Shotshell and shooter effectiveness: Lead vs. steel shot for duck hunting

Abstract

Shooter and shotshell effectiveness were tested during the 1979 waterfowl season at the Schell-Osage Wildlife Management Area (WMA), Missouri. Hunters who participated in the study bagged 1,967 ducks with 10,587 shots. No significant differences in bagging, crippling, or missing rates were measured among 4 Winchester 12 gauge loads: #4 buffered and unbuffered lead and #4 and #2 steel. Shooter effectiveness declined as distance increased. Crippling rates were not influenced by distance. Hunters reported good shotshell performance for all shells but indicated negative attitudes toward steel shot. WILDL. SOC. BULL. 10:121-126 Regulations requiring the use of nontoxic shot for waterfowl hunting have been established in each of the 4 flyways. The objective of such requirements is to reduce the number of ducks, geese, and swans lost to lead poisoning by replacing toxic lead with nontoxic steel pellets in shells used for waterfowl hunting. Studies of lead poisoning by Bellrose (1959) determined that ducks commonly ingest spent lead pellets and that annual lead poisoning losses pose an important waterfowl management problem. Hunters have been reluctant to accept the steel shot regulations. One area of controversy has been the relative effectiveness of steel vs. lead shot. Many hunters feel that steel shot, less dense than traditional lead loads, is less effective and cripples more birds. A study was Editor's Note: Because commercial shotshell characteristics are uniformly shown in English units we have departed from the standard practice of using metric measurements for this paper. The conversion to metric units was considered more confusing than the results justified. conducted in Missouri in 1979 to measure shooter performance and lead and steel shotshell effectiveness for duck shooting. The study resulted after nontoxic shot regulations were initiated, but hunters continued to question the use of steel shot for waterfowl hunt-