, and poisoning, millions of birds annually. So, since then, Maryland waterfowlers, like me, have been required to use non-lead, non-toxic ammunition. It’s been good for both ducks and duck hunters.
It’s also good for our friends and family who share meals of wild game. Unnecessarily, lead is often the hidden ingredient.
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As we learned from scientists like Maryland’s Rachel Carson, what’s good for wildlife is also good for people. The lead fragments in game meat are a health risk to humans. A study examining 324 random venison packages from meat processors found that 34% contained as much as 150 separate lead fragments. Scientific evidence like that is why the Maryland Department of Natural Resources 2023-24 Guide to Hunting and Trapping contains this warning: “Meat from game animals taken with lead fragmenting bullets and shot is a lead poisoning risk.”
But despite overwhelming science, most wildlife management agencies continue to allow the use of toxic bullets. It’s unscientific, inhumane and, frankly, irresponsible.
And it’s perplexing because it’s so easy to eliminate these risks to wildlife and human health. Non-toxic alternatives, such as solid-copper bullets are just as good or better at killing deer. Yes, currently they are slightly more expensive, but for a box of 20 rounds, it’s a difference of between $5 to 20 a box.
Seriously? Compared to the price of gas, food, lodging, meat processing, camo clothing, trail cameras, licenses, land leases and other costs in hunting animals like deer, this is a drop in the proverbial bucket.
As a life-long hunter, wildlife conservationist and the former leader of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, I say with confidence that it is time to end use of poisonous lead bullets in hunting. And with the legislation introduced by Sen. Karen Lewis Young (SB 983) and Del. Vaughn Stewart (HB 1473), both Democrats, our state can do just that.
Since July 2019, California has required the use of non-toxic ammunition for hunting any wildlife. There is no indication this has affected hunting participation or game harvest. It’s been good for wildlife, from endangered California condors to common crows, and the people who consume game meat.
We can hunt deer and other game, and stop inflicting pain and suffering on untold thousands, likely millions of other innocent wild animals, just as we did in waterfowl hunting.
We have eliminated lead in gasoline, paint and children’s toys. There is no safe level of lead in any animal. Let’s get the lead out of hunting ammunition. It’s one small, relatively painless step for hunters, and one giant leap for wildlife.
Dan Ashe (dashe@aza.org) is president and CEO of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums and former director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (2011-2017).
Exposing the Big Game 
Glad it’s also a health risk to the hunters and their families.