My Benelli SBE2 really chucks them way out. I’ve had some ejected when I was turkey hunting that must have went into a low Earth orbit….never did find them.

 

Yeah, happens to the best of us. There is a big difference between not being able to find one and just blatantly leaving them lay. When I walk right up to two or three bright yellow shells laying in plain sight, it's pretty obvious no effort was made to retrieve them.

 

Yep, I try to pick up my patches after every shot😁

 

What gauge are they?

 

I reload never leave any components behind....

 

Same here. I would never leave a spent casing. I dig that up before I even go to retrieve game that I've gotten.

 

Chasing spent shells on a windy day in the bay is sometimes a difficult task.
We do our best.

 

I always pick up my shotgun and rifle shells

 

I never leave evidence in the woods......Ever watch North Woods Law?

 

I never leave clues as to my good turkey spots.

 

its not hard just buy a shell catcher that attaches to the gun.

 

When I layout boat hunt I'm always kind of sad when I think of the spent casings just floating off somewhere causing plastic pollution of P.I. Bay.. Not sure how it could be corrected but if the shell casings were made of paper( like the old days) at least they would break up and degrade over time.

 

I’m a reloader and pick up anything I can find, mine or there’s. I shoot semi autos for waterfowl and sometimes finding those hulls can be an issue. Most think a shell catcher is the answer, but most shell catchers limit the gun to one shot, as they are designed to stop the ejection of the hull.

 

they also arent practical in all situations, like rabbit and pheasant hunting. might be a good fit for waterfowl just have to make sure you get the right one.

 

Guys this doesn’t need to be complicated. Just make an effort to pick up your shells.
Use a shotgun with an extractor rather than an ejector and you won’t have the problem.

 

Ithaca m37 bottom ejection!!!❤

 

I'll have to take my model 37 out some day in the layout. Why didn't I think of that? Good one colliedeer.

 

These won’t last laying around in the field before they get cashed in!!!

 

I certainly agree that hunters should make an effort to pick up their spent shells. But, sometimes those hunting with a pump or semi-auto shotgun or any repeating action rifle simply can't find their spent casings. That is why the game law exempts spent shells from the litter law. I am going to post that section of law so everyone can see that spent shells, while engaged in normal hunting, is not considered or at least able to be charged under the litter law.

§ 2510. Littering and restrictions on vehicles.

(a) General rule.--It is unlawful for any person while hunting or furtaking or while on lands or waters open to hunting or furtaking to:

(1) Deposit or leave any garbage, bottles, cartons, containers, glass, paper or other rubbish or debris other than in a place or receptacle maintained for that purpose. The provisions of this paragraph shall not apply to any spent shotgun shell or spent rifle shell casing which is ejected during normal hunting activities.

When upland bird hunting I use an over/under shotgun, with an extractor instead of ejector, so it real easy to just lift the spent casings out of the gun and stick them in my pocket. When I am turkey hunting though I am using a pump action and sometimes it is hard to find the spent casing since they are black or green and sometimes not easy to locate. It is rare that I don't find one though. The same is true of my spent rifle casings, it is rare that I don't find and recover the spent casings.

But, with all of that said, hunters should still make an effort to find and recover their spent shells. When I think hunters could, and probably should, be charged with litter is when they had the spent shells in their hand then to toss them instead of putting them in their pocket.

Dick Bodenhorn

 

I certainly agree that hunters should make an effort to pick up their spent shells. But, sometimes those hunting with a pump or semi-auto shotgun or any repeating action rifle simply can't find their spent casings. That is why the game law exempts spent shells from the litter law. I am going to post that section of law so everyone can see that spent shells, while engaged in normal hunting, is not considered or at least able to be charged under the litter law.

§ 2510. Littering and restrictions on vehicles.

(a) General rule.--It is unlawful for any person while hunting or furtaking or while on lands or waters open to hunting or furtaking to:

(1) Deposit or leave any garbage, bottles, cartons, containers, glass, paper or other rubbish or debris other than in a place or receptacle maintained for that purpose. The provisions of this paragraph shall not apply to any spent shotgun shell or spent rifle shell casing which is ejected during normal hunting activities.

When upland bird hunting I use an over/under shotgun, with an extractor instead of ejector, so it real easy to just lift the spent casings out of the gun and stick them in my pocket. When I am turkey hunting though I am using a pump action and sometimes it is hard to find the spent casing since they are black or green and sometimes not easy to locate. It is rare that I don't find one though. The same is true of my spent rifle casings, it is rare that I don't find and recover the spent casings.

But, with all of that said, hunters should still make an effort to find and recover their spent shells. When I think hunters could, and probably should, be charged with litter is when they had the spent shells in their hand then to toss them instead of putting them in their pocket.

Dick Bodenhorn

There’s what the law says, and there’s the right thing to do. The spirit of the exemption in the law is to recognize that it’s not always possible to recover 100% of your shells. But a dissertation of all the reasons why someone might not be able to recover spent shells is beyond the scope here. I say that blatantly leaving shells lay in the field when you had the opportunity to retrieve them is no different from discarding your lunch bag: litter.
A respectable sportsman will take 5 seconds to make a good faith effort to pick up his shells. Simple as that.

 

It's not even just spent shells. It's everything. I used to do alot of pre- and inseason trout stocking in the ANF area, mostly McKean County. The warden, who has since retired, used to bring along big - and I mean BIG - trash bags, and would ask us to pick up any garbage that we would find in the parking spots and along the streams. I wish people could see how much trash of all kinds we picked up. Some from outdoorspeople, some not. Very illustrative of the lack of respect and appreciation that some people hold for what we have.

 

If you carry it in carry it out.

 

This applies to a lot of things. Ladder ..... my bad wrong thread.

 

Well I like to use a 10 gauge so they're too expensive to leave lay. Especially 2 7/8

 

A few years back, my kids got me a metal detector for Christmas. The next day was warm, so I wanted to try it out. I took it out to my rifle deer stand ( built in the tree ). There had probably been 30 deer shot from it in the prior ten years. I collected about two boxes of empties underneath the tree. Bunch of different calibers. What was interesting, I also found a half dozen unfired rounds there too.

 

During the early pheasant season I probably only pick up less than half of what I fire. I don’t have a dog so my focus is on recovering the bird first then I’ll go back to try to find the shells. In the early season grasses are still high which makes it difficult,.
This time of the year it’s pretty easy to find them with most of the weeds knocked down.
I always pick up shells I see so I end up picking up way more shells than I ever lose.
I always carry plastic grocery bags and fill them up with all the garbage in the parking lots. So many plastic bottles, beer cans and energy drinks

 

Been decades and decades of
“slob hunters”! You probably can’t imagine how many rifle casings and shotgun tops I find when metal detecting.
I do make an effort to pick mine up. But really don’t think it is that big of deal if someone doesn’t. Certainly not landing on calling them slobs which seems to be popular on here by some.
When I find them it always makes me wonder about the hunt that took place and how long ago. Lots of history in these mountains.

 

For pheasants and Grouse I use an O/U so retriving the empties is easy.

 

Since Thursday I must have picked up a couple a dozen empty hulls from 20 and 12 gauge in the DWGNRA in one field alone.

We need to police ourselves better especially on this land because non-hunters love to complain about the litter that hunters leave behind.

 

I also pick up shotgun shells and rifle shells while hunting when I see them. I once found 3 unfired 12 gauge shotgun shells in a parking lot on SGL 57. I kept them in my truck incase I ran into someone who was hunting and needed shells. I use a 20 ga when I hunt small game so they were of no use to me. I am guessing someone unloaded their shotgun and never picked up the shells.