Possible Lead shot Ban

Now lets talk about hunting ethics. In my eyes, 12 men in a line, walking a strip of corn, purpossly left to be hunted on a drive, is baiting, and unetical. If the purest, walking grassland, with his dog , can shoot three birds, why not stop at two, you have accomplished your goal, shooting that third bird, seems enethical. Go to africa, to shoot seven planes game species, when you finish, you don't even know the names, of the animals you shot, seems enetical to me. Shall we legislate.
 
Wirehairs said:
I know some of you on this board know what the section lines in some parts of SD are like. For those of you who don't, you would never guess it was a road. They are just a path in the clay between sections. I have taken many guys down section lines and they think we are just driving across a pasture or going between fields on a field road. Basically the 66 ft where sections meet are public right of way if there is a trail there.
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Wirehairs, I think this is why there's some "shock" from people when you SD guys are talking about SD laws. Remember the Gunning it with Benny Spys thread. They were blocking pheasants off a SD "road" and there was outrage over it in some posts.

Many people haven't experienced the way of life out there and just can't understand how your laws are the way they are.:) Heck, I've seen 14 yr olds legally driving vehicles through town out there.:D
 
SD is no more unique in to wagon rut trails considered roads than Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota, Eastern Colorado, or the Panhandle of Texas. What is unique, except for Iowa, is the road hunting allowance. I appreciate the description by Wirehairs, as to possible complications with steel shot. Perhaps an "unofficial" opinion by the attorney general, as to a revised definition of a "road", might serve to satisfy all parties. A road bordered by a single landowner, might realistically be ceded to the landowner, negating any right to hunt the ditch, as well as any public obligation to maintenence. This happens all over the midwest, as townships struggle to meet budgets. In most of rural Kansas, areas where 20 years ago, you could drive across a section road from darn near the Missouri border to Colorado,and never turn, now it's become a hop-scotch jog, a mile north, a mile south, to progress across the state, there are so many closed bridges, and abandoned roads. I suspect we will loose the lead shot battle anyway eventually. The extreme conservation types, like the Sierra Club, already lined up to push for a total ban.
 
This is getting very overblown. The GF&P commission is only giving this landowner some time to vent. If he wants to ban lead on HIS property, then so be it. However, leave the decision to ban/don't ban up to the rest of the land owners.

Because of the desire to separate non-residents from their $$, SD will be the last state in the union to ever impose a lead ban on private land. Also, in spite of the fact that landowners of pay-hunting operation hate the "ditch hunters", they buy licenses and pay for meals and motels rooms too.
 
CRP said:
This is getting very overblown. The GF&P commission is only giving this landowner some time to vent. If he wants to ban lead on HIS property, then so be it. However, leave the decision to ban/don't ban up to the rest of the land owners.

Because of the desire to separate non-residents from their $$, SD will be the last state in the union to ever impose a lead ban on private land. Also, in spite of the fact that landowners of pay-hunting operation hate the "ditch hunters", they buy licenses and pay for meals and motels rooms too.
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I don't believe that GFP is really going to make road hunting any more difficult. It is too important to them.
 
If waterfowl, songbirds, birds of prey, and so forth are still being affected by lead poisoning I don't have a problem with the switch in shotgun shells. Not sure why anyone else would, other than they could care less. I would have mixed feeling with no lead rifle shells.
 
For what ever reason, I can't imagine a pheasant or any other bird digging down though sod to ingest a lead pellet. Lead is a very poor choice as grit.
Good grit/gravel on every road and trail, gopher mounds etc.
Same thing for waterfowl. Lead will sink deep in the muck. If there's a hard bottom there's sand and much better grit then lead.
Hey!:) I ain't saying doesn't happen.
The lead shot ban on waterfowl had little to do with waterfowl.
Everything to do with eagles and other raptors eating wounded and non recovered waterfowl with lead pellets in their bodies.
And the reason lead is banned on WMA's. Those initiating these laws are looking out for the welfare of the raptors, NOT your game birds.
 
Here is a pic of a nice! SD road for anyone that has never seen one. Our government need to be concentrating on a lot more important things than lead shot! It just goes to show how out of touch some politicans are with the people they are supposed to represent! :(
 
mnmthunting said:
For what ever reason, I can't imagine a pheasant or any other bird digging down though sod to ingest a lead pellet. Lead is a very poor choice as grit.
Good grit/gravel on every road and trail, gopher mounds etc.
Same thing for waterfowl. Lead will sink deep in the muck. If there's a hard bottom there's sand and much better grit then lead.
Hey!:) I ain't saying doesn't happen.
The lead shot ban on waterfowl had little to do with waterfowl.
Everything to do with eagles and other raptors eating wounded and non recovered waterfowl with lead pellets in their bodies.
And the reason lead is banned on WMA's. Those initiating these laws are looking out for the welfare of the raptors, NOT your game birds.
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I guess I enjoy seeing bald and golden eagles around here. Sorry you don't.
 
