# lead shot ?



## bhamby (Jan 6, 2009)

Maybe some of ya'll can help me out here . Do you have to use steel or (non toxic) shot for waterfowl  no matter where you hunt ? now i know you gotta use it over water, but could you shoot lead if hunting a feild when theres no water even close  or has it gotta be steel .


thanks for the good advice got these this morning due to all the great info from some of you


----------



## bhamby (Jan 6, 2009)

big A 235 said:


> You can use lead as much as you want.  It is up to the hunter.



you mean as long has it's not over water,   reason i ask is i'm going to go hunt a peanut field thats got tons of geese and greenheads come to it  i just hate to shoot a 25$,30$ box of shells if i can shoot lead


----------



## bigtall (Jan 6, 2009)

You cannot use lead for any waterfowl hunting anywhere in the US.  You must use non-toxic shot, i.e. steel, bismuth, etc.


----------



## GSUJake (Jan 6, 2009)

there is plenty of steel shot for $13-$15


----------



## t bird (Jan 6, 2009)

Kents are cheaper and real good!


----------



## bhamby (Jan 6, 2009)

bigtall said:


> You cannot use lead for any waterfowl hunting anywhere in the US.  You must use non-toxic shot, i.e. steel, bismuth, etc.



hey bigtall thanks for a simple repley to my question(unlike some ppl on here)


----------



## Chase Simmemon (Jan 6, 2009)

As said above, if you are hunting waterfowl anywhere in the U.S., whether on land or water, you have to use nontoxic shot, which means no lead. But what gets me is you can shoot doves over the same exact field with lead and be competely legal. I believe in the near future all shotshell shot will be nontoxic, along with all rifle, handgun, and muzzleloader bullets.


----------



## Twenty five ought six (Jan 6, 2009)

> You cannot use lead for any waterfowl hunting anywhere in the US. You must use non-toxic shot, i.e. steel, bismuth, etc.
> hey bigtall thanks for a simple repley to my question(unlike some ppl on here)
> Reply With Quote



It actually goes a little further than that.  You cannot be in possession of lead shot while hunting waterfowl.  That means those old dove loads stuck back in your vest, or sitting in the bottom of your dove stool.  I have a couple of buddies who can explain to you all the details about having some old loads left in a dove bucket.

That means that if you are on a dove field and some geese fly over (which has happened to me), you can't shoot the geese with steel shot and be legal.  Trust me, most GW will gig you for this.


----------



## bhamby (Jan 6, 2009)

Chase Simmemon said:


> As said above, if you are hunting waterfowl anywhere in the U.S., whether on land or water, you have to use nontoxic shot, which means no lead. But what gets me is you can shoot doves over the same exact field with lead and be competely legal. I believe in the near future all shotshell shot will be nontoxic, along with all rifle, handgun, and muzzleloader bullets.



you are right thats what got me thinking about it , ya'll correct me if i'm wrong but the whole deal about not useing lead was to keep it out of  rivers and such ....so why not shoot it over dry land


----------



## Chase Simmemon (Jan 6, 2009)

Twenty five ought six said:


> It actually goes a little further than that.  You cannot be in possession of lead shot while hunting waterfowl.  That means those old dove loads stuck back in your vest, or sitting in the bottom of your dove stool.  I have a couple of buddies who can explain to you all the details about having some old loads left in a dove bucket.
> 
> That means that if you are on a dove field and some geese fly over (which has happened to me), you can't shoot the geese with steel shot and be legal.  Trust me, most GW will gig you for this.



Right on the money, exactly what he said. If your hunting waterfowl, you better not have any lead on you, the field, or even in your truck, best place for it is at the house if you are hunting waterfowl. Now if you are hunting doves, you can have as much lead as you want, but you better not throw any shots at any passing geese or ducks, better stick to shooting doves.


----------



## Chase Simmemon (Jan 6, 2009)

bhamby said:


> you are right thats what got me thinking about it , ya'll correct me if i'm wrong but the whole deal about not useing lead was to keep it out of  rivers and such ....so why not shoot it over dry land



The whole problem with lead is ducks and geese injest the lead when they are feeding off the bottom of ponds and lakes, or wherever they are feeding and lead is present. Once injested, the lead travels to the ducks gizzard, the gizzard is like a grinder. Birds will injest tiny rocks on purpose so they can grind up tough seeds better. When the lead is in the gizzard, those tiny rocks help grind up the lead into a powder and when it is a powder it enters the blood stream and the duck or goose gets lead poisoning, thus killing it. That is the problem with lead, no matter where you are hunting, land or water, ducks and geese can get lead poisoning.


----------



## MudDucker (Jan 7, 2009)

The lead thing is big to do about nothing.  Same birds feed in fields where dove are shot.  There are very few places where the shot becomes concentrated enough to cause near as much harm as a bird being crippled by cruddy steel shot.  I obey the law, but I think it sucks.

I defended a case for a bud years ago where the game warden wrote a ticket for lead shot in a locked truck bed box that was over 1/2 a mile from where the guys were hunting.  The prosecutor decided that it was not available during the hunt and dropped the charges.  I asked the warden if he was going to write me such a ticket when I hunted at my farm because I store both lead and steel shot in my barn.  He didn't like the analogy.  I pointed out that it would be hard for me to be as far away from my lead shot on my farm as these guys were from that truck.  Not suggesting anyone try this, but just illustrating how far some wardens will go to write a ticket over this issue.  I am also not suggesting all wardens would do this.


