and here brings you back to the
start.Lead Shot Ban ?
Extract from an Irish Shooting Mag
I have enjoyed immensely the debate in the sporting press regarding the phas-ing out from 1st September this year, of lead shot for wildfowl and wader shoot-ing across the water. Many sportsmen there have at last realised what absolute fools they have been to let this completely unjustifi-able legislation creep up on them. They have been literally stalked and shot dead in the water. That their representative bodies have acquiesced and prac-tically colluded with this nonsense has split them left, right and centre. Noth-ing that I have seen or read anywhere has changed my view that the change from lead to so-called non-toxic shot could ever be justified.
I have opposed it and intend to continue oppos-ing it - especially if it is proposed to introduce it in this country - all the way. It is nothing short of un-proven scientific rubbish to insinuate that if ingested, lead shot leads to the deaths of relatively small numbers of wildfowl in certain waters, that a blanket ban on the use of lead shot for wildfowling should follow.
There is no disputing the fact that if ingested, lead shot will kill wildfowl. So also will botulism, mink, foxes, birds of prey and various other predators in nature. To my knowledge, nobody has proved beyond doubt that large numbers of wildfowl and waders are succumbing to ingested lead shot poisoning. The argument has gone as follows: Ingested lead shot kills wildfowl, therefore it must be banned. End of story. Those of us who say "But you must show me how many are killed in order to justify the ban" are practically laughed out of court. Numbers, we have been told, do not matter. Even if only one wildfowl or wader in 100,000 is killed each year by ingested lead shot, it justifies the prohibi-tion. If this is entirely logical then show me something else. Shooting is being dictated to and coerced by people who know nothing about the sport and who care little about the effects on the ground of their decisions and recommen-dations. Let's face it, if I was somebody who spent quite an amount of time in proving that spent lead shot killed wildfowl, the logical follow on for me would be to ensure that, irrespective of who should be discom-moded, lead shot would be banished. Otherwise my work would have been a waste of time.
In Britain, the legislation is that a blanket ban will be imposed on the use of lead shot against duck, geese, golden plover and snipe, irrespective of where such species are encountered. If such a ban or anything resembling it, were to be imposed here, I predict mayhem on a grand scale. Let us look at a couple of likely scenarios. You are hunting up pheasant in a rushy, marshy field criss-crossed by drains. You have a Winchester Silver seven in your right chamber and a Maximum 6 in the left - lead loads of course. Suddenly, a brace of mal-lard jump. You drop the pair as you think to yourself that `a bird in the hand is worth...' Under the proposed British legislation, if you are stopped and your birds taken away for examination and analy-sis, you could be in serious trouble.
Scenario number two would see you as a wood-cock hunter geared up with eight or nine shot. A snipe breaks cover and you automatically drop it. More realistic however, is the confusion that will arise at driven shoots where some of the drives can be made up of both pheasant and duck. Here, there is bound to be much fumbling and foostering and hurried inter-changing of cartridges. Much of our rough shooting in the West of Ireland takes place over ground where rivers, streams and marsh areas predominate and water in some shape or form is a constant pres-ence. If hunters are forced to use lead for game and non-toxic for duck and/or snipe, I can foresee great difficulties. In the wake of any lead phase-out, the price of non-toxic shot as stated today will certainly sort out the wheat from the chaff in Irish wildfowling and inland duck shooting.
Hunters may crib today when they have to pay out £4 odd for a box of shells but what would be their reaction if they were asked for £16 or more for a box of Tungsten Matrix? This, I feel, would sort out the sunshine shooters from the real ones. It would be the real de-commissioner in Irish wildfowling. Steel shot ranges in price from £5 to £8 per box and is the cheapest of all the non-toxic shot substitutes on offer at the moment. Steel how-ever, unless loaded with a very heavy plastic cup wad, will do serious damage to guns choked any tighter than half. Those who have any make of decent English gun can forget about steel.
There is absolutely no need for banning lead shot in this country with its relatively small hunting population. Shallow areas of water where wildfowl could possibly be at risk from spent shot are few and far between. In fact, many of the lakes and ponds are almost bottomless. The British Association for Shooting and Conservation has taken a battering in the letters columns of the sporting press from irate members. It will be very interesting to hear the views of the representatives of hunters here when the lead crisis develops as it will.
Problems Caused by Certain Sea Birds
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