What do I advocate for, Craig . . . other than lead? No need to advocate for anything where waterfowl is concerned. The law is in place. No sense advocating for lead for waterfowl because it's illegal. Likewise, no sense advocating for nontox because that's the law. But always a good idea to advocate for lead (if that's what you support) for upland game, because that's where it's under attack.
Cripples are a reality, regardless of what kind of ammo you shoot. The only extensive steel shot study done on pheasants--comparing various sizes of steel--showed what I consider to be an unacceptably high rate of cripples. However, steel shotshells have improved since then. But I still think it would be worthwhile to do the blind test, lead against steel.
We're ALL the audience, Craig. When there's a threat, that's when hunters get excited and start making noise. If that "noise" were to include the results of a study showing the superiority of lead over steel, that would help us make our case to the politicians--who are the ones that end up making the decisions.
