Below is a quotation from the "Outdoors Dan" column that I  posted earlier.
 
"Several studies have shown lead shot has little effect on  raptors. 
Raptors in Iowa are everywhere, and are having a huge impact on our  game bird and 
small game populations."
 
Ingested lead shot most definitely affects raptors.   Some raptor species 
in Iowa are NOT everywhere, and are not doing well.   And the studies I've 
heard about and read indicate that foxes and feral  cats are the biggest 
pheasant predators in Iowa, with coyotes and some  other mammalian predators 
farther down on the list.  And of  course habitat loss is the biggest issue by 
far, followed by  weather.  
 
When it comes to Iowa game bird  population losses, raptors are not the 
problem.  And blaming  raptors in print for the pheasant decline could  
encourage the law-breakers in Iowa who kill hawks, and from what I  hear, there are 
still a few of them out there.
 
I'll say it again.  The DES MOINES REGISTER is  Iowa's largest newspaper, 
and the REGISTER should be able  to provide better writing on (what's left 
of) its outdoor  page.
 
And for whatever it's worth, I'm not anti-hunting.  I  don't hunt, but am 
lucky enough to know several good hunters who are  conservation-minded, who 
care about wildlife in general as well as game  species, who never trespass, 
and who are constantly concerned about hunting  rules and ethics.  I'm 
grateful that a few such hunters hunt my land,  especially since the deer 
population in Story County is still much too  high.   
 
I am absolutely anti-slob-hunting, however,  especially having had a few 
experiences with the results of slob  hunting.   And the good hunters I know 
hate slob-hunting  more than I do.  
 
ch 
 
Cindy  Hildebrand
[log in to unmask]
Ames, IA  50010

"Winter is not a  season, it's an occupation." (Sinclair  Lewis)

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