Cheney

[noonebil]

Any comments on the hunting accident?

I have 2.

PeTA is calling for his hunting liscense to be revolked...bunch of idiots.

The press is making too big a deal about the timeframe used to report the incident.

[deerslayer11]

Stuff happens. Im sure almost everyone who bird, rabbit, duck, etc... hunts has been pelted in some degree.

[GoTres]

peta can go pound sand. What the press isn't taking into account is that according to Texas law, non-fatal hunting accidents like this one don't have to be reported anyway. Understanding that this one involves the VP and that makes it high profile but if it had happened to regular folks, we'd never know about it.

The whole thing has been blown WAY out of proportion by a combination of gun ignorance, Bush bashing, and anti-gun "I told you so." peta's just trying desperately to get their face on camera too.

[Shorthair]

As quail hunter I see a lot of holes in this story not that I have heard the Veep give his story. First off why was Whittington looking for the bird and not the dog? And why was there only one dog. Secondly the veep says he and the other guy walked up to the next covey that that was pointed by one of their guides? Where did the dog go if it was not picking up the bird that Whittington shot and it was not pointing the covey that the veep and hunter #3 were about to flush? Third before they flushed the second covey why didn't they locate all hunters/party members so they knew where it was safe to shoot(we all have seen a covey rise and it real uniform)? I mean they knew they had Whittington somewhere around. Also why did they leave Whittington to find his own bird? Maybe they hunt quail differently in Texas than we do in Georgia?
Now the safety issues I have with this:
Let me first say that I know of people that have been peppered, I know it can happen.(Whittington wasn't peppered he was shot at pretty close range if a pellet made it through his clothes and all the way into his heart!)
I have had to pull off of a bird on a dove field and while quail hunting because the bird flew between me and another hunter. I see no need to blame Whittington for coming up on the group and not annoucing himself (the Veep has said he blames himself but the ranch owner tried to blame Whittington).
They left Whittington to find his own bird without helping him or getting the mysterious disapearing dog to find the bird.
They went to kick up a covey without checking where everyone was first, this is pretty basic stuff I learned before I was even allowed to carry a gun quail hunting.

Anyway I feel sorry for Cheney it would be most horrible thing I can imagine to have to live the fact that I accidently shot someone I was hunting with.

The press are a bunch of idiots but they've got a point on this one. Why wasn't there a formal annoucement sooner? I think we can all agree that this is big news.

[GoTres]

SH, that's quail hunter heaven down there. Not much public land, if you know what I mean.

That's the best quail ground in the state and working only one dog isn't too unusual on managed habitat like that when they might get 30 coveys a day @ 60 birds per covey. Some guides will work a retriever too for the downed birds while the pointer continues to hunt. And while the basic quail hunters line is still used, we all know it can get hectic when birds are flushing from under your shoes.

I'm not making excuses because I agree that safety took a moment off and someone got hurt. I know we can all see how that would happen too but you're absolutely right that they should've had everyone back in line before resuming the hunt. And after having heard some of Cheney's comments, he's taking full responsibility for it as he probably should.

[glockguy]

I'd still rather hunt with Chaney....

Than ride with Kennedy