March 3, 2026

Clickbait Claims About Eagles and Lead Bullets Ignore the Truth — Healthy Populations and Hunters Go Together

By Nephi Cole

Recent headlines and radio segments have revived an all-too-familiar anti-science, anti-hunting talking point: bald eagles are dying because they are  “getting lead poisoning from consuming bullets.” They are not telling the whole story. Their goal is to enrage, not inform.

Lead exposure is a serious issue but for eagle populations hunting bullets are not. Those interested in eagle conservation need to look at what matters to eagle populations. The science is irrefutable. Eagle populations are flourishing in areas where lead bullets are common. Activists don’t care. They aren’t looking for other pathways that can lead to exposure. They are selectively highlighting outliers—individual cases of sick animals—in an attempt to harm the lawful, conservation-minded hunting and firearm community.

The best available scientific evidence shows that exposure to toxicants (including lead) in raptors is through multiple sources. That’s not just lead, and lead contamination is far more common from sources that are not bullets. The fact is environmental lead in the United States has decreased exponentially over the last 50 years as unleaded gas and environmental cleanup have become priorities. At the same time, eagle populations are in fact growing.

But that is not the story antigun and anti-hunting advocates want you to hear. They want to highlight the outliers — sick birds served by the rehab centers who specialize in finding and helping animals with unique problems. Those centers do great work, but if you don’t show the whole picture, you distort the reality of what is happening on the ground and in the air; a broad, healthy, free-flying and growing population.

The truth matters. Policy must be built on evidence, not headlines. People deserve to know the truth.

What’s The Research Say?

It is true, lead poisoning can and does occur in eagles. It’s true that ingesting lead fragments from carrion (dead animals) is a potential contributing pathway — but it’s misleading not to mention that is highly seasonal and area dependent. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) summarized an eight-year dataset published in Science and found widespread lead exposure in sampled eggs, with exposure detected in a large share of birds. But when the  AP News headline says “Nearly Half of U.S. Bald Eagles Suffer Lead Poisoning,” that is fake news. Presence is not poison. You see, lead is also a natural element and if you test any animal, you will find it — even in us humans.

It’s a major leap to turn “lead exposure exists” into “eagles are dying across America because … bullets.” Even studies that highlight links between hunting seasons and potential exposure acknowledge the limitations: the correlations do not establish a single dominant source. Lead is a “non-point” pollutant. It is present in these environments due to historical uses ranging from mine waste to lead-based paint to gasoline.

It is totally inappropriate to misrepresent the dramatic successes of avian rehabilitation centers — misrepresenting their work to help individual animals as indicative of overall population health. Rehabilitation admissions are not random population samples. They are sick individuals helped by caring people. Iowa research illustrates the point. Iowa State University researchers reported on the full picture. Samples of free-flying bald eagles showed only a small fraction with significant lead exposure. Clinic-based snapshots exaggerate prevalence. When you go to a hospital, you find the sick — the healthy individuals are all around you in daily life. There needs to be greater honesty about the data. No data exists that supports sweeping restrictions on traditional lead ammunition use in the hunting community. The same is true of sport shooting.

Overlooked Sources: Fish, Tackle and Legacy Lead Paint

The favorite target of activists is always the same: hunters and ammunition. But the data is clear — they are insignificant. The potential environmental sources of lead dwarf hunting bullets. Federal and academic sources have long documented pervasive legacy lead pollution with multiple exposure routes. Hunting bullets are a scapegoat. Good science means looking at the whole picture, not fixating on a single point.

The National Park Service, in examining bald eagle nestlings, concluded nestlings were exposed to lead primarily through fish. For those who don’t know, you can’t hunt fish with a rifle.

Eagles also commonly use human-made structures for nesting, including water towers and platforms. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) acknowledges these occurrences and when those structures include legacy lead paint and dust, the broader habitat can become a reservoir of contamination that moves through water, sediment and prey species.

Legacy environmental lead is an issue the media purposefully ignores. Lead-based chemical use in the United States was prevalent through at least the 1970s. Lead paint was used for decades on bridges, industrial structures, water towers, lead pipes, signs and elsewhere in American homes. Deterioration, flaking and disturbance contaminate surrounding soils and waterways. The residues of those products continue impacting us today. Lead still exists as a common commercial product in batteries, tire weights, children’s toys and even cosmetics.

