Vice president shoots man. Quail at the thought

Wits' End

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I didn't see another thread on this. I just heard, clicked on Google News :)
Vice president is hunkered down but he can't hide from the jokes
Cheney shoots man in hunt error BBC
"It looks like chicken pox, kind of," she said. "He was very, very lucky that nothing seriously was injured."
Ms Armstrong said that Mr Cheney was a "very safe sportsman".
"This is something that happens from time to time. You know, I've been peppered pretty well myself," she said.

I like the jokes in the first link:D
 

James S

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There was a thread, it got closed cause people couldn't keep their comments to the lighter side of things. Or perhaps I dreamed it...

Some of those in that link were even funny :laughing:

Perhaps we'll try another thread and see how long this one takes to be hijacked... Shall we start a poll? "how long until this thread is closed?" but of course, then people would post outrageous stuff just to get the thread closed :D So if you vote, you can't post, and vice versa!
 

DieselDave

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Been there done that, on the receiving end. Took about 10 pellets to the face, head and neck. We went back home dug them out and bypassed alerting the media. 7.5-8.0 bird shot is so small it just doesn't pack a lot of wallop at 30 yards. I was knocked down just like this guy, but you are knocked down from shock and fear not by any power from the shot.

Getting sprayed by shot at 50-100 yards is very, very common. If you hunt a lot it will probably happen 2-10 times a year. Shot won't do anything but bounce off at that distance. We always wear a pair of quality sunglasses or shooting glasses when in the field.

Regardless of what this guy was doing it was still the VP's fault.
 

geepondy

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I come so darn close to shooting a guy once.

Was october, foliage still present for amouflage and was bird hunting. What do I see but a nice patridge strutting along a stone wall. I raise my gun to shoot it. What I didn't realize that it was also deer bow and arrow season. Suddenly out from the bushes directly behind the partridge, comes a hunter with a bow and arrow. My gun was pointing directly at his chest, probably less then 20 yards away. Bird flies off and luckily I see him before he sees me and so have time to put the gun down. But I was literally within two seconds of pulling the trigger. It was a 16 gauge but I forget what pellet size. Probably 6 or 8. I wonder if I would have killed him.
 

gadget_lover

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A local radio station is having fun with this. They are even having a contest. I think the favorite so far is "The buck-shot stops here!.

I still think it' silly to allow the top elected officials to participate in dangerous sports. Why spend hundreds of millions per year on security for the POTUS and VPOTUS if we then let them run around with guns? Yes, we spend that much. The motorcades have amazing escorts, shutting down whole freeways and city centers for the president's safety. A team of 10 people at $100K a year is a million a year. The Secret Servcice advance teams that check each venue is pretty huge.

On the lighter side... (heard on KGO last night) There's a theory that ****'s heart problems may have caused his arms to be weak, making it hard for him to control the gun. So maybe the problem was a limp..... Nah. Won't go there. :)

Daniel
 

WDR65

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Ok I had a long reply here, but the man that Vice President Cheney shot just had a minor heart attack apparently caused by birdshot that penetrated his heart or was close to his heart. Just saw this on CNN. I'm gonna hold off with what I was gonna say in light of this.
 

BIGIRON

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Don't have the stats at hand, but it's pretty widely recognized that hunting and the shooting sports are among the safest activities.

I do agree that these guys should be cautious. It's just common sense. Maybe no biking or pretzel eating.

DieselDave is right. Around here something like this is a total non-event (except to the shooter and shootee). I am very safety concious and very picky about who I hunt or fish with. I haven't, to my knowledge, peppered anyone but did pepper my dog once--an occurance forever known as "the day Dave shot Sugar". She kept right on hunting but I was traumatized. I have been on the receiving end twice. No big deal.

I'm about 40 miles from the occurance.
 

IsaacHayes

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I heard on the radio that the guy who was shot had a mild heart attack from one of the pellets stricking his heart. Hope he comes out well from all of this. I wonder if they have removed all of the little pellets yet? Eek!
 

BIGIRON

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Yes -- I just picked that news up on Fox.com. One of the shot "migrated" to his heart causing a sort of short circuit - not a typical heart attack. The guy is 78yr old but is reported to be in excellent health. Hope for the best

Not such a non-event now.

BTW - the media are referring to the shot as "BB's". They're not. They are round lead balls about the size of a flake of pepper the waiter grinds on your salad. The most commonly used size for quail is #8.
 
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WDR65

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I've been smacked once while rabbit hunting with one of my best buddies. Number six shot stings but Filson vests are some tough stuff.....no penetration and none hit my face or head. No quail hunting accidents so far and I've been going since I was 4 with my dad though I didn't carry a shotgun until I was 7. We have a certain way we walk and pay strict attention to each other and the same goes for anybody that goes with us. Its so thick in coastal NC we have to pay attention because even with blaze orange all over you often can't see someone through the hedgerow forty feet away.

