Probably enough has been said about this already but I would like to add that lead bullets have been used exclusively on my ranch for the last ten years without any ill effect. On average, 100 hogs and and 15 deer are killed each year and their remains are deposited back on the place where the scavengers go through them. I have not found any type of critter laying dead on account of the eating.

10 to 15,000 lead bullets go into my target berms annually. I have three water wells that are tested each year for all kinds of contaminants and the water is better than the bottled stuff you buy.

In that I cast most of the bullets used here, and have been doing so for twenty years now, I have my doctor include the lead panel in my blood work each year (you have to specifically ask for this). Not a trace.

All this leads me to believe that the lead question is just another conduit for someone's political agenda.

From the perspective of a guy that is up to his elbows in lead, it is a bunch of BS. What I do know is that a lead 30 caliber bullet costs me 6¢ and that includes the amortized cost to mold and cast it.

It is, and it isn't.

Deer and hogs don't eat the same way a California Condor does, nor do they have the same susceptibility to lead.

Kind of like how a large quantity of chocolate is bad ju-ju for a dog, but isn't going to hurt you - different biologies are involved.

But make no mistake about it - there is a healthy dose of politics involved as well.

Great response, thanks!

I appreciate the response but I wasn't referring to the deer except as a carcass. Of the 1000 plus animals shot on this ranch in the last decade, all the remains have been directly deposited in a given location for the variety of critters to clean up. There is a huge assortment of critters, including hogs, cleaning it up and I've never seen a mysterious death anywhere on my place as a result of the "bone yard".

Other animals don't eat the same way either, and other animals don't have the same biology that a particular type of bird does.

It's really not that hard to understand - and that we don't have the same type of issues with native wildlife here because of a lot of different factors.

Here is a good link to read concerning the Condors

You can choose not to believe that a single species of bird has some fairly significant issues with lead ingestion as a result of it's biology and its eating habits - whatever floats your boat. But don't complain that there is sand in your eyes as a result of having your head buried in that very same sand with respect to this particular issue.

Now the politics is a different story, and one that will play out like any other political game - and that is there will be those that will take the issue and gain any and every advantage they can out of it, regardless of any logic or whom the expense is borne by. That happens even when lead isn't the issue though.

I call bs on the lead argument. and what about all the waterfowl that get shot with steal only to die months later because it doesn't penetrate as well.

Lord help us. Millions pounds of lead weights are lost in tanks (that's a pond for you yankees) streams, rivers, lakes, and oceans every year. Buy you some Sierra Pro Hunters and you wont have to chase your game.