Put simply: if the goal truly is to reduce lead exposure in wildlife you need to look around. It is irresponsible and disingenuous to assert that big-game hunting and ammunition are the plausible source while ignoring the other documented pathways within anthropogenic polluted environments.

Eerily Similar Stories Across the Nation

The anti-hunting and anti-lead stories have been bubbling up for weeks recently. It is a disturbing trend but not a coincidence. From Iowa to Michigan, Pennsylvania to West Virginia, the obvious narrative is similar: Bald eagles are dying, so blame hunters. Only, it’s wrong.

The risk of “lead in venison” storyline is another worn out, fear mongering scare tactic. It is meant to frighten the public and stigmatize hunters. It targets parents and preys on emotion to push falsehood. It whips up outrage to fuel calls for ammunition bans and restrictions. But it is fake. Eating venison taken with traditional ammunition possess no significant health risk. Iowa went further to show the safety of their public donation program. Packages were checked. Most samples were “non-detect.” The remainder: non-harmful.

Reality is being omitted. When activist outlets claim donated venison is broadly “lead-laden,” they are not telling the truth. They are misleading the public in service of an agenda. Publish false claims, frame it as “news,” demand action. Stories like these are being repackaged and regurgitated like a bad meal. This is an uninformed media cosplaying as journalism while pushing anti-hunting agendas.

The rhetoric can’t be the focus. Hunters, shooters, game processors and agencies must remain focused on the best practices that limit unintentional impacts of human actions on wildlife. But that is a thinking man’s game. Policy makers should be skeptical of sweeping claims that would ignore unwanted findings. Decisions need to be based on science, data and management, not misinformation.

Undeniable Success

So what’s the real picture with America’s bald eagle population? A 2021 Axios report highlighted the amazing successes of raptor recovery. It dropped to a population low 45 years ago. Since then the trajectory has been remarkable. In the past 15 years, populations of the American bald eagle have quadrupled. In 2009 there were only around 72,000 in the lower 48 states. According to the USFWS there are now over 316,000 bald eagles with more than 71,400 breeding pairs in the lower 48 states.

Recognizing success is bipartisan. Former U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland praised the bald eagles’ return  saying, “The recovery of the bald eagle is one of the most well-known conservation success stories of all time.”

For those looking there is no shortage of real, positive news about bald eagle recovery. Last year, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection announced the bald eagle population in the Garden State had recovered – it was being delisted from New Jersey’s endangered species list. Eagle populations in Arizona reached record highs last year as well, 104 breeding pairs in the state. Delaware announced 121 active bald eagle nests last summer, there  were just four active nests in the  state in 1987. Both Ohio and Kentucky announced bald eagle populations reaching new highs last summer, just in time for Fourth of July celebrations in those states.

Success stories abound. But few media outlets highlight that these successes are often hunter-led and firearm industry funded. The work of state wildlife agencies and their funding partners are largely responsible for the restoration efforts that brought these majestic birds back to glory.

The Undeniable Conservation Fact

These conservation wins are undeniably — and directly — tied to the firearm industry, hunters and recreational target shooters. This is the part that never makes the viral headline: the firearm industry and America’s hunters are the most significant funders of wildlife conservation in the nation, by a longshot.

Through Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration excise taxes, firearm and ammunition manufacturers have contributed more than $31 billion to states. Those are the inflation adjusted contributions to managing wildlife resources by the industry since the law’s inception in 1937. Thanks in large part to the firearm and ammunition industry in 2025, USFWS apportioned over $1.3 billion for states to fund wildlife conservation projects. The science is the science. It shows wildlife populations at historic levels with few exceptions in North America. These successes are because of hunters, not in spite of them. These are the same hunters who use the same traditional hunting ammunition they have for centuries. NSSF supports a hunter’s choice to pick the right ammunition for their area, their species, their hunt and their ethic. Calls to ban and restrict traditional ammunition are roadblocks and detrimental to the system that allows America’s wildlife populations to thrive — scientifically managed, hunter driven, user paid.

Tragically, the public is being misled; convinced that hunting is the problem. Support for the same conservation model that restored America’s wildlife, including the American bald eagle, is being eroded. Stewardship is how we, hunters and shooters, brought the bald eagle back. The criticisms of hunters and ammunition are not courageous conservation; they are political posturing. Recognize the difference.

Prior to joining NSSF, Nephi Cole was Natural Resource Policy Advisor for former Wyoming Governor Matt Mead, a Conservation Biologist for the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, and a Graduate of State University’s Environmental Soil and Water Science program. 

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