Lead fragments turn up in tests of venison donated to food shelves and immediately we are cautioned not to feed venison to children and pregnant women. Wildlife officials say centerfire bullets are prone to “fragmentation,” apparently exploding into toxic lead shrapnel when they enter a deer. Wow. It’s a wonder hunters and their progeny weren’t lead poisoned into extinction long ago.
Lead fragments turn up in tests of venison donated to food shelves and immediately we are cautioned not to feed venison to children and pregnant women. Wildlife officials say centerfire bullets are prone to “fragmentation,” apparently exploding into toxic lead shrapnel when they enter a deer. Wow. It’s a wonder hunters and their progeny weren’t lead poisoned into extinction long ago.
But wait, there shall arrive prophets and messiahs to save us from ourselves. Already in the outdoor press some are musing the time has come to ban lead bullets. Whoa! Can we first catch our collective breath?
Remember the big Alar scare, when the all American apple suddenly became a toxic treat? Well, everyone still eats apples. I suspect we’ll continue eating venison, too. So let’s not let a tempest in a teapot boil over.
Not long ago, California banned lead bullets to protect its small population of condors, some of which apparently died of lead poisoning after consuming carrion from hunter kills. Some critics say the lead bullet ban was less about saving condors than it was about restricting hunting and shooting. Be that as it may, one doesn’t need to be a prophet to predict a few tests showing lead in venison could easily morph into a “it’s the right thing to do” campaign to ban lead bullets. Minnesota anglers already know the drill.
A few lead-free bullets are available, including high-quality hunting bullets, but that doesn’t mean the industry is prepared to switch to lead alternatives, nor that doing so will be measurably significant to ecological or human health. However, it is fair to say hunters and shooters will pay a steep price regardless the outcome of a bullet-banning campaign. Unless state human health and wildlife officials step up to the plate now and test venison with proper scientific rigor, it is likely such a campaign is just over the horizon.
Let’s remember that modern hunting bullets are designed to expand into a “mushroom” and retain initial weight. “Fragmentation” is measured in grains. Let’s also remember ethical hunters strive for one-shot kills, usually to the heart-lung area. Most of the usable venison is on the other end of the animal—in the hindquarters and back straps. Contamination with lead fragments from a well-placed killing shot is very unlikely.
So what are we to make of the lead-laced food shelf venison? How about no more than the reported results? Some hunter-donated venison is contaminated with varied amounts of lead. Now, instead of pushing panic button, let’s take a reasoned closer look. First, we should examine hunter donation programs, from the motivations of participating hunters and the quality of donated deer carcasses to the butchering methods and quality control of commercial processors. Only then will we be ready to make comparisons with venison killed and processed by other means.