Quote:
Originally Posted by sbtennex
I always liked the rule that was in effect for a few years about the lead ban only being within what was it, 400 meters? of standing water. On dry ground, it's an unnecessary ban that contributes to far more mortally wounded birds, especially geese, that make it back to water to never get up again. First few trips with steel were astounding to us, particularly for me because I tend to shoot "cleanup" in the field. I use a 10 gauge O/U and was astonished to watch a goose hit twice with steel keep on going. I was accustomed to the instant kills that 2 1/4 oz of #2 and BB lead supplied, out to easily 70 yds. Choked full/full my O/U is actually closer to a modified and needed no alterations to handle steel. We finally resorted to physics, e=mc2. Double the velocity and the energy is quadrupled, so fasteel powder and smaller steel shot (#1 and B) at 1800 fps worked. Problem is, it's tough to shoot clays with my 12 and lead now - the practice is useless. Flight characteristics of steel is dramatically different than lead plus less retained energy per pellet meant shorter shots and a lot more work for my lab. Tried tungsten-iron, but at $4.50 a shell, like most of the nonsteel alternatives, it's hard to justify the costs and we still didn't like the results. If you reload, any modern lead alternative is far too costly.
Big steel shot is also far too damaging to the birds - blows on through and busts them up to the point they're hardly worth plucking. Remember how many flat lead pellets used to wind up against the breast bones of big geese that dropped instantly? Doesn't happen anymore - they're blown to hell, lots of bloodshot damage and big holes through the body, ventilating but not always shocking them to the ground and as mentioned, too many keep on flying.  |
What was a meadow or dirt in a dry year could be a lake in a normal or wet year, so there is not much sense in classifying any part of waterfowl habitat as 'dry ground' or 'water'.
Yes, there has been ongoing research done on this subject since the 1950's, and the use of lead as an additive in general and the consensus is that lead is an awfull, poisonous and extremely fatal substance to injest, even in minute amounts, not just by birds but humans, too.
Contact DU Canada or Delta Waterfowl, or the biology department of your local university if you care to be enlightened.
We will see the day, when the use of lead in ANY ammunition, even rifle bullets, is banned... So get used to it. I've been shooting steel shot at birds for close to 20 years, and have had absoutely Zero problems with it's ability to kill birds with well placed shots for as long as I can remember... You are correct; speed does kill with steel... Non-steel non-tox is too expensive to be a viable option... And, the larger pellets do far too much damage to the edible portion of the bird- but I shoot my birds in the head so #2 and BB work fine for me.
Rest assured, modern steel shot is safe to use, and very deadly in a 12 guage shotgun on any bird from the smaller quails, on up to the largest 13-14 lb sub-species of Canada Geese, everything in between, and even the big cranes and swans... IF you HIT your target, and the range is reasonable. I don't know very many Waterfowler's that can hit and kill birds consistently beyond 40 yards, but I've seen it done enough hundred or thousand times to know that it is completely feasible.
Most of us are better advised to focus instead on the small details that will allow closer shooting when the birds finish to the decoy spread, and of course, practicing as much as possible, preferably with a skilled shotgunner that is able to correct flaws in poor technique and offer assistance and advice through the learning process.