Blood testing is about worthless for determining your bodies lead load. Lead leaves the blood stream relatively quickly. It hides out in the bones, brain and other tissues for decades.
Mono metal bullets do not work as well as lead and copper bullets as it pertains to killing quickly, but I use them and have been for a long team because I would rather not ingest lead. YMMV.
And FWIW modern lead and copper bullets have worked well in magnums for the 35 years I've been hunting and probably worked well for before that.
BWalker,
You have stated this before in other threads, but the latest research indicates that yes, blood-testing is very helpful, despite blood leaving the blood system within 30 days after exposure.
This has been determined by the development of an effective (and quick) way to measure lead-level in bones--and this shows a strong correlation with blood levels IF they're checked reasonably frequently.
Also, the studies I've mentioned in my articles have mentioned large samples between large populations of humans, especially the European study that compared hunters versus non-hunters. Game studies have also shown interesting results, especially from animals during hunting seasons.
But my main point is that no, blood-test for lead levels are not "about worthless for determining you bodies lead load," whether in humans or other animals. Which is why so many studies, both on humans and animals, depend at least partly on them.
Additionally, my data-base of animals taken with "copper" bullets is over 200 animals, dating back to around 1990. No, they don't kill as quickly as SOME lead-cores, but the results from the past dozen years don't show nearly as much difference as earlier bullets.
Around 150 of those animals were either taken by me or Eileen. We use far more "copper" bullets these days, mostly because they kill quickly enough, without ruining as much meat, on average, as lead-cores. Over the past five years we've taken around animals up through big elk with 'em, and none has gone over 50 yards before falling.
