Quail are instinctively, and incredibly, good at evasive action. A bird 20 feet in the air can drop to near-ground level in micro-seconds, and if there's any brush on the ground a hunter can drop the barrel and shoot without knowing at what he's really shooting. It's bad form, and very poor judgement to do so, but it can happen. I'd say its a form of bird denial panic. "It's getting away!" If you don't get your bird when it's well up above you, you just have to forget about it and move on. BTW, what happened to Cheney today is not unusual.
Most of the reporters do not have a clue about this and unless they watch sportsman programs showing these Quail Hunting Expeditions, or actually go along with Hunters they will remain clueless. I personally do not hunt and have no desire to, but I don't skydive or race motorcycles either but have family or friends that do all that stuff, and more power to them. There is a greater percentage of accidents happening in these sports especially if you are elderly and forgetful and not as agile as when you were 35 or even 65,but sometimes that is what makes the Sport more exciting.