ecently upland bird hunters and shotgun shooters found themselves
scrutinizing the few details that emerged describing the shooting of
Harry Whittington by his quail hunting partner Dick Cheney. The incident
took place on February 11, 2006, at around 5:30 p.m. on the Armstrong
Ranch in South Texas.
The first report came from Katharine Armstrong, an owner of the ranch,
who watched the incident from a vehicle parked nearby. She stated that
Mr. Whittington had left the shooting line to find a bird he had just
brought down and failed to alert his partners on his return.
I have hunted upland birds for almost four decades, often as one in a
group - not for quail, but for grouse, woodcock and pheasants. The
protocol is the same: when a bird is shot, the party does not hunt
onward until someone - a human or a dog - recovers the bird and all
members are present and accounted for. In the Texas incident, Cheney and
fellow gunning partner, Pamela Willeford, should have remained stationary while Whittington searched for his quail, rather than forging ahead and trying to bag other birds.
Ms. Armstrong suggested that Mr. Whittington was at fault for not
calling out to his friends and letting them know he was back. That a
serious accident occurred certainly indicates he should have done that.
But it remains the responsibility of every shooter to know the
whereabouts of all members of the group. If you don’t know where your
companions are, you don’t shoot. It’s as simple as that. It’s what every
12-year-old learns in hunter safety class.
"If you don’t know where your
companions are, you don’t shoot. It’s as simple as that. It’s what every
12-year-old learns in hunter safety class."
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Dick Cheney broke another important safety rule on the Armstrong Ranch.
He failed to make sure that no one was behind his intended target. We
have been told that the sun was in Mr. Cheney’s eyes and that Mr.
Whittington was standing in a gully or perhaps a dried-up pond. Neither
is an excuse for being careless.
Last week we heard experts posit that it is unsafe to shoot a shotgun on
the level or downwards when hunting. Actually, it is acceptable to shoot
at those angles. When flushed, quail often fly at head height and
sometimes even lower. If you are certain of your companions whereabouts
- if you know beyond a doubt that they are nowhere near the target - you
can safely shoot at a low bird.
Things get stickier when a bird flies behind the line. It’s natural for
hunters to watch the ground ahead of them intently and not pay as much
attention to terrain through which they have already passed. The proper
procedure for shooting at a bird that flies back is to turn carefully,
keeping the muzzle of your gun pointed straight up, and confirm the
safety of your shot before lowering the firearm and pulling the trigger.
Others have raised questions concerning the ethics of getting out of a
truck to shoot birds. There exists in the South a tradition of riding to
quail coveys that have been found and pinned by pointing dogs: you ride
up on horseback, in a wagon - more recently in a jeep or pickup truck.
While a traditionalist might not choose to motor to the coveys, it is
not considered unethical to do so.
I have an idea of what Mr. Cheney may be feeling, since I once had a
similar experience.
I was in my twenties, out trying to walk up a grouse when I came upon a
patch of snowy ground marked with wild turkey tracks. I heard a turkey
calling from behind some brush. Turkeys were in season and I had
visions of securing our Thanksgiving dinner. Sneaking toward the brush,
I saw a turkey flying upward. But as I raised my gun, I realized there
was something strange about it: it didn’t make any sound.
One dark flapping wing became a hunter’s waving arm. The arm belonged to
a man wearing camouflage. He held a turkey call in one hand. His face
was blackened like a commando. Surprise registered on his face when I
sank to my knees in the snow. I knelt there for a long time, feeling as
if I’d been kicked in the stomach.
If I had gone ahead and shot - if I had pulled the trigger without being
completely sure of my target - I would have been as culpable as Mr.
Cheney is today. I doubt I would ever have taken up a shotgun again.
Mr. Cheney has speculated that he may well give up hunting. If he does
decide to venture afield in the future, he should first take a hunter
safety course. Hunter safety is important for everyone - even for
someone with access to a 50,000-acre Texas quail ranch.