Cheney to go hunting on Election Day

R

rick_reno

Moderator
Now this sounds like a really good idea - I'll be doing the same as the Vice President (for deer). I was out this afternoon and for the first time saw a wolf after a couple of young fawns. Fawns would run and bleat - making a lot of noise - they'd stop and look back and the wolf would be trotting behind.

WASHINGTON - Vice President Dick Cheney will spend Election Day on his first hunting trip since he accidentally shot a companion last February while aiming at a covey of quail on a private Texas ranch.

The vice president, after working at the White House on Monday morning, will head to South Dakota to spend several days at a private hunting lodge near Pierre. Lea Anne McBride, his press secretary, said it was an annual hunting outing and said Cheney spent Election Day in 2002 at the same lodge.

He will be accompanied by his daughter, Mary, and his political director, Mel Raines, who will help him keep track of the election returns, McBride said.

On a Feb. 11 hunting trip in Texas, Cheney shot attorney Harry Whittington in the torso, neck and face when he pulled the trigger on his 28-gauge shotgun. The vice president later called it “one of the worst days of my life” and said, “The image of him falling is something I’ll never ever be able to get out of my mind.”

The shooting was ruled an accident. Whittington was hospitalized for six days.
 
DUCK!

I mean, is he going duck hunting?

Unless they have blaze orange fur/feathers, the cute little animals should be ok.
 
This is just proof at how inept these guys actually are at actually performing the tasks laid out for them...

I mean, really! How many Republicans DOES it take to gun down an 80-year-old attorney!?!?:p :D :p

The VP's of this country are always good for a laugh!
 
You guys...

is everyone here perfect? From the way everyone is talking I will assume that he is the only person ever to have a hunting accident. The guy made a terrible mistake. He shot a friend while hunting. It was a terrible accident but accidents happen most of which turn out far worse than his. I am glad to see he is out hunting again.
 
is everyone here perfect?
Click to expand...

There's a lot of ground between being perfect and shooting your hunting partner in the face.

Rule#2 Be sure of your target and what lies beyond. It is usually the second part that gets people hurt. In Cheney's case, it was the more obvious first part.
 
Rick,

You were hunting and saw wolves? Didn't you feel threatened?
My understanding is you can shoot wolves if you feel threatened.
You let em go?
 
is everyone here perfect?
Click to expand...

I've been hunting for 29 years and have never shot a hunting partner or any other human while hunting. Maybe Dick shouldn't have taken those 5 draft deferments, he might have learned how to handle a firearm. :barf:
 
Still, isn't it a matter of perspective?

All of us have done things that were ill-considered or downright stupid at times. (Following a bird too far to the flank or forgetting to check a chamber, for instance.) Most of the time, those stupid things were just embarassing, sometimes they were costly, sometimes tragic. (Happily, most of mine have been on the embarassing side of costly; I've never shot or killed anyone. Dang near, but didn't.)

Most of us learn from those ill-considered acts. Some don't. Some attempt to cover up the tragic consequences of their stupidity.

I'd go hunting with the Vice President. I would not accept a ride from Teddy Kennedy.
 
Is he hunting the most dangerous game again?

Mickey,

While I agree with you that the Vice President is to blame for shooting his hunting partner, I have always argued that Harry Whittington also shares partial blame.

When I started hunting upland bird, it was drilled into me that, if I EVER separate from the group to take a whiz, get a bird, etc., that I keep up a dialog with the group at ALL times so that they know exactly where I am.

Birds can come from literally any direction during an upland hunt, so you must ALWAYS:

1. Know where your party is.

2. Make sure your party knows where you are.
 
What he said. You don't sneak up on the group and flank them without doing a shout out of some sort.

They both made an error.

Stuff happens. Why is it such a big deal that it causes the harpies beat the subject to death? <as if I didn't know, right?>

John
 
Maybe it has something to do with the idea that people want to believe that the people leading this country are careful, cautious, observant, did I say careful? Sure accidents happen, and sometimes to the best of us, but to have one such as him make a mistake such as that...I guess it just makes us jittery when you think about anything else he might have pulled the trigger on without adequate foresight.
 
That's why it was news at the time it happened.

My question is why some folks keep harping on it like it was something more than an accident that could have happened to anyone. It was a non-fatal hunting accident. Stuff happens.

If he'd wrecked his car would we still be hearing the same cheap shots. OOOOH, but he shot somebody, OOOOH. ;)

John
 
Hunting

What ever he does DO NOT let dear old Ted Kennedy drive:cool: As for the rest of them have them flush the fowl out and hope for the worst aim:cool:
 
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