once it "hits the ground" you're not in possession....it now resides on someone else's property....therefore it does not belong to you.....disagreement is understandable...however it doesn't change the facts...I have several years experience in this area.
There is a market for ONCE FIRED AA and STS, some market for Gold Medals, a little market for paper hulls. Problem with range pickups is the ONCE FIRED part.
Most sporting ranges don't bother with the hulls because the labor to collect them and sort them costs more than the return. Some skeet and trap clubs do because they can pick them up with a machine, and pretty quickly sort them.
Most sporting clubs put them in the dumpster, if they can't get away with putting them in a burn barrel. The amount generated from a big shoot can be overwhelming. They consider it a favor if you take a trash bag home.
I have seen some almost knife fights break out behind a shooter who leaves .410 on the ground.
Also, have seen some near serious ass whoopings on shell hawks who swoop in and start picking up the good shells before the shooter has had an opportunity to do so.
Contrary to what you may read or hear, the discount Federal shells make really nice reloads for one or two times, and I used to bring targets boxes of them home. The plastic is real soft, and so the go through the loader easy and make a nice tight crimp.
Several decades ago, I had words with whoever was running Tom Lowe (wasn't even Tom Lowe then) who told me if MY shells hit the ground they belonged to the club. I disagreed.