In light of Vice President Cheney's quail hunting fiasco, I feel compelled to write the following: Cheney is an incompetent hunter who should have his hunting privileges suspended by the state of Texas -- and failing that, he should surrender his hunting privileges voluntarily for a period of time (six months, one year, etc.) to acknowledge his dangerously unsafe act and his failure to abide by at least two cardinal rules of bird hunting.
At least two of us who post to this blog have done a significant amount of bird hunting. And when I say "bird hunting" in this context, I mean the stalking of ground-nesting birds, such as pheasant, quail, chukkar, etc.
I have hunted birds since I was a small child, and I hunted them most recently just after Christmas this past year with my dad and brother at a game preserve on Maryland's Eastern Shore.
All good bird hunters know and follow two cardinal rules:
#1: ALWAYS know where your hunting companions are.
#2: NEVER fire your gun unless it's a 100% safe shot.
Bird hunting has more potential for danger than many other more solitary types of hunting, because a) you usually hunt in close proximity to 2-3 other people in the same patch of land, focused on the same quarry; b) ground birds fly erratically. Sometimes, they pop straight up into the air, and you can elevate your shotgun muzzle safely out of range of any of your companions. However, sometimes birds fly at head or chest level or lower. Sometimes they fly right at another one of your fellow hunters. Sometimes they don't fly at all, but run along the ground, hoping to stay camouflaged in brush.
Given these factors, it is not unusual to encounter situations where you find yourself swiveling your shotgun barrel in pursuit of a bird, only to find yourself moving the barrel toward a fellow hunter.
That is why it is crucial to always know where your hunting companions are, and to take a "don't shoot" mentality until and unless you're sure your shot will be safe. It's always possible to lower your gun and simply track the bird as it runs/flys away, then stalk it again at its new landing spot.
That's what Cheney should have done -- but instead he shot a man in the face, neck, and chest. The ranch's owner reacted dismissively, downplaying the situation by laughingly saying, "He got peppered pretty good."
I bet the victim doesn't feel so jolly about the situation.
4 comments:
Brian-
Why do you hate America? ;)
Amanda-
The point is, before firing, Cheney should've known where ALL of his companions were. He didn't.
Amanda:
A couple of points. First: interestingly, the only "people" who were saying that were the Vice President's staff, particularly noted spin-meister Mary Matalin.
If you watched Katherine Armstrong's videotaped statement to the press, I don't believe she ever said anything of the kind. She said something akin to, "They got out of the truck to flush the covey...VP Cheney saw a bird, tracked it with his gun...and unfortunately shot Mr. Whittington." Ms. Armstrong's statement tracks much more with what I, as a hunter, would think of the situation. Cheney was so focused on the bird that he didn't pay close enough attention to the location of his companions -- and this happens sometimes -- but that's why hunting has such stringent and rigid safety rules -- you must always, always, always make sure your shot is safe. A good bird hunter should consistently have his head on a swivel to know where his fellow hunters are, most especially when he's walking up on game that he thinks he's about to shoot.
Second, no, the blame shouldn't go on Whittington. In hunting, it is ALWAYS the responsibility of the firing hunter to know where his fellow hunters are and to ensure that he fires safely.
Let me go through one more scenario that I've been a part of that seems to be very close to what happened in Texas.
Let's say you have 3 hunters investigating a patch of brush and trees approximately 150 yards long and 10 yards wide. Let's also say they're working with two dogs and a guide. Now, let's say hunters #1 and #2 are with the guide, and they're all focused on dog #1, who is sniffing around a patch of brush, perhaps about to fix on a pheasant.
Hunter #3 should also be up with that first group, but he has seen dog #2 suddenly show interest in another patch of brush about 20 yards behind the first group of hunters. So, he lags behind in case dog #2 fixes on another bird. This happens all the time in bird hunting.
Eventually though, dog #2 loses interest -- he really just smelled an old nest no longer occupied. So, Hunter #3 walks back toward the other 2 hunters.
Just as he arrives back with the first group, dog #1 flushes a pheasant. It flies about head-high, back toward Hunter #3, who is just linking up with the first group of hunters. Hunter #1 swivels his shotgun to take down the pheasant, and...
...because he'd consistently paid attention to the locations of his fellow hunters, he knew Hunter #3 was lagging behind. He suspects even as he whirls to fire that Hunter #3 might be walking into the line of fire. So, he puts down his gun, watches the pheasant land about 100 feet away, and prepares to walk up to it again. Hunter #3 is safe, and Hunter #1 still has a shot at bagging that pheasant.
That's the way I've seen it work a hundred times, and that's what should have happened.
Hunter #1 was armed and taking the initiative to fire, so it was his responsibility, and his responsibility alone, to ensure he was firing safely.
Do you know how good it feels to live somewhere where nobody uses the word "spin-meister"?
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