Shot Restrictions for Bird Hunting

In Colorado, there are restrictions on what kind and size shot you can use for bird hunting. These rules are to ensure that we keep the environment for these birds healthy, so you can hunt them year after year. They also ensure that hunters are using appropriately sized firearms and are not wasting game meat.

For both waterfowl and other small-game birds, shotguns cannot be larger than a 10 gauge. Slugs cannot be used. Rifles or handguns can only be used for dusky grouse and ptarmigan. Shotguns must not be capable of holding more than three shells in the magazine and chamber combined. A shotgun must have a plug in its tube magazine that prevents you from loading more than 3 rounds into the firearm. If you only have two in the magazine and one in the chamber but the firearm can still physically hold more rounds, you are in violation of this law.

Lead Shot

Waterfowl have a few more restrictions. Most importantly, it is illegal to use lead shot while hunting waterfowl in Colorado. Lead is a toxic metal, and when we use it to hunt birds in waterways and other riparian areas, the fallen shot is left in the environment and can poison not only waterfowl, but the other aquatic animals around, and their predators. It is illegal to even have lead shot on your person while hunting waterfowl, so when going for ducks or geese, leave it in the vehicle or at home.

Luckily, there are many alternatives to lead shot. You can find steel, bismuth, and tungsten-based shot in a variety of shot sizes and gauges.