airedale

Well for one I have a brother that lives in California plus I also have corresponded over the past couple of decades with various houndsmen and Airedale folks that are hunters getting plenty of feedback of how things have gone down the toilet. Below is an article from Jim Mathews from Outdoor news service, it is long but it pretty much sums things up in a nutshell.

I am not too concerned with experienced hunters buying into the dire lead poisoning consequences that the peregrine fund study is trying to establish. What I am concerned about is the general public who does not have much of a clue when it comes to this sort of stuff. Just take a peek into the politics sections of this board and look at the thread about Trump's son shooting a endangered Triceratops and the people that actually bought that line of crap and are outraged. They would easily sign a petition against young Trump if asked. As with the phony Triceratops I have a big time problem with people who have no dog in the fight and are completely ignorant of the real facts making policy about something they know nothing about and that is where this traditional lead ammo poisoning crap can go if not debunked. As I have earlier stated I actually have used copper bullets, I have several hundred on a shelf in my loading room and think they are great for larger big game and If someone uses or wants to use them because of eagles that is fine. My problem with this thread is the traditional ammo lead poison baloney which I do no believe in even a little bit. These kinds of things always start small, one only has to look at California and see how their long history of sport hunting has basically been trashed with the banning of all traditional ammo. Al

The point of the thread was to perpetuate a phony narrative that hunters are lead poisoning themselves and their families eating game taken with traditional ammunition. Even the head of Barnes bullets who make the majority of copper bullets believes this is an anti hunting scheme hatched by the Peregrine fund. Al

One more time what about the millions of animals killed every single day on our roads and in our farm fields here in the just in the US! Are you going to stop driving-eating? You guys sound like the Black Lives matter bunch, only Eagles lives matter! Al

Yes they wanted to faze out lead and they tried to used the same methods you and your cohorts are using with the phoney game meat lead poisoning scheme which they found out could and would not stand up when meat was properly taken care of! Al

VLWaterman This false lead poisoning narrative is what pisses everyone off, had you butchered your meat properly and discarded "any" suspected of having fragments you would have nothing to worry about as anyone with a half a brain knows. To dumb us down and basically insinuate today's hunters do not have a clue about the dangers of lead and we are wantonly poisoning our families is bullshit and you know it! NOBODY HAS "EVER" BEEN PROVEN TO HAVE LEAD POISONING FROM EATING GAME TAKEN WITH TRADITIONAL AMMO! The first place I would look to for any lead contamination showing up in humans is from their water source, it seems like every other day we see in the news for one reason or another a water source is found somewhere that has elevated lead samples. This whole ball of wax is about the chance of an eagle that may or may not eat some gut pile that may or may not have some bullet fragments. You would if you could throw a whole industry that affects millions of hunters and shooters under the bus because of that! Quit making a mountain out of a molehill. Like I posted earlier in this thread that you lead ammo haters did not even acknowledge there are over one million animals killed on our highways every single day, many more by farming that is what I would call a real tragedy. Is everyone going to stop driving and plowing their fields ? I don't think so! And so I will again repeat myself as the exhaustive UK study clearly validates. Anyone who takes any game for consumption should carefully remove and bloodshot meat and other meat suspected of containing bullet fragments and all will be good. Al

Kent is now producing their own bismuth and is again loading and selling shotshells. I just purchased 3 boxes which each contain 10 shells at $25 per box. I also load my own with IXT shot which sells for $153 per 7lb bag which ends up loading around 100 shells give or take. NOT CHEAP! I have no choice in the matter because three of my shotguns are doubles which have barrels not proofed for steel and neither are my two autoloaders. I only use these shells for waterfowl which I am forced to do because it is the law! Al

By the way I received a Sportsman's Guide sales catalog today, they have them on sale for $269 Al

