Outdoor Notes / Earl Gustkey : Black-Powder Shooters Ask Exemption From Lead Shot Ban

Black-powder shooters who use steel shot at waterfowl hunting areas where lead shot bans are in effect run the risk of damaging their guns or suffering serious injury, according to one expert.

Rick Hacker, Beverly Hills gun writer and black-powder enthusiast, reports that the National Black Powder Muzzle Loading Assn. is trying to get lead shot ban exemptions for its 25,000 members at federal hunting areas.

“Black-powder gun barrels don’t have the metallurgical strength as do conventional shotguns,” he said. “Steel shot increases the pressure and wear and tear on a per-shot basis. It’s only a matter of time before someone blows up a black-powder shotgun and suffers serious injury.”

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is phasing in lead shot bans at federal waterfowl hunting areas nationwide, citing evidence of lead poisoning in waterfowl and bald eagles caused, the agency says, by waterfowl eating spent lead shot.

Lead poisoning in three Aleutian Canada geese found dead earlier this year in Northern California has been confirmed by the national Wildlife Service’s Wildlife Health Center in Madison, Wis.

The Aleutian Canada goose is an endangered species that has been making a strong comeback. From a total of 800 in 1975 the known population has grown to about 5,000. The evidence of lead poisoning is the first in the species.

One of the birds was found Feb. 13 near Modesto, the second the next day in the South Grasslands area of Merced County, and the third March 14 in the coastal area of Del Norte County.

The birds, slightly smaller than mallard ducks, nest on three islands in Alaska’s Aleutian chain and one island of the Alaskan peninsula. Most migrate south along the Pacific coast and then inland to the Butte Sink area of California’s Sacramento Basin in October and November.

They drift south through the confluence of the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers, most wintering in the northern San Joaquin, Valley in San Joaquin Stanislaus and Merced counties.

The Wildlife Service says it is likely that the geese ingested spent lead shotgun pellets while feeding in the San Joaquin area.

Nine other Aleutian Canada geese were found to have died of avian cholera, as was another bird on the endangered list, a Peregrine falcon.

Fishermen heading for the Eastern Sierra this weekend for the trout opener shouldn’t blame a scarcity of fish if they get skunked.

In recent days, the Department of Fish and Game has planted 154,000 catchable size rainbow trout in about 35 roadside waters.

Another 161,000 catchable trout were planted in many of the same lakes and streams last fall, just before the season closed Oct. 31.

In addition, 25 lakes were stocked with 5,640 two- to five-pound broodfish after the season ended last fall, and 500,000 sub-catchable trout were planted in Crowley Lake last summer.

Bill Rowan, DFG supervisor of fish hatcheries in the Eastern Sierra, said that the mild winter would indicate a high rate of fish survival.

Briefly The San Gabriel Valley Fly Fishers will offer a 13-week fly-tying class for beginners, starting May 5 in El Monte. Registration fee will be $20 and students must provide their own tools and supplies. For additional information, call Mike Romo at (213) 696-7930 evenings. . . . Volunteers interested in helping restore a segment of the old Cliff Trail at Mt. Wilson in the San Gabriels will meet Saturday and Sunday mornings at 8:30 at the Mt. Wilson parking lot. Workers are advised to bring gloves, tools, lunch and water. For further information, call (818) 352-9611 or (213) 665-9147. . . . Frank Boothe Jr. of Albuquerque, N.M., won the recent U.S. Bass pro bass fishing tournament on Arizona’s Lake Powell with 25.52 pounds of largemouth. His biggest fish weighed 6.78 pounds.