I’m from Nebraska. I grew up hunting Bobwhite quail in the rolling farmhills of the southeast part of the state. I recall a Saturday long ago when one of my grandfather’s hunting buddies accidentally shot his own dog. The dog lived, but this man’s horrid form made my grandpa irate. Needless to say, we never hunted with the man again.
Now, this news from south Texas…
Corpus Christi Caller- Times: Vice President Dick Cheney accidentally fired upon and injured a hunting companion during a weekend trip to the Armstrong Ranch in Kenedy County, peppering the 78-year-old with shotgun pellets while stalking quail.
The vice president sprayed prominent lawyer Harry Whittington with pellets from a 28-gauge shotgun while shooting quail at about 5:30 p.m. Saturday at the ranch, where he is a frequent visitor.
Whittington is in stable condition in the hospital’s intensive care unit, said Yvonne Wheeler, spokeswoman for Christus Spohn Hospital Memorial.
Lea Anne McBride, spokeswoman for the vice president, who confirmed the accident Sunday around noon, would not comment on whether the White House would have released the information had the Caller-Times not contacted them. The Caller-Times received a tip from a member of the Armstrong family Sunday morning, 18 hours after the incident occurred.
For a man who is a poster boy for the National Rifle Association, this hunting accident is a slip I don’t see him fully recovering from. I’m sure the NRA people already have a spin on it, but whatever it is, it is wrong.
When your sport involves loaded guns there is NO ROOM for a mistake of any sort, ever. Period.