That reminds me of a funny story. I was taking a lunch break with my dog on a public land quail hunt. A group of "nature lovers" came back from their hike grumbling about hearing shots from hunters. I paid no attention because I was focused on a bald eagle circling no more than 50yds over head. After about 10 minutes of this one of them approached to ask what I was looking at. I simply pointed to the sky at the eagle. Once he saw it he proclaimed his discovery to the group. These people were more interested in grumbling over legal hunters than lifting their head to see the symbol of Americas freedom. Poor nature lovers.
 
mnmthunting said:
For what ever reason, I can't imagine a pheasant or any other bird digging down though sod to ingest a lead pellet. Lead is a very poor choice as grit.
Good grit/gravel on every road and trail, gopher mounds etc.
Same thing for waterfowl. Lead will sink deep in the muck. If there's a hard bottom there's sand and much better grit then lead.
Hey!:) I ain't saying doesn't happen.
The lead shot ban on waterfowl had little to do with waterfowl.
Everything to do with eagles and other raptors eating wounded and non recovered waterfowl with lead pellets in their bodies.
And the reason lead is banned on WMA's. Those initiating these laws are looking out for the welfare of the raptors, NOT your game birds.
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That makes sense. :) I've always said steel shot wastes more birds due to crippling/lost birds than lead shot ever killed by ducks eating and digesting lead pellets.

So it comes down to predators? I have to say, even when lead shot was legal on waterfowl I never came across sick or dying raptors. Maybe the problem was very isolated with certain raptors in areas other than where I hunt:confused: --1pheas4
 
1pheas4 said:
That makes sense. :) I've always said steel shot wastes more birds due to crippling/lost birds than lead shot ever killed by ducks eating and digesting lead pellets.

So it comes down to predators? I have to say, even when lead shot was legal on waterfowl I never came across sick or dying raptors. Maybe the problem was very isolated with certain raptors in areas other than where I hunt:confused: --1pheas4
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Maybe its about feeding raptors and varmits more.:D
 
Bringing up Raptors. Just a question, why is their population not regulated? They are among the most efficient hunters of all predators. Owls, hawks, eagles, Etc. How long does protection of these birds need to be in place? I have never found a dead one that starved to death but I found plenty of spots where they killed small game and birds. They hunt 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.
 
onpoint said:
Bringing up Raptors. Just a question, why is their population not regulated? They are among the most efficient hunters of all predators. Owls, hawks, eagles, Etc. How long does protection of these birds need to be in place? I have never found a dead one that starved to death but I found plenty of spots where they killed small game and birds. They hunt 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.
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That's a good question onpoint. Fox, cyote, coon, mink, etc. Those proditors are fair game. Why raptors are still off the list I have no idea:confused:
 
1pheas4 said:
That's a good question onpoint. Fox, cyote, coon, mink, etc. Those proditors are fair game. Why raptors are still off the list I have no idea:confused:
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In my area raptors can be a problem when winter feeding pheasants need to put feed under aireal cover or your just feeding the raptors.
 
Careful there, your treading on the sacred cow of the extremist conservationist. To the public all raptors are eagles and peregrine falcons. Also all these birds are protected by the US-Canada-Mexico, migratory bird treaty. I understand we have a season on crows, because the Mexicans wanted them protected to some degree. Meanwhile there's a hawk on every fence post all across the country! Problem for all these birds was DDT not hunter harvest, but I sure know a lot of old timers, now gone to the happy hunting grounds which never gave a hawk, owl, or housecat a free pass. Funny, we had a lot more gamebirds then.
 
oldandnew said:
Careful there, your treading on the sacred cow of the extremist conservationist. To the public all raptors are eagles and peregrine falcons. Also all these birds are protected by the US-Canada-Mexico, migratory bird treaty. I understand we have a season on crows, because the Mexicans wanted them protected to some degree. Meanwhile there's a hawk on every fence post all across the country! Problem for all these birds was DDT not hunter harvest, but I sure know a lot of old timers, now gone to the happy hunting grounds which never gave a hawk, owl, or housecat a free pass. Funny, we had a lot more gamebirds then.
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In my state they did a trapping program in a state wildlife management area be fore they re introduced pheasants and there were 10 times the wild feral cats than skunks, est. They MAY kill more birds than all the rest combined!
 
We have plenty of raptors here in south central SD. I have nothing agaisnt them as we still have plenty of birds. The amount of Bald eagles this winter has been nothing short of amazing. One day I saw 7 in a three mile span. I did get worried one day. I had my GWP out running and and two bald eagles were sitting in a tree, as we got near one flew off. As the dog passed by the tree the other took flight and flew right above him. I can't be sure the eagle was thinking about taking my dog, but it sure looked like it started to swoop down then thought better and pulled back up. My GWP weighs in around 55# and when a Bald Eagle is within 15ft it looks like it could take the dog with out a whole lot of effort. I did have my Tarus Judge with and if it would have went after the dog, it would have got one warning shot to scare it off.
Another sight to see is areas on the oiled roads where big groups of pheasant congergate and end up getting hit by cars. The eagles quit hunting and just scavage, same with all the deer that get hit.
 
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