Actually- the carelessness was on the part of Whittaker- he neglected to let the VP know where he was...there were several onlookers there at the time..who witnessed the whole incident.
My mistake- Whittington, not Whittaker.
I haven't seen any reports outlining exactly what happened, but it's a cinch that somebody did something stupid. People making light of it is to be expected, I guess, but there's absolutely no excuse for a hunting "accident." In almost every case, there was negligence on somebody's part. It's fortunate that the guy wasn't killed or seriously hurt--it does happen, even with birdshot if the victim is unlucky enough to be hit in the wrong place. This could have been a real tragedy, not to mention a black eye for the administration.
And before anybody jumps on me, I've been a hunter all my life. I have a cardinal rule that I don't hunt with people who are unsafe, and right now I'd have serious doubts about whether I'd want to be in a hunting party with some of these people. Flame away.