Outfitter backs move to use copper bullets
Hill says giving up lead ammo is ‘common sense.’
By Cory Hatch, Jackson Hole, Wyo.
March 3, 2010
A Jackson Hole outfitter supports a program that asks hunters to give up lead bullets, considered poisonous to some scavengers.
Kelly outfitter B.J. Hill voiced his support for lead substitutes after studies showed lead poisoning in ravens and eagles that feed on gut piles left by hunters in Jackson Hole. Researchers think the poison likely gets into the birds’ bloodstreams when they ingest lead bullet fragments.
Hill said a switch is a common-sense solution that has few consequences for hunters.
“If we can help ... the treasures of this country with something this easy and not affect the hunting community, then we should be doing it,” Hill said. “If [lead bullets] are going to kill [eagles], it’s something we should be looking at.”
A board member of the Wyoming Outfitters and Guides Association and a member of Jackson Hole Outfitters, he cautioned he was speaking only for himself. While the substitute program has seen some success – 24 percent of hunters in Grand Teton National Park and on the National Elk Rufuge used copper bullets last year – some hunters question the effectiveness and price of copper.
Hill’s support counters arguments based on performance.
“Copper is a better-technology bullet to begin with,” he said, in part because there’s less fragmenting than with lead. “It’s a better bullet for harvesting elk, [and] it doesn’t have the poisoning effect.”
Ninety-five percent of his clients have switched to copper on their own, he said.
Hill decided to come out for copper bullets despite what he says is a serious rift between many outfitters and environmental groups.
“This makes common sense, unlike what the environmentalists have done to outfitters and sportsmen,” he said. He disagrees with environmental groups on issues such as feedgrounds, wolves and grizzly bears.
“Those are the main things that piss us off something fierce,” Hill said.
“When the hate factor comes in, the common sense to the species gets thrown aside,” he continued. “But there’s no reason that all sportsmen shouldn’t switch to copper bullets. I think the people would really buy into this quick.”
Despite his support, Hill said he probably wouldn’t advocate legislation mandating a switch.
“I don’t know about forcing it on people,” he said. “It’d be more about education than anything. I think when you tell somebody they have to do something, it’s trouble.”
Preliminary data suggests that hunters who voluntarily replaced their lead bullets with copper substitutes during hunts on the National Elk Refuge and in Grand Teton National Park last year likely helped reduce blood lead levels in Jackson Hole’s raven population.
Researchers from Craighead Beringia South distributed 194 boxes of copper bullets to hunters with permits for the park and the refuge last season.
An estimated 24 percent of hunters used copper bullets this year, resulting in a 28 percent drop in blood lead levels in ravens compared with what would have been expected, based on the number of elk and bison killed. Previous studies have shown that the blood lead levels in ravens and eagles rise about two weeks after the start of hunting season and drop about two weeks after hunting season ends.
