ECHA, the EU's environmental authority, proposed last spring that lead for hunting and sport shooting be banned - both bullets and hail.
The proposal proposes one of a transitional period of five years for lead shot and fine-caliber bullets.
Both types are used in grouse hunting, among other things, and the Swedish Hunters' Association says that winter hunting with bullet weapons is threatened as there are still no alternatives to today's bullets.
- We must get an exemption for grouse hunting, it is not possible otherwise, says Christer Zakrisson, hunting care consultant at the Hunters' Association in Västerbotten.
For the coarser calibers that you hunt moose with, for example, there is already lead-free ammunition that works well, even if it is a little more expensive.
But for the leaner, no alternative approved bullets have been developed.
- Here are the biggest problems today- You do not get it to work with alternative ammunition, such as copper bullets.
Risk of ricochets with steel shot
In the parts of small game hunting where shotgun ammunition is used, the hunters have already largely switched to steel ammunition instead of lead.
- There we have probably got rid of the lead use to 80-90 percent.
But the concern with steel hail is that they ricochet, bounce.
If you shoot at a grouse, a steel shot can bounce against a rock and hit the dog, the shooter or someone who comes along.
But the biggest challenge is around small game hunting with fine-caliber bullet weapons.
- Should you make a decision straight off, the winter hunt for grouse is gone, where you must not use coarser calibers.
We believe that you have to have a transition period, there must be alternatives on the day you ban lead completely, says Christer Zakrisson.