No criticism from me it is your money and you can spend it any way you want but I will tell you what I know. Ozone odor removers are nothing new, they used to peddle them at the State and County fairs for many years. Large enclosed dog kennel operations use them to keep the smell of urine down. I looked at them several times and can tell you they themselves emit a distinct odor that I can easily smell myself. While the exiting air has a pleasant clean air smell to me it is not natural, if I can smell it a Deer will easily detect it. Anything a Deer smells that is not something they are familiar with will send them on their way. Al

A good hunting outfit like your firearm or bow is an investment and while it can be expensive when you buy quality stuff it will last many years. Buying subpar equipment will insure that you will be leaving the woods early when weather conditions get bad because you are wet and cold or your feet feel frozen and just plain miserable. When it comes to hunting clothing I am in the wool camp, yes it is expensive but remember it will last many, many hunting seasons and it works like nothing else. I believe Cabela's, Johnson and Woolrich, LL Bean along with some others are still available, an internet search will get you pointed in the right direction. Also check out ebay for wool hunting clothes and maybe save some big bucks on like new used items. As for base clothing I have found what the US military issues to it's troops as good as it gets. It is poly based so it keeps moisture away from your skin which is the number one reason a person gets cold from sweating. It comes in light, medium and heavy weights and the best part it is about half the cost of the designer stuff. Al

Ain't that the truth! Al

I had a few pigeon shooting days very similar to yours many years ago, same deal freshly planted wheat field drew them for several days like a magnet until the seed sprouted. The field I hunted had a power line go right through the center, where each power pole was there was a clump of high grass to use for a blind that worked well. I could go up and down the field having multiple positions according to the directions the birds were coming in. Good video and thanks for the memories and continued hunting for you over in Ireland. Al

I totally understand your addiction, I have been afflicted with the firearms addiction disease for many years and for me it is terminal with no cure. Al

Not condoning anything without permission but they might just be taking and enjoying a ride on a side by side. Al

The Desert Bighorn is especially tough because their relatively small numbers make it is so hard to even draw a permit to get a crack at one. It is almost like winning the lottery to the big game hunting world. Al

At least for me probably the ultimate big game trophy in North America, just a dream at this stage of the game. Nice photo. Al

NICE!

When I see anything posted from a group with a name like hunting with "NON LEAD.ORG" a red flag "immediately" pops up! There is an agenda with people intentionally manipulating facts and tests to show the worst possible outcome scenario they can come up with. Anyone with rudimentary knowledge about ballistics and bullet construction can easily skew the results into what they want to see. How do I know they are manipulating? Because of tons of personal experience and the experience of other hard hunters and shooters that have used traditional ammo and are not seeing anything in real life hunting that these misleading stories are showing. Having acquaintances in the hunting world in the UK especially those that hunt with dogs I was kept informed on the the attempt to ban lead shot for hunting. They were using the same tactics we see here, one of a health risk eating game taken with traditional lead ammo. Now for those that do not know gun ownership and hunting in the UK has virtually disappeared for the common man, hunting with dogs has been banned in most cases except for RATS! This is all due to animal rights and the disdain for personal gun ownership. If there was ever a place where traditional lead ammo could be banned the UK would be the place. Even with the overwhelming numbers and money the anti backers had trying to get this ban passed it could not be done for the simple reason that it can not be proven anyone ever got lead sickness from consuming animals taken with traditional ammo. And as I have said previously in this long thread, if this anti gun Obama administration could in anyway prove traditional ammo caused a legitimate health hazard to hunters consuming meat that has been taken with this traditional ammo they would have went into a full court media blitz to get it banned. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind this train of thought was not looked into but the reason nothing could be done was the same reason it could not be banned in the UK. There has never been a case of lead poisoning from a hunter eating his game taken with traditional ammo in the hundreds of years it has been used! Learn how to prepare your game meat properly to remove all suspect meat that might contain bullet fragments or shot and as the exhaustive UK study "PROVED' you will have zero to fear of any lead poisoning enjoying your game meals taken with traditional hunting ammo! Al

