Lead bullets affecting the environment, wildlife, and our well-being

ANTIGO, Wis. (WSAW) - It’s been a debate for years between hunters and environmentalists. While some may say ‘what’s the harm in hunting with lead,’ REGI says there’s quite a lot.

Lead is all around us, including in the meat you may harvest yourself. The REGI staff regularly checks meat for lead poisoning. Marge Gibson, founder of REGI, said when hunters use lead bullets, they increase someone’s risk of getting lead poisoning, which can cause insomnia, nausea, and even learning disabilities for humans and wildlife.

80% of the eagles REGI receives are suffering from lead poisoning. “In a human child, it takes a piece of lead the size of a grain of rice to poison them and of course, eagles are much smaller, so we’re dealing with some really tragic situations,” said Gibson.

When an eagle or any other carnivore eats an animal with lead in it, it can’t tell when they are eating lead. The same can be said for humans, so the solution to all of this is copper.

“Copper is an excellent ammunition. It’s more powerful than lead, it goes through the animal and so there’s less crippling of the animal and it doesn’t fragment,” added Gibson. Copper bullets tend to fan out and stay in one piece compared to lead bullets which fragment throughout the body, making them more humane.

She showed a deer that had been shot and killed with a lead bullet and described the inside of the deer as a snowstorm due to the lead because of that fragmentation.

For hunters and those who are shooting their target from distance, the debate over lead versus copper bullets has been largely debated. At longer ranges, the lead bullets make an impact but fragment out before hitting any vitals and basically poisoning the animal to death instead of delivering a swifter kill. Copper bullets on impact mushroom out but continue to drive through the target, ensuring the bullet drives through the animal while expanding its surface area.

On April 10 starting at 12 p.m., the DNR is looking for input about lead on the environment. They want people to comment on their thoughts and start conversations about switching to copper bullets.