The Game Dealer's Association have said that they will not purchase game from shoots that have been shot with lead from mid 2022; so by next game season. The reason being is that export to Europe is very difficult and most of the U.K, Supermarkets won't stock it either unless shot with non-lead ammo. There is a voluntary phase out by 2025 to allow ammunition companies to come up with alternatives. Bismuth is the safe alternative in older guns but expensive; Tungsten Matrix is good but extortionately expensive. Lead will still be permitted at clay shoots, especially those with contained areas for shot fallout. That is until some new Government thinks they can get a few extra votes from the 'Greens' by banning it completely.

I live in the county of Derbyshire in England where lead is prevalent in the ground through about 25% of the county. It has been mined for thousands of years and in fact the Romans made a big thing about lead mining there. It naturally occurs in the ground in huge quantities still. A shooting ground I go to in a rural setting has been going for over 50 years and I go once a month with a small group to shoot vintage guns and muzzle loaders etc. when the main body of recreational shooters haver gone home. It is normal to see pheasants and rabbits feeding about on the ground sometimes with clays falling around them and shot going over as they are more or less used to it. The owner of the ground is yet to see any dead or dying birds from lead poisoning. Lagopus.....