It’s easy to make jokes about Vice-president Dick Cheney’s accidentally shooting a fellow hunter last weekend. But as much as I’m tempted, I’m reluctant to join the merry-making.
I grew up in the Texas Hill Country, surrounded by ranches. Pretty much all ranchers there supplement their income by leasing their property out to deer hunters. I knew not to go on or near ranch property during deer season, and I know that the ranchers themselves are worried about the risk of being shot while working on their ranches. They mitigate these risks by trying to lease to the same people year after year and by stipulating that only the agreed upon people can hunt on the lease, minimizing the possibility of their hunters bringing less informed friends out for the weekend. Many ranchers also make it a point to wear fluorescent colors when they’re out taking care of their livestock during deer season.
Depsite all of these precautions, when I was in middle school or so, my best friend Reginald’s uncle was shot and killed by the hunters on his ranch while he was out tending his cattle.
Categories: Odds and Ends