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Article: Redesigned steel shot gains favor.(Knight Ridder Newspapers)
- Article from:
- Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service
- Article date:
- September 19, 2001
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2001 Knight-Ridder/Tribune News Service. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Thirty years ago the choice was simple. Waterfowl hunters used lead shot. It was cheap. It patterned well. It hit hard. It didn't damage gun barrels.
But there was a problem. Lead shot killed birds even when it wasn't blasting out of a shotgun barrel. It killed silently _ waterfowl, eagles and more _ as birds ingested the pellets and succumbed to lead poisoning.
During the past two decades, government agencies have moved to ban lead shot in waterfowl hunting. It is slowly being phased out of public upland bird hunting areas as well. Some experts predict lead bullets may be next to be banned.
Studies show the move away from lead has saved tens ...