Cheney accidentally shoots fellow hunter

AP ^ | 02/11/06 | NEDRA PICKLER

[bayourant]

Vice President Dick Cheney accidentally shot and injured a man during a weekend quail hunting trip in Texas, his spokeswoman said Sunday.

Harry Whittington, 78, was "alert and doing fine" after Cheney sprayed him with shotgun pellets on Saturday while the two were hunting at the Armstrong Ranch in south Texas, said property owner Katharine Armstrong.

Armstrong said Whittington was mostly injured on his right side, with the pellets hitting his cheek, neck and chest, and was taken to the hospital by ambulance.

Whittington was in stable condition Sunday, said Yvonne Wheeler, spokeswoman for the Christus Spohn Health System.

Cheney's spokeswoman, Lea Anne McBride, said the vice president was with Whittington, a lawyer from Austin, Texas, and his wife at the hospital on Sunday afternoon.

Armstrong said she was watching from a car while Cheney, Whittington and another hunter got out of the vehicle to shot at a covey of quail late afternoon on Saturday.

Whittington shot a bird and went to look for it in the tall grass, while Cheney and the third hunter walked to another spot and found a second covey.

Whittington "came up from behind the vice president and the other hunter and didn't signal them or indicate to them or announce himself," Armstrong told the Associated Press in an interview.

"The vice president didn't see him," she continued. "The covey flushed and the vice president picked out a bird and was following it and shot. And by god, Harry was in the line of fire and got peppered pretty good."

The shooting was first reported by the Corpus Christi Caller-Times.

She said Whittington was bleeding but not very seriously injured, and Cheney was very apologetic.

"It broke the skin," she said. "It knocked him silly. But he was fine. He was talking. His eyes were open. It didn't get in his eyes or anything like that."

She said emergency personnel traveling with Cheney tended to Whittington, holding his face and cleaning up the blood.

"Fortunately, the vice president has got a lot of medical people around him and so they were right there and probably more cautious than we would have been," she said. "The vice president has got an ambulance on call, so the ambulance came."

Armstrong said Cheney is a longtime friend who comes to the ranch to hunt about once a year. She said Whittington is a regular, too, but she thought it was the first time the two men hunted together.

"This is something that happens from time to time. You now, I've been peppered pretty well myself," said Armstrong.

___

Associated Press writer Paul Weber in Dallas contributed to this report.

[dixiechick2000]

"Read my tagline."


OH!

Perhaps you did.

;o)

[Cobra64]

When you are in a field with several other individuals, all of whom are running dogs to flush the quarry, a dog will flush a quarry of birds from the brush. When the birs flight, the hunter will take AIM at the bird(s) as they fly. the objective is to shoot a bird.

Now,,, and I have been in a situation, the height of the bird target MAY be at an alititude whereby a fellow associate hunter may be in in the MOA. I've had many rounds shot over my head. Is this a good situation? No. But it is part of field hunting.

I am certain, based upon Cheney's WY hunting background, that he was not "ill-trained." The man has been hunting longer than I have been alive.

As for accidents? Take a look at the number of automobile accidents, versus hunting accidents.

[RebelTex]

"Luckily I was using light loads and Louie was a long ways off on my right."

Louie Louie, oh baby, we gotta go.
Louie Louie, oh baby, we gotta go.

[Husker24]

They must be torn between blaming the gun and blaming Cheney. And how to work in Halliburton? (sarcasm off)

Cheney and the Lawyer were trying to find a legal way, through eminent domain, to bulldoze the museum of tolerance and build a refinery in its place. Then suddenly Cheney spys an PETA protester in the brush, takes aim, slips on an oil slick while firing, injuring the lawyer in the process. Thats what really happened, or course.

[Husker24]

Oh, I forgot to add that the shotgun had a pistol grip, which makes it 1000 times more dangerous than the regular variety.

[I Drive Too Fast]

Shot happens.

[jwfiv]

Don't mess with the Veep.

[nopardons]

bttt

[OldArmy52]

What kind of car was he in?

Gotta ban it!

[Morgan in Denver]

Ahhh... Someone else with experience. LOL

[E.G.C.]

BTTT

[saveliberty]

LOL

[WayneS]

And I'll bet your dog was not flying over the blind either, was he?

What a shame. Good dogs are like memebers of the family. I'm sorry.

[HiTech RedNeck]

I would suppose Cheney is rich enough he could just pay out of his pocket any claim Mr. W might make. If he's smart he'd do that, any lawsuit involving the Veep would be a circus.

[Tax-chick]

Cute! I think there was a similar set of photos of Sec. Rumsfeld going around at some point.

[fanfan]

LOL!

:-D

[Fury]

Good comments on hunters and the possible accidents that can happen when living in the country.

Around these parts, most of the news involving hunting is from poachers, and folks trespassing. They had a major poaching ring broke up about 1 1/2 years ago. It was high school kids (one of which had already be fined for poaching). They shot ~20-30 deer. Jacklighting, shooting with long rifle, hunting out of season, the whole smash. The NYS DEC did not want to do anything until folks in the area finally threatened to go to elected officials.

We have land that folks use to transit out of a ~150 acre apple orchard over to a pasture and smaller (~75 acres) orchard. Plus there is a flashing that you can hear the deer moving around on a warm night. All folks have to do is ask, and they can hunt through our property. If they don't ask and just assume - well, they get told to leave the property.

[stopem]

That's a terrible thing to say, attacking our VP Cheney personally is not cool!

[MaryFromMichigan]

Nice graphic!
Always nice to hear from the OMGIIHIHOIIC ping list!