----------



## Nicodemus (Jan 7, 2009)

Last warnin` folks. We have had enough. If you can`t contribute in a positive way, you will be removed. End of discussion.


----------



## georgiaboy (Jan 7, 2009)

MudDucker said:


> I defended a case for a bud years ago where the game warden wrote a ticket for lead shot in a locked truck bed box that was over 1/2 a mile from where the guys were hunting.



Thanks for the heads up.  I have kept a box or two of dove loads in my truck (several hundred yards from pond or hunting area) with the intention of doing a little dove hunting AFTER I duck hunted.   Come to think of it, my range bag is in the truck half the time and it usually has buckshot and birdshot for practice.  

I always took possesion to mean on you or very near (where intent to use is obvious)...


----------



## BigDogDaddy (Jan 7, 2009)

We got checked one time in Ar. last week. Checked our liscense, guns, and shotshells. Ive been checked quite a few times over the years and this was the first time they have checked my shells. And I mean by check, he thoroughly inspected every shell in my blind bag. When asked if I had any more shells I politely responded no, even though I forgot I had 2 #7 dove loads in my truck door from shooting skeet the week before. Didnt notice them til I got in the truck but I'm pretty sure if I would have remembered they were there I still would have told him no. lol


----------



## georgiaboy (Jan 7, 2009)

BDD, Did you get the magnet test or visual inspection?  

I heard a couple of geniuses discussing that they would just reload lead into steel hulls and GW had NO way of knowing, haha.


----------



## Twenty five ought six (Jan 7, 2009)

> . And I mean by check, he thoroughly inspected every shell in my blind bag.



In the early days of steel shot, when it was the only legal alternative to lead, a magnet was a standard part of the GW equipment.  You had some 'splaining to do if it didn't stick to the magnet.  I was hunting with bismuth right after it came out, and the game warden hadn't heard of it.  He asked me for a shell to take back and verify that it was o.k.  Even though it was nearly a $2.00 shell, I gave it to him.

Everyone wants to slam GW's for doing there job.  I was on one of the first goose hunts on Clarke's Hill, and had a buddy of mine from south Georgia, and his young teen sons with me.  GW came by, checked everyone out, stamps, steel shot, plugs, everything o.k., then he asked one of the boys to pick up the styrofoam liner on the dove stool he was sitting on.  Well, it was about half full of 20 ga. dove loads.  All season long, they had dumped their left over dove loads into it.  Clearly, no one was going to pop a goose with 20 ga. 7 1/2's.  I explained that we had gone through our vests, hunting bags, and even my boat and removed all lead shells.  The GW very reasonably told the boys to take the shells back to the boat ( a couple hundred yards away,) and put them in one of the equipment bags, and everything would be o.k. So not every interaction with a GW is not a train wreck.

In response to the OP, some mid-west states agree with you that there is no reason to make a distinction, and require steel shot for upland hunting on public lands.  I'm not aware of any state that has extended that to private land.


----------



## BigDogDaddy (Jan 7, 2009)

Just the visual inspection...theres no way I would purposely have them on me, just happened to be stuck down in the door of my truck.


----------



## bhamby (Jan 7, 2009)

thanks ya'll      really helped me out


----------



## georgiaboy (Jan 7, 2009)

That Gadwall hurt his neck, no mount for him.

Nice mixed bag.


----------



## bhamby (Jan 7, 2009)

georgiaboy said:


> That Gadwall hurt his neck, no mount for him.
> 
> Nice mixed bag.



  Thanks                   yea he a lil  skint up and sore


----------



## georgiaboy (Jan 7, 2009)

Oh yeah, let me get in the poular comment before someone serious does.

"That is over the limit for one guy, (_blah blah_) now you better post a pic of everyone with those ducks or I am calling the DNR and he will (_insert threat here_)"!  



So lead #4 or ?

*before I get piled on and we all get banded I am just funnin' and I DO NOT use lead on waterfowl.


----------



## bhamby (Jan 7, 2009)

georgiaboy said:


> Oh yeah, let me get in the poular comment before someone serious does.
> 
> "That is over the limit for one guy, (_blah blah_) now you better post a pic of everyone with those ducks or I am calling the DNR and he will (_insert threat here_)"!
> 
> ...


yea i had some left over turkey loads that needed to be shot up     they work great, ask that gadwall


----------



## georgiaboy (Jan 7, 2009)

Your other gadwall looks nice, gonna mount him?  I like them alot actually.  

1st can't talk no more but it looks like .22lr to me.


----------



## bhamby (Jan 7, 2009)

georgiaboy said:


> Your other gadwall looks nice, gonna mount him?  I like them alot actually.
> 
> 1st can't talk no more but it looks like .22lr to me.



gonna mount him and the widgon  tryin to get 1 of each kinda duck on the wall , i'm still lookin for a coot ain't got one of them yet      no i got that one gadwall with a machine gun


----------

