The Scottish Gamekeepers’ Association (SGA) has restated its opposition to a transition away from the use of lead shot. Now in a message encouraging members to engage with the Health and Safety Executive’s lead ammunition consultation, the Association has restated that position. The message said: “Some countryside shooting organisations, led…
Lead shot
DEFRA document raises fears of blanket ban on lead ammunition
In a move that suggests it is looking to bring forward a ban on the use of lead ammunition, Defra has launched its online consultation on the substance and its alternatives. The UK appeared to have dodged a requirement to ban lead ammunition under the European Union Reach framework. Earlier…
Recipe for venison chops with blueberry sauce
Venison is often overlooked in the barbecue season, but venison sausages, steak or delicious slow-smoked shoulder can be tasty choices and muntjac makes exceptional venison burgers. The venison chops I used for this recipe were from a memorable stalk on a fallow buck nearing the end of the season. The…
New register for lead-free shoots will enable dealers and stockists to source lead-free game
Supermarkets, stockists and game dealers are increasingly switching over to purchase of game shot without the use of lead ammunition. To facilitate this, the British Game Alliance (BGA) has launched a new register to source game to service this growing market. Shoots wanting to participate and take their place on…
Steel shot vs lead – why I switched a while ago
Steel shot vs lead I suspect that most shooters realise that lead is dead. It’s only a matter of when. I am not going to reiterate the arguments for steel shot vs lead, they have been done to death. The inexorable tightening of the legal noose around lead was widely…
Is this the end of high birds?
Could the ruling on lead mean the end of high birds? In the early 1990s, when we had a voluntary phase-out of lead for shooting over wetlands, my old mate Charles Nodder and I had a little try with some steel cartridges out on the Medway mud. Being young and…
Fieldsports organisations back move to end lead-shot game
The announcement by the The National Game Dealers Association (NGDA) that its members will not accept lead-shot game from next year has been welcomed by fieldsports bodies including the British Association for Shooting and Conservation (BASC), Countryside Alliance (CA), British Game Alliance (BGA) and Game Farmers’ Association (GFA). Retailers had…
Government plans to phase out lead ammunition
The government is now considering a lead ammunition ban under the UK’s new chemical regulation system – UK REACH– and has requested an official review of the evidence to begin today with a public consultation in due course. Environment Minister Rebecca Pow said: “Addressing the impacts of lead ammunition will…
Shooting groups defend progress on lead transition
Non-toxic shot progress Shooting organisations have defended the progress of the five-year transition away from the use of lead and single-use plastics in shotgun ammunition. The plan to make shooting more sustainable and to head off Government regulation has come under attack for not making enough progress after a study…
Brexit frees Britain from European laws limiting use of lead on and around wetlands
The free trade agreement between the UK and the EU will not bind the UK to European laws that limit the use of lead on and around wetlands. And in more good news, environmental regulations that have been used to attack shooting will come under the full control of the…
Bill calling for two-year phasing out of all lead shot defeated
A proposed amendment to an Environment Bill calling for a two-year phase out of all lead shot has been voted out by Defra. The amendment was led by Labour MP Fleur Anderson but Defra minister Rebecca Pow said that it was unnecessary, due to positive action by shooting organisations to…
The pros and cons of lead-free bullets
There is a growing push towards lead-free bullets. But what are the pros and cons of lead-free bullets? These are the advantages and disadvantages as I see them and of copper bullets. There are serious considerations for both but lead shot is, of course, being phased out over a five-year…
EU votes to restrict lead shot from 2023
The proposed EU REACH committee restrictions against lead shot voted through on 3 September will be ratified by early 2021 and become law in 2023 in EU member states. The UK government may decide then to adopt the regulation depending on how it decides to legislate for REACH related laws.…
Moving from lead shot to steel – what you need to know
Moving from lead shot to steel - the practicalities involved
How have other countries coped with the lead shot ban?
For advocates of lead ammunition, the arguments have become academic. The leaders of our major shooting and countryside organisations have signed a statement in support of the removal of lead — and single-use plastic — from all ammunition used for hunting game, within five years. Critics will not see this…
We need to talk about lead shot
Calls for game shooting to push ahead with finding alternatives to lead shot are growing louder, both inside and outside of the sport. Rob Yorke offers a personal view on the subject. How lead shot became popular One hundred and fifty years ago, wild meat was harvested, without the use…
Is it time to move away from lead shot to steel?
We were deep in a ditch on the Orkneys. There was a tumbling grey northern sky above us and an icy wind. The peninsula’s greylag goose population was not playing ball. They went to the right of us, they went to the left, they landed on the barley 100 yards…
Lead shot shown to be major cause of bird deaths
Spent lead shot significantly weakens the immune systems of wild birds and is a major cause of death, according to a newly released scientific paper. The paper entitled Immunotoxic effects of lead on birds was published in Science of the Total Environment. The harmful effect of spent lead shot on…
Why I’m finally giving steel ammunition a proper test this season
Biodegradable shotcups suitable for steel ammunition have been available for a while. Gamebore has some 76mm wildfowling loads with its Silver Steel Bio-Wad fibre shotcup, while Eley Hawk has recently launched a range of 70mm steel loads with its new starch-based Pro Eco shotcups. These will, they say, protect shotgun…
The EU is moving towards an outright ban on lead shot
The European Union has taken a major step towards a full ban on lead shot. Wetlands The EU has been in the process of implementing a ban on the use of lead over wetlands for some time and a move to restrict the use of lead in other environments has…