As recently announced in the Minneapolis/St. Paul Star Tribune, the MN Department of Natural Resources, apparently not content with the surfeit of similar studies, just dropped $50k on another study in which lead ammo was fired into dead sheep. The study was meant to see how much lead fragmented, and how far the fragments permeated the meat.
Lead fragments were found up to 18 inches from the wound channel in a study on sheep conducted by the DNR in July, said Lou Cornicelli, DNR big game manager.
“High-velocity bullets break apart almost instantly, throwing small pieces of metal all over the place,” Cornicelli said.
So it’s not really news. But hey, I didn’t really have anything else to post about today.
Seriously, we already know the lead particles are there. That’s been pretty thoroughly established. Now we’re Just waiting on the science to show that there is a health risk before taking any further action. Yes, it bears watching. No, it’s definitely no cause for panic or to discard your wild game, ammo, or rifles.
If you’re so inclined, there’s nothing wrong with erring on the side of caution. (Kinda makes me think of Josh’s recent post about the Precautionary Principle.) There are things you can do to minimize any risk of lead toxicity from your wild game meat… If it’s available for your caliber, and your rifle shoots it well, go ahead and try some non-lead ammo.
That’s one solution. Other solutions include switching to archery, or just put the guns away and go hunting with a camera. You can buy your meat at the store.
Yeah, that’s what I thought…
We now return you to your regularly scheduled rants and raves…
Personally, this lead scare doesn’t bother me. I’ll still eat any venison that is shot with a bullet.
I do like the archery idea though. Oh wait, I already do that anyway.