Should hunters switch to 'green' bullets? (CNN)

[eppur_se_muova]

By John D. Sutter
CNN

(CNN) -- Three years ago, Phillip Loughlin made a choice he knew would brand him as an outsider with many of his fellow hunters:

He decided to shoot "green" bullets.

"It made sense," Loughlin said of his switch to more environmentally friendly ammo, which doesn't contain lead. "I believe that we need to do a little bit to take care of the rest of the habitat and the environment -- not just what we want to shoot out of it."

Lead, a toxic metal that can lower the IQs of children, is the essential element in most ammunition on the market today.

But greener alternatives are gaining visibility -- and stirring controversy -- as some hunters, scientists, environmentalists and public health officials worry about lead ammunition's threat to the environment and public health.

Hunting groups oppose limits on lead ammunition, saying there's no risk and alternatives are too expensive.
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more: http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/science/03/04/green.bullets/index.html




Maybe hunters should have to chip their own flint arrowheads -- that should give them more appreciation for the "cost" of hunting.

(Actually, flint microliths used as arrow tips were considered disposable -- it was the arrow shafts which were harder to make, and thus worth considerable effort to retrieve.)

[Uben]

1. I switched two years ago

I started using shotgun ammo made of steel instead of lead. I don't know what the alternative is to other types of ammo, but I'm sure there are many things they could substitute for lead.

[One_Life_To_Give]

2. Some Green Ammo has been outlawed

IIRC New York regulations would include Green/Frangible Ammo under the same category as Armor Piercing.

[TheWraith]

3. That's what I do.

From now on I'm only buying steel shot for my shotgun, and steel core bullets for my rifle. Actually I worry a lot more about the contents of my rounds than most people do: I don't hunt, just target practice in my back field, so it's all concentrated on my property and near my home.

[kimmerspixelated]

4. Kinda like asking

should we ask for sweeter smelling farts?