CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The adage about teaching an old dog new tricks can often apply to old hunters too. Sometimes we become so set in our ways, the thought of change disrupts our entire approach. But one organization has dedicated itself to using gentle persuasion to get hunters and sportsmen to at least consider rotating away from traditional lead ammunition for hunting season.

The North American Non-Lead Partnership is a non-profit group which travels the country helping explain the conservation motive behind their suggestion.

“We know that lead hunting ammunition has been around for a long time and one thing we’ve realized is whenever that lead bullet hits an animal while hunting, it fragments. Those fragments, a lot of times, get fed upon by scavenger birds or other wildlife that are feeding on gut piles,” said Adam Miller with the organization during a recent appearance on West Virginia Outdoors.

A ballistics comparison of a 30-06, 180 grain Federal Trophy Copper on the left vs 30-06 180 grain Nosler partition (lead) on the right

When those lead fragments wind up in the food change of vultures, eagles, or other scavengers they can cause lead positioning and a host of detrimental effects on the birds and much of the ecosystem. Some have previously advocated for forcing the change through legislation or ballot initiatives. Miller and his organization believe the carrot is a much better way to persuade sportsmen than the stick.

“Hunting is part of people’s heritage and the way we work with people is getting them to make a choice to preserve that heritage, rather than lead ammunition bans or ballot box initiatives,” he explained.

Testing has proven the lead fragmentation to be fact and not theory. Miller uses seminars across the country to lay out his presentation for influential members of the hunting public to help them understand the facts and to suggest alternatives to lead. The most widely accepted choice is copper. The effort to shift away from high powered lead rifle ammo is comparable to the transition made from lead to steel or other non-toxic shot for waterfowl hunting.

“Just like when that change happened for waterfowl hunting, people had to learn to use different ammo because it performs differently,” he explained. “Copper ammo is less dense than lead. So if you have a 30-caliber bullet that’s lead and a 30-caliber bullet that’s copper and they’re the same grain, it’s going to be a longer bullet for your copper load.”

Miller travels the nation demonstrating the performance of copper vs lead. He’ll conduct such a seminar for a select group of DNR and Sportsmen’s leaders this weekend in West Virginia.

“Sometimes you have to change the ammunition you’re using to make sure it performs just as well, if not better, than what you traditionally use,” he explained.

Miller said typically they recommend sizing down from lead ammo by 15 to 20 percent in grain weight when transitioning to copper.

“That makes for similar aerodynamics so it has similar performance. So, there is a learning curve to it,” said Miller.

The other big consideration hunters will raise about a change is the cost of copper ammo vs. lead. Miller had researched those possibilities as well. He acknowledged in some parts of the country copper ammo might be harder to find. He also advised sportsmen would need to read labels and packaging carefully to make sure they selected the correct material. However, it’s becoming more common to find lead as the push to make the transition grows.

As for the price, Miller said it is comparable depending on what brand and quality of ammo you select. You’ll be hard pressed to find copper ammo at the same price as the base lead ammunition. However, he suggested if you go up in quality the price tended to level out.

“I don’t think you’ll be able to find a copper bullet that would compare to your Remington “Core-Lokt” which has been around for years. But when it comes to premium hunting ammunition like a Nosler Partitioned lead bullet, they’re actually comparable in price,” he said.