Nontoxic Shot Regulations

When is Nontoxic shot required?

  • All waterfowl hunting (ducks, geese, teal, and coots)
  • Hunting dove, rails, snipe, and woodcock on public areas with nontoxic shot requirement posted.
  • Hunting with a shotgun (including dove, turkey, quail, rabbit, squirrel) on thirty-seven conservation areas.

Waterfowl hunters in Missouri have used nontoxic shot since 1991. This requirement has been shown to reduce the incidences of lead poisoning in wildlife.

Approved types of nontoxic shot

These shot types have been approved as nontoxic by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (as of January 2019):

  • Bismuth-tin
  • Copper-clad iron
  • Corrosion-inhibited copper (CIC)
  • Iron (steel)
  • Iron-tungsten
  • Iron-tungsten-nickel
  • Tungsten-bronze (two types)
  • Tungsten-iron-copper-nickel
  • Tungsten-iron-polymer
  • Tungsten-matrix
  • Tungsten-polymer
  • Tungsten-tin-bismuth
  • Tungsten-tin-iron
  • Tungsten-tin-iron-nickel

All Hunting

Use or possession of lead shot is prohibited for all hunting with a shotgun on the following conservation areas:

  • Aspinwall Bend
  • Black Island
  • Bob Brown
  • Church Farm
  • Columbia Bottom
  • Cooley Lake
  • Coon Island
  • Corning
  • Deroin Bend
  • Diana Bend
  • Duck Creek
  • Eagle Bluffs
  • Franklin Island
  • Frost Island
  • Fountain Grove
  • Four Rivers
  • Grand Pass
  • B. K. Leach Memorial
  • Little Bean Marsh
  • Little River
  • Lower Hamburg Bend
  • Marais Temps Clair
  • Montrose
  • Nishnabotna
  • Nodaway Valley
  • Otter Slough
  • Ralph and Martha Perry
  • Platte Falls
  • Plowboy Bend
  • Rose Pond
  • Rush Bottoms
  • Schell-Osage
  • Settle’s Ford
  • Ted Shanks
  • Ten Mile Pond
  • Thurnau
  • Wolf Creek Bend

Dove Hunting

Use or possession of lead shot for hunting doves is prohibited on the following conservation areas:

  • Bilby Ranch Lake
  • Blue Spring Branch Conservation Area
  • Bois D’Arc
  • August A . Busch
  • Capps Creek Conservation Area
  • Crowley’s Ridge
  • Davisdale
  • Fort Crowder Conservation Area
  • Harmony Mission Lake
  • Lamine River
  • William R . Logan
  • Maintz Wildlife Preserve
  • Pacific Palisades
  • Guy B . Park
  • Peabody
  • Pony Express Lake
  • James A . Reed Memorial Wildlife Area
  • Reform
  • Shawnee Trail Conservation Area
  • Sloan (Dr. O.E. and Eloise) Conservation Area
  • Stockton Lake Management Lands
  • Robert E . Talbot
  • Truman Reservoir Management Lands (Bethlehem)
  • Weldon Spring
  • Whetstone Creek
  • White (William G . and Erma Parke) Memorial Wildlife Area

Nontoxic shot is safer for wildlife and people

Lead is poisonous to both people and wildlife. Research shows that doves, waterfowl, and many other species of birds can suffer from lead poisoning after consuming lead pellets from spent shotgun shells. Lead poisoning can be fatal to birds and other wildlife, including bald eagles that feed on waterfowl with lead shot in the carcasses.