WATERTOWN, New York (WWNY) – Hunters are reminded they can help keep lead out of the environment.

When hunters kill deer or other animals, often the ammunition is made with lead.

When the bullet hits the animal, it breaks into pieces and often those pieces of lead are left behind once a hunter takes the meat, and leaves behind a carcass.

The problem then is other wildlife like eagles will eat what’s left behind, consuming the lead.

The solution is for hunters to use non-lead ammunition, which is more expensive. It’s a message promoted by the Department of Environmental Conservation, Department of Health and Cornell University.

“So usually we encourage hunters to, you know, if they’re doing sort of the sighting-in of firearms to maybe use lead, then once you get it sort of dialed in, switch to non-lead if that’s what you’ve got available. If you aren’t able to use non-lead ammunition, or just can’t find it, you can do things like moving the gut pile from the woods, or bury it so it’s not available to scavenging animals,” said Dr. Krysten Schuler, wildlife disease ecologist, Cornell University.

There is a bill in Albany that proposes a ban on the use of lead ammo on state-owned lands. It was introduced in February and hasn’t become law.

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