Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Lead Shot

I thought it was a simple question.

I wanted to hunt squirrel on a National Wildlife Refuge and wondered if I could use lead shot. I am not a waterfowler so have not kept up on it but my general sense was that lead was prohibited for migratory birds but I didn't know about it being OK for small game or not. A simple call to a law enforcement officer would solve it but since I did not have a crime to report it turned out to be difficult to speak to one.

I did get to speak to several nice ladies, each of whom referred me to another one, and none of them understood the question. I had the sense they did not hunt or otherwise have anything to do with firearms or ammunition. So, I tried to research it in the regulations and things got confusing fast. I then tried to google it and it did not get any clearer, other than I saw a lot of political comments on a decision during the last administration to reverse the ban and allow lead. But that too was less than clear. Looking at the various websites didn't help either.

Does anyone know if I can shoot a squirrel on federal land with lead shot?

I don’t think anyone can answer your question as written. Have you done a search on the area you want to hunt?

Louisiana, Texas, and Arkansas is a yes. What state you want to hunt?

The website for whatever National Wildlife Refuge you are hunting should have their rules and regs on it.

Look at this site. It gives state by state regulations on lead shot, but keep in mind, the article is almost a year old.

https://www.raptorresource.org/lear...t-regulation-federal-and-state-by-state/

That refuge should have a website???

I am in South Carolina. In state we can use lead for small game. The federal land is the Savannah National Wildlife Refuge and I did look at their regs, their website, and talked to their people and I did not get a clear answer. In a state WMA I am fine but I am not sure on the refuge if I am or not. I would be happy to use non toxic shot but I am using a .410 and finding non toxic shot for it is proving to be very hard.

Here's how you interact with govt agencies:

Call the nice ladies and tell them you want to report a crime.

When they connect you to the law enforcement guy, tell him you think you saw someone shooting at a squirrel with lead shot on the refuge.

If he says that's not illegal, you're good to go.

If he asks for info about who did it, give him a vague description, and ask how soon he can get there.

You then know how long you can hunt with lead shot without having to worry about getting caught.