A smart mid-western friend who has a lot of quail-hunting experience write

[caligirl]

Doug Ireland takes the Cheney hunting story apart point by point. Cheney's story is riddled with problems.



http://direland.typepad.com/

Partial of the story but the rest is also really interesting.

*"He thinks it may be possible that some of them were flushed--and Whittington took his shot--and the other birds ran a few yards to better cover, and Cheney and the other hunter followed those birds. At this point he repeated his comment about "never breaking your party when hunting quail". That is, apparently, one of the most common reasons for hunting accidents (that and alcohol).
Bobwhite quail (right) don't run and they'll sit tight until they are flushed.

Whether the initial shot would have caused the other nearby birds to flush or not may depend on whether or not they were stocked birds. He said that wild birds usually would flush upon hearing a shot, but stocked birds may be less likely to and could just sit tight. "They'll watch the hunters and if the hunters don't see them, they'll sit tight until they figure out they've been detected and then they'll flush"."

* "In any case, when I read to him the part about Whittington approaching the Veep from behind, without announcing himself, he said "that's bullshit, it is his fault. It is always the shooters' fault". That reminded me of "the pause" which was what our Dad taught us to do right before squeezing the trigger. We were taught to build in a moment, even if a fraction of a second, right before firing the gun to look at precisely what you were shooting at. This was true whether hunting birds or shooting skeet (clay pigeons). You never fired your gun as part of a swinging motion or in excitement; you maintained safety and control by always having that fractional pause.

"He said Cheney is "a weekend warrior who really just wants to do his blasting" and is "more interested in the kill than in the hunt". (Left, Cheney gets gift of gun from NRA Convention.) He called that type of hunter "overzealous and lazy" and said they "don't enjoy the hunt for what it is".
My brother and our Dad have won all sorts of awards for hunting, as have their dogs. They travel all over the continent to shoot various fowl (no mammals), including some of the most respected bird hunts, like the []deleted] and the Championship.
I asked him if he could be quoted on the record and he said "you gotta be kidding, these people will track you down". That prompted me to ask him if the election were held today, would he vote for Bush or Kerry and he stunned me by saying he thought he'd go for Kerry now."

[sinkingfeeling]

1. What I don't get is 'Cheney got out of the car'. I grew up in Ohio and

they shot birds, like pheasants, and you would see the 'hunters' walking across the fields in rows with a dog or two out front. I have never heard of using cars in the 'sport of hunting'.

[caligirl]

2. faux hunter with no class, Cheney style.