When initial reports of Vice President Cheney's hunting accident surfaced I must admit that I thought something seemed amiss. Simply put, the scenario as related by the White House violates all the rules of Bird Hunting 101.

Rule Number One: You don’t rotate out of a limited arc of fire when you’re hunting with three or four other hunters. Reports are that Cheney tracked a quail that had flushed, then he quickly swung around and shot. Unfortunately Mr. Whittington and the bird were in the same place at the same time.

"This all happened pretty quickly," Ms. Armstrong, the owner of the property where Cheney and his buddies had been hunting, said in a telephone interview from her ranch. Mr. Whittington, she said, "did not announce — which would be protocol — 'Hey, it's me, I'm coming up,' " she said.

It’s not clear whether or not they were using birddogs, but it seems silly to suggest that hunters would yell out their postions while stalking through fields and brush trying to sneak up on their prey. Furthermore, since hunters wear hearing protection, verbal communication is not the most effective form of identification. That’s why hunters wear bright orange vest and hats, all reports indicate this was the case with Cheney and his hunting party.

"It's incumbent upon the shooter to assess the situation and make sure it's a safe shot," said Mark Birkhauser, President-elect of the International Hunter Education Association and Hunter Education Coordinator in New Mexico. "Once you squeeze that trigger, you can't bring that shot back."

The same basic comment is echoed by Duane Harvey, President of the Wisconsin Hunter Education Instructors Association, who said if Whittington had made his presence known "that would have been a polite thing to do." But, he added, "it's still the fault upon the shooter to identify his target and what is beyond it."

Then comes the delay of Sheriff Ramon Salinas III of Kenedy County access to the Vice President from the time of the shooting at 5:30 p.m. Saturday until an interview at 8 a.m. Sunday morning.

Secret Service spokesman Eric Zahren stated that about an hour after the shooting the local Secret Service office notified the Sheriffs' Department of the shooting and arrangements were made for an interview. Saturday night at least one deputy showed up at the ranch's front gate and asked to speak to Cheney but was turned away by the Secret Service, Zahren said. This sort of delaying tactic is indicative of drunk-driving hit and runs by rich kids allowing the necessary time to sober up, contact your attorney and get your story straight.

Numerous reports stated that Mr. Whittington injuries were not life threatening and that he was in good spirits and cracking jokes. Now the story has become that there are pellets lodged in his heart and he’s now had a heart attack. No one is saying this shooting was intentional or done with any malice whatsoever, but after you look over the ballistic statistics that we complied from the Tactical Shotgun website it will be all too obvious that the story offered by the White House, that Mr. Whittington was peppered with birdshot from 30 yards away is simply false. Remember these statistics are complied for a much more powerful 12 gauge round versus a dainty 28 gauge, and from a distance of only 3 yards (9ft).

Birdshot

Birdshot is typically a poor choice for deployment as a tactical load, owing primarily to it's poor sectional density. It bleeds velocity and energy quickly and as such has limited effectiveness at close range which rapidly erodes to zero effectiveness as range increases. Ironically, people often choose birdshot because of it's poor sectional density/penetrating capability. This choice is often made in consideration of a densely populated urban or family environment where the shotgun operators are concerned about collateral damage as a result of either building material penetration in the event of missed shots and over penetration in the event of a good, solid hit on target.

The simple truth of the matter is that unless contact distances are involved (5 yards or less), most birdshot lacks the penetrating capability required to inflict meaningful wound trauma. Wounds from birdshot tend to be extremely gruesome, yet shallow. They often shred and destroy a large volume of tissue but don't penetrate deep enough to damage critical cardiovascular or CNS structures required for incapacitation. Clothing can further amplify these poor penetration characteristics.

While increasingly difficult to acquire as a result of being banned for waterfowl hunting, lead BB is likely the smallest shot we would elect to use in a tactical application. This choice would only be made in the densely populated family/urban environment mentioned above, and anyone making this choice would be wisely counciled to have more significant ammunition immediately available in the event that the lead BB does not produce the desired effect.

Gelatin Testing: #4 Birdshot

#4 Remington Heavy Dove out of an 18 inch barreled Remington 870 Marine Magnum

Statistics

Range: 3 yards
Shotgun: 18 inch barreled Remington 870 Marine Magnumn
Round: 12 gauge 2¾ Remington Heavy Dove 1-1/8 oz #4 Birdshot
Gelatin: 9'x9'x19' 10% ordinance gelatin block
Measured Average Permenant Cavity: 6.5 inches (16.5 cm)
Temporary Stretch Cavity: 0.0 to 6.0 inches (0.0 to 15.2 cm)
Calibration BB Velocity: 624 fps
Calibration BB Penetration: 12.3 cm

Observations

Small sized birdshot such as this #4 heavy dove load is a poor choice for deployment with a tactical shotgun. Wounds inflicted from birdshot tend to be gruesome yet shallow as they lack the penetration required to reach vital cardiovascular or central nervous system structures.

Gelatin Testing: Kent Tungsten Matrix #5 Birdshot

Statistics

Range: 3 yards
Shotgun: 18 inch barreled Remington 870 Marine Magnumn
Round: 12 gauge 2¾ Kent Tungsten Matrix #5 Birdshot
Gelatin: 9'x9'x19' 10% ordinance gelatin block
Measured Average Permenant Cavity Penetration: 7.5 inches (19.5 cm)
Measured Temporary Stretch Cavity: 0.0 to 6.5 inches (0.0 - 16.5 cm)
Calibration BB Velocity: 631 fps
Calibration BB Penetration: 14.3 cm

Small sized birdshot such as this #5 Tungsten Matrix load is a poor choice for deployment with a tactical shotgun. Wounds inflicted from birdshot tend to be gruesome yet shallow as they lack the penetration required to reach vital cardiovascular or central nervous system structures.

The only way that birdshot could have possibly penetrated into Whittington's heart, given the minimal force impact capacity of the shot is if he was shot from incredibly close range. This then means that the whole event requires a greater level of scrutiny. If they lied about the distance of the shot, its probably one of many lies.

The delay in reporting the event to the authorities and the delay in the White House's release of the information to the press is more evidence of impropriety.

It seems clear that this is a cover-up in progress. The hospital where Whittington was taken after the shooting is a heavily guarded facility where he is being operated upon and monitored by doctors and surgeons close to the President and Vice President. These highly skilled medical professionals would have known instantly by a simple X-Ray if he had suffered from a shot to the heart. These doctors, loyal to the the Bush-Cheney cabal are clearly colluding to conceal information about Whittington's actual condition for their masters.

Cheney is powermad and thinks he should be free to get away with anything. He obviously belives that he and his buddies are above the law. The event very well might have been a stupid, drunken hunting accident but it has now become a multi-tiered cover-up to conceal what really happened.