100
Table 1 shows the annual bag for 2013 with the distribution of
quarry species or groups of species. The data are additionally
divided into those killed with shot or bullets, indicating that
about 90% of the annual harvest is shot using shotguns.
In summary, Denmark is a country with a long hunting tradition,
and a large population of hunters whose main interest is in
hunting with shotguns. This is comparable to other North
European countries, including the UK. In the context of
evaluation of the impact of legislation changes on the use of
shot materials Denmark is therefore regarded as representative
of most countries of relevance.
Lead shot phase-out
AVAILABILITY OF NON-LEAD ALTERNATIVES
In Denmark, the use of lead shot was first regulated in 1985 by
setting up a ban on inter alia the use of lead shot for hunting
in 26 wetlands designated as Ramsar-sites and for clay pigeon
shooting in certain areas. Only American brands of steel shot
were available, and at that time many hunters regarded these
as being unsuitable for hunting in Denmark.
Hence, the availability of non-lead shot became a practical
barrier from the beginning. However, a Danish programme of
producing steel shot was initiated (DanArms), and a variety
of different shot types designed for different purposes was
introduced. In addition, newAmerican andother productswere
introduced to the Danish market. Denmark decided to ban all
use of lead shot in 1993. However, the use of steel shot was
considered unacceptable to foresters because of its hardness
and the consequent risk of damage to machinery used in
the timber industry from steel shot embedded in trees. This
delayed the introduction of the lead shot ban in forests until
1996 and led to pressure to develop softer shot alternatives
(“forest shot”) such as bismuth, tin and wolfram products.
These alternatives, particularly bismuth, have proved to be
popular. Since the mid-1990s, non-lead shot can be obtained
for any hunting purpose and any type of shotgun. Steel shot
is the cheapest alternative, the price being comparable to
that of lead shot, though steel shot for clay pigeon shooting
tends to be slightly cheaper. The price of non-steel alternatives
is significantly higher. Concern over the use of hard shot in
forests is today less pronounced, and many forest properties
now allow any type of shot to be used.
SAFETY
A central concern, and therefore also a barrier to the phase-out
of lead shot, was that non-lead shot could cause an increased
risk to humans either by guns exploding or shot ricocheting.
Furthermore, some hunters and members of the firearms
industry claimed that non-lead shot would cause increased
wear and risk of damage to certain types of guns. However, the
successful introduction of steel shot for clay pigeon shooting
allayed the concerns of many hunters by showing that steel
shot cartridges were not dangerous to fire. New constructions
of cartridges, development of new powder types, and not least
a focus on the functionality of the plastic wad to avoid direct
contact between load and barrel, resulted in new a generation
of non-lead shot cartridges that have been shown to be very
useful and have become very popular amongst Danish hunters.
The marked demand driven by the legislation forced the
manufacturers to create and develop the necessary products.
Thirty years of experience in the use of non-lead shot types
has provided no evidence that the change from lead shot has
jeopardised personal safety or caused damage to guns. Analysis
of insurance statistics gives no indicationof an increasednumber
of cases of injuries following the phase-in of non-lead shot, and
concern over an increase in accidents caused by ricochets from
hard steel shot has proved groundless.
LETHALITY
The most pronounced barrier connected to the phase-out of
lead shot was a general perception in the hunting community
that the efficacy and lethality of non-lead shot was not
sufficient for hunting under typical Danish circumstances. Many
hunters claimed that by solving the problem of lead toxicosis
in waterbirds by banning lead we would only cause another
problem by increasing the level of wounding loss. Research
in shot lethality was at that time limited to American studies.
Despite these studies supporting steel shot as an acceptable,
non-toxic alternative to lead (Humburg et al. 1982), it became
obvious that there was a need to undertake studies in Denmark.
Consequently, reviews and field research was initiated by the
state administration and research institutions (Hartmann 1982).
Also the Danish Hunters’ Association introduced a research
programme mainly on eider duck Somateria mollissima
shooting in the 1980s (Kanstrup 1987). In the following years,
new lethality studies were performed in other European
countries and there were further American publications. The
particular focus on the quality of non-lead shot has resulted in
Niels Kanstrup