It happens and I can't argue that it doesn't happen to very safety conscious individuals. Even with precautions nothing is perfectly safe. At least it was quail hunting and not deer or another type of game where heavier loads are used.

Edit: I saw an ad for a kevlar blaze orange vest a few years back......hopefully hunting hasn't gone that far down yet. I do own a set of Wiley-X shooting glasses that will stop birdshot at about 20 feet as long as its 7 1/2 shot or smaller. What happens to the rest of your face though is the question I'd wonder about.
 
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gadget_lover

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While I can understand the tendancy to think lightly of the "round lead balls about the size of a flake of pepper", the reality was that the man was close enough that the itty-bitty balls not only penetrated the skin but also made their way into a blood vessal.

I've shot birdshot before at various targets. It's amazing that they can penetrate a bird's skin and kill it at 50 feet and more. That's a lot of kinetic energy. Yes, if you use a light charge and are far enough from teh shooter it's not as dangerous as a BB gun at close range. Did you know that a BB gun to the temple is sometimes fatal? So's a rock, but we won't go there.

From http://www.firearmstactical.com/briefs10.htm we see that the #8 birdshot is almost 1/10 of an inch and the #6 is only slightly larger (over 1/10) but weighs twice as much. I have not seen a report of which Chenny was using.

I feel sorry for the poor guy who got shot. I hope he comes out of it OK. If the shot continues it's trip through the circulitory system he may have some grave consequences.

Daniel
 

Nomad

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Apparently they were hunting without licenses also. Hopefully they get to do jail time for that, after all, anyone who wasn't vice president or rich and powerful would most likely do SOME jail time...even if it was only a few days.
 

gadget_lover

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I just want to make sure I'm not misunderstood. If you are a hunter and use birdshot it is fairly wimpy stuff compared to buckshot and slugs. As such, it's natural for those who hunt to think of #8 birdshot as relatively benign.

It's also natural for a hunter to notice that #8 birdshot is not "the size of a BB. A BB is almost twice the size and 9 times the weight. So it's natural for hunters to focus on that too.

My post was NOT a putdown of anyone, OK?

Daniel
 

gadget_lover

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The reports I heard was that they did not have the correct stamp for their hunting license BUT the stamp is a new requirement and everyone in Texas is being given a warning this year on first offense.

Daniel
 

BIGIRON

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Right about the stamp. I didn't know it was in effect yet and I stay pretty well informed about that kind of thing.

Understood, GadgetLover. Re-reading my post it did sound like I was trying to diminish the issue. Not my intention at all. I guess I was just trying to make the point that, based on initial information, it was not the huge event the media was making of it. Unfortunately for all, it's become larger.
 
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ABTOMAT

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I'm not a Cheney fan at all, and I think most accidents like this are due negligence on somebody's part, but I think the media is making way too much out of this. Especially the writers talking about him being jailed, or issusing public aplogies, or some kind of federal investigation.

Hunting accidents _do_ happen. And they're just accidents. When you get a bunch of good buddies in their 60s-70s hunting birds in tall brush, and possibly enjoying some refreshments, this kind of thing isn't unthinkable. Both guys sound like they didn't act properly--whether it's checking for clear shooting or not getting in front of your party without announcing yourself. But chalk it up to mistakes and live and learn. It's not like he was fooling around with a gun and shot this guy from 6' away with a 12GA loaded with 3.5" 00 buck. Probably would have blown his head off if he did.
 

gadget_lover

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I think the media is just doing what it always does.... making small stories newsworthy.

I don;t like Chenny for several reasons, (not a topic for discussion, but making my bias clear) but I doubt that he, personally had anything to do with delaying the release of information. The fact that there was spin on the story (Early reports that he'd been "sprayed with birdshot" rather than "shot in error") is not a story.

I'd be much happier if the story was the general tendancy of rich and powerful people to get preferential treatment in general. In recent months, A governor was not cited for driving without a licence wven though he had an accident. A star was not charged in an auto accident where she was obviously at fault and left the secene. A police chief was not given a breath-a-lizer test after a single car accident. That's just the ones that come to mind.

The funny thing is that this is not always done based on any conspiracy or orders from above. The people who should be enforcing the rules often don't file the initial paperwork for many reasons. That stops the wheels of justice right there. Sometimes they are fans, sometimes they are awed, sometimes they are cowed and sometimes they are doing what they think will be desired by their superiors. It does not matter, except that it's the common man that is perpetuating the situation.

So as far as I can see, Chenny did nothing bad, he was just sloppy in his hunting.

Daniel
 

MScottz

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Latest reports I have heard are that Cheney's assistant obtained the license for him, and specifically enquired about everything needed to hunt quail in Texas, with the Texas DOW person failing to issue the Upland stamp. Also, in Texas, non-fatal hunting accidents are not required to be reported. Also, Cheney was hunting with a 28 guage shotgun.
 
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