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Dentry: Texas hunting experience a world away

Published February 14, 2006 at midnight

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You have to love those crazy Texans and their relaxed approach to hunting: Texans delight in their shooting towers and electric deer feeders with antler-growing hormones. Texas has big-game hunting for anyone who can put a little something aside after winning Powerball.

One Texas wacko even started a virtual hunting Web site that would allow you to shoot real animals with real bullets from thousands of miles away. (To be fair, the Texas legislature outlawed the idea.)

However, many Texas ranches do allow you to show up and shoot creatures from thousands of miles away. Some offer kudus and other exotic ungulates, fenced and ready for trophy shooters who might be too busy to trek to Africa.

Despite having virtually no public hunting land at all, Texas keeps America's hunting heritage alive and well - privatized, of course, and reserved for the wealthy or politically connected.

And those vehicles - cushy and on the spot. Drive up and shoot. Then hail the ambulance. The offer of a ride-along quail hunt must have been seductive to a poor kid from the Wyoming oil pipeline.

Shortly before vice president Dick Cheney shot his hunting partner, millionaire lawyer Harry Whittington, on Saturday, the pair had stepped from a car to shoot at a covey of quail. That was the story ranch owner and witness Katherine Armstrong told The Associated Press.

Maybe they were road hunting, a time-honored tradition in Texas and some other relaxed states.

Whittington had just shot a quail and went to pick it up, which suggests that trained pointing and retrieving dogs probably were not involved.

Cheney swung on another flushing quail with his 28-gauge shotgun and shot Whittington, who was coming up from behind wearing a blaze orange vest, according to the news reports. The range was 30 yards.

It's a good thing that wasn't a 12-gauge shotgun. The 28 is a baby, favored by many expert wingshots. The bigger 12, favored by most ordinary hunters, creates considerably more havoc.

Thirty yards can be a killing or maiming range, even with tiny No. 8 shot, which commonly is used for quail. The bird shot hit Whittington in his cheek, neck and chest.

But he received prompt medical attention, thanks to the ambulance that follows the vice president around.

We should all be so lucky.

Texas Parks and Wildlife Department spokeswoman Lydia Saldaña said the Kenedy County sheriff's office is still working on the accident report. She wouldn't give out any details.

When the report comes, I hope it answers some questions quail hunters might have, such as, why did Cheney's quail flush toward him rather than away, causing him to turn and shoot. Flushing away from hunters is pretty standard among quail.

There must be a good reason Whittington's blaze orange didn't register: a) Maybe he wasn't really wearing any? b) The vice president was busy swiveling and couldn't stop himself?

How close were the shooters to the vehicle? Every state's hunter accident statistics show that accidental shootings happen most often in or near vehicles.

That includes Texas, which recorded two fatalities - both rifle shootings and near vehicles - in 2005.

There's no need for conspiracy theories. It turns out that shooting people with shotguns while swinging on game birds is fairly common in Texas. Last year, the state logged 30 hunting-related accidental shootings, 13 of which were perpetrated by hunters swinging on birds, mostly doves.

There were six quail-hunting accidents. Make that seven accidents now, as the 2005-06 Texas quail hunting season winds to a close Feb. 26.

"Of course, the word 'accident' could be argued," said Steve Hall, hunter safety coordinator for the -TPWD. "But the bottom line is, it would be negligence while hunting. There would be no criminal charges, according to state law."

Hall said he doubts Cheney even will receive a citation and points against his hunting license. Did he have a hunting license? Texas is so relaxed about such things.

Some news reports suggest the whole mess might have been Whittington's fault because he didn't warn Cheney he was coming up from behind. Safe hunters know better. The shooter is responsible for knowing where everyone is.

Maybe it was the quail's fault.