The physician and deer hunter who sounded the alarm on speck-sized lead fragments in venison plans to continue hunting deer with his .270 Winchester rifle next season. He'll just use a different type of ammunition.

"I'll use Barnes X bullets. There are several bullets that don't fragment that are loaded by Federal (Cartridge Co.) in the premium line. There's no lead in them. There's another bullet by Nosler, the E-tip, that's guaranteed to have 100 percent retention. They have no lead also," said Dr. William Cornatzer. Both of those bullets are made of solid copper that expand on impact.

Packages of ground venison donated to food pantries through the Sportsmen Against Hunger program tested "strongly positive" for lead, prompting the state Department of Health to urge pantries not to use or distribute the venison.

Cornatzer said he also tossed the remaining venison out of his freezer.

"I hate to admit it, but I did. I am not consuming it" he said Thursday. "There is lead in meat that does not have blood marks in it. It's not like lead. It's like lead dust."

Sandi Washek, the lead program coordinator for the state Department of Health, is waiting on the science.

"We're still looking at it. There are no real studies, We can't say 'yea' or 'nay' on that one. The science is not there. We have to look at what's out there," she said Thursday.

She also plans to continue eating the venison she processes at home.

"i'm really picky when I clean my deer. The roasts and backstraps we do ourselves. What goes to the processor is turned into sausage," and the processor works by deer not in batches, she said.

Cornatzer still wants a lead-free guarantee.

"If you shoot a deer in the lower neck, there's probably lead all through the front shoulders," he said.

Washek said her decision was a personal choice, and the same should hold true for every hunter who harvested their deer with a high-powered centerfire rifle.

"If they are not comfortable, they should start tossing (out the venison)," she said.

The health department also is not recommending that young children or pregnant women eat rifle-harvested venison because of the potential health risk, she said.

Sportsmen Against Hunger is a "wonderful program," Washek said, "but we didn't want people to eat known health hazards."

Pulling the packages of ground venison also will put a hardship on some food pantries.

"Some pantries are going to really need help. I hope some communities step up," she said.

"My concern as a physician is (eating venison) may be one of the biggest ways of consuming lead in the U.S.," Cornatzer said.

The lead isn't like lead pellets from shotshells you can crunch down on when eating upland game birds.

"There are no visible fragments. If you dig around in the meat, you'll see a little gray area. That's lead, not copper," he said.

Sometime before the next deer gun season opens Nov. 7, guidelines should be in place, said Washek.

Before then, "we can't say the whole deer is contaminated and you have to get rid of it," she said.

Dr. Andrea Grondahl is director of the Department of Agriculture's state meat and poultry inspection program, which regulates custom-exempt meat plants and would be one of the leads in developing the guidelines. She, too, plans to continue to hunt deer.

"At this point, we know it's a concern. We need to make sure we do everything possible to avoid problems in future. We will see if any agencies have guidance on this. If not, we will see what we need to do for guidance," she said.

The guidelines would be for hunters, as well as meat processors.

Millions of deer are shot annually in the U.S., and most of the bullets are copper-jacketed lead bullets, said Roger Rostvet, deputy director of the North Dakota Game and Fish Department.

"There's not a lot of literature and research on lead poisoning. That's where the health department is coming from. What's the level out there? When does it become dangerous? These are questions that hopefully will be answered down the road," he said.

Helping Cornatzer with CT scans of the venison packages was Dr. Ted Fogarty, chairman of the radiology department of the University of North Dakota School of Medicine, where Cornatzer is a clinical professor.

Cornatzer, who hunted with Nosler partition bullets the last 10 years, did not X-ray his venison before tossing it out.

He's not blaming butchers or processors, either.

"When you bring in a deer for processing, they cut away the blood marks and stuff like that. Blood leaves a bad taste in the meat. It you are home butchering, there is just as much risk," he said.

Washek understands Cornatzer's concerns.

"We can't say, 'Don't' until we do an intensive study. A lot more investigation needs to be done," she said.

(Reach outdoor writer Richard Hinton at 701-250-8256 or richard.hinton@bismarcktribune.com.)