Humbly I bring this before you as an appeal. In the last few years I have felt a vacuum in a place where I would feel that the hunting community would typically lead the way. Being brought up in my life, hunting has always been synonymous with conservation of our wildlife and the protection thereof. We as hunters know now what we didn't know before about the effects of left over lead particles in game remains and in some cases the ingestion of full lead projectiles found in wounded game that is lost. We know what it does to the scavengers who ingest them. Slowly for a while now I have been transitioning to the solid copper alloys in the reloading room for hunting. The lower cost lead projectiles still have an important role in target work but my goal is to replace all of my hunting loads will non-lead and in some cases, the expansion and retention of these solid projectiles are preferable to that of lead. Unfortunately the road block I run in to is availability and choice. This is where I believe that the hunting community should be leading the way in appealing to bullet smiths for more non-lead choices. The price of a solid copper projectile is not the most expensive projectile out there. If consumer demand drives an uptick in non-lead, I believe the cost will ultimately be vary similar to that of copper plated lead.
Not that this should be the driving force, but fact is that eventually this will likely be driven by forced regulation and likely in a way that leaves the market with a deficit of supply to meet the demand. I would personally prefer to vote with my dollar in the free market. When available, I try to buy non lead. The more it sells the more R&D manufacturers will pour into them, ultimately giving us better and more available products.
In the latter part of 2015 and if reports are true, we very nearly had leaded projectiles banned on all Federal lands. I can't say that I disagree with the need but I would have been caught completely off-guard and would have had nothing to hunt with. As a hunter It also felt self scolded because I knew I didn't need to be told that I need a different solution to lead. As a hunter, un-intended poisoning of other wild life after the kill weighs on me quite heavily and demands a corrective action. My appeal to you as the reader is this. Lets begin to make this change as consumers. Like said, save the leaded projectiles for target work. As we buy more non-lead more will become available. Encourage others in your circle to hunt with non-lead. At the end of the day this is what we as hunters/conservationist are all about and I think we need to be the lead on this.
I hope others will feel the same way. Thanks for listening.
Not that this should be the driving force, but fact is that eventually this will likely be driven by forced regulation and likely in a way that leaves the market with a deficit of supply to meet the demand. I would personally prefer to vote with my dollar in the free market. When available, I try to buy non lead. The more it sells the more R&D manufacturers will pour into them, ultimately giving us better and more available products.
In the latter part of 2015 and if reports are true, we very nearly had leaded projectiles banned on all Federal lands. I can't say that I disagree with the need but I would have been caught completely off-guard and would have had nothing to hunt with. As a hunter It also felt self scolded because I knew I didn't need to be told that I need a different solution to lead. As a hunter, un-intended poisoning of other wild life after the kill weighs on me quite heavily and demands a corrective action. My appeal to you as the reader is this. Lets begin to make this change as consumers. Like said, save the leaded projectiles for target work. As we buy more non-lead more will become available. Encourage others in your circle to hunt with non-lead. At the end of the day this is what we as hunters/conservationist are all about and I think we need to be the lead on this.
I hope others will feel the same way. Thanks for listening.
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