Having quite a bit of experience with both the dual purpose 6mm Remington and the virtual twin 243 Winchester calibers on both varmint and Deer I would say you are right on the money. A good controlled expanding bullet does not explode like a varmint type bullet and should be used on any game especially big game intended for consumption. Anyone with any basic hunting ammunition knowledge knows that varmint bullets are made with thin jackets to expand on smaller size critters and also to fragment into small pieces if they hit the ground and not go ricocheting across the open landscape many hundreds of yards. Match your ammo to your game, butcher your game animals carefully removing any suspect meat and you will have no problems as was proven in the exhaustive UK study! Al

When Phil Robertson of Duck Dynasty expressed his opinion that he did not find a man's butt appealing when asked about homosexual sex and did not believe in it what did the liberals, press and media do? A firestorm was brewed, Cancel Duck Dynasty, Throw him off the air, Boycott the TV show, Boycott Duck Commander products and anyone that sold them just to name a few!! Al

This hot weather makes me want to get out and bag a Beer or two.

UK BAN ON LEAD AMMUNITION RULED OUT Liz Truss has rejected the recommendations of the LAG process. It has been confirmed that a ban on lead ammunition has been ruled out by the government and there will be no further restrictions on the use of lead ammunition. In a letter to LAG chairman, John Swift, Liz Truss said: “the report did not show that the impacts of lead ammunition were significant enough to justify changing current policy; we therefore do not accept your recommendation to ban the use of lead ammunition”. Her letter confirmed that the Food Standards Agency will not be changing its advice on the consumption of game shot with lead ammunition. Liz Truss also noted that “the report does not provide evidence of causation linking possible impacts of lead ammunition with sizes of bird populations”. It has been confirmed that the LAG process has now ended. Leading countryside groups have welcomed the news. BASC chairman Peter Glenser said: “The government has engaged in a lengthy, evidence-based analysis of the use of lead ammunition and has found there is no reason to change the law. “Risks are there to be managed and it is quite clear from current evidence that by following FSA advice and trimming meat of shot-affected areas, the risk can be eliminated. “The UK has also acted to protect vulnerable species by legislating on the use of lead shot for wildfowl and over wetlands. “Unfortunately, the lead ammunition debate has been hijacked by campaigners who are looking to damage shooting as a whole. This puts them back in their box.” Countryside Alliance Chief Executive, Tim Bonner, said: “The LAG process has been mind-numbingly slow and increasingly controversial. So controversial in fact that half of the group resigned, unable to work with its Chairman John Swift, before LAG finally submitted its final report to Defra last year. Those resignations included that of our then Executive Chairman Barney White-Spunner who said at the time that he left because of abuses of process and evidence that render the group’s work so flawed it can never reach any scientific conclusions. “We are profoundly grateful that the Alliance’s position has been entirely vindicated by the Secretary of State and that she has rejected any further restrictions on the use of lead ammunition, let alone the total ban on lead ammunition that John Swift proposed in his report. “A ban on the use of lead ammunition would have a significant impact on the huge contribution shooting makes to conservation, to local communities and to the rural economy. From the start of this process the Countryside Alliance was, therefore, very clear that any further restrictions could only ever be justified on the basis of real, relevant scientific evidence. The painstaking work of successive Alliance representatives on LAG has revealed that evidence just does not exist.” Jonathan Young, Editor of The Field, said: “This is the best news for shooting in decades. “For years we have been living under the threat of a ban on lead shot, which would have had dire consequences for British gameshooting and the wildlife it supports. Now we have a government that has had the resolve to reject the claims made by the rump of the Lead Ammunition Group and its chairman John Swift, and we can all move forward.”

"Airedale. I too use the same Johhny Stewart as you. Have schlepped it out many times." ========================================== I peddled off the old heavy Johnny Stewart many years ago and purchased a much lighter digital FoxPro electronic caller with a remote control. I have Crow calls programed on it but have yet to actually use it for Crows. These days along with mouth calls I hunt mostly varmints. Al