🎯 Nontoxic Shot Guide for Refuge and WPA Hunters

Few rules surprise visiting hunters on refuges and Waterfowl Production Areas more than shot requirements. The federal waterfowl rule is well known, but many refuges and wetland management districts go further. This guide explains the rules, the approved shot types and how to choose a load that performs.

The federal rule for waterfowl

Since 1991, hunters have been required to use approved nontoxic shot for ducks, geese, swans and coots everywhere in the United States. The rule is about possession, not just use: you may not have lead shot shells with you while hunting waterfowl. A single lead shell in your coat pocket in the duck blind can be a violation.

Why lead was banned

Waterfowl feed by sifting through marsh bottoms, and they swallow spent lead pellets along with grit and seeds. Lead is toxic, and before the ban biologists estimated that lead poisoning killed well over a million ducks and geese a year. Bald eagles and other scavengers were poisoned too, after eating birds that carried lead. Wetlands that were hunted heavily for decades accumulated enormous numbers of pellets.

Refuges and WPAs often go further

Many National Wildlife Refuges require nontoxic shot for all hunting with a shotgun, not only for waterfowl — that can include upland birds, doves, small game and sometimes turkey. Many wetland management districts apply the same requirement on their Waterfowl Production Areas. The reasoning is simple: the same wetlands where waterfowl feed are where pheasant and dove hunters shoot.

A few places restrict lead in rifle and muzzleloader ammunition as well. California, for example, requires nonlead ammunition for all hunting statewide. Check:

• The refuge hunt brochure and the refuge’s section of 50 CFR Part 32
• Your state regulations, which may add requirements
• The district rules for WPAs

When in doubt, carry only nontoxic loads on refuge land.

Approved nontoxic shot types

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service maintains the list of approved shot materials, and new materials are added after testing. Common approved types include:

• Steel (soft iron) — the most common and least expensive
• Bismuth alloys — softer, closer to lead in feel and safer in older guns
• Tungsten-based shot — including tungsten-iron, tungsten-polymer, tungsten-matrix, tungsten-nickel-iron and high-density “tungsten super shot” (TSS)
• Copper-plated or copper-clad iron and other approved composites

Factory loads labeled as nontoxic and approved for waterfowl meet the federal standard. If you reload, use only approved shot materials.

How the materials compare

Density matters because denser pellets keep their energy longer and penetrate better at a given size.

Choosing a pellet size

Because steel is lighter than lead, a steel pellet of the same size carries less energy downrange. A common rule of thumb is to go up about two sizes from the lead load you’d have used:

• Ducks over decoys: steel #3 to #2 (or #4 for teal and small ducks)
• Pass-shooting ducks: steel #2 to #1
• Geese: steel BB to #2, depending on size and range
• Pheasants (where nontoxic is required): steel #4 to #3, or bismuth #5 to #4
• Doves: steel #7 or #6

Bismuth typically needs about one size larger than lead. TSS works in much smaller sizes because of its density — turkey and waterfowl loads often use #9 to #7.

Chokes and guns

• Read your gun’s manual. Manufacturers specify which chokes are rated for steel and for high-density shot.
• Use more open chokes with steel. Steel patterns tighter than lead; modified or improved-modified often perform like full with lead.
• Don’t fire steel through old fixed full chokes or fine vintage guns. Bismuth is the usual choice for older shotguns.
• TSS is extremely hard. Use chokes the ammunition and choke makers approve for it.

Pattern before you hunt

Shoot your load at a large paper target at the distances you actually expect — 25, 35 and 40 yards over decoys — and count hits in a 30-inch circle. You’ll learn which choke and pellet size put enough pellets on target, and where your effective range ends. With steel, most hunters keep shots inside about 40 yards.

Quick checklist

• Only approved nontoxic shells in your possession when hunting waterfowl
• Check whether the refuge or WPA requires nontoxic for other game
• Pellet size about two sizes larger than lead for steel
• Choke rated for your shot type
• Pattern the load before opening day

Planning a duck trip? Start with our public-land duck hunting tactics and the list of refuges with waterfowl hunting.

Where to go: refuges with the most open land

Based on the 2026–2027 USFWS hunt-unit data, these refuges offer this game and have the largest huntable acreage. Each page has unit maps, permits and directions.

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