I think galvanized nails are non tox, gotta call the game warden before I get to out of hand with this.
I know you are in SD, but I was going to mention watch out in Ioea. I thought I read that Iowa doesn't allow bigger than a 10 gauge for pheasant, but now I can only find that for migratory birds (in ND and MN too, and maybe other states).
...
You may not hunt migratory waterfowl:
• With a trap, snare, net, rifle, pistol, swivel gun, shotgun larger than 10 gauge,
punt gun, battery gun, machine gun, fish hook, poison, drug, explosive or
stupefying substance.
Regarding zinc coated steel nails, you might be in the clear:
The ban on the use of lead shot for hunting waterfowl was phased-in starting with the 1987-88 hunting season. The ban became nationwide in 1991. Nontoxic shot regulations apply only to waterfowl, defined as the family Anatidae (ducks, geese, [including brant], and swans) and coots.
www.fws.gov
I know that is for waterfowl, but it might be what is used by others.
...
Approved shot type* | Percent Composition by Weight | Field Testing Device** |
|---|
| Bismuth-tin | 97 bismuth, and 3 tin | Hot Shot®*** |
| Iron (steel) | iron and carbon | Magnet or Hot Shot® |
| Iron-tungsten | any proportion of tungsten, and ≥1 iron | Magnet or Hot Shot® |
| Iron-tungsten-nickel | ≥1 iron, any proportion of tungsten, and up to 40 nickel | Magnet or Hot Shot® |
| Copper-clad iron | 84 to 56.59 iron core, with copper cladding up to 44.1 of the shot mass | Magnet or Hot Shot® |
| Corrosion-inhibited copper | ≥99.9 copper with benzotriazole and thermoplastic fluorescent powder coatings | Ultraviolet Light |
| Tungsten-bronze | 51.1 tungsten, 44.4 copper, 3.9 tin, and 0.6 iron, or 60 tungsten, 35.1 copper, 3.9 tin, and 1 iron | Rare Earth Magnet |
| Tungsten-iron-copper-nickel | 40–76 tungsten, 10–37 iron, 9–16 copper, and 5–7 nickel | Hot Shot® or Rare Earth Magnet |
| Tungsten-matrix | 95.9 tungsten, 4.1 polymer | Hot Shot® |
| Tungsten-polymer | 95.5 tungsten, 4.5 Nylon 6 or 11 | Hot Shot® |
| Tungsten-tin-iron | any proportions of tungsten and tin, and ≥1 iron | Magnet or Hot Shot® |
| Tungsten-tin-bismuth | any proportions of tungsten, tin, and bismuth | Rare Earth Magnet |
| Tungsten-tin-iron-nickel | 65 tungsten, 21.8 tin, 10.4 iron, and 2.8 nickel | Magnet |
| Tungsten-iron-polymer | 41.5–95.2 tungsten, 1.5–52.0 iron, and 3.5–8.0 fluoropolymer | Rare Earth Magnet or Hot Shot® |
*Coatings of copper, nickel, tin, zinc, zinc chloride, zinc chrome, fluoropolymers, and fluorescent thermoplastic on approved nontoxic shot types also are approved.
