Actually, with this, you sound like someone who this season got his first-ever hunting license and just made or are about to make his first hunting trip. And Liberals' perception of hunters is not relevant to anything here. It is a constant and nothing can modify it for better or for worse. Reality does not affect their views, only the story they have accepted.
I think that incidents like this give anti-hunters excellent things to point at and say - "See, I told you....". The reality is that the vast majority of hunters are responsible sportsmen and the only way to change the overall perception is by acting like it. Of all the hunters on this thread, how many of you can say that you've shot, or even shot at, a hunting partner?
Maybe we're all chewing on the meaning of 'deliberately' here. In my book, when you make a conscious decision to fire your weapon, you need to be positive of what you're shooting at and where the members of your party are. OK, so the victim in this case didn't announce himself before coming back....but Cheney still bears the ultimate responsiblity for marking his target and firing the shotgun.
Jeez, am I the only one here that thinks this way? Do all of you walk into the woods and start gunning at anything that moves?
And FWIW, I voted for Cheney, twice. I think that he's a good man and a good politican. But, he made a mistake, he's owned up to it, and now he needs to face the consequences. Should he be put up on criminal charges? IMO, no. Should he face civil punishment, like revocation of his license? I